Jar11591

For small, non picture worthy pike, it's easiest for me to just unhook them while still in the water next to the boat. Definitely use pliers. They won't "bite" you unless you stick a finger in their mouth.

50 lb Power Pro braid.

I agree with @Senko lover. All soft plastic stick baits will catch fish with out a doubt, but there is just something about YCB Senkos. I'm not sure if its the softness, or the little extra shimmy they have on the fall compared to other stick baits, or if its something else. The only other stick bait I have tried that matched the softness of a Senko was the Strike King Ocho. I stopped using other stick baits in favor of the real Senko, as I have just flat out done better with the real thing. However its pretty hard to quantify a YCB senko's catch rate compared to other stick baits. Point is, Yum Dingers will absolutely catch fish, and are A LOT less expensive than YCBs. But some believe, me included, that real a Senko will *sometimes* outperform other brands even if its only slightly.

The biggest bass I have ever caught was just after midnight, on a large black Jitterbug. She smashed it about 2 feet from shore in the darkness. The average size bass I catch at night absolutely dwarfs my average size during the day. I also do well on 10" Culprit ribbon-tails, 7" senkos, and Rage Craws. I can't wait to get out at night soon! Whenever I night-fish, I always have that lingering thought "The next fish could be a giant...." in the back of my head!!

It may very well be bass doing that. I have caught many bass on top water baits that weren't inhaled by the fish. Rather, the bass just "sipped" it, there would be no surface commotion whatsoever and I only know I have a fish on when my line starts running. Ive also have had bass come up just to bump lures, and just peck at the side of the lure right next to the boat. But, I also know that bluegill and rock bass will come up to inspect surface lures and just peck.

Only fished Black Lake for a week a few years ago. Fishing was absolutely incredible. So many bass and pike, and a few accidental walleye and crappie catches. I want to go back!

This is another thing I need to work on....

Just a LMB with the sun shining on it

One area I would like to improve on is not forcing a bite that isn't happening. My favorite way to fish (except for topwater of course) is pitching Texas rigs to lay downs and over hanging trees. Some days it will catch fish, and some days it won't. More often than I should, when pitching trees isn't catching, I try to force it and fish the trees a little too long when I should be moving on to a new spot.

Smallmouth bass.

d**n! Reading that makes me want to wear goggles when I fish. That's wild.

A few shots from the recent camping trip. Fishing was great too!

Last year, I had a rod leaning on the side of the boat with a senko dangling in the water while I tied a crankbait on to another rod. Rapala DT-6 to be exact. A bass came up and grabbed the dangling senko and almost took the rod with it. I panicked and reached to save the rod, and somehow ended up with a hook from the DT-6 in my thumb. I gave it a few tugs, realized it was going to take some work and decided to ignore it and keep fishing, as the previous 2 days had been ON FIRE. After a few minutes I started to get dizzy, and I knew I couldn't fish through it so we decided to head in to take care of the hook in my thumb. My buddy and I wrenched on that hook for an hour with no luck. We tried to push it through to cut the barb, we tried to rip it out....nothing was working and it hurt like hell! I finally relented and went to urgent care. It even took the nurse about 20 minutes of working on my numbed-up thumb before it came loose. The worst part of the whole ordeal for me was the missed fishing day. It was the start of day 3 of what had been an incredible stretch of fishing. What could have been....

Worms: 3/0-5/0 offset shank worm hook Baby brush hog: 3/0-4/0 offset shank worm hook lizard: 3/0-5/0 EWG worm hook senko: 1/0-2/0 finesse wide gap hook

I use them both with a lot of success.

http://m.basspro.com/Browning-Fishing-Backpack-Tackle-Bag-or-System/product/1408271152/

My Fenwicks are my favorite rods. They are always the ones I reach for without thinking about it. I've been starting to phase more Fenwicks in to my starting lineup. I've been considering an Aetos for a while now. Thanks for the review!

I recommend getting better at knot tying, to the point where you can feel safe with a knot connecting two lines. There are a lot of simple line-to-line knots. For braid to mono or fluoro, I use the Albright special. For leader knots not involving braid (this is rare for me) I use the uni-uni knot. I have 100% confidence in my leader knots, and I can't recall ever having one fail on me. A barrel swivel will work, but in order to keep the swivel out of the guides, your leader will not be as long. By tying lines directly to each other, you can really make the leader as long as you want. Try taking an hour or so to practice leader knots. It will be a huge help. I'm sure you can find videos on YouTube with some close-up assistance for knot tying.

Looks like a chub or sucker of some sort.

I've caught bluegill and pumpkinseed on crankbaits, lipless cranks, jerkbaits, top waters and smaller soft plastics. Most baits I use for bass have also caught a sunfish or two.

I'm fairly confident that I'm more knowledgeable than the guys who work at my local DSG or BPS when it comes to bass fishing. The only information I need from them is where a certain item is located.

I use the Rapala Pro Guide digital scale. $34.99 on Tackle Warehouse.

+1 for the Albright Special.

I've done similar things. Several years ago, I hooked a walleye in the tail on a DT-6. Still have no idea how it happened. I would have loved to be down there watching it go down.