Jar11591

Monster! Well done.

@MassBass Thanks for all of that information. We plan on renting a camper van and driving the loop around the country, so that was my hope, to stop at some streams and rivers that we happen to come across. I’ll definitely have to work on the accurately and smoothly parts of my fly casting. About the only thing I know how to do is just get the fly out there. It’s far from smooth or accurate. Don’t want to miss my shot at a big, wary brown because I’m a clumsy caster. I’ll have to practice a lot between now and then.

It’s really too bad this fish has to die. That was our best known candidate to break the world record, and like you said it’s possible that the fish was heavier than the world record at some point during its life. But we can only assume it spawned successfully many times and it’s genes are still throughout Erie. And hopefully the biologists got some valuable information on it. The smallmouth world record is vulnerable in my opinion, but if people kill any fish that gets close to it, then maybe not. Thanks for the new info. I’m fascinated by anything to do with that mutant fish.

My girlfriend informed me that we will be going to Iceland in August, so obviously my first thought was how I’ll be wetting a line while I’m there. Has anyone been to Iceland to fish, or happened to fish while they were there? There are only 3 freshwater sport fish on the island: brown trout, Arctic char, and Atlantic salmon. And getting licensed doesn’t seem as straightforward as I would have hoped. I believe you need a different license for each different river, and fly-fishing is primarily the only kind of fishing that’s permitted. So I’ll be brushing up on my fly casting this spring. If anyone has fished in Iceland at all, I’d love to hear any and all of your experience.

My first cast once the ice is gone will be a 1/2oz Siebert Brush Jig with a NetBait Paca chunk trailer. Gonna pitch it to a laydown that sits in 18’ of water at the crown. Can see it all in my head.

Monster Northeastern bass!

@DaubsNU1 that is a beaut!

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/plano-hydro-flo-spinnerbait-stowaway?hvarAID=shopping_googleproductextensions&ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=BPS|Shopping|Smart|Fishing|General|NAud|NVol|NMT&gclid=Cj0KCQiAx6ugBhCcARIsAGNmMbj2fJQyleznGLK2jrDAPQXQkX7ZCy_M0zsJ2rAmepeI_QGIrP_tq6IaAiCiEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

@Mr. Aquarium Hawg!

Never tried Big Little Thing. I love a Hazy Little Thing. Sierra Nevada has some good beers.

I always took the “fairy wand” name for how a spinning rod is held and worked, not as an insult to someone’s manhood. I could be wrong. But when I’m using a spinning rod, especially for drop shooting, the rod is held and worked like you would imagine a magic wand to be held and waved.

Been called "Juice" by friends since high school. My name is Jesse, so most called me "Jess", which gradually became "Juice". Proud of that nickname As a baby my dad started calling me "Melon Head", but my mom wasn’t a fan of that one so my dad changed it to "Melon Man" haha

I use Ardent Reel Butter and Lucas Reel Oil for quick lube jobs. Dont have much to compare them to, but I have zero complaints about them.

I definitely prefer baitcasters, but I do have a couple spinning set ups in the arsenal. They have their purpose, but I have dozens of casting reels compared to only 5-6 spinning reels.

Which must mean dumb guys get more fishing time

@Mainebass1984 good to see you back on the forums. Hopefully we get to see some more Maine giants.

I use the Supreme and extreme Brush Jigs. I’ve only seen one head style from Siebert called “brush” and it’s on several different lines of jigs. https://siebertoutdoors.com/products/ols/products/tungsten-arky-jigs This is the Supreme Brush jig. Easily my favorite. Excels in wood but works well on pretty much all situations.

You aren’t alone. There are at least 3 of us. @gimruis @ol'crickety you should film a seminar on the WP this year for us ?

@GANGGREEN awesome crappie!

I use my SV TW for jerkbaits. It throws even light jerkbaits very well. The rod I use for that has the same specs as the SLX you use. The reel has a shallow spool, so you’ll want a thin diameter line if you plan on making long casts which is usually the case with jerkbaits. It won’t hold much line of a thick diameter. But it would also make a decent flip and pitch reel, as you don’t need much line for that. It has plenty of power to handle flipping and pitching. Even though it can throw lighter baits really well, I wouldn’t call it a finesse reel and I don’t think Daiwa does either.

Oh man. 8 year old me BEGGED my mom and dad to order the helicopter lure kit. That infomercial had me convinced this was the must have lure. They finally did, and I remember distinctively never catching a single fish.

As a 3 season fisherman, I'm really curious to see what the worst season is for people who don't have frozen lakes is. I've seen all four seasons mentioned as the worst by different members here. The poll should be interesting.

Seems like the most consistent fish catchers aren’t super realistic. It may be important at times, but I think there are many other more important factors than if a soft plastic bait imitates a real thing.

Perfect timing. Gotta get my spring shopping list finished up.

Fished pretty much exclusively for smallmouth as a kid. My dad would take me to the river or rocky, smallmouth lakes so that’s all I fished for. Then for a long time, the past 10 years or so excluding last year, I got the largemouth bug and targeted them pretty exclusively. Smallies we’re always a welcome bycatch. Last year I fished for LM and SM about equally. This year, I think I’ll mainly be targeting largemouth again. I’m determined to break my home state PB, and catch a LM in the 7 pound class.