fishballer06

Good to know. Thanks for letting us know. I really felt lost picking for this event. Here's who I've got. Canterbury Benton Williamson Mosley Hudnall

Words can't even describe this. God bless the family and friends of the Jacobs family. ?

The last my wife counted them, I had 42 rods and that was 2 years ago. To answer your question, I still don't have enough.

New: Fuego, Tatula, or SLX Used: Curado Honestly, with how well the Curado's hold up, a nice used Curado is going to give you the most bang for your buck in that price range. But if you're more comfortable with something new from a store, the Fuego, Tatula, and SLX all come highly recommended from guys who have used them.

Living in Michigan, there probably aren't many shad to be found anywhere as the northern winters are too cold for Shad to survive unless they've got some deep, warm water to live in. All that being said, a Keitech works anywhere. Period. Perhaps try downsizing to 3.3's and a 3.8 on your rig if you're having troubles getting bit.

We have a guy in our club who ALWAYS has dead fish at weigh ins. And if a fish barely has moving gills but is clearly going to die, he will argue until he's blue in the face that the fish is still breathing. The saddest part is he's a good fisherman and he's in the money more often than not, and there have been quite a few tournaments through the years where he's fallen out of the money due to his dead fish penalties.

I've had my eye on these and I finally ordered two from a shady looking eBay account. They both shipped two months ago and the first one just showed up. I absolutely love the quality of these things! Owner hooks, great trailer keeper, and no split rings because they're JDM. They also seem like they're a little bit smaller profile (compact) than most USDM chatterbaits.

We have the same issue in western PA as well. Pymatuning in particular gets pounded because it's half in PA and half in OH (which has a bass season that never goes out). All of the clubs and series have their tournaments there whenever the PA bass season is out because this lake is an exception. April, May, and the first half of June, there is no joke 4-7 tournaments on that lake every weekend at a minimum. I remember a tournament we had their last May, we learned from talking to guys throughout the day that there were 5 boat tournaments and 2 kayak tournaments on the lake that day. Despite the heavy pressure, the winning 5 bass limit is usually 18-22 pounds. Lake Arthur is another lake around here that gets pounded and it's significantly smaller than Pymy. It's the closest lake to the city of Pittsburgh, so it gets a ton of traffic. Each weekend there's 2-4 tournaments on it. Add in the Wednesday night tournaments every week that usually draw 30-60 boats each, and you'll quickly see why this lake is dubbed "The Dead Sea". Despite the pounding that this lake takes, every year you see guys pulling some 6 & 7 pounders out of it. All tournaments with more than 5 boats in them are required to be approved by the PAFBC, hence why you will never see any tournaments whenever bass is out of season.

Most of the ponds I fish are 1-5 acres in size and are fishing from 3/4 to the whole way around. I'll generally start with something and work my way around the entire area that I want to fish. Then I'll work my way back to where I started, giving the fish a look from a different direction. At that point, if I'm unsuccessful I will switch it up.

The hooks (and split rings) on the Rapala jerkbaits are notorious for straightening out on fish in no time. I've personally had it happen myself on the first fish I caught on a Shadow Rap (4lb'r). There's really no reason to upgrade to a larger treble hook, but rather just a slightly heavier gauge wire that holds up a little better.

I've never used that small 2.8" for weedless rigging. They're pretty thick and a hook that small isn't going to have much bite in the event that you got bit. A #1/0 on a jig head works great for for them if you fish them on an open hook.

I just Google satellite imaged the pond in question and from comparison to the houses around it, I'd say the pond is probably an acre in size. That being said, yes. I do believe a pond that size can maintain a 6lb bass.

I really like the Damiki Vault and the Lucky Craft ILV 50. If your hooks are fouling up, it's from hooks that are too big. Switch to shorter shank hooks and try using a smaller size treble if that doesn't solve the issue.

I bought one but haven't got to throw it yet. I'm betting that the cupped lip will make it put off some serious vibration and make the bait hunt well. However, I'll be curious to see how that plastic lips also holds up over time.

A slower action rod like a crankbait rod isn't going to be ideal for presentations that require a bait to sit and soak. However, if you're using a steady retrieve like a swim jig/chatterbaits/Biffle Bugging/etc, a slower action crankbait rod can work pretty well. Long story short, a crankbait rod can work in a pinch really for anything, but in the long run, you're going to want a faster action rod for your single hook presentations.

Congrats to Brandon Cobb for finally getting his first Elite W. I was really happy to see him go wire to wire (partly because I had him in Fantasy). Our group also was pretty impressive. We had 6 guys over the 1250 mark, 4 of which were over 1300! Just a heads up guys, we have a quick turnaround for this next one. Winyah Bay starts Thursday morning, so get your picks in for that event by Wednesday night.

You did some major research last night! It's about time I have a solid event. I think I was in the bottom 10 guys in our group prior to this event.

They close bass season now once trout season comes in...

Closed = Out of season That voluntary permit must be new since I last bought my license. I buy the multi-year license to save the hassle of having to buy a new license every spring. That's interesting to see.

Really stacked weights today. 2 pounds separates 10th and 30th. 5 pounds separating 10th and 50th.

My crew for Hartwell: Cobb Arey Cherry Williamson Whitaker I hate taking all locals, but all of these guys are STUDS on this lake.

Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap - Chartruese Shiner and Chrome Blue Rapala DT - Perch or Bluegill colors Rapala Shad Rap - Any natural looking baitfish color Storm Wiggle Wart - Any craw color Mann's Baby 1- - I haven't found a color that doesn't work for this bait

Looks like a 1/2oz jig to me. You guys are way over with your guesses.

I fished Yellow Creek once late two falls ago (I'm talking 35* water late fall). The guy I fished with told me very similar stories like you did about that lake. I liked what I saw that day, even though we didn't catch anything. I'd like to go back there in May and see how good that lake can be. We have lots of "Big Bass" lakes here around Pittsburgh, and they all have the same issues as the standard lakes have. If there's a 12" limit on a lake, half the fish are 11.5", and if it's a 15" limit lake, half the fish are 14.5". I call them tournament specials. I've told this to numerous friends around the area and other PA guys I've encountered online - What the state needs to do is stop putting so much focus on a 1 month long trout season (essentially because of warm water) and spend 3 years and dedicate that money and effort into the bass fishing. I'm betting they'd see a drastic increase in bass fishing in just 3 short years if they did a few different things. 1. Keep the bass season closed from the second Saturday of April to the second Saturday of June. Let the bass spawn and do their thing. 2. Stock some bass for once. You hear about the state stocking trout, walleye, and muskie, but never do you hear about bass being stocked. I would even be in favor of buying a "bass stamp" similar to the trout stamps if it meant the PAFBC would start stocking bass and trying to improve the populations like the do the trout. A bass can live in PA waters for 10-12-15 years, yet these trout are being dumped into streams in April and they're belly up by June. 3. Put in a slot limit. Canada and numerous states around the US have done this with walleyes with great success. I've seen it in Ontario where we go for walleye after only 3-4 years of having this law. Only let people keep bass from 10-13". Weed out the small fish, let the bigger fish grow, and all of your fish will get bigger and healthier.

To me, the Big Bass Lake deal says "there's no fish in this lake even 12" long, so we need to increase the size limit on this lake so that there's a few fish that make it to 15". I feel like PA doesn't have enough water for all of the fisherman and there's too many guys out there who are meat fisherman.