Thornback

In the bass fishing world the weight of a bass is part of the lexicon. If the bass is over two pounds I like to guess the weight and them weigh it just to check the accuracy of my guestimate. And when I tell someone I caught a 6 pound 4 ounce it rings true. But when I hear someone say they caught two six pounders and three four pounders I chuckle to myself. And I can tell you there are times when I swear my bass is around five pounds only to see the scale read 3.5

Now I understand why I changed from flouro to braided

Congrats!!! And thanks for posting the pix. I know you are anxious to get her on the water. Now get on the water and post some pix of your bass.

Those dadgum pickerel seem to like my wild shiners when I'm fishing for bass. Sometimes when I set the hook all I reel in is half a shiner. Yeah, very sharp teeth.

Mom had a wonderful son. R.I.P. Mom.

Yeah, don't leave home without it.

That's a ton of bass for one day. I bet you are still on cloud 9.

I agree with straight braid, with around #40 you will never break off. I once bent a 5/0 hook with #40 when the hook picked up a stump.

"If you ain't losing then you are cruising." Do what works best for your technique. But if you're losing 'em then you need to put more muscle in it and maybe reel her in faster. When fishing a plastic worm I do a hard hook set but when I'm fishing with shiners I try to break the rod. I use #40 braded and have never had a line break and can't remember the last time a bass threw my hook.

All excellent advise. I love the overhead cast when I want distance -- make sure you do a full arc. Like a flywheel effect. I'll add that I use a dental pic to pick out back lashes and it does the job very quickly.

I chartered a boat in Key West with my wife and son about a year ago. Nice boat with a friendly captain and one crew member. We went out about 7 miles and there we had company of other boats. About 3 hours of fishing produced grouper and trigger fish. Upon returning to the dock the crew cleaned our catch and we took it over to a restaurant where it was weighed and cooked for us. After a large fresh seafood lunch we took a lot of fish back to the condo. Would have been perfect trip except the wife got sea sick. She asked me what to do and I told her the only thing that would cure sea sickness was to set under a tree

Early morning paper route on a motor scooter, 7 days a week, dark of night, rain, or freezing weather didn't matter. People moving away and not paying. The circulation manager badgering me to obtain new subscribers. Then after my route was finished I would head home, eat breakfast, and then off to school where I would fall asleep in class. But I loved those early morning hours and still appreciate them when I get up early to go fishing. Best time of day IMO.

Sure you can. Just work the throttle to get the "plane" results you want.

I have always liked to travel lite, on a trip or going fishing. I tell my buddies to leave their tackle box at home, bring their favorite rod, and bring something to eat and drink as I also bring a cooler and ice. We fish with wild shiners 99% of the time so I don't take along a tackle box. I rig three 7' MH Berkley rods with three Abu Garcia bait casters spooled with #40 braided, tied to a 5/0 bait hook. I usually use just one rod on a trip and sometimes a buddy will use one of mine. That gives us one spare. Sometimes I'll use a float and sometimes I'll free-line. Here's my stuff in my boat . . .first photo -- Three rods, second photo -- hooks and pliers at the ready, third photo -- Floats, digital scale, tape measure, and line cutter.

Thanks for sharing the photos.

I caught is hawg Thursday, Feb 5, on a wild shiner at Rodman Reservoir. She pulled my digital scale to 10.15.

Practice and practice some more. Start with a good weight and play with the brake settings until you find what works for you. Don't worry about distance, worry about smoothness. Slowly, you and your thumb, will get the feel. It takes some time. Never throw a light weight into the wind. You will get back lashes but you will also learn how to pick them out. I cast shiners on a bait caster with #40 braded. I like the reel brake loose and the centrifugal brake on the max setting. My thumb does the rest. I cast underhand, side arm, and overhead, depending on the distance I need to throw. I get backlashes but I am an experienced backlash picker-outer

Many different factors involved when deciding on setting the drag. First off, I do as the reel mfg recommends, which is loosen the drag when the reel is not in use, then set it each time you go fishing. Personally I use #40 braided, 5/0 hook, Palomar knot, 7' MH rod, and 7:1 bait caster. I fish shiners up under floating mats and I always lock down my drag. I have to do a hard hook set to rip the hook out of the shiner and into the bass. Then I need to horse that big girl out of the slop and into clear water. The only play my catch gets is from the rod.

I nominate these three in a witty and entertaining movie (My Cousin Vinny) . . . Vinny Gambini (Joe Pesci) Mona Lisa Vito (Marisa Tomei) Judge Chamberlain Haller (Fred Gwynne)

I use #40 PowerPro and it floats.

I think that hat is from the 1950's, probably worn by President Harry Truman.

My friend and I went up to Rodman Thursday morning and caught 4 bass, 2 pickerel and a catfish. His largest bass was 5.5 and my largest bass was 3.15. Here's a photo of his 5.5 bass . . .

Anything I don't see that "cuts" my #40 braid or spits my hook I always say is a mudfish or a pickerel. I can't remember the last time I lost a bass

Marshal Will Kane in High Noon. Ezra "Penny" Baxter in The Yearling. Shane in the movie Shane.

I have got out on the water early and still dark and had nice bites, caught bass at noon, and caught bass as the sun is setting. You find them and they are hungry they will bite. They don't have a watch