UPSmallie

Lol. Glad it ended well. Once had a random dog come up and eat one of my spawn sacs I'd just taken off of a hook when I wasn't looking. Owners came up and said did he just eat a spawn sac. I was like yep and we both just chuckled. Maybe it was because I'd soaked it in sugar. Weird stuff.

Managed to go snorkeling on the last day of summer for me and pick up some lures. Didn't do too bad, but I know there is a hot area that still needs to be picked. Couldn't get to it because there were some people salmon fishing over it. Will have to go out on a rainy day when people aren't fishing. Water temps 59 degrees still feels ice cold in a wet suit though!

I would have loved to be around when Rapala Originals first hit the market. From everything I have read and heard from those who experienced it, it was non-stop action. Fish every cast at times. Now I tie on a Rapala, but hardly ever the original.

Yes Sir, up at SSM on the map it has been chilly for the past week. Can only hope this speeds up the salmon fishing. Maybe early winter?

Thanks man! Definitely blessed to live in a great location.

Managed a 2.99 lb smallie this past weekend trolling a leech on a 1/8 oz gold jig. Wish the scale could have just read 3.00 but that was alright. Took a few minutes to revive, but gave a healthy tail-kick and swam off.

Was in 67% blockage area so didn't notice much, but during the eclipse the sky darkened a little as if it were partly cloudy with no clouds in the sky. During the actual eclipse I hooked into 2 Atlantic Salmon practically back to back. I think for those fishing when actually happening, fishing should have spiked at least a little.

Not going to lie, probably the most I've spent on a lure Look forward to using it for sure though.

Managed to get the afternoon off so I went to see if the eclipse would affect the Atlantic Salmon fishing. Usually the middle of the afternoon is not a great time to target these fish, but today was the exception it seemed. Ended up 1/4 with two fly break-offs on 10 lb test. Very difficult to land. Got two hookups right as the eclipse was taking place. The other two came about an hour after it had finished. The 4 lber I was able to land was a brightly colored male with some light red speckles. Hard to tell from the picture though. It looks like they are starting to shift towards their November spawn as the females and males are pretty easy to tell apart now. I'm hoping the Kings start moving in with the Atlantics. Would love to fight one, even if for only a few seconds. Fish On

Dang man. I feel your pain on that one. This past spring while I was splake fishing, I was probably 7 hours of straight fishing in when I finally hooked into one on my smelt under a bobber. I just wanted to to end the day with one fish so I could go home and eat it. The at least 5 lber, charged every which way and I could barely get a handle on it. Fought it right to the net where it danced around and over several times. Just when it looked like I was going to net it, my 17 b mainline knot gave-out and the fish swam off. My heart broke with that knot. I sat there with my rod to the side and felt awful. 15 minutes later and I made some calls to arrange to fish for 2 more hours before calling an end to the day. As luck would have it, the splake turned on and it was absolutely insane. Hooked and landed the monster Master Angler one and after I went back to my rods, one of my smelt bobbers was being towed by another splake! My story had quick relief, but I do hope you'll catch a monster walleye one day. Best of luck on your journey. To the OP: It sucks man. I'd take some time to collect myself and get back at it. Good luck man

Caught 3 of these mudpuppy salamanders ice-fishing this past year. This one wasn't my PB, but the longest I caught was just over 12 inches.

Fishing has been phenomenal for me this past week. Lots of nice fish casting. Pike came on Rapala Husky Jerk Perch, Atlantic came on a fly, and the walleye was a big surprise for me using an olive X-Rap. Thought it was a sub legal pike until it surfaced. Didn't even bring a net since I figured I'd just be pike fishing. Thankful that it stayed on long enough for me to land with fish grips. There is great fishing to be had close by. The local bay where the pike and walleye came from is a 7 minute trip and the powerhouse where the Atlantic came from is a 30 minute boat ride from my house. Hoping to catch a few more nice ones before school picks up again. Fish On

Great work young man

The Old Man and the Sea

Like others have said, both have their time and place. Typically what works best for me in a bass fishing scenario, is either power-fishing jerkbaits or finesse fishing swimbaits. I love power-fishing since it gives me the opportunity to cover lots of water from a casting standpoint. If the fish are more sparsely scattered, then trolling Keitechs is my go-to

Alright alright you got me there, but what if I told you the fish the bait fishermen were catching were non-gamefish species such as catfish and drum, while the one fishing artificials catches the pike and smallmouth? All still fish, but it'd be a matter of preference. I see your point though. Bait-fishermen do have their day from time to time.

I'd say accurate. When bank fishing pretty much anywhere, I rarely see anyone not bait-fishing. Artificials fan-casted over water outproduce their live bait at least 8-1.

Had a fantastic day fishing the local bay after work today. It was too windy to troll for smallmouth, so I anchored deep into the weedy inside bends and fan casted a Rapala X-Rap in perch color for pike. It took a little bit of moving around, but I was finally able to hook up with this 25 incher. Using 10 lb trilene, he took me for a 7 minute joyride. I thought he might be a muskie since I'm used to fishing heavier line, but I couldn't complain. Also proceeded to land three 23 inch pike on the same bait, with two striking just feet from the boat! It was incredible. Rapala jaw-grippers came in handy here. Filleted the only legal one and gave it to a coworker. Inside its stomach was a 5 inch perch. I think the Rapala matched the hatch well. Fish On

Great Work!

Keitechs, jerkbaits, and texas-rigged plastics. All depending on structure and cover present.

I hear you man. That just flat out sucks. The worst boat rides home are the ones where I'd hooked up on a good fish and for whatever the reason was I lost it (like today). Constant line tangles, snapped off fish, long hours, old powerade (lol), etc. When everything eventually does come together though it feels amazing. Tight lines moving forward.

It's been a trying few weeks for me fishing for Atlantics. I've hooked into 4 solo fishing. The first two have snapped me off, one of which I fought for literally 45 minutes before my mainline gave-out. The third used my clamp line as leverage to pop loose. The fourth wasn't so lucky. I've been gradually improving my setup and I believe it is safe to say I have found the 'magic fly' thanks to trying multiple nymph patterns via Orvis. Picture looks a little funky, but was happy to land this 18 incher for a tasty shore lunch.

Bone has worked great for me in Super Spook Jr. or One Knocker.

Very nice! Congrats

15 hours minimum. Just kidding It all depends. If you know how the fishing normally should be, then you can base it off of your prior experience. As a general rule of thumb though I usually fish for a solid 4-5 hours before quitting. If I get the slightest bit of action such as a hooked fish that pops off, then I'll keep at it for a while. The key to fishing success is largely based on your time spent fishing.