Hog Basser

3-3.5 lbs.

'nuff said

Something you can rig weedless like the Keitech Swing Impact would be best. That one is also easy to cast with a weighted hook.

I watched a few videos on them lately and looks good. I was actually thinking of picking one up at lunch today.

I like topwater best on cloudy days. If it's cloudy, I tend to have success on them all day long.

"Guarding the bed"?

I've been using the zara spook and a yamamoto tate pencil a lot this year. I got the yamamoto because it was on sale 2 for $10 at DSG and has a really good look to it. I have plenty of spooks in by tackle box and tried them the same day and had equal results. Both great baits at a reasonable price.

Time for some good mojo. Go out and get that double-digit that's coming to you!

Arkansas record is 16 lbs. 8 oz. set in 1976 (this was broken, but it didn't count because the guy ran out and bought a fishing license after he caught it), I'm working on growing double-digits in my own lake and may already have some. Maybe I can get one up to record size eventually with a lot of coaxing.

Yes.

I wish. If I lived with water out my back door I'd be out there every night after work and all weekend. My wife might not like it as much though.

There are so many factors, on larger lakes it would be hard to predict what size ranges were most abundant. It also depends on angling pressure and any slot limits set on that body of water. It's a little easier on ponds and small lakes. I know there's some information on size distribution in an article here http://www.bassresource.com/lake-management/ , I just can't find it right now. Best way to know right now I would say is just fishing it and seeing what you get or relying on information from other anglers or your state's DNR.

This looks like it may be the only way and the suggestion that has come up the most. I was just hoping to avoid chainsawing hundreds of stumps. May have to put my teenage nephews to work for the summer, but I don't trust them with a chainsaw, so I'd have to do that part and they do the heavy lifting. seen a few of these and it might work, not sure what it would cost to rent or have someone come out and do it, but I will probably price this option too.

Too many snakes for a kayak, I'd be nervous and fending them off all day. I have thought of using a canoe when it's just me. The pontoon actually has less surface area touching the water than the jon boats, so it works best. It's not that I can't get anywhere, it's just that it takes a while and I'd like a clear path for convenience and speed. That's why I don't want to put too much effort or money into this. I can live with it like it is, but if there's an easy way to clear a single path, I'd do it. I've posted the question on the pond boss forums too. I may share what they come back with, had a few interesting suggestions!

I could mark them, but it wouldn't do me any good. There are simply too many, I need to remove hundreds to make a path. Even if I can see them, there's no avoiding them completely and no quick way to navigate from one end to the other.

okay, gotcha. Not an option...it is already at max level for the spillway.

Thanks, I appreciate the research, this method may be what I have to resort to, but I'm really looking for a better way with a single large piece of equipment that floats. Just to give you an idea of what it looks like and how many stumps I'm talking, here are a few photos. The satellite photo shows a rough estimate of the path I want to cut, which is almost a mile long. Individually pulling the stumps along this path would be a heck of a job. You can't see them all in the photos, there are thousands of stumps just below the surface. It is impossible to navigate the lake without hitting them all the time. These stumps have been underwater since 1996 and have not softened at all. I want to leave most of them, but I need a path for navigation that doesn't involve pushing the boat off a stump every 10-20 yards.

Okay, so here's the scenario. I have a 53 acre private lake loaded with stumps and I mean you hit one every 5 feet kind of stumps. It was created by the previous owners who built a dam and connected two natural sloughs to make the larger lake. They did cut down trees to make a channel through the lake, but the story goes that when they flooded it, they all floated back into the channel. There is no clear path to get from one end of the lake to the other without playing plinko with the boat. We just run smaller aluminum jon boats and a pontoon and do fine, you just can't go very fast and you're constantly pushing off of stumps just under the surface. I mean you can't even run fast with electric (that is all we have on the jon boats). We keep large bamboo push poles in all the boats to get unstuck. Sometimes it works in our favor to get stuck on a stump if it keeps us in good position on a hot fishing spot in the wind, but still need to move around in general without bumping non-stop. This is mostly Cypress stumps. I would like to cut a new channel that goes from one end of the lake to the other and I just don't know if there's any equipment out there that would make it easy. I know there are underwater chainsaws, but I'm not interested in diving in these snake infested waters for long periods of time. The depth ranges down to about 14ft max for the entire lake with much of it closer to 4-8 foot where I would want the channel. Has anyone ever seen any type of equipment mounted to a specialized boat that would cut a path through stumps underwater? I just need to know if this even exists. I know it would be a long shot to have one near me available for hire, just need to know if there is a way to do this with boat-mounted equipment and not by hand with a chainsaw. P.S. I'm talking doing this without draining the lake. I don't want to start over on the fish population, which is decent right now. I don't want to cause a fish kill by taking it down too far either.

I feel ya, snapped a rod several weeks ago. Sounds like a great weekend!

Always leave vents open while in storage, especially with drastic temp changes. Best advice is to fill up with ethanol free gas and use Startron or one of the other products mentioned. I once left the vent closed on an expensive metal gas can (not on a boat) and it crushed itself from the pressure with a temp change. This was in a garage, so no direct sun or anything.

I think some are more predisposed to it than others. I've seen some families that fish where one kid may not like it and I've seen some people take up fishing when no one in their family does. Mostly, I see it passed down through the generations. It is difficult to pick up on your own without a mentor or at least a great website like bass resource. A great mentor will really get you into it. For me, it is passed down. My family duck hunts and fishes. I learned mostly from my older brother and from my dad. I fished a lot when I was younger, not as much in my college years, and I've really accelerated my fishing in the last few years. I don't think it will ever slow down now that I've rediscovered my love of the sport and learned so much more. I have hunted consistently my entire life and love it and fishing fills the gap between hunting seasons, I even fish on the warmer afternoons during hunting season now. I cannot wait to pass it down to my two sons. They are still a little young, but I look forward to the day I can take them out with me on an all day long adventure.

I use a metal basket you can get at academy for pretty cheap. The big one they have is 30" and doesn't float, so for bank fishing you will want to rig it with a noodle or something to keep it from collapsing, or hang it from a tree over the water. I'd get it out as far as I could so it can extend fully and have it in the shade. I hang mine off the jon boat when fishing our pond and it keeps them good and alive for 4-5 hour stints. I am culling these fish, so they aren't going back in the pond, but they do very well from what I've seen. It will depend on oxygen levels where you keep them, you don't want them in shallow, hot muddy water if you can help it. Shows $7.99 on their website. http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/tournament-choice-collapsible-wire-basket?repChildCatid=13976

Startron is what my dealer told me works. Yes, he sold it, but also told me I could get it cheaper elsewhere and highly recommended it. I add a little about every other fill up on my cruising barge with a 4 stroke and every time on my two stroke hunting/fishing boat.

Bass and Crappie don't cross down here in Arkansas, but sometimes the Hogs get to rooting around with the Carp and we get these nice bacon-flavored fish!