Hog Basser

Ordered this on DSG website clearance today, 20% off and free shipping! Full size, you're going for the bigguns, right?

Don't settle for anything less than a full check-up. No matter how good the boat, something will eventually go wrong with it down the line. Better safe than sorry. Not that he would purposely sell you something that didn't work, but even sitting for a while, boats can have issues occur. Electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, you name it, it can and will happen on a boat eventually. I've had and have lots of boats for different purposes over the years, I'm always "sinking" money into them. Hydraulics are acting up on my hunting/fishing boat trim right now and it sits under cover when not in use in a secluded dock....it's just old and things happen. But I've seen new boats have any and all issues too.

I love fishing pads. I work small holes all throughout them. I love dropping a brush hog in on a keel-weighted twist-lock hook, they go crazy for it. Lizards work great too.

Stopped by Academy at lunch to grab some terminal tackle and couldn't resist picking up a few extras.

I've been fishing up there 3 times in my life. Caught a 25 lbs. King while watching Kodiak bears and bald eagles play. No place like it in the world. What an great gig to have for the summer. Landed a 50 lbs. Halibut that zinged back down to the bottom when it saw the light of day, what a fight! We also had a red snapper on the line when a ling cod came up and grabbed it, actually caught both fish!

I mix up my retrieve. A lot of times I just pop it and wait, sometimes I walk the dog, I just like to make sure I making a little racket to get their attention then wait for the hit. Make sure you have a heavy rod, I've made the mistake of tying a frog on a little bit lighter rod and couldn't set the hook properly.

For me, most of the time frogs only work when introduced in the right cover. I need weeds or lily pads around to get a hit. They only occasionally work without some type of thick plant cover. Pretty much an early morning bait for me, unless it is overcast.

Great catch! Good eatin' too!

Great story, it's not your fault she had to get on the phone while fishing, she deserved to see you catch them in that case!

Those guys can fight. We have a lot that survived the draining of the original sloughs that make up our ponds and catch one every once in a while bass fishing. Try to remove them back out to the swamp if we can. There are loads of them in the bayou where we are.

Well, two of those are the same fish, guess I didn't get a pic of the 3rd one since I was having so much fun!

My first 3 fish on the WP in under an hour, all over 3 lbs.

Sounds like an epic family trip! Congrats!

I just ordered a lot of 28 old Bill Norman lures from Ebay. Mainly did it to get a particular lure that there were 9-10 of in the lot that isn't made anymore for a gift for my dad (it's about the only crankbait he'll use). So, saving the "Quarterbacks" for his birthday, what should I do with the rest? Well, maybe I should save them to help build my nephews' tackle boxes, I don't know. The guy I purchased them from is local and sent me a message that he has a lot more vintage Bill Norman's, here we go!

I will absolutely enjoy every time I go fishing, whether I catch anything or not. I will absolutely sacrifice my fish catching time if it means helping my nephews or my sons catch more fish. I will absolutely always try multiple baits while fishing until I get completely comfortable with what my absolute baits for that particular body of water and conditions will be. I will absolutely fish every chance I get (which isn't as much as I'd like). I will absolutely keep an open mind and learn as much as I can about fishing my whole life.

Sounds like a good time!

I'm not a big You Tube watcher myself, but i occasionally will catch a few by just doing a search. I also have the Bass Resource videos constantly popping up in my news feeds on social media, I click the ones I haven't seen before and I'm interesting in checking out. I rely on this sites videos for specific technique demonstrations and technical stuff, I go elsewhere for entertainment. There is room for both in my view.

Google. Looking for pond management articles, found the lake management section of this website and read every article (some multiple times), then I noticed the forums link at the top so I decided to check it out. I'm hooked (pun intended). I hate almost all other message boards, this one is the best (format and content) I've found by far.

What part of the bait are the weeds getting hung on?

I wouldn't go over the recommended max weight for your reel....braid will likely be the way to go since you can get greater test strength with a smaller diameter. With the whopper plopper, I put it on my fluoro rigged pole and don't have issues with the sinking line since I'm running it most of the time and not slow walking it back like a spook, but yes mono and braid will be best. Had a recent experience with using over the recommended size line on a spinning reel. My nephew got his new spinning setup and had an inexperienced store employee put line on it for him. They used too high of test and it was too stiff and kept unspooling off the front of the reel. He missed out on a lot of good fishing that day. Also, as info: the equivalent diameter of a mono line is listed on the braided line spool.

whopper plopper

I use 15-17 lbs. fluoro. I have a lot of snags to contend with though, so I tend to stick to heavier line when I can.

I feel your pain! My favorite lake is full of snags and there are some baits I just can't throw without getting a snag, but any bait, no matter how weedless, stands a chance of getting snagged there.

We have to constantly chase them off our ponds. They are a nuisance and come in flocks down here. Some people employ the use of timed propane cannons to keep them scared off their private fisheries. They are a protected bird, so you can't kill them without a permit.

I'll be doing more of that this weekend. We are headed to the lake with the whole family and friends and I keep 4 dock demons down there on the dock. Just pick up some worms and we have hours of entertainment for all the kids. I have a 3.5 yr old and a 1.5 yr old, both boys, they love "petting" the fish once I take it off the hook and really like releasing them. The 1.5 yr old is stubborn and won't let you help him hold the rod, unfortunately he also likes to throw the rod in the water once he gets a chance so we rigged him up with the broken reel, removed the hook, and made his bobber a pool noodle so we can retrieve the rod and do it all over again.