hunterPRO1

Technique specific rods, for most techniques, aren't that much better than the classic 7'MH. The exceptions to this in my experience are frogging, flipping, cranking, large swimbaits, and finesse. For those things your equipment can make or break you.

Depends on bait. frog or jig? gotta hit em hard. Jerkbait, crankbait? be careful to only use enough pressure to penetrate without tearing a hole. Everything else is somewhere in between.

Anything over 30 seconds is too long, especially in summer and winter. Catch, Weigh, put back in the water for 15-30sec, pictures for 30 seconds, then release. You hold your breath for 2-4 minutes heifer, go ahead I'll wait.

golden shiner

I would call myself a 7 at times when I get to fish a lot and a 5 or 6 when I'm out of practice. This year I definitely feel like a 7, I fished 5 small local tournaments for the first time and averaged in the top 25% and came within half an inch of winning one. I've started to fish offshore more and catch fish on deep brush and structure that I never would have found before. I've started paying attention to thermocline which is something I never thought about until this summer. I've fished paradise PFA about 15 times this year and have not been skunked once, which is hard to do on such a pressured place.

"You don't need another rod!" -Nagging Heifer, 2023.

Because 80 is too stiff and I have broken 50 before.

I've never heard much about Talquin, but a friend of mine caught a 7 and a 9 on the same day out of Miccosukee last year. It's a really thick grass lake 30-40 minutes east of Talquin.

Dottie actually died multiple years after that picture. That picture is from March of 2006. Dottie was found in May of 2008. Dottie first weighed over 20 pounds when mike long caught (probably intentionally snagged) her in April of 2001 and she was 20.75. That fish weighed over 20 pounds for 7 years, anyone who says that fish died of anything other than old age is wrong.

Time on the water is the most important thing. More specifically time on the right water, in the right areas, with the right lures. Choosing the right body of water is the most important part, you can't catch what isn't there. Clear Lake and the Cal Delta obviously have big fish, they both put out many double digit fish each year. So, you are in the right body of water, I don't believe there is a change that needs to be made there. However, research on which lakes in your area are putting out the most or biggest fish never hurts. Both the California Delta and Clear Lake are world-renowned fisheries that get a lot of pressure. Because of that smaller, lesser-known bodies of water may actually have a better chance of yielding a big fish. Then you need the right area, big fish tend to congregate, and a lot of time schooling fish will be divided by size and bigger fish will stay with bigger fish and small with small. This holds true even for fish that prefer to stay tight to cover and ambush their prey. Bass are somewhat territorial and many times a large bass will not tolerate a smaller one in its school, or on the same piece of structure. Take notes of which areas seem to have the best combination of forage, cover, and depth range. Also remember what fish you catch in each area and their sizes, even if you aren't catching giants this can still give you a hint as to which area has more sizeable fish. If you catch 50 1-3 Lb fish in an area but none larger than that, then that is likely an area full of smaller fish that size. Likewise, if you catch multiple fish over 3, 5, or 7lbs in an area, then that area likely holds more fish of that size range or larger, as fish in that size range are more able to compete with a larger bass. Catching numbers does not always mean you are in a good area, in any given place there is a specific amount of prey for the bass, smaller fish take up less forage and there can be more of them competing for the same food source. In a spot dominated by larger-sized fish, there will be fewer of them because it takes more food to support each individual fish. As for lure selection, you generally want to match the overall size, shape, and color of your lure to whatever the forage is. In some lakes, the primary forage will be different for different sizes of fish. One prime example is the trout-stocked lakes in your state. Once fish became large enough to eat those trout, that became the primary food source instead of shad, shiners, minnows, crawfish, or panfish. A similar thing happens in ponds near where I live, bass will get large enough that minnows are no longer worth the effort to catch, and they begin eating a diet mostly composed of golden shiners over 5 inches long. They choose the shiners over bluegill because of the lack of dorsal spines, and their fragility as opposed to bluegill. Those are the same traits that make trout so attractive to bass in Cali, they are a large meal that doesn't put up too much fight and is easy to swallow. Large gizzard shad are another species worth mimicking, especially in the dog days of summer and middle of winter when they commonly have major die-offs and big bass will gorge themselves on dying gizzard shad.

Thats what scupper holes are for.

5'6 OG Ugly stick and a zebco 733 with 20lb Cajun. My PB Bass was caught on that setup.

You're going to be using it for a while then I've used one on my main frog/flip setup with braid for the last 8 years and it's still going. I've broken 3 rods with that reel.

I have two reels from Lew's First is a spinning reel that locked up and wouldn't turn in 6 months. The other is an LFS speed spool that is a great reel, except the eye of the level-wind damages my line. I'm not paying the shipping to return something that's under warranty, and they refuse to send me a level-wind assembly, so I refuse to buy another reel from Lew's. my Shimano and Diawa reels all still work. I don't know if the customer service for either is better than Lew's because I haven't had a reason to find out yet.

Bluetooth earbuds.

Seventeen Years... holy.

Just gives you a more fine-tuned choice to get exactly what you want. In reality, we could all just forget almost everything except for 7'mh/f casting and 7'm/f spinning and still catch 85 to 90% of the fish we are catching right now. But that last 10% is oh so tempting.

Savage Gear Pulse Tail LB Shiner Swimbaits - Tackle Warehouse they also make a line-thru in 5 and 7 inches if you would rather have that.

Yum dinger in watermelon redflake and Junebug.

65 degrees stands out to me here, if it's spring and they are likely on bed, and I would probably be fishing shallower than 7 feet. I would be using a beaver bait in a green pumpkin or otherwise bluegill like color, and I would pair that with the lightest weight that allowed me consistent bottom contact, probably 1/4-3/8. In the fall probably a senko style bait in Junebug or white, the lightest weight that allowed consistent penetration, likely 3/16 or 1/4oz. Generally the answer to what size weight is the lightest one that will do the job. However, on occasion a heavier weight will help the fish find the lure in muddy water as opposed to spooking them.

thats pretty funny, but nothing will ever top the signs that say to not use the urinal upside down

that's entry fees, the cost of gas, time not working, etc. went from the cost of driving a few hundred miles 3 times a year and using up a few vacation days, to suddenly having to drive all over the entire eastern U.S. and take up 9 full weeks. no one is getting enough sponsors to cover that for a second tier series. Anyone looking to get into tournament bass fishing is now going to go with mlf plain and simple, bass just shot themselves in the foot if you ask me. There's a HUGE difference between affording a boat and your entry fees for a weekend of tournament fishing 3 times per year, and being able to dedicate 9 entire weeks a year (truthfully more for practice) to drive across the entire country for just a second-class tournament trail that no one really cares about outside of the competitors themselves.

topwater frog (multiple 7-8.5 lb fish) and a green pumpkin jig (couple in the 7lb range) were my number one producers this year as usual, with a 7.5lb ned rig fish last month to round it out. An honorable mention, I lost a potential double digit fish because of a failed leader knot. this happened fishing a dropshot with a 3" white grub.

30 or 40 pound braid for all around bait casting use.