TnRiver46

Nice smallmouth @Hawg - Wild, did yesterday's rain stain the water down there at all?

When I slow troll I let out as much line as I can get away with. Always err on the side of too much line out, that’s why they call it longlining. Might try some of that myself before the super bowl, have some crappie appetizers for the party

I didn't catch a largemouth that big all of last year that I can recall. Excellent first bass of 2018

Every situation is different but here is one case study: on the Tennessee River (the part in east Tennessee anyway) you can keep 5 smallmouth 18” and up year round. There are bass tournaments, several a week, year round. People can eat them off the beds, weigh them in, mount them, use them for live bait, anything that’s not classified as wanton waste. And we still have an extremely healthy population of smallmouth of all age classes. Not saying that can or will work anywhere or everywhere, but wildlife survival is ALL about habitat. And habitat is almost all about food

They teach us about how animals evolved and adapted and then make a statement like that about trout!!! They don’t even believe what they are saying, one way or another. From what I see working with wildlife everyday, most species are extremely resilient

Only got one yesterday but I'll take it! Did a little bank fishing after work

That's an awesome photo. I bet a rodent died moments later

I always get a decent one or two on a gulp minnow there on Cherokee. But I definitely fish the lower end

I'm 73 inches at 33 yrs........I also consider bass sacred like @Oregon Native but I consider killing and eating animals sacred as well. It takes a whole village I reckon! I don't eat small mouth often but if I'm standing on the deck of the boat holding one and my girlfriend isn't cooking dinner that night, the economically sound decision is to eat the fish in your hand instead of throwing it back only to go buy a fish from china. At least for a po boy like me

Usually the contrast got turned down. Power button brings up a menu and brightness is at the top. Might need a flahslight

They work great until you hit a boat dock or rip rap with them in mid air. Then you're out $6.99

I use whatever color you call this for all around. Blue mirror for super bright low humidity days in winter

Works great until the rope snaps. Or it's windy and heavy current and the boat blows sideways onto a bunk. I've had one of my lesser experienced friends hold the rope while I backed the truck down. Everything went fine and I parked the truck only to walk down the ramp and see him holding the rope with the boat blown sideways onto the bank getting pounded by waves with the lower unit in rip rap ABOVE the waterline. Even a motor trimmed all the way up is not safe. What do you use the bed cover for and can you walk on it? Muck Boots can be your friend

Beat me to it. Bring a purple rattle bait through a ball of threadfin and you better hang on!

Saw the eagle while driving the truck today, not the boat. I'm guessing I see one 80-90 percent of the times I fish. And I fish a lot

Auger? Unless y'all are all night fishing you can fish and then watch the game

I try to fish shallow in a situation like that but I stay at 20-30 ft almost year round. It's my comfort zone apparently

Right here. Took this pic today actually. There is not a single house "on" this lake and Most of the land around it belongs to Uncle Sam. I don't think I can live on this lake but we have a family house on the next one downstream! Some guys have all the luck

I haven't! I can see my lure and fish on the graph but they have never actually bit it while I watched the graph. I have marked fish and then caught them by backing off and casting to them though. Also what happens sometimes is I catch a fish, maybe two, then look down at the graph and see elongated arches

Got some nice perch, a trout, a walleye, and 4-5 smallmouth. A few fell to a fly rod w/ sinking line

Congrats! That's a fatty! I got a 24" bass once that I think was about 8lbs, had a bloody tail and I guessed had already spawned out. It was extremely beat up

Nice fish! Not making the cut with a 17 lb limit on day 2? Dang. Must have been some big fish brought in! Very impressive catch regardless of placement

Nice bass @Team9nine!

I have been using 8# pline and getting them

A good way to find them can be trolling crankbaits digging into the sand, I catch them pretty good using this tactic with water temps 47 degrees and up, usually trolling around 2 mph. The amount of water you can cover is amazing