BigAngus752

We're gonna need to see some I.D., Tom. Passport will do.

Wow, that's a rough, and expensive, start to your trip! To be honest, though, I'm shocked at how well it turned out. I would never expect to even make it to the lake with all that trouble. I think you should have stopped for $100 in scratch offs.

AS you can see, this is half gone. Still, each time I get a pour of it I say "wow" out loud. It's astoundingly good.

^^^ East-central Illinois here. 3+ is a "good" fish. 4+ is a big fish. Most of my friends that are bass fishermen have a low to mid 6 as their PB. 7s are caught once or twice a year at most of our lakes.

We are blessed to be about 4hrs away so we can visit once a year. We are blessed to be AT LEAST 4hrs away or we would be broke and in poor health.

You're getting fantastic advice here. I'll add just a couple more small notes. Whatever the most prolific forage is, other animals feed on them also. If you see a bird doing some fishing you can also see what it's grabbing in the water. I see birds, minks, and snakes eating all the time. Also, don't get completely focused on the forage. One of my closest lakes has a huge population of gizzard shad and that is considered the primary forage. A shad-colored crankbait does wonders there. I also see the remains of crawfish on rocky banks in the mornings because raccoons dig them out of the rip rap all night long, so a jig is a great lure in the rocks. BUT, the #1 fish catcher at that lake is a green pumpkin Trick Worm. Why? No idea. But it's the hammer almost year round.

Heaven Hill for the wife and I. We love so many of their products and our household is split by the Larceny/Elijah Craig line (in fun because we both love both bourbons). Have you been to the distillery? I can tell you that Russell's 15yr is one of the best bourbons I've ever had in my life and they have a tasting at the distillery that includes the 15yr. They also sometimes have "gift shop-only" single barrels and the last time we were there the single barrel that they won't sell anywhere else was so good that I bought two of them. Outstanding! Nice work, man.

If I don't have a clue based on season, recent weather, etc. then I'll always start my plastic throwing with a Zoom Trick Worm. Usually I have a solid guess based on season, weather, water temp, and the lake itself because I've fished it a zillion times. Hottest water temps of the year I go straight to the Ol' Monster or Berkley Maxscent Kingtail. If I have no idea when I launch, it's the Trick Worm. No bites on that and I'm moving to a finesse worm or finesse craw.

This is me grocery shopping. I actually carry a 2.5lb bass with me anytime I'm in public. Just as a conversation starter.

Now that is living the dream!

Every boat is a bass boat if I brought a rod. Just have to throw moving baits on that one I guess.

I am blessed to have multiple lakes to choose from when I fish. I choose them based on wind direction as I think that's just about the most important daily environmental influence on my catch rate. Some lakes like the west wind, some east, some prefer north wind believe it or not. Almost all of them fish well on a south wind. South wind is the "go fishing" day for me.

^^^Be like Mike^^^ Love this stuff.

Blessed with a 4lb 2oz yesterday (no pic because it was bleeding and was released immediately) and a 4lb 1oz today! That's a great feeling, especially since I was only out for about 3.5hrs total for both days.

Well, I've never had any trouble backing my boat around or through anything but now I'm going to be trying to figure out what "triangles" I should be thinking about and jackknife it into a porta potty or something. 🫣

I can't even imagine a 4lb river smallie. The 1.5s that I catch in a river a short walk from my house are holy terrors on the end of the line. What an epic catch and a great story.

If it's upside down it's a female. At least that's the case at my house.

I'd go get in the 18 month-old girl's face and straight-up challenge her to a skipping contest with a baitcaster. That'll sort out the inept from the ept. 💪

I'm calling this a perfect day. What a beautiful spot.

It's an awful feeling...but still better than a day at work.

https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExeXM3bGhidmM0YjM1OGI2cm5zdGFsdmpjNm96N2NjajM0ZGxnM2QyYyZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/JRbKD3ICQsr0rCMsPA/giphy.gif A dream come true...

^^^this^^^ I can cast aerodynamic lures (like @WRB said) directly into the wind using a more moderate rod with a sidearm/roll cast very low to the water and making sure my thumb is skimming the spool 100% of the cast. I do not attempt to throw light lures or big spinners or anything that looks like a sailboat. Rarely have an issue AS LONG AS I follow my own rules.