Glaucus

You guys are making me appreciate living in the north. I've envied southerners for a long time because of your giant LMB. But then you talk about having never caught a SMB. Makes being able to catch 4-7lb LMB and 2-5lb SMB feel a bit better as you get both worlds.

I was taught to stop horsing them in with trebles once you know they're gonna jump. Works for me. Lost fewer fish.

Okeechobee and Fork self explanatory

Mostly fish ponds. Don't see autistic bass or dead floaters. They're animals. They're resilient. Caught a smallie at the river Monday that had a rusted hook in its throat and a foot of line hanging out of its mouth. Still swimmin, still eatin

Sometimes gotta drag a bass on to the bank, sometimes it shakes loose and flops on the carpet or grass, and I weigh them in any ole bag. Don't wet my hands to handle them. Here's where it gets crazy... I set the loose, and you never see them swimming in a circle or going belly up. Weird! Sigh

I work 6 days a week and have a wife and 4 kids. I get out for 4 hours every Sunday morning. Sometimes another 4 hours Sunday evening if I'm lucky. I'm going away for work for 8 days tomorrow, though, and it's gonna be near a smallie paradise so I'll be out all 8 days. Hope I remember to call home!

Try to keep your rod tip low to keep the fish down. Release pressure if one does jump with a treble.

Yes. When you figure out what a Senko is actually supposed to be, let us know. Until then we'll keep feeding it to them -- remaining completely clueless as to why they love it.

Shaky and weightless trig

Most important electronic to me is my phone to indicate lightning. That's it.

A fat whopping zero. I bank and kayak fish. When I'm on a boat, it belongs to a friend. He'll have electronics, but I don't pay attention to them. I'll fish where he takes us. The fun for me is locating fish on my own. Wading a river or reaching tough places in the yak. Hitting the right weedline in a pond. I spend so much time looking at screens at work and at home, that when I'm fishing, it's me, God, my rod and reel, the fish and the water. Unless I guess right right away, I'll catch a few here and there til I reach a spot where they're holding. And again that's the fun for me. Fishing is as much peace and outdoors and hiking and walking and wading and paddling and scenery as it is fishing itself. Don't need no stinkin screens to stare at.

I don't consider pressure when I fish. They're there, and they'll bite when you get it right. Every place I fish could be considered pressured. Just today I was at a small river at a known Smallmouth site. Got there and 2 people were already fishing and another showed up soon after. Threw the Ned Rig and caught 40+ Smallies.

Spinning Setup... Get some 10lb or 15lb braid. 10lb has the diameter of 2lb mono, and 15lb has the diameter of 4lb mono. Get some 6lb or 8lb fluorocarbon and use it as a leader. 6lb leader for 10lb braid, and 8lb leader for 15lb braid. Get some 4 inch Senkos. Get some 1/0 Gammy Octopus Circle Hooks for Wacky Rigging. Get some 2/0 Gammy EWG Hooks for Texas Rigging (rig Senkos weightless). Get some ZMan Finesse TRD Ned Rig plastics. Get some 1/20oz, 1/15oz, or 1/10oz ZMan Shroom Jigheads for the plastics. Throw Senkos in ponds, the Ned Rig in rivers and creeks, and both of them in lakes. You're going to catch a ton of bass, have a blast, and boost your confidence in your abilities.

Dunno if I posted this one yet. Not a remarkable Larry by any means, but hands down my favorite fish I've ever caught. This dude fought like a 3lb Smallie. Just unreal for a Larry. So it got me itching for Smallies. Went to the river today with the ole Ned Rig and put a whopping on them. Caught 40+. Mostly small. Different species called for a shave.

Depends on what you're trying to accomplish and the setting in which you fish.

Other than having your equipment prepared for the after catch procedures, it's also important to remain calm, cool, and collected. I used to rush and fumble around, thinking I was keeping the bass out too long. Ended up making the process take longer. Keep your composure and be methodical and you'll find that, although it may seem like an eternity, everything can be accomplished in under 30 seconds.

I like them more. You get to capture your personal expression as well. Congrats on the fish.

I love catching bass. I don't like being the jerk that makes someone feel bad, however. The little wave was an unnecessary insult to a guy who wasn't even rude to you.

The main reason I'd not want a leader with 10lb braid is that I can't go with less than 8lb fluoro leader. Tying 8-10lb to 2lb diameter seems like asking for trouble??

Did it turn?

I knew I'd seen LunkersTV from somewhere before.

Bass fishing is what taught me that carp jump out of the water. Slow learning. Probably spent a couple days of my life trying to get bass to bite to suddenly learn it was carp all along.

Big bass or carp. Be surprised how much ruckus either one can make.

I use 15lb braid to an 8lb fluoro leader on my spinning setups. However I'm thinking of going down to 10lb braid and using no leader. The water I generally fish isn't super clear, and at 2lb diameter, a leader seems unnecessary. My question is, if I use 10lb straight braid, will I have a problem with the shock, or will I be fine? One of the benefits of a leader with braid - as we know - is shock absorption. I'm unsure if such light braid will have a shock issue.

If you're taking big bass from a small pond, shame on you. If you're taking huge stringers of bass from a small pond, shame on you. Legal doesn't always = moral. Rivers and lakes usually produce in abundance and I generally don't feel any sort of way about it. But it's easy to decimate a pond. And then it becomes selfish.