Eric 26

Sending prayers your way ??

Nice fish, even nicer photo of the sweet looking pooch who appears to be saying “hey dad look at what I see”.

@fishhugger Glad to hear it’s working out for you ??

Check out “Fish Anything” on you tube. The guy is the owner of “mule jigs” and his content is pretty cool.

@fishhugger curious to see if you found anything to your liking yet?

Insert Illinois where it reads Alabama and I couldn’t have said it any better than this?

Search the internet for B&M rods, they have a huge variety made for crappie fishing.

I would steer you towards the med hvy rod with a 7.1:1 speed reel (Bantam mgl). Very versatile speed imho, as for line I would opt for 12-15 Suffix Advance Mono (co-polymer) just realize it’s pretty thick for it’s lb rating. I would also add some swim jigs with appropriate sized trailers as they can come through some pretty nasty environments.

First off don’t let the monkey hear you talking like that. There is always a need for new stuff that both you and the wife will need to try?. As far as knowing what your current gear would be good for I’m sure if you list what you have you’ll find plenty of help on here as far as putting it to good use. Good luck

One of my biggest regrets in life was and still is not taking more time to head to Navy Pier with my brother who passed away several years ago from a construction/work accident. He would go on weekends before dawn for the fisherman’s special parking rate in the fall/early winter months. The few times I went he would have to bring an anchor to crack the skim ice which was quite comical and he not so much me would proceed to put on a clinic catching them perch with minnows until you couldn’t feel anything in your entire body. He would fillet and freeze them in 1 gallon ice cream containers then in the summer my sister and younger brother with our families would meet at my parents house for a fish fry. I’m not a fish eater but my lord I could put away some perch ? Also if you want to see some truly amazing bluegills google “Sarah the closer Parvin” , she’s active on social media and “Outdoor Life” has a great on-line article on her and her dads work on raising some of the biggest gills you’ll see. They look like swimming platters with fins? She’s in the same state as @AlabamaSpothunter who between you and he are catching and posting more and way bigger bass in 1 week than I will all year?

I’m pretty fortunate that my favorite retention pond has a very healthy population of bluegills, what I mean by that is they’re not all dinks like the bass are. There are some decent crappies also which are a bit harder to find. Next time I’ll get some pictures showing their shoulders and healthy bellies. The water finally cleared up after a few weeks from the fall turnover, and although it’s clear you have way more water to fish in your video with those kick butt looking spots to boot ?

I just about spit coffee all over my phone screen?

I also went out today for a couple hours. Nothing big but fun none the less? I hit one on a spinner bait bait casting combo but he wasn’t photo worthy and everything else came on my 6’-8” BPS ultralight/Piscifun combo that I absolutely love. P.S thank you for understanding/laughing at my bait monkey content it was meant to be funny more than serious ?

Hello from New Lenox Illinois ?. You’ve definitely come to the right place for advice and knowledge, these folks are a true treasure trove of knowledge and without a doubt the most non judgemental folks I’ve had the pleasure of bantering back and forth with.

Love the video?? And as per usual you catch some of the prettiest bass I’ve ever seen. Keep up the great work.

Cue theme music from “Mission Impossible”…. Gentleman & Ladies, I don’t want to exclude ol’crickety I pulled off the almost impossible trifecta last night, Baits, Beer & Garage Gear ? It was a dangerous mission as I was with the better half (AKA the wife?) when the dreaded monkeys climbed on my back as I entered the local Wal Mart, but I was not to be stopped as I was a man on a mission. I deftly maneuvered the unavoidable “Do you really need any of this” question by going to the washroom before she could see that I put the jigs and tape measure under the giant box of taquitos for my son and his friends coming by for dinner tonight, and I used the “I’ll scan” the giant roll of toilet paper and paper towels where I sneakily placed my 12 pack of beer on the bottom of the cart?. Yes it was a dangerous mission but I pulled it off and I’m proud to say I’m ready and willing to try it again with crank baits and maybe just maybe soft plastics next time, wish me luck or send detailed plans on how to pull off my next mission ????

Holy crap!!! That Is one heck of a deal, although I don’t own either the rod or reel I do have a 13 fishing fate black spinning rod paired with a 13 fishing *** spinning reel I purchased on clearance a few years ago. Although the reel didn’t receive a lot of love (I looked after purchase) I’m extremely happy with the performance. I received the rod (Christmas present) after feeling the 13 fishing defy black rod in store and taking fellow member @bulldog1935 comments on his experience with his 13 fishing rod, albeit a different (higher priced point) model. I for one am interested to hearing what you personally think of the combo.

Thank you for sharing this story.

I remember when I was younger Dominick’s used to sell them in the seafood case. I used to make my mom take me by it so I could look at the live lobsters.

Sorry about that I guess I should have searched for it first ?

Just caught a video on my news channel about 2 walleye tournament anglers stuffing the fish with lead weights. The crowd definitely didn’t appreciate it. The video should be easy to find but warning the crowd is again passionate with quite a bit of colorful language being used? More curious than anything is this type of behavior happening in other tournaments?

Going to add 2 things in regards to the lures I mentioned. First this is the jig available by me and secondly the crank baits I mentioned the finish chips pretty easily so I think I’ve read clear nail polish should help if you’re banging rocks or branches quite a bit.

Forgot to add the house brand Ozark Trails crank baits and lipless crank baits from Wal-Mart, the crank baits run pretty true right from the package have decent/sharp eagle claw hooks and hit just the right depth to not get hung on weeds the whole time in the retention ponds I fish.

Out of posts for the day…so I’ll use this instead ??