Functional

those are some heiffers !!

@NeroXyn Interesting fish, almost looks like it has a prominent spot where a bluegill has theirs. I know they are in the same family but I'm not sure I've seen that on a bass before.

timely topic. I typically have to have a really good day to get bass thumb. The two LMB I got over the weekend though were enough to draw blood. Both bass were caught in heavy weeds on a drop off and very rocky just outside the weeds. Cant be sure there were or werent crawfish but with the rocks i'd imagine there had to be. The lake does have them but also a good bluegill and shad population. I've pulled near 10 spots out of the same lake in a day and hardly any roughed up skin.

does not work on my laptop. cleared cache, history, everything.

shocked no one has any experience/input on this rod! Figured out its a first gen PA. Fished it with a 1/4oz jig and blue gill bites are incredible, same with feeling the bottom composition. Put a shimano mgl SLX on there and with 15lb inviz-x and the combo fits my hand like a glove, honestly its an incredible feel. I'm liking the 6'10 length and seem to be more accurate with it. Have not hooked into a fish yet to see how she fights but looking forward to it.

FINALLY got out on the water in my home state for the first time since June. We've had some cool nights in the 50s and water temps dropped 5-7 degrees from summertime averages and thought they might be working into fall behavior. Only had maybe 3hrs of actual fishing but figured it out in the last hour.... they are still summer pattern here. White swim jig was the ticket. 2.5lb 4lb

I dont think I've ever caught a bass with a trailer on a spinner or chatterbait. Not sure I even got any hits when using a trailer hook. Im the same breath I HAVE to have some kind of trailer on the spinnerbait. I get short strikes if not using one, odd...because the trailer hook would help here but cant get the strikes with it.

Ok, went in to look for $5 nocks for my arrows at my local honey hole and they had a Poison Adrena (2 actually) sitting on the used rack. The one I bought is a 6'10" MH ($100) and the one I left behind is a 6'6" MH ($150, claimed was practically new) as well as a 6'10" MH Zodias (first gen, $80). I know PAs are pretty nice rods and for $100 I figured worst case it cant be any worse than my MH Victory rod and would be nice to have a shorter rod for the times I go out on a kayak. Thinking of running my really light jigs like bitsy bugs, ned rigs and lighter shaky heads, etc. on this but looking for any info on this particular rod. Also, have there been different generations of PAs and any defining features? I was pretty pressed for time and had maybe 10 minutes to do a quick search, again figured for $100 i couldnt screw up too bad. Pic below of the handle, I can get other pics if needed later. Also...I got a little excited and forgot the nocks I originally went in there for....

my home "lake" is technically a a river that is partially damed off so we get similar conditions (not quite as high of a level swing as that though) and the only way I have found to catch fish is a white spinner bait with big silver willow blades. I'll do what you did and try up stream and in cleaner pockets and try to figure out where the "muddy" vs "less muddy" line is and fish cover around there. Very tough conditions honestly....most times I'll stay home and wait for it to clear up in the feeder streams.

anytime I have floating debris and there is a topwater bite I'll bring my lure to within 6" to 1' of a thicker patch and do my best to just twitch it in place slowly. Tend to have more success than reeling in and getting fouled 1/4 of the way back and losing any action. Beautiful Fish though! And like A-Jay said its easy to throw in the towel but sticking it through gives you some nice fish int he end!

5k is nearly half the cost of my entire Tracker 175 I bought new in 2013. I'll sell everything and get a hobie/Old TOwn before I pay 5k for a trolling motor.

Definitely expected to see a broken rod after that title! Reading comprehension at school was only average ?. Really nice patterns on those smallies though! Also, learned about a new fish...never in my life heard of a pikieminnow. Had to google it.

Best I give out to anyone but my father and brother in law is color and bait profile. I'll typically say it's been tough to pin them down but when they bite its on "x type lure and color". Can't trust one one. My one exception is a parent with kid(s). I'll generally help them out much more than most people. Still need to judge the dynamic and adults temperament but on average they get more info. Edit: I don't have friends I can't trust and won't be a **** about sharing spot info. Also the reason I can count the amount of friends I have on one hand. Quality over quantity any day.

Booked our 5year anniversary trip for 3 days in Charleston SC for mid October. Neither of us have been there, we are driving so we'll have a car. We aren't staying right in the middle of the hot spot area but we'll be 5-10min outside of it. Any recommendations on must do things or places to eat? My wife is kind of looking for one good ghost tour and we do plan to hit the aquarium.

Im gunna say 4.5ish @Catt ? Just based on how far your fingers wrap on that fish holding it. I feel like most my 4ish lb bass my hand looks similarly placed.

Im with most, long fish but doesnt have that fat on her. Id say solid 5 possibly could push to 6ish. EDIT: really nice fish though!

You wont need his gear after the first backlash with these...just tell him its fine you brought your own pole. In all honesty I never thought about having to "perform" in front of a guide but now I'm nervous if I ever hire one ? Thanks DB.

@ol'crickety she is by far my favorite as well and quite honestly the only one I still watch. She puts her little plugs in with the baits she uses but its a quick mention IN her story and the bait isnt THE story. Really interesting to watch her fish and her strategies. I was due for a good skunking, I havent had a "bad" day on the water in over a year so I can live with this. Agreed on seeing both sides, not everything works and you learn from it. My take away is when my nephews couldnt pull a bluegill out of the lake with worms and a bobber that should have been my que to pick up and find another pond ?. They fished for 3 days off 4 different docks and only pulled 2 fingerling trout.

To close this out... Fished the last day and caught 2 more pickerel. Hit some isolated lily pad clumps and pulled them out. After the PA vacation we went to my inlaws in NY for a bridal shower for 2 days. I was sitting around and my wife just says "why dont you go fishing here?". Not sure why but I never even thought of it, so in 10 minutes from that I was on my way to a 150 acre pond I used to fish growing up. Only got to go out for 3 hours but pulled in 11ish fish. Kind of lost count around that 10 mark but it was definitely over 10. All small but it was nice knowing I didnt lose all my skill ?. Also proved to me that my Keitech FATs are basically a 1 and done plastic on small fish, went through a pack and half in those 3 hours. 2 odd catches I've never done in my life. I had a bad wind knot get reeled back up into my spool (braid) and I didnt catch it, had a horrible birds nest and picked it out, stripped line until it was fresh and cut it. I must not have gone back far enough because on my next hookset the line snapped. Saw the fish jumping because it was tangled up in some pads so i started to row over and noticed my line sitting on the top of the water. Pulled it in and pulled the fish and my lure up on the other end! Not 10 minutes later the exact same thing happened only the fish wasnt hung up in pads. I had to chase the tag end of my line to catch the swimming fish! Pulled it in and had a fine release. After that I put the rod down and now im picking up new braid for it today. It was only 1 season old 30lb PP Slick. Thinking of going to 40lb this time. Anyway, was hoping to have a more eventful log of this but here we are. Still a good time on the water and vacation with the family.

Kept the skunk off! Not the way I wanted but more in a minute. Was greeted by this guy first thing in the morning. Tons of them running around here getting me excited for bow season next month. was on the water by 9, nothing earth shattering but with 5 kids and 9 adults it's been tough to get out earlier. Day was 90% of the time overcast with a light wind, started chilly at 65deg from a cold front and a storm rolling in this evening through tomorrow. Hit the overspill and a lot of shoreline like this: Chatterbait, swim jig and horny toad with zero luck. Threw on a 4" zoom super fluke with a 3/32oz belly weighted hook and was at least getting nibbles (suspect blue gill). I'd hit all the transitions from hard bottom to soft, clearings in weed growth and and weeds that jutted out from the typical with no luck. Got blown into the shore switching from a jig to a wacky rig and decided to fish the paddle tail from deep to shallow and hooked into my only fish....a tiny pickerel. worked that strategy and even went further off shore to try and get deeper weed patches but this was all the lake gave me. Talking to one of the community workers he said it's not really big on bass and they stock it with trout routinely but it's been known to have bass, pike, pickerel and blue gill. My hopes aren't too high now but I'll give it one more day before I start branching out to some other ponds/lakes. I hate having a body of water beat me. Open to suggestions if yall have any!

Ok. For a series of reasons I only got out for about 3 hours today and got completely skunked. Was super windy and made it hard to fish slow. Was running a chatterbait, spinner, frog and swim jig hoping to at least get a hit to drop the anchor and pick apart an area. Storm was blowing all around so possibly contributed to the shut down bite. Worked a jig, creature and senko around and under docks too with zero nibbles. Learned there is about 3 layers of weed/open from the shore working out. Also got a tip down by the overspill was productive for one guy. Not a soul out fishing except me and the other guy so we got our pick of areas. Tomorrow I plan to hit the over spill and see how she goes.

I'm with @detroit1, I'll throw a frog as soon as I get on the water and if it leaves a good bubble trail its going to be an excellent day for frogs/top water. If its flat then odds are top water is not the lure to use. This rules is less important during dark and dusk hours. @ol'crickety : trys to stay humble and say she doesnt have great knowledge. Crickety 2 deconds later: drops a pic of a 5+lb bass ? Seriously though I'm going to have to try an approach with the dinosaurs. Historically if I see one at an area I plan to fish I'll target right where they are. Always read they are feeding on bait fish (which they do) and bass should be near by. My record thinking back on it isnt high though around them. Might have to try the out skirts of those dinosaurs if I'm fishing their area.

Welp, wife's family (I guess mine too!) vacation is in the Poconos this year and we drive up Saturday. We'll be staying until Friday evening I believe and the house has access to 2 small "lakes" (I believe private to the community). I believe the main one I'll be fishing is only 1.5 miles long and I'll be in a 10' kayak. Figured I'd start a log of the adventures! I'll be limiting myself to 2 rods below. I'll be bringing along some 12# red label in case it's needed on the braid rod. -Diawa 7'3" Kage MH-F: Lews speed spool w/ 30lb (maybe 40?) Pp slick -Shimano 7'2" Expride MH-F: Diawa tatula SV w/ 17lb defier armilo Packed light in terms of tackle, small Plano filled with jigs, tiny Ned rig kit, spinners, chatters, frogs, a jerkbait, medium diving crank, wake bait and a walking bait. An assortment of plastics and a small weight/hook box. Probably could have slimmed down more on color choices but I could fit it in my bag so it's coming. Bobber and tiny hooks for the kids. Any way, more of a journal for me to see how a Yankee turned d**n Yankee does back up in a northern lake! May drop in the susky for some smallies and attempt a musky if I can get the green light from my wife for the day!

i get the recommendation for those safety devices...but in a 12ft jon boat that gets swamped hed be lucky that stuff stays in the boat if it was strong enough to rip him out. Moral of the story should be plan properly and use the right vessel for the body of water, not "dont give up". I kind of hate articles like these because they dont address the stupidity, they want to make it glamorous that he didnt give up in unfavorable conditions/odds. If he wasnt dumb he wouldnt have been in that situation. Might come off harsh, I'm glad hes fine but come on...

I wish I had your luck! Same exact hook I use, tried hooking a lot of nose, a little nose, super glue, toothpick trick...nothing. Might get 1 fish better with one of them but typically its 1-2 fish and its in the wacky pile.