thediscochef

I'm primarily targeting other bass at the unnamed place with limited success, mostly in the riprap. I'm usually on my way somewhere else and just haven't had the time to explore. Both of those lakes have some excellent channel swings and flats to pick from though, seems like an amazing place to have a boat. I think they're both overlooked for what they are. and I feel ya, I'm a little more guarded with my ray roberts locations these days but my best spot is the most pressured area on the lake LOL

sometimes you just gotta gripe loud enough and the fish will respond, I have experienced this phenomenon several times. Gotta use different swears each time though or it doesn't work. Nice work!

I know exactly where this is, my uncle was gonna build a house on the edge of the CoE land on the north arm of the lake. He lost to cancer before it was finished. He and my dad used to fish there a ton when we lived in an appropriate part of the state to do so. When I pass through I always stop around the lower marina. Tough bite there, but some pretty cool stuff to be caught. I for sure stand by my love of flats with nearby depth changes at this location

Meet Tom's friend, Bob Clownaround. Old friends from Lollygag Senior High ? That would be a big turn off for me. Maybe this makes me a wimp, I don't know. I'm there to fish. I'm not really much for s-talk to begin with, I get on a boat maybe four times per year in a good year and I don't really want to deal with that in the time that I am paying for. I get that being on the water 30+ days in a row during season can be exhausting and dealing with people's mistakes is frustrating. I get it. Pulling 12 hour days on a movie set for 20 straight days isn't nearly as fun, I would trade my job for guiding any time. But kindness and the experience can make or break a job or a trip - I fished like crap at Toledo Bend but the guide I was with made me want to go back out with him as soon as I can. The difference was the guide. I have some performance anxiety on boats in general since I rarely get on them, but I still outfish my bank self

Naw he's holding some tournament winning walleye if I ever saw some

I focus on one lake because of where I'm at. A 27,000 acre reservoir is less than 25 minutes from me and there's a handful of bank spots that produce year round. I usually pick based on time of day, wind direction, and season. I catch probably 90% of my fish in the same 50 acre zone. It gets really boring this time of year when fishing shallow isn't so productive and I'm stuck to the fishing pier and riprap, but I catch plenty big ones. It's kind of a grind. I will likely never afford a bass boat of any kind, guides are expensive, and I didn't want to wait my whole life to catch a decent largemouth. So it's a matter of finding a spot with the most potential, and learning the snags well enough to stop burning a $20 bill on baits every trip

these are probably the areas I'd be looking at. probably the point with the fish marker too. But I so greatly love a flat with a dropoff

Those are tough stretches, I went through that a lot last year and a little bit this year. Mostly during jerkbait season last year, which got pricey. It'll happen less as time goes on but it does still hurt. I hope you land on better fishing soon, with less lure loss. Nice spoon work you do though, I've never caught a bass on a spoon It's pretty much Ray Roberts or Texoma for me most of the time. Once in a while I make my way down to Whitney and PK. Being on the shore, I prefer the lakes with state parks. Less $ and higher security. I've wanted to stop at stillhouse sometime, I know it's been hittin pretty good this year. I'm lucky that the only really notable Hog Farm that's more than 2-3 hours drive is Ivie. And it's a zoo in its own right these days lol

It's been on fire for a while now, a buddy booked us with our usual Ray Bob guide for late October. Fingers crossed we land on a fatty. If it weren't 2+ hours away I would be there more

Went to PK for an evening of stargazing with my lady, decided to toss a lipless off the 'pier' for a bit, ended up with this little dude. Mission accomplished.

I have like 4 of these and I like them pretty good

They sure can, I've had some snap me off. They get big enough and pull hard enough that any jolt or thrash they make can snap a line if your drag isn't set perfectly

Heck yeah I love old threads I have basically nothing to add, LM are tough as nails and incredibly adaptable, it's what makes them such an effective invasive species. Holding vertically seems to be just fine. I've never worried about the integrity of their jaw after I get pics. But yall see how I hold them. No bendy, no angle. Just vertical bass. If a bass isnt in the larger class for its water, it's ideal to hold them horizontally in oil with your favorite seasoning. Trying this vertically may cause problems

Bourbon, and that's a cash-only trip for me, sir ??

I believe it may have smelled similar LOL I'll get another one but with the zowire hooks those things are like 10 bucks

Well I blanked a few times since the last big girl I posted here. Got on some today. Started the day looking at the east side of the lake but it was chop city. Went west which was a much more pleasant place to cast, but lacked in the fish. Went back east and found a big school of sandies off the pier. Lost a nice spotted bass at the bank. Oof. The sandies went off deep and so I started scouting a bite on the other side of the pier. Made a very similar cast that caught the 7-5 earlier this week, and hooked into a PB flathead. 13lb 5oz. Inhaled the exact same lipless as the big bass. I gave the catfish to a very nice family that was out fishing for a fry and kept fishing. Caught the tiny spotted bass. Then snapped the lure off on a rock. RIP PB machine. You will be replaced immediately. Then I forgot to dig out the snag in my spool and snapped off my other 3/4oz red eye shad on its first ever cast. What a roller coaster. I'm gonna take a shot, wait an hour, and then go to bass pro. Lol

Congrats, y'all! ???

I have a couple mojo yaks and I love them. Can't speak for the dobyns but the mojo yaks I've used have all been dynamite and ridiculously sensitive. I'm a sucker for purple gear too lol

I have a buddy who almost exclusively uses BB...I just can't find the same success. But I do agree. It's not as talked about as maybe it should be

Too bad they don't come out of the water with fries next to em

That happened to me back in December at a pond in Houston, TX. Probably was a massive bass. I had my drag cranked and that was that. Every once in a while the fishing gods like to give us a reminder to check and re-check our stuff - drag, knots, abrasion, hooks, etc. It's been like nine months and I still haven't forgotten the sensation, the entire 10 seconds still replays in my head like a bad movie if I haven't caught anything in a while

I haven't had a good topwater day in a while, those are so much fun. and I feel you with the gut hooking thing, I'd rather blank than have to deal with that on a decent fish

I think that the fisherperson who finds their peace and calm the fastest probably has us all beat in the skill department. In terms of catching fish though...it's about consistency to one thing or another. But the only real measure to me is consistency.

Making lemonade from the lemons, as it were. Nice!! I've never caught a fish on my s waver

Thank you! I'm still buzzing about it. I caught this one at a weird time, about 20 minutes after sunset on a cast angle I'm sure I've made before but typically avoid for...really no good reason at all. Not sure why I don't make that cast more. And most of the time, I have a dead zone from the time the sun dips until about 10PM. Weird. I got onto the end of the rocks at the Ray Roberts fishing pier, casting parallel with the bank about 10-15 yards from the shoreline. The entire area is creek bed that has been built up with rip rap, goes from either side of the boat ramp and then opens up into a 20-30 foot zone. So I decided to make the RES look like it was going out into deeper water with this cast relating to the pier. It's about a 60 yard cast, lands just barely up into the creekbed. Just a slow rolling retrieve, I believe about 2 feet above the rocks, through the mouth of the creek and out into the deeper zone. And then WHAM. Big bite after about 15 yards. But it rushes towards me, and I also begin to realize that I messed with my drag while I was untangling myself from other people's snapped off lines. It was loose. I didn't get a great hookset. But me being me, I had just replaced the hooks not even two hours earlier with owner STX38 size 2. I clicked down the drag just enough to fight the fish without worrying about my line (thank you sufix elite, very cool!) and that's when we started getting jumps. First jump was probably 30 yards out, second one was about 10 (and gave me just enough of a visual to have a second adrenaline rush), the third jump was maybe ten feet from me, and the last jump was me out of the water with a fish ? as I went to lip her, the wet rocks I stepped onto decided that friction was just too much, and I got about thigh high into the water. My leg is very sore today. As I pulled her out I saw that the lipless was deep in the mouth, which always sets off my alarm bells for bleeding/gills. I did nick one, but I didn't get a bunch of barbs in her somehow - only one that was just ahead of the gills. I did my best to make the process quick, I had my hands on her for less than a minute and she got to breathe while I turned on the scale. She swam off a little slowly but never had issues staying upright, I think she'll be OK. Probably the fattest 7lb I've caught yet, I don't hardly cheer or holler when I get a nice fish, but a Bank PB is worthy. Still working on that 7-10 boat PB, but I feel like I'm inching closer to that.