AlabamaSpothunter

Time on water is absolutely everything. Being on the actual water and just exploring trumps even the greatest resource in print or online. What is your level of commitment, the more committed you are, the better results you're going to have. For example, if you are fishing 4-5x weekly, you are fully committed and should be seeing the results. If you are only going a couple times a month, how can you expect to have your hand on the pulse of the fishery. Being on the water and believing in yourself enough to keep throwing a bait is the only thing I got.

1000%, doesn't change the fact that big Bass are extraordinarily hard to catch.....but they simply aren't intelligent organisms. Big Bass are very rare to start off with. Bob Lusk has some fantastic insight into this topic. I slap junk off my lure every time out, and when I find active fish, they are literally jumping right beside the boat because I put myself right in the middle of them. They are completely oblivious to me when they are fired up chasing Shad, much like a Buck chasing a Doe.

Awesome! What did she weigh?

She'll turn up friend, and if she doesn't that would be my line in the sand. Yeah that's the first time I thought this is a terrifying animal.

I remember the first time we took my best friend's dad's 911 Targa for "speed trials", we'd take turns trying to get our new high speed, and we'd reach 150mph in the blink of an eye, however from 150 to 173 it was like waiting for eternity. Ivie is incredible, but it just puts in perspective how truly epic SoCal and the fish it produced were during its heyday.

I saved this image for you when I saw it.....first thought was "Bob is gonna blow a gasket over it" ?

***monkey noises whispered softly into a caressed ear

Lol, that darn tactical crank is one of the few baits I've bought because of Matt and Tim that hasn't delivered in a major way. I've perhaps fished that bait more than any other one this winter without catching a single fish or getting a bite. I think ole' Jones and the Ivie crew using mainly the odd Swim jig config. or occasional A-rig is a big key to catching them it seems. He talked about it in a recent interview IIrc.

I threw the Flashboost all through the fall, and then downsized to the 110 jr+1 for depth and to better match the size of winter Shad in my homelake during the start of winter. I'd consider the Shimano WM a fullsized Jerk. A bit longer than a 110 IIrc. When these fish have been pushing shallow after a week of warm weather, I've broken out the 110jr. It has to be a matter of time until Shimano comes out with a junior size, and at that point I might just go with Shimano all the time. The hooks are stronger and stupid sharp. The finish is more durable it seems as well. Like a 110, it's so beautiful out of the box you hate catching that first fish on it lol.

That's the main reason I want it, I want to be able to throw a bait on fish I currently easily find on downscan/clearvu, but outside of something like dropping a Damaki rig on them, I'm not getting a picture of their feeding posture. That said if bait is very close by, and especially if you see the fish suspended among bait, those fish are usually catchable I've finally discovered even in very deep water. I want to know how to lure the inactive or nuetral fish lingering in 25-30ft of water.

Yoing Yoing flats and then the deep water where they then pull back too has been paying off well for me these last two weeks. Fall rate is always important on the Yo Yo retreive, so have a few different weight options. I find regardless of the moving bait, the faster it drops on the Yo Yo, the better results. The TN70s fall like a rock and that's what has been working for me. Burning a trap is another common successful retrieve, but to me I just have to impart some action into my bait's retrieve.

Exceptional in every regard except options particularly +1 junior sizes. Has a great perfectly level suspension to it, and the flashboost seems to really work. They throw about as well as the 110 series as well. The colors aren't as catchy even though the flashboost is. Something about MegaBass paintjobs ?

You gonna clean the drool on my keyboard bub? ? Once you get hooked on the Flashboost and 110s, it's hard to buy others even though many great ones exist. I buy way too many Jerkbaits, but not enough yet to invest in an awesome setup like that.

I can't say for certain, but you can see that the smaller one in the first pic has lost one side, whether that was a drop, or lost earlier from a fight or something else who knows. We have this weird thing in Alabama where our population is made up of native and non-native populations that all rut at different times. Just two weeks ago that same buck was chasing a single or pair of Does every time I saw it, now it's co existing like it might be over. Unraveling Alabama’s Rut(s) (buckmasters.com) “There are several oddball areas. If you look on the map and check the (color-coded) dots, you’ll see where the deer came from. You’ll see deer from Wisconsin or Texas and where they were placed throughout the state. Even though it’s been 50 or 60 years ago, the rut still mirrors the basic genetics of that deer herd. So there are isolated pockets in Alabama, unlike any other place in the nation where I’ve worked, where you’ve got deer rutting in November, December, January and February. You’ve got months that, depending on where you are in the state, you can hunt the rut. “If I’m managing property in Illinois or Ohio, you’ve got two weeks you can hunt the rut, and then you may have two weeks with a small secondary rut. In Alabama, in some places, you can hunt part of the rut four months out of the year. It’s unlike any other place in the country.”

I see this big fellow several times a week. The whole herd had just swum easy 500yds and then I snapped the pic once they grouped back up on the bank.

That's a sweet setup you're packing, love how it's all organized and mobile.

@TNRiver46 I was informed the way to tell the difference is Gizzards have their mouths towards the bottom, that Shad looks like a Gizzard to me the way TNRiver46 explained the two to me. This was gonna be my second argument for why that's a Gizzard, I saw your location. Those threadfins should have started to die off once the waters fell below 45-50d

I use my Zillion HD for 1.5-4oz A-rigs and big Swimbaits......couldn't ask for anything more including line capacity. Running high end Fluoro allows me to pack plenty of 17 or 20lb on it for my needs. I'm not glidebaiting in super clear waters making bomb casts. Turn key money setup right there.....very nice stuff, the line makes me the most jelly lol.

You bought the best reel for the money of the higher end stuff period. I wouldn't argue much on here, but I'd argue that fact. The video above I'm sure is excellent, but these reels are the most user friendly, easiest to operate high end/high performance bait caster I've ever seen by a large margin. Another day of playing with it, and you'll figure it out. I just hate that I don't own more SV TWs and HD TWs and the JPY exchange rate keeps going up. Between the two Zillions, I'm good.

Thanks brother! I've gone full bore stupid on MegaBass and already own the Levante Shakeyhead which is just beautiful, and performance is excellent. My problem comes from spending big money on non Japan or US built rods. To be fair to MegaBass, I couldn't find any Shimano, or Daiwa Made in Japan rods easily either. This has been the biggest surprise after coming back to the sport after a long hiatus. I see $500 rods that are Made in China, but the reviews and the rods themselves are beautiful. That Levante I got was made in Vietnam and it cost $250. I've just never bought a lemon of a rod or reel when it was made in Japan, I've bought a reel I didn't like, but not a lemon by a long shot. Same goes for USDM rods. But atlas MegaBass has a magic sauce to their products that should come with a warning label for addiction ?

So I bought this Berkeley Squarebull during the great sale they had awhile ago with the intent of maybe having a great night crankbait, but today it was so shiny and the water was still very stained so away we went. Within 5mins of leaving the dock, and two casts in, a solid 4-5lb fish inhaled the darn thing. While she was still bleeding, I feel it wasn't very significant. I pray she is okay, the biggest fish I've ever had bleed. Thank God for the hemostats I've started putting in the boat. Going in from the rear with a great set of hemostats at least allows you to remove the hook will very little subsequent trauma from the hook removal which I believe creates the most when hooks are removed from going down into the mouth. As fun as it's been throwing either a moving treble hooked bait or an A-rig 95% of the time this winter sans the flashback mini usage, I'm so looking forward to getting back to fishing large single hooked baits like Chatterbaits, Scroungerheads, and Buzzbaits, along with big hard swimbaits that the fish simply can't swallow like a 2.5 squarebill, lipless, or smaller blade bait. Everything I've been reading/watching for weeks each night is preaching red.....I've yet to catch a fish on either the Red TN70 or Red Little Jon 50 I've been using. I was just watching a video where Tim from TB said red lipstick on big girls is from Crawdad eating......this contradicts what I read other places saying it was "Shad lipstick", and they got that from eating lots of Shad.

Are there any places I can buy MB rods that are made in Japan? Do they make any of their rods in Japan?

Thanks friend!

If we are defining winter as the start of December to the end of February, I've fished about 60 days during that time period thus far, my results are as follows: Flashback Mini w/ 3" Armor Shad: 200+ fish big fish: 4.12 Various A-Rigs: 150+ fish big fish: 7.1 MegaBass 110jr +1 GG Threadfin: 125+ fish (all on the same bait) big fish: 7.2 Damaki Axe Blade 1oz Holo Shad: 125+ fish (same bait) big fish: 6.4 MegaBass 110jr Sexy Shad: 75+ fish (same bait) big fish: 4-5lb class fish, never weighed any Damaki Vault 1/2oz Holo Shad: 50+ fish (same bait) big fish: 5-6lb class fish, lost a really big fish though on it Jackall TN70 lipless in Threadfin: 30-40 fish this bite has recently turned on, and I've only been throwing them for 2.5weeks. big fish: 4lb class fish Various squarebills in Shad patterns: 25 fish big fish: 5.8 Finesse Jigs: 10-12 fish big fish: 4lb Spot Finally breaking out the Chatterbaits again so numbers are limited, I expect that to change fast as the end of winter transitions into spring: Naked 3/8th 4/0 Chatterbait with 3.5" Live Magic Shad: 7 fish big fish: 9.1 Biggest of the year and winter.

? Yet the Monkey is always hungry......why do we have to live in such a universe?