AlabamaSpothunter

Wonder how much the heavy winds for 48hrs has to do with besides rain alone. Seems to me that it might take longer for it to "settle" with such heavy surface commotion from the winds. I can fish in any kind of conditions sans strong wind. At about 15-20mph winds I got to use speed 5 on the TM and that just drains it, not to mention the boat is essentially a sail with those high gunnels. I want to pull my hair out fishing in the wind, I hate it with every fiber in my body ?

Took yesterday off after a heavy rain and cold front, lake was still up a couple feet today, and the wind won the day in the end. Outside felt temps were 38-44, and water temp dropped a few degrees to 50. Brutal wind, that type of wind and surface conditions where you still feel like you are on the boat hours after on land. 5 fish, one really nice Spot, and one little fatty that made giggle. 2 on the Flashback Mini, and 3 on the Blade bait. The day was not lost however as I was able to get a follow up data point on the Blade bait in regard to mud flats as I went to another location with a similar mud flat and caught the nice Spot, and then decided to try and use the electronics in deeper water with it, and to my surprise I was able to catch one like that. Nothing on the A-Rig, finesse football jig, or Jerkbait. You can't always tell what's what on the electronics in regard to predator activity on bait balls, but when you get both predator returns inside the balls, and the shape of the ball reflects said predator fish diving in, it's usually a surefire indicator that fish are actively feeding. I want FFS so badly lol. Note the difference in water clarity.....one pic is from deep main lake body water, the other was at the mouth of a creek. Look at that chunky boy ? Love to see it, they are eating good on something in your pond. Same weather, SAME WIND ?

Sic em' Bob ?

It would be a grand party to be sure, fishing would be secondary if such a motley crew of like-minded individuals were every assembled.....think of the power we could weld, yet wouldn't due to misguided arguments over braided vs fluoro fishing lines ?

What a boat, as a former deckhand down in Orange Beach in college, I couldn't imagine the crew it takes to maintain that beast, and I do mean beast. That's magnificent man, a boat like that is awe inspiring, never gets old looking at Sportfisherman boats. You live the most blessed fishing life I can imagine.....Mexican Bass fishing, Pacific blue water fishing in a 75ft Battlewagon to keep the lights on ?

Bro, I'm so jelly I couldn't turn any more green ? Got a pic of that battlewagon? Who makes it, what size?

? I'm truly so excited to see how this bait works for you guys! I can't wait until everyone is back to fishing and posting pics as well, way more fun. If I could only take one bait in a survival kit, it would without question be this bait.

Hey now, I've got a $15 Whopper Plopper in the bag 100% because of you.....something about Monkeys who live in trees shouldn't throw bananas ?

Just another reason why I'll continue to buy nothing but Zoom Lizards. Awesome stuff, I learn more about a company from a screw up than anything else.

1000%....and that was my first reaction after the first fish. If I caught a single 8lb SM I would go straight Ike mode, I'd rip off my shirt and start beating my chest making Tarzan/monkey noises ? It really is hard to stay locked in after you've caught one of those fish where you have to sit down for 5-10 minutes to collect yourself and stop shaking.

This is the scale I just bought during their awesome 50% off sale. Used it a bunch already. Fantastic scale and I really like the padded case. Has plenty of features as well. Backlit for night Bassin is great.

All the ones listed when I was growing up for sure, really liked Roland Martin. Dude was just cool, and I can remember watching him go to Baccarac in the early 90s as a kid. Present day, Josh Jones and Pat Cullen have lit a fire inside me. All the big Bass hunters really put a charge into me, I just love their dedication to achieving greatness. I read this article every few weeks since finding out about Pat's story. He's my main source of inspiration I'd have to say. I'll be buzzbaiting until my arm falls off this summer

I'd LOVE to see it in your hands! You have the methodical way of thinking to excel at it. You've also already proven quite clearly you can catch monster toads without it, why not see if it can push you into the stratosphere ?

Got two of the Damiki Vaults Damiki Vault Blade Baits - Tackle Warehouse MegaBass Dyna Response Megabass Vibration X Dyna Response Blade Bait - Tackle Warehouse Damiki Axe Blade Damiki Axe Blade Tail Spinners - Tackle Warehouse Jackall Deracoup Jackall Deracoup Tail Spinner - Tackle Warehouse You're right, they are very similar to a lipless crank. Basically just a piece of thin metal stamped out. I bought them all based on Matt from TacticalBassin ? eta: The tail spinners aren't blade baits, but I put them all in the metal cold water bait category.

Smallmouth guys are much more secretive over honey holes I've found, and I believe this is for good reason. This is also why I believe FFS will make the most impact on SM records. 40lb bag of anything is spectacular, to do it with SMs or Spots boggles the mind. In all seriousness I've brought up the drone thing in regard to the Erie father and son that caught the DD SM recently. Somebody is going to just DJI them.

The shallower water and softer bottoms is my big takeaway from yesterday, I'm pumped to find similar locations as those and see what I learn from that.

Thanks brother! Water temp was 52. I also gathered the impression that these were best fished in deeper water over hard bottoms....so I'd been throwing it in 10-25ft over rock bottoms exclusively until yesterday when I did the exact opposite, threw it in 2-8ft on dredged channel ledges and mud flats. Even after a good day I leave the water as confused as I started it ?

You had me until not putting 10k of electronics in a $12k river boat.......I want to put Target Lock and LiveScope+ on a $500 Jon boat. Don't be skeered, it's the American way ?

Love hearing it Jim, God bless your parents!

I've had two Berkeley digital scales over decades including a new one I just bought to replace the old once a month or two ago. Both scales when weighing a 10lb bench weight weighed 10lbs. I periodically test the scale with the same weight. I have several luggage scales that I've checked as well......they are dead on the money as well. Seems most of these scales are pretty accurate. Lol, I've never had a fish's weight surprise me in a positive manner ?

So kind Katie! Only a fellow angler can understand the heartbreak. Fat fish eased the pain a bit that's for sure. Thanks Woody, you're right about the lithium, I'm just waiting to buy that when I hopefully get a new boat with electric outboard. The group of 29 is pushing it at 66lbs lol.

Took Sunday off, but was back at it yesterday. Caught 4 small Bass, but two slab Crappie. Finally got enough power to fish this big of a lake with an electric motor. Got a group of 29 battery to go with a group of 27 which will be the backup, and the group of 24 will remain the Garmin power supply. I stupidly bought the smallest battery first, but this now enables me to stay on the water all day, or all night come summer. Today was just another hard to describe day. The importance of staying with a particular bait for as long as possible until you have that breakthrough has brought me my hottest three weeks of fishing. First it was the A-Rig, even though I had caught sporadic fish on it for the previous months of throwing it. However I bought 6 high end blade baits because of TacticalBassin monkey, have thrown this since November, and caught ZERO fish. The main reason I've stuck with those two baits is because they meet two huge criteria of mine, Shad imitator, and must have a reputation for pulling big fish. Well today it produced 20+ fish ranging from 1lb-5lb+, and sadly lost a no doubt trophy caliber fish. I can only guesstimate it being 7lb+ because it looked bigger and pulled 1000% harder than the 7lb I caught a few days back. Lots of 3s, a few 4s, and one 5lb+. The fattest 3lb Spot I've ever seen came off it as well. I watched videos on how to throw it, and that technique never worked, being a big fan of the Yo Yo retrieve as a Chatterbait guy, that's when all the magic happened. A parabola retrieve trying to avoid the bottom as much as possible vs. the gentle lift your rod tip and let the bait always come back to hit bottom. I'm trying to Vomit Comit this bait if you will. Overall caught 30+ fish as I caught 2 on the A-Rig, and then at least 10 on the Flashback Mini but those were all fun sized. The duality of fishing emotions is about as extreme as it gets, on one hand, I'll never forget a day like today, on the other hand I got literally nauseous after losing that fish, and to be honest I'm still kind of torn up about it. It was really a special fish, I've never had a fish squeal my newer Zillion drags. Just sucks, but what else am I going to do but fish harder as it's the only known cure. I doubt it was a DD fish, and that's the whole goal, has been my whole life. In August I said I'm going to singularly focus on accomplishing a childhood dream, my oldest dream I can remember....a DD from the lake I spent my childhood fishing. I'll fish this lake over 300days/1200hrs per yr. until that happens. I hope to give this thread and you guys a break from being my blog spot at that time as well lol. Couple of the beautiful Spots Finally a few pics to show just how cartoonish fat 90% of them are....it makes me so happy to see it every time.

Texas state record fell on this day in 1992 18.18 Monster from Lake Fork

It's America, everybody is financing these boats for decades with a $1 down payment. I've had a friend that had a boat like this (maxed out Skeeter) until they got swallowed by the payments, had it for maybe 1.5 years. The same goes for cars, ever wonder why seemingly everyone now has a brand new BMW, Mercedes, Land Rover, FX4/Z-71 pickup, etc. Many got them with ridiculous loans. We are about to see lots of cheap boats, cars, and other adult toys. Article from today: "Car loans are the latest sign of such economic problems. Indeed, loans delinquent by more than two months increased by 5.3% in December compared to the prior month and skyrocketed by 26.7% from a year ago, according to recently released data from Cox Automotive. Of all December loans, 1.84% were severely delinquent (generally defined as more than 90 days behind on payments), marking an increase from 1.74% in November and the highest rate since February 2009, when the financial crisis crippled the the U.S. economy.