AlabamaSpothunter

What do you mean Bass season is closed in the spring.....I assume you just mean closed in terms of keeping the fish. Nice fish, great job!

Why thank you Katie, high praise coming from an angler such as yourself

Had a nice day today, and the day that I actually thought I was going to have yesterday....go figure. Caught a good number of smaller 1-2lb fish earlier in the day using Sonar chasing fish all around the place, and then caught a really nice pig and a 2.4lb Spot on docks. All fish caught on the Chatterbait MiniMax in Gizzard Shad 3/8th oz with a Armor Shad 3" trailer in smoke/black/silver. Tried at least 6-8 other baits.....nada. Since Aug. 4th some variety of a Chatterbait has taken a 7.8, 6.7, 5.8, 5.7, 5.3, and several more in the 4lb range. First up is the big fish.....the colors were just electric on this one, not a mark on it. I think it was rich in color because it was living under the dock you see in the pic showing the bait setup. I casted across the corner of the dock, moved the boat so that I could run the bait under it, and BAM! Any deeper and I'd be posting with worry on my mind. Fish absolutely inhaled this tiny bait. Next up are the size fish I was catching roaming around the lake chasing them with sonar...first pic is of the second best fish of the day, the nice Spot caught on a dock. And finally, because today was like a Bob Ross painting

Who throws a spinnerbait of all things during a Vols game ?

Stuff like is awesome for sure, but my focus is getting a boat setup for Bass fishing specifically....i.e. a front deck and front mounted trolling motor with a foot pedal. That setup will allow you to beat a bank perfectly. I get what you are saying though, beating a bank from a jon boat with a transom TM is only second to bank fishing in terms of work

After tonight we know he's not healthy. Buck should have pulled him before he got truly embarrassed, and honestly a mark on his record that will be remembered. You don't get paid 40mil plus and then blow the two biggest starts they paid you for. Sure he's a gamer, and I respect that....but he's too much of a gamer, he likely BS'd Buck into letting him go, or Buck is burying his head in the sand hoping a healthy Max pitches. Just look at the velo off the bats tonight from a team that hasn't been known for squaring up the ball. He and the front office share more blame than in the past recent history, they managed to blow a 300mil roster, and a 101 win team. Trade moves cost them dearly.

If you don't go all high speed and want to remain a poor like myself.....I'm getting close to buying this product for a variety of reason, one of which is to monitor the battery's life. Lots of features on it. Other types of this same product exist, so you can shop around and maybe find one you like better. Amazon.com : Newport Vessels Trolling Motor Smart Battery Box Power Center with USB and DC Ports : Sports & Outdoors

Google pics seem to confirm your answer. Thanks as usual for the ID!

Absolutely gorgeous, I wish Bob Ross were alive to paint that. Got a question for you @TnRiver46 ..... Today I saw what I believe was 7-10 large birds with brown and what I think was a bit of white on the underside of wings. Certainly not Crows which I've seen travel together and weren't common vultures that I've seen around here. We have lots and lots of Hawks, but never seen a whole group together like this. In the pic I only captured about half the birds. Could these be Hawks, or just some other type of scavenger bird. They all decided to take off at the same time. Thanks Captain Critter

Wasn't the session I hoped for based on weather forecast, so I tried to practice offshore stuff with 12-15ft Cranks. Frustrating seeing the big fish on sonar that won't bite, meanwhile 5ft above their heads, smaller Bass are happy to gobble the bait down. Green circle represents the fish I was able to catch, red circle represents high quality fish that wouldn't sniff my bait seemingly. Caught several on the deep Crank, caught one on a 7" Roboworm, and lastly the hog came off a 1/16th Chatterbait Flashback mini.....thing is ridiculously small, both fish and lure lol.

So sick and tired of all these ugly SEC hats in this thread ? In other news, those are some fantastic Bass The last pic......never seen a Bass look so much like a Crappie as that one, especially in the head region. That's crazy.

You may be correct, I'll see if I can find the articles I read about it in.

Right....materials + labor = cost I was never omitting labor costs, rather it was an understood you in "cost". Semantics at this point

Very true, but when you are selling direct verses a secondary retailer it changes the calculus. I should have clarified a bit. I'm not sure if Siebertoutdoors sells fogys to retailers for example, but they might not....and because of that they are half of what they'd cost if you saw them Academy, or your local tackle shop for example. A rod I just bought from Alpha Angler operates on this model. With cost covered, and with OP selling direct, 50% markup seems more then generous for labor and quality of product. Afterall the fishing business is in the discretionary funds category, and the economy ain't booming right now.

Had the Broncos and the under on a parlay. Talk about a bad beat. ?

Did you not see how close every single MLF event was like the SLR or Lake Champlain one? Most of the dudes were doing it, and all of them were crushing it. It came down to luck in the end because they all were catching 18-21lb bags. Look I have no problem with tech or FFS, I love the idea. I'm just stating what I observed quite clearly, and how unique it stood out. ETA: Does any major angler on a major circuit not have FFS is the better question? Obviously it's the Indian, not the arrow to some degree here. Guy locally is selling a brand new unit because he admits he can't utilize the tech. Major Bass pros hire a few different FFS experts to school them. It's not some magic cheat code. It is gamechanging for those who know how to use it though.

I get it, many here don't believe the next WR Bass is even alive. I'm not in that camp however, it's just a matter of time until the record gets broken. It's likely already been broken but people released the fish instead of going through a process that would have killed it. You've forgotten more than I've learned about big Bass, but the reality is that record class Bass are very mysterious. I imagine if this guy wasn't so famous and his time in such demand, he'd stay in Texas and give the state record a go. I mean he pulls multiple DD fish in a day when he fishes there. Like your generation and Castaic, Josh Jones and FFS is what fuels the dreams of both boy and man alike in today's Bass universe. I mean really who cares if it's possible or not, it's the idea that it's possible that is so fun and exciting to think about

Add a standard retail 50% markup on your cost, then compare with these known options. If your cost price + 50% is under those above, then I'd say go for it.

I would complain but I had caught at least 50 fish on that particular bait, the paint was half gone on the head, and the skirt was all but gone. I actually had it "retired" but was in a spot I call "little vietnam" where pigs are, but it's 50/50 you get snagged or wrapped by a fish. Hooked a big fish, wrapped me, and while I was trying to unwrap it, the weakest link using 15lb Fluorocarbon was that particular bit on the back of the blade. Since then I looked at numerous ones I've been fishing with over the last weeks and months.....all had surface rust back behind the Jig head connection. I don't own Jackhammers, and maybe this is why they cost much more, but in the ZMAN weedless, Zman non weedless, MiniMax, Original, all of them do it. The only ones that don't are the ones with silver blades which I assume is stainless steel. For example the Flashback Mini doesn't rust, but a gold bladed MiniMax will. Guess it's the material to some degree.

Pretty much everyday on my home lake which stocks Threadfins and already had/has a huge population. It's ridiculous the amount of them there is. My secret to cracking the code was 3/8th scrounger head w/ 3.5 Live Magic Shad in the summer, and now in the fall with these 1.5-2" size, I've gone to the Chatterbait Flashback Mini in 1/8th Ive tried the rattletrap but not the topwater you listed...tried others. Great job, and way to adjust on the fly

Last two days have been a bit slow with 5 yesterday and 8 today, but I'm excited for tomorrow as the temp drops 10 degrees overnight tom. night. Thinking this might get some big fish ready to bite. Chatterbait MiniMax 3/8th in Gizzard Shad with a 3.2" Rage Tail. Troll it, Yo Yo it, straight retrieve, doesn't matter......fish blow it up. Best LGM was in that 3lb range, and caught another really nice 2lb+ Spot.....everything else was smaller. These leaves combined with 75-80 degree weather.....might be what Heaven looks like given the fish are biting

Excellent, I'm sure the fact you use Stainless Steel plays a role in it. I didn't know this was possible until I had a fish pull free and only got back what I posted the pic of. I'll try the Fogys out, as a blade bait has become easily my favorite one. Your baits and skirts are dynamite looking.

I'd take losing a monster to be fishing below those dams again...just so many 5lb+ Smallmouths below those dams They are magical for exactly the reasons you just listed. You never know what just hit your bait, you never know if you are going to catch your next PB Smallmouth, and when they generate power, the bite can be more electric than anywhere on earth.

Way to go out like a champ Katie, if you have to end the season, that's a great way to do it minus catching yourself haha ? All beautiful fish, but I agree that is one of the skinniest Smallies I've seen. They are like Spots I've found, either one giant muscle, or a giant muscle with fat on it. Can't ever recall catching a "skinny" Spot. It's really quite the stark difference in regard to aggression when comparing LGM vs. Spotted/Smallmouths.

I'm not concerned about the split ring, I'm talking about the actually metal blades. What happens as I'm sure you're aware of is that the action of the bait causes the jighead eye to slowly create a wear pattern, along with removing the finish where the blade attaches to the Jighead. This area ends up getting surface rust after only a few good days of using it, and if you catch enough fish, and use the same one long enough......a big fish can and will break that smallest of amounts of metal right behind the Jighead to blade connection after being weakened by surface rust and repeated usage. I hope this makes sense, not great at explaining it I'm sure.