AlabamaSpothunter

Outstanding, I love it when they get the more pronounced snake pattern above the lateral line. I bet the one I got a little too over excited about today was that same weight. Thought mine was going to be 3lbs for sure. Got it on GoPro.....and you can hear the classic "Line ripping through the water" sound that is usually unique to big spots I've found. Even my big LGMs this year don't scream the line like a 2.5lb Spot does. Today was bordering "hot" fishing....I'd say I was solidly in that 3 Bass per hour rate, and half the fish I caught were over 2lbs. Caught them on a few things, and the biggest fish, a LGM that was solidly in the 4lb range blew up a Jackall SquidMinnow 95. This bait has some of the best action I've ever seen from a Jerkbait, and it suspends nose down, and kind of rolls side to side with just a little movement. Caught them on the Chatterbait Flashback Mini, Chatterbait MiniMax 3/8th in gizzard shad, and Chatterbait Zman weedless series 3/8th in breaking bream. That and the SquidMinnow 95 Jerkbait. Also caught a few Crappie, but I'd say at least half the ones I hook come off. I get just as excited catching these stupid fish as I did a pig LGM lol. This GoPro thing isn't as easy as it looks. A-Jay makes it look easy. Being on my person it's not hooked up to a battery so I have to turn it on and off, and find myself forgetting to. Fish pics.....and do I get to count a Turtle as a catch ? Now some wildlife, including a Blue Heron that is going to make a pontoon owner very mad Mallards I'd assume.... a female, and two males

Wow, so beautiful, and great job on the fish Katie. One of the few benefits of dealing with our almost unbearable summers, is the fishing only improves as it cools. March and Feb. are the best months at least for catching DD fish. I've got faith that scale is going to make an appearance before the year is over

What makes Walleyes so much different than Saltwater fish? I've pulled bunches of bottom fish like Grouper, and Snapper from hundreds of feet deep that didn't make the limit, we just fizz them, and they go about their business.

Very nice appreciate it. Got a B-day coming up.....the Japanese Monkey wants to help me celebrate ?

Yeah he just posted another huge Smallmouth with the caption "fishing has been insane this last week", and everyone in the comments were guessing where he was. He's in colder weather gear, he's up north somewhere for sure.

What have you found that mimics the small Threadfins in the JDM side of things?.....maybe I don't really want to know lol ?

Growing up it was either Stren Original, or Trilene XL, and Stren was terrible. After taking a long break from heavy Bass fishing, I bought a roll of Stren Original in 8lb test, mind you the diameter is .011 IIrc, but this is the most impressive roll of mono I can ever remember buying. Back in the day I couldn't put Stren on a spinning reel without major headaches, this roll is just like any other roll of good mono. To answer the question, no I don't because I think a mix of Mono, Copoly like Pline stuff, and then high end Flourocarbon all have their places in my lineup.

Very cool, the last little guy is magnificent. Most anglers even don't know all the species swimming below them, me included. You seem to know most species of critters.

Wow never heard of this before, gonna try that on Chatterbaits. Thanks!

Well you can't have everything, I mean you live in one of the greatest places in the world to freshwater fish in my book ? You have so much variety up there, that's what has always attracted me to that area. You never know what it's going to be when you feel that tug.

Another beautiful day, and still no rain after a few weeks, and none in sight. Tough fishing this past week, but still about at a 2 Bass per hour average. Over time I've realized this "Bass per hour fished" is an excellent metric to evaluate your session on. Anything less than 2 BPH makes for a really slow day. Half dozen 1-2lb fish, mix bagged b/t Spots and LGM. All clean, and healthy. Everyone but one came off this darn little Flashback Mini....it's basically the closest thing to matching the hatch right now, so many little 1-2" Threadfins. 3 fish came trolling it on high speed with the TM in the middle of the lake portions. I honestly believe if I just trolled this thing for 3-4hrs today I would have caught 2-3x the fish I did. One came off a Roboworm. First pic is of the best fish, a really healthy 2lb LGM. Second and third pic are noteworthy because these fish were caught in the same area, and close in time......it's been my observation that smaller Spots and LGMs run together, and chase Shad around all day, while the bigger Spots, and especially the 5lb+ LGM hold on structure and are usually by themselves seemingly as I can't recall catching back to back 5lb+ fish in the same area, and close in time to each other on my home lake. Nice ones, and only a Saugers mother could think they're beautiful ? Any taste differences b/t them and Walleye? Never caught a Walleye up there, and TBH didn't know they were in there. Thought it was just the Saugers on Wheeler, Wilson, and Pickwick.

Hate to hear that. That said, once you get bitten by the Bass bug, it never leaves you even though you occasionally have to leave it. The Bass will be there when you recover pal. Here's to really speedy recovery!

Yeah this is exactly why I think the WR Smallmouth is at jeopardy way more than the LRG WR in regard to FFS. If they had it during the peak days of Southern CA monster fishing, I bet it would have worked fantastically there though. I watched over the summer MLF dudes just kill up north basically spot locking on offshore isolated cover and put 20lb bags in the boat in one or two locations. Clearly FFS was playing a huge role in that equation.

This is why that was my answer, and my definition of S. FL. starts at Stuart and goes to Key West. Down there I would agree, Bass aren't the most exciting fish, but Bass fishing isn't comparable to any form of Saltwater fishing I've found....not a Sea Trout and Redfish guy which do compare somewhat. I love Billfishing, catching big Tuna and Tarpon, but nothing compares to the chase, and accomplished feeling that comes with catching trophy sized Bass for me. Just something magical about the Bass, something intangible that it hard to describe. They make you crazy thinking about them all the time.

Seriously, thank God for folks like yourself, and the man who taught me how to fish. I likely wouldn't be in love with Bass without him. As a kid it's easy to find another avenue to pursue if one is too frustrating, or failure ridden. My father is an awesome man, and great father, but he doesn't have the patience for fishing as much as he has tried. Ironically his dad, my grandfather lived on a lake and fished most days a week after work.....just like me. Mentorship in Bass fishing is super important, it's an extremely nuanced sport, and many things can't be translated through books, mags, or the internet. You can self teach Bass fishing, but it's vastly more difficult, and time-consuming process.

Don't get me started on you Vols fans....however if you beat Bama coming up, you'll have my respect ?

Wonder what he charged for the 8.53lb one.....how much is a once in a lifetime fish worth? I imagine this guy isn't hurting for money, but he still sleeps out of his car lol.

So I've been following this Josh Jones on social media, it's crazy the fish he's pulling using FFS. He just guided somebody onto a 8.53lb Smallie ? I'm thinking this guy and his ability to be at the cutting edge of using cutting edge tech might have a shot.

Hey somebody has to pay for those diamond studded earrings?

There is a beautiful poem that related Baseball to the changing seasons..... Something like when Baseball season starts, it coincides with all the beauty emerging from winter in nature, and when Baseball finally ends, the darkness of winter descends upon us, and everything dies back for the winter. I remember reading it right after the Braves won last year and can't remember a poem hitting home as well as that one. Dang I wish I could find it.

Just watched a crazy video about an epic Bass cheater of recent history....dude actually didn't officially cheat while cheating to the Nth degree. He used the rules to hide behind. Apparently, his truck and boat were still shot up though. He held fish in a kiddie pool with a small cut in the lid.....would flip a jig into the hole to fish that haven't ate in a week, and pull out a 20lb bag on a single dock lol

Ol Jonnie boy ?

Felt like two teams going in opposite directions.....magic is everything when the air gets snappy, could Braves catch it again, I'm ready for another magical ride that's for sure.

Tag....we have a similar setup, and I really love this 9sv unit. I purchased it solely on recommendations here. The lake I was buying it for is several hundred acres, but is private, not going to show up on a maps package. Perfect unit for me in a Jon boat. Had to upgrade to a real smartphone recently that is the size of a footlong sub, but now I want to do this stuff with my unit.

Only time I've backlashed my new Zillion SV TW is ironically when I don't have a lure on at all. If I just cut a bait off and barely pull that naked line.....that reel will backlash every time. First set and forget reel I've owned, I couldn't grasp the concept growing up using the drop test until it stops without backlashing. That said, it's brillantly simple in execution. Works just like that.....set, forget it, and use the dial for any adjustments besides a thumb