AlabamaSpothunter

Yeah it's like that at my biggest gun forum. It's awesome to have the company owners/product designers interact so closely and often with it's customer base via tech forums. You end getting a vastly better product from these companies when they keep their pulse on the actual folks buying their products. I think it's great when I see this site's sponsors occasionally reply. I've seen Seibert and DVT both reply to threads recently. I'm more willing to spend my money with someone who actually makes an effort to connect with their customer base.

Holy Mackeral you're a mad man! That's freaking awesome dude! Is that a tag sticking out of it's fin?

I'd like to see them just become one of the members, and impart their wisdom slowly, and more directed when members have specific questions they're dealing with. Essentially just become what the other SME (subject matter experts) do on tech forums. There are a million pro videos on youtube, same goes for podcasts, and article write ups. What is unique is having somebody like WRB or A-Jay participate daily in discussions, and add input based on an OP's specific question. We need more tech discussion, less youtube videos, and magazine writeups. Just my 2cents.

Grew up deck handing in the summers down in the Gulf. This super rich guy buys a new 50ft+ Hatteras, him and his buddies take it out with very little experience and manage to hook a big Marlin. Long story short these dudes thought it would be a good idea to bring the Marlin inside the cockpit for pics. This resulted in numerous injuries, but most seriously the fish gored a guy in the stomach region. Fish trashed the cockpit area as well. The story goes that the rich dude tossed the keys to dock workers when they returned, and said he's done fishing for good. A number of people have been killed over the years by Billfish. IIrc a Tarpon has also killed an angler or two, most notably I think when a big 100lb+ Tarpon decided to jump inside a smaller center console. Apparently, the fish took out parts of the console wigging out and ended up beating the heck out of the two anglers trying to get it under control. Saltwater is truly a different animal.

I love gardening and landscaping.....takes the same mentality to become a good gardener as it does a good fisherman. Patience and practice are what weeds most out of both hobbies. Good luck tomorrow pal, catch em' for us both. Tough sledding right now around here, fished 3.5hrs for 3 fish. I do have a suspicion that right before I left, I finally had the fish I wanted, but within seconds it pulled off the chatterbait. Sure felt like one of the big Spots I've been hunting without success the last couple of months. Should have kept the chatterbait in my hands the whole time as well, kept trying other stuff and wasn't even getting a bite or two. 2 Spots and a LGM. All about 1lb fish. I've always felt the worst time to fish was the first 30mins to hour after dusk, and this was confirmed yet again. Bite was slow during the last hour but managed one, then it went absolutely lockjaw until the last 30mins I was out there around 9pm.....a good 1.5hr after dusk. I imagine if I would have stayed the fishing would have picked up. FISHING IS SO FRUSTRATING ?

Wow, another amazing session for you Katie, great job! I bet it's in that 4.5-5lb range certainly. She's a real beauty. All your fish are, so rich and dark. I guess it's the swamp Bass effect, and before you I had no clue this type of swamp Bassing existed in the north. I've seen swamp Bass in the South that were lush green and dark like that. Hopefully next time out you'll have the new scale in. I've found once you weigh enough fish, you get pretty close without the scale. Rarely do you find yourself off by more than half a pound. That's when I stopped weighing anything I think is under 5lbs. You got a high RPM motor to be doing all this fishing in the manner you do it in, seriously. Makes me sleep well just thinking about it......I hate carrying just my poles and tackle to a motorized boat lol

1.2oz I would imagine the Steez is more refined in some other areas as well.

Agreed, and I love that rubber mat he uses. I use an oversized net for just that reason. I do need to upgrade it to a rubber one in time.

To be fair, I don't think a scale has a thing to do with catching Bass. A scale and camera have never caught me a Bass, however both tools have allowed caught Bass to remain in my memory in more vivid details than without them. I think every person in this thread respects and does everything in their power to release Bass in the fastest, least invasive manner they can. I'm not calling out those who measure fish, simply pointing out the fact that measuring and weighing are both invasive procedures for the fish. I think both play little to no real harm in the long run for these fish.

Excellent info guys, much appreciated. Roadrunner was the name I couldn't remember when I was describing what I was throwing above. I like the idea of bobbers and based on the replies already I think my jighead size was too big. I like the idea of throwing a super light jighead under a bobber and just slowly reeling, and pausing I would assume.

Some of the biggest Alabama Bass I've caught were at a place where a lake has an overflow drain that flows into the Cahaba River. When it's really flooded, the water being released in the Cahaba is ridiculously turbulent, like you describe. Like you I would throw a form of a lipless crankbait right into the middle of the "boiling" portion of the water, and within seconds I'd be hooked up. It's amazing these fish can find eddies or some kind of underwater feature to tuck into while they wait to ambush prey being sucked down and spit out by dams, and drains. Great job, being unorthodox and curious. Beautiful fish as well!

So I'm fishing a lake that appears to be loaded with Crappie this year. I'm not really looking to anchor and fish for them with jigs and off structure at this point. I'd like to just take a single small Crappie rig with a few baits along with my Bass gear. Here's what's going on, every afternoon for hours on end, I watch what I'm almost positive are Crappie hitting on balls of tiny 1" long threadfins all over the lake. You constantly are hearing the water slapping with what I believe are Crappie hitting these threadfins. Just a month ago I was targeting these same bait balls being blown up on by schoolie sized Bass throwing scrouger heads into them and having great luck, but am clueless on what these Crappie will eat when in this mode. I tried a little jig head with a spinner and put a Sassy Shad, and then small Curly Tail Grub on it.....made about 50 cast with it the other day and nada. I think it got hit when I was trolling it a bit. Is there a bait that is perfect for throwing in and around balled up threadfins when the Crappie are hitting on them? Caught one single Crappie on a roboworm the other day, and now I'm going down this stupid Crappie rabbit hole LOL ?

You're just a true fisherman Katie, doesn't matter the species, it's the process and experience that matters. I think we'll see more women in the sport thanks to folks like yourself. Women have to believe they can hang with the men, and clearly you are providing an excellent example of that. You'd outfish me, and many other lifelong Bass fisherman on this site. Women need role models, and mentors in this sport just like men, and I imagine it's quite a bit tougher finding a female mentor than it is a male one. Good luck today, hope the rod comes in, and I hope you post some hawgs in the latest catch tread

If folks follow your fishing reports they'd see how respectful you are towards handling fish. I'd venture a guess that laying fish down to measure them thus removing some slime coat is more invasive than a quick weight using a clamp style. I'm stoked you got a scale, you catch scale worthy fish. As A-Jay said, it's one of the very few things that gets the boat turned around if I forget it. I'd never forgive myself if I caught the one without either a camera or scale. Hope you get that new awesome rod before the fishing trip pal!

This is the one thing I've noticed as well. Same goes from Crappie fisherman.

Wow, what a time that must have been. That's a ton of Bass to be catching for an entire day much less morning. What are the odds I caught a chunky little Spot that puked up a threadfin on my hand this afternoon as well ? Unlike you though I only managed 4, and for the most part caught everything that hit my baits for a change. Caught a nice 3lb+ fish on my new reel I got today, so everything after that was gravy on top. Nice fish came on a 3/8th Breaking Bream Chatterbait with zoom twin tail trailer, 2 Spots and small LGM came on a T rig Roboworm. I wish I could have frozen time this afternoon and the weather always be like it, while still a bit hot it was truly a beautiful afternoon. Awesome fish Functional and A-Jay, some pigs to be sure

After fishing it for a couple hours this afternoon, I'm starting to believe all the reviews on these Zillions. Don't have much experience with the newest stuff like yourself, but this reel is silky smooth, and casts a mile. I think a $350 MSRP reel should come with a reel cover though like my steez or calais, but when that's all I can come up with for complaints....Daiwa did a fine job on these. It's also exactly the same Daiwa level of quality I remember in the early 2000s, and late 90s. First few casts with it I caught a nice 3lb+ fish on it with a chatterbait. If I threw heavier baits I'd have to get the HD like you, but as it is I don't throw much stuff over 1/2oz. I do plan on throwing some finesse A rigs though....darn you monkey lol. Small TW labor day sale order finally arrived today as well.

Absolutely, and the only downside to this whole transaction is the monkey screaming Japanese even louder into my ear ? One thing that's not mentioned and doesn't really matter......It's darn cool getting a package from Japan. I was tickled over the Japanese Sports page in my package. Directions are all in Japanese, no English option......it's just a unique, authentic feeling shopping experience to top off the quick deliver and unbeatable pricing.

Thank you Katie for such kind words Your passion for the sport, the work you put in to catch your fish, and the fantastic reports you give makes being supportive easy. As for frogs, you'd school me on them everyday and twice on sunday. From all that I've read though, your setup sounds dynamite, and hopefully it will address the specific reason you bought it. I was reading that leaders aren't really needed for Frogs in a thread here yesterday. I'm hoping for the same thing when my new rod gets here, just tired of missing so many fish on the chatterbait.

Fantastic job Tim! What a beautiful fish, looks exceptionally healthy.

1. I haven't been tracking JDM vs USDM prices for long enough to answer that, but I can assume they were never this cheap in comparison. Japan signals chance of yen intervention; market unconvinced | Reuters 2. Digitaka or Japan Lure Shop. Some use Amazon Japan, but you run the risk of getting charged tax. JLS is cheaper but charges shipping, most report however that you get a surprise free lure. One guy got a Jackhammer. On the other hand, Digitaka has free shipping, and no free lure. It's about a wash in terms of which is cheaper. I opted for Digitaka because I wanted the absolute cheapest price. 3. Yes, you are absolutely correct in thinking these prices are unusually great, again see the article I posted above. Lastly, Japan Lure Shop IIrc only allows you to pay via Paypal, whereas Digitaka has Paypal, and a Visa/MC processor. Paypal plays dirty games, and charges you currency exchange rate fees and use outdated rates to calculate the fee. Imho, don't pay with Paypal.....thus ruling out Japan Lure Shop.

Absolutely wow'd over my JDM and Digitaka experience. Less than 3 full days from Japan to Alabama. Can't wait to fish it. Thanks to all the wonderful members who educated me on JDM, and Digitaka. Seriously folks, if you are pondering a Digitaka/JDM purchase, do it! Let the Tackle Monkey caress you ever so sweetly and whisper Japanese into your ear

You catch so many nice fish that a scale will pay for itself within a trip or two. I've yet to see a report from you where you didn't catch a few nice ones, so I don't think you'll have any problem getting another one pal. That's gonna be a killer setup with the Curado and braid. Should be a perfect frog setup.

Bill Dance Fat Free Fingerling.

Ordered from Digitaka late Sunday night. Product actually shipped Weds. It's on track to be delivered today. From Kobe, Japan to central Alabama, it took 3 business days. Combine the huge pricing discounts, with the fact that somehow this place ships quicker to the US from Japan, than US companies can do for the US.......yeah Digitaka won a customer for life. I don't think I'll be able to refrain from getting a nice spinning real I need if these rates hold. I've never even seen lures like that with the hook placement especially, very cool. Interesting about the blue. For whatever reason I've always had the most success off of purple, red, and black at night. Had some luck on pink/black spinnerbaits though.