AlabamaSpothunter

This is a surefire tip in general. Almost always fish around places like these

For me it's baits of the 90s when I broke into Bass fishing......stuff like Spooks, Fat Free fingerlings, Spittin Images. Now they just make refined copies of those baits in Japan, import them, and charge $20 a pop.

Exactly, good luck eating Bass or any other fish from public bodies of water. You can't eat the fish out of the Coosa imo.

We can't discuss the root causes of this or folks will get locks, bans, timeouts....I've already found that out

All I know is catch and release and what Ray Scott helped usher into Bass fishing created an industry, as well as countless amazing Bass fisheries across the country. The fact we catch so many Bass that have been caught before is proof how important catch and release is for Bass fishing. It's beyond taboo to kill a Bass in my book. If it's mandated culling then that's different, but as a general rule I wouldn't dream of killing a Bass. To that point, if I were to kill a fish accidentally during a session that would most certainly ruin the day for me. Call me soft, but I hate hooking these fish poorly even. I love these fish, I want them to thrive just as much as myself in life. Guess I'm kind of a hippie in that regard. I wouldn't fish without catch and release, just like I don't hunt because I don't enjoy eating Venison, Dove, and Wild Turkey. I'll keep a couple of Rainbow Trout to eat every time though as they are stocked for the exact purpose of harvesting and eating. Catch and release is the best thing that ever happened to Bass fishing. To answer your question though I don't like catching fish that have obviously been caught before. Everybody likes to be the first to conquer something. Caught this 5.7 two days ago that must have been hooked in his eye months or years ago....couldn't see any trace of trauma, or a hook scar, just a dead eye that had likely been hooked when she was a young fish.

For rods I'm brand loyal to G Loomis because my local shop has a no questions asked warranty policy....break 3 of them in a car door, sure bring them in. Got a few other nice rods by Daiwa, and Shimano but I've never liked anything as much as G Loomis. For reels yeah I'm brand loyal to Daiwa, with the exception of a few Shimanos For tackle, I'll buy anything that will catch Bass.....I'm thinking of a King of the Hill episode lol.

Correct on the thermocline, I watched the thermocline stay at 15ft across the entire say 150 acre portion of a lake I fished yesterday. Certain points during that 150acres were as deep as 34ft. I could see baitfish at times below the thermocline, but wasn't marking Bass. Most of the Bass I saw throughout the session were suspended in between 5-10ft off of flats from the main lake channel......they didn't offer at several different types of bait I threw at them. I then moved up shallow and caught a really nice fish, and lastly I moved to deeper structure in about 10-12ft of water and caught a few. While I caught one really nice fish, I failed to crack the puzzle in my overall assessment. The only thing repeatable about my session yesterday was eliminating the horizonal space like WRB stresses in so many of his posts here. Those suspended fish off the flats of the main lake channel might blow up my CBs, and slow rolled chatterbaits the next time out. Everything changes, Bass fishing in that regard is extremely dynamic, and I'd also say nuanced. Subtle things make huge differences sometimes, other times they whack just about anything you throw seemingly. Bass fishing is like a game that regardless of if you beat it or not that day, it automatically resets the next day. You have to solve the new "game/puzzle/code" each time out, every time out....with almost no exceptions. This is why structure matters way more to me than movement of the fish. The structure doesn't move, but the fish do. It's way easier to catch Bass when I focus on finding the structure, than when I try to find the fish themselves. Just my 2cents, not an expert like some of those who have weighed in already

Got a TW order that just shipped today as well that included 3 bags of the 7" Roboworm. Monkey got us both, and all it took was 15% off lol. You're gonna love them, been my confidence bait since I found them when you had to order them through their mail order catalog. Their unique salt release + the unbeatable action of a hand pour makes for a perfect bait. Drop one in a sink or tub and watch it's action vs. anything else. Their dual and sometimes triple layer coloring is another thing that make them stand out to me. They used to offer a FX series, and they were the most beautiful plastic worms I've ever seen. The current stuff is still the best looking plastics on the market imho, but not like the old FX series. I'm a big fanboy as you can tell

Scrounger jighead with a lake fork albino Magic Shad is what I finally found that works. Still the best way is to just motor around to the pods that are getting blown up on.

Wouldn't that be amazing, especially when you consider the Brave's incredibly young, and paid for roster. This team could be set up like the Yankees in the late 90s, they could have multiple WS rings within the span of 3-5 years. That said, October is so magical because it's about who catches that lightning in a bottle like the Braves did last year. As much as I dislike Ozuna, if his bat gets going....that could be the magic piece that ties it all together for another run. This is a tough year in the NL, the Dodgers are awesome obviously, but if the Cards get firing on all cylinders, I think they could easily win it all. They got some serious magic behind them with Pujols farewell tour. Either way I think the NL takes the ring home again this year.

My two favorite brands are perhaps the two worst brands in terms of durability.....Roboworm, and Zoom. 1-2 fish max on these baits. Sure I wish they were like strikeking stuff, but producing fish is the goal, and these brands do that in spades.

Yep, this is why my mom grew up to hate fishing. They went to Canada every year back in the day, can only imagine how hot the fishing was back then, anyways she would get her kid thumbs stuck under those old school reels. Still remembers how much she hated it lol.

Let's go Bravos! Can't believe it took them this long, and that they finally have tied the Mets for the division. 3rd/4th best record in MLB and have yet to lead their division. I don't miss a Braves game, and always have put a parlay on the games. One of the joys in life, watching and betting on the Braves.

My man, nice fish!!! Bet it was explosive on a spook. They should rename them, import them from Japan, and sell them for 20-25 lol. I respect your game too, spartan as heck in that jon boat. I don't even have a chair, just a blow up cushion. I stand most of the time though. Thought today would be better, fished relatively hard for 3 fish. That said, one girl went 5.7 and was on my finesse Steez setup, so it made the slow day more than worth it. Another LGM was quality as well and was b/t 2-3lbs. Both caught off 7" Roboworm in Black Grape. Caught a small Bama Bass on a 6" Roboworm as well. Broke a fish off because I'm stupid and lazy and didn't check or re-tie after the 5.7 and smaller one. Missed another 3-4 bites as well. Quite a frustrating day, I need a lot of practice. This high sided Jon boat on this big of a private lake beats bank fishing, but that's it if there is even a few MPHs of wind. Shopping for a dedicated deck boat with front mounted TM atm. The winds stopped right before dusk, and that's when I caught the fish. Anyways back to practice......I cast up into this spillover several times, kept missing my mark......then on the 4th cast I land in exactly the spot I wanted, right above where the water was dropping into the lake. Less than a second after it hit, I hooked the nice fish of the lot. This was the same location that produced 7-8 fish one night a week or two ago, today it seemed to only be holding the one hawg. I'll never crack the Bass puzzle, never seizes to amaze me how random Bass fishing can be.

Way to go Dee! Keep on fighting brother, you guys will beat this!

All I can say is that we're here for you brother and offer my prayers! Life truly is cruel, and it's incredibly hard to understand why such terrible things happen to such good people. I can't imagine the strength and toughness both you and your wife possess.

Praying for you guys brother! You guys will see the other side of this thing, the power of positive thinking, prayers, and modern medicine is a powerful weapon

Nice, thinking first two are Smallies, and the last guy is a LGM. River fishing it looks like, love fishing around big structures like those below the dams. Wish I lived closer to the TVA lakes, as it stands I'm an hour + away. I think the variety of fish is one of the things that makes that area so special.

Yeah that got me going down the Google Earth rabbit hole......you are spot on correct, I was quite surprised to see the sizes of the lakes, but it makes sense.

First time I've ever seen Castiac was the other day on a livestream of the fires that were very close to the lake. I was stunned at how small the lake was, for whatever reason I had built the lake up to being huge in my mind. I can't imagine how pressured that lake was during the heyday of WR chasing.

Yeah I just twitch the things along weed lines, or throw them into pods of baitfish. I rig the same way, but use a 4/0 or 5/0. There is a tradeoff doing so, I think the smaller hooks give much better action, but hookup ratio is reduced in my experience. Somebody here was talking about putting them on a jig head, and bumping the bottom with them.....a lightbulb went off when I read that, but have yet to try it.

A wife unit who goes fishing with you.....yeah that's gonna be the real catch of the day I hate what Stripers do to most Bass fisheries, along with Alabama's only little Rainbow Trout locale, but they are easily one of the most fun freshwater fish to catch. Very exciting catching them when they are blowing up bait on the surface.

BINGO......my fishing mentor, a man who was personal friends with Ray Scott, and many of the earlier pioneers of BASS. He stressed one thing throughout my childhood when seeing my love for fishing....DON'T TRY TO MAKE A LIVING BASS FISHING! He said inevitably you start to hate the fish when they don't bite and you go home checkless. I'm lifelong friends with a guy who has won and took second place during MLF events this past year, he's been professionally fishing for a decade, and up until this year the most he won in a single calendar year IIrc was 30k. This year he's already at almost 200k though. I couldn't imagine making a living that way.

Right back at ya brother! Terrible weather in Central Alabama....been raining for two days, and it looks like dusk outside

Haha, I was thinking of doing just this in the near future to live bait some threadfins. I'm gonna take my smaller koi pond net and just scoop a few as they cruise by the boat.