AlabamaSpothunter

3/0 would be my pick.

Today was postponed due to weather. Guess it'll just be a 3 day derby now.

Yeah now that they got a warehouse in GA, it's crazy how fast stuff gets to me. That was a gamechanger for me, last order got here like Amazon Prime, 24hrs....however one single pack of Roboworms took a week longer because it had to come from their main warehouse in CA......which has to kill the profit margin on a $40 order. I need to weam myself off my local store addiction especially now that the instant gratification is not nearly as alluring with 1 day shipping times.

Not hate from me outside of the fact I don't like the chances of gut hooking fish whacky rigged, and if you watch the Elite Series guys, they gut hook them as well with it. They also tend to litter waters given how soft and easy to throw off the hook they are. Studies have shown fish will eat plastics off the bottom. Most importantly for myself though if I'm being honest is that they just aren't very much fun to fish with. You don't get that intense hookset satisfaction like on jig/free rig/t rig/etc., you don't get to work it like a jerkbait or big swimbait, you can't cover tons of water like with a crank/spinnerbait/chatterbait, and obviously it isn't a topwater. Again with all that said, the Elite Series Big Bass of the year will likely be a 9.2 caught by Christie at Lay Lake earlier this year on a whacky rig. The current AOY leader Cobb has built his career and this year's run at AOY on the whacky rig. It's a serious bait that has perhaps caught more Bass than any other lure besides a curly tailed plastic worm.

Not quite Ned Rig or Drop Shot level of fishing, but pretty close. Always makes me nervous fishing with them whacky rigged which is the only way I fish them. I won't fish them outside the Spring. Too many better options for me. That said, the first half of the Elite Series was seemingly won on a whacky worm. It cashes big time checks that's for sure.

Everybody associates a thing with a particular state......Wisconsin and cheese for example. Never knew much about Maine before meeting you, and still don't, but forever and always the first thing I'll think of whenever I see Maine mentioned is Katie and her fat Green Tunas ?

Man this thread reminds me of something I think about quite often, "why can't fishing tackle and rod/reels be like guns in terms of value." Both are tools ultimately, but when I buy anything fishing related, I view it as a quickly depreciating good. I feel much more guilty spending $600 on a rod/reel combo than on a G19.5 MOS for example. If you buy the right guns, ammo, and kit for said guns, at worst they'll hold their value while you get to still enjoy them provided you take care of them. I know fishing has it's exceptions, but for the most part these things don't hold value as well as some other collections/hobbies.

Great job Katie! Beautiful fish and beautiful location!

Nicky Lopez being a superstar and Wall getting his first MLB hit were highlights as well. You got a bit of everything.

That's awesome, glad you got your money's worth. Fun game for sure.

Alpha Angler Chatterbound was a game changer for me. They bite it, they usually come in the boat with that rod. I had tons of problems before it.

Dang those Uptons by Hog Farmer are amazing looking, and finally give me an option of bigger "Roboworms" than 7". Pricey, and I'm sure they'll last for a fish but the colors, hand poured nature, and size makes them really unique. I'll give them a try, thanks. Uptons Customs Straighttail Worm - Hog Farmer Bait Company (hogfarmerbaits.com)

Since I'm fishing at night there is usually no wind, so I've not found the need to jump above 1/4th oz to maintain solid feedback. Also not fishing greater than about 10ft so additional weight isn't needed there. I'm of the mindset that the lightest weight should be used to allow better action on these baits.

Dang tough luck buddy, but after all that and nobody was hurt or worse is the real silver lining. I've had a few encounters with lightning that were about as close as you can come without riding the tiger. I've finally seen the light, I don't play around anymore with it.

They definitely hit the free rig on the way down on either the cast or hops/pops along the retrieve so much, just tonight I caught 4, and missed twice that many which I honestly can't help given its night fishing and watching your line is out of the question as a non black light guy. I'm too cheap to set on everything nowadays with tungsten? I keep getting close to buying one of expensive JDM gill type plastics at my high end shop, but they're stupid expensive considering how fast I go through plastics when I'm catching fish. It's not the cost of the first bag, it's the price of catching a nice fish and then you feel you can't live without them lol. Sure those flat, fat profiles really shine on the Free Rig though. At this point I think everything looks better to the fish on the Free Rig over the T Rig. Free Rig has made me fall back in love with bottom contact, slow fishing. That and summer night bassin, it's so nice to be able to fish bottom contact stuff in zero wind conditions. This stuff goes in the closet for the most part in about a month I reckon. I love it, but winter moving bait fishing is where it's at, I'm stoked already.

Just got home from fishing exactly this way, and have been doing so for about 4-5x weekly for close to a month. My thermocline is around 10-12ft though (viz is about 2.5-3), so I've been targeting flats that have large portions in the 8-10ft range near deep main lake body water, main lake points, and anywhere else that I can find heavy cover in that 8-10ft range. The key for me is the heavy cover, that's where all the big fish over 5lbs have been coming from for the most part. Tonight I only got 5-15.5lbs which is on the low end average of this technique, and time of year night fishing for me. Three nights ago I hit 5-22.5 with a 7lb kicker. Free Rig has been a huge thing for me with these plastics over the T Rig, I've seen the light on the Free Rig. My go to baits: 1. Zoom Ol Monster 10.5" in Black Grape, and Junebug 2. Zoom Magnum 8" Lizards in Black Grape, Blackberry, Black, Black w/ red flake 3. Roboworm 7" Fat Straight Tail in Black Grape, Afterdark, and Midnight. 4 Found a new standout tonight actually.....the 6th Sense Boosa Worm. Only have in pumpkinseed juice I think is the name. I've even used D Bombs when I got around areas with too many Spots because they'd rip the tails off all the baits. Big profile, dark colors, slightly above the thermocline, heavy cover is huge, and focus on main lake body features and areas. One of the easier and more consistent patterns I've learned over the last year. Hope that helps a little.

Wonder what Florida's vs. Michigan's shoreline mileage compared would look like? Dang....MI: 3200 miles FL: 800 miles

If I'm honest, I've never really seen much of a difference between black, black grape, junebug, junebug with red flake, blackberry (black with purple flakes), and black with red flake all within Zoom's lineup of 10.5" Ol Monsters, and 8" Magnum Lizards. I fish those baits 4-5x weekly night fishing, and I'll run out of one color and grab one of the other's above and can't ever tell the difference. Black Grape is just my confidence color I guess, if I had to standardize it, I'd go with it straight up, no flakes. The more important thing I've found rather than color at night and perhaps in general with soft plastics is having the right profile size. Sometimes I need to give them a 7" Roboworm straight tail in Black Grape, 'Afterdark', or 'Midnight', but when I think they're really chewing I'll bump it up to that Ol Monster or 11" C-Mac. The Magnum Lizards are my starting point......kind of the perfect middle ground b/t my three favorite night plastics.

Black Grape was invented by the Bass Gods to catch monsters in low light/night. It's also very consistent from one company to another. If I could only have one color for low light it would be Black Grape.

As a neck in the deep south, it sounded and looked stupid.....having fished them last winter, they are one of the most exciting baits to fish when they're firing on it. Produced a couple magical days I won't ever forget, 50 fish days, 20lb+ bags.......a bait every serious winter angler should at least try. Just like the A-Rig, Jerkbait, and Axeblade, it's a true standout winter bait. The Damiki Vault in 1/2oz is the easy button, but change the hooks, and perhaps split ring if you're paranoid. You see green tunas launching themselves after bait, and can't get them to fire on anything, this might just be the key that unlocks the puzzle that day. It's a fickle bait, I had to throw it for months before it finally worked......only once the fish got into true peak winter feeding mode. Down here it wasn't producing in Oct, Nov, and most of Dec.

Unless somebody is fishing in a derby, I don't judge another angler's abilities. Some dudes are out there throwing a huge swimbait for 1-2 bites a week Some dudes are out there throwing dropshots and neds, getting hundreds of bites a week Then other dudes are simply getting away from their job/wife/etc., and they don't care if they catch a single thing. Hard to judge another person's ability without knowing their goals.

Yeah I've known a number of doctors who were avid anglers and hunters......my local high end funstore is fueled by folks like this. That said, I'd be willing to bet that cops make up the biggest occupation who fishes. Heck if I were a cop in today's society I would be fishing as well? People with stressful jobs tend to enjoy fishing, lots of athletes like to fish as well. This is the best video I've ever heard explaining why true anglers love to fish....

I become a petulant toddler anytime they lose three in a row, let them slip up and lose tonight......I'll sling the Gerber even further ?

Braves suck, and the front office is joke for thinking they could outscore opponents instead of fully committing to another ring and getting pitching. This is the worst pitching staff I can remember the Braves having in a decade. They'll be a .500 team for the rest of the season and get embarrassed in the first round. You simply can't be competitive with the Braves pitching staff, and as a fan it's getting to the point where you can't watch it because you know exactly how it ends. My Power 5: Orioles Dodgers Rangers Cubs Astros

Lots of those lakes down here in Alabama, for the most part the trophy Bass pond/lake management was started here in Alabama. Ray Scott had one of the first I can remember decades and decades ago. He got in trouble for taking BASS derby fish to his private lake lol. That said, pay trophy lakes aren't like high fence hunting at all.......if anything pay trophy lakes prove just how hard it is to catch a 7-10lb fish. Unlike shooting something, if the fish doesn't want to bite, you aren't going to catch it. Catching a DD from a public lake is a bigger accomplishment, but catching a DD at a pay lake isn't like shooting a deer in a high fence location.