AlabamaSpothunter

Be religious about your hooks, which means regularly changing or sharpening them. This also means changing OEM hooks right out of the package to much better hooks like Owner STX 36 and 38s. Modern day hooks are absolutely amazing, you'll no doubt boat more fish if you pay attention and take advantage of high end hooks.

Should be a really good derby to follow, and Guntersville is extremely healthy right now. Should be lots of diverse tactics used as well, fish are in all stages. My buddy Jacob Walker is currently in second.

It hit 90d yesterday down here......the next several days will be high 80s or touch 90 as well. We're near or at record highs right now.

Yeah I just saw the Sharelunker post about it on facebook. They're putting that fish in an aquarium. It was a Legend class fish and the 20th biggest Bass caught in TX.

He uses the 6.5" Panorama on 6th Sense 1/2 ounce Axle jig head with 6/0 hook. It's Texas Rigged.

To me these Texas Bass really put into perspective the SoCal heyday. That Bass wouldn't even be newsworthy in the 90s in SoCal, and I often wonder if the world will ever experience another time like that. Sadly, I don't think it will ever happen again. That's Josh Jones go to bait over the last year, he talks a lot about the rigging and usage on his social media platforms. I think Kyle Hall caught that fish though, they were together fishing though. ETA: Maybe this is a different Bass because the one I'm thinking about was caught yesterday.

Good luck! The best weather for fishing is whenever you can go. Outside of dangerous conditions, you should never let the weather dictate whether you go fishing or not. I've crushed them on days that should have been horrible according to Bass dogma, and vice versa. Some general things hold true like warming trends in winter, but overall, it's a bunch of voodoo science imho.

Happy Birthday brother! Congrats on the incredible day on the water as well. One of these days I'll come down for one of those epic Shiner trips. I hope Florida continues to realize the importance of Bass fishing to the economy and protects places like the SJR and the big O. No telling what Shiner guided fishing brings in annually for the state.

You know you've always got a VIP seat in the SS Minnow anytime Katie, that goes for any other great BR member as well! The weather starting tomorrow through the end of the week will be mid 80s, better hurry before it's bacon sizzling weather though 😁

I had zero hope for this year even before the start, just lost way too many core pieces that made them special for a couple year period. Not to mention the litany of injuries before game 1 was even played. Team is completely broken, and the front office the last two years has made some terrible, team busting moves. AA started smelling to many of his own farts, shipping Contresas off for Murphy, and now the Profar deal have really doomed the Braves. They're already rebuilding, they just don't know it yet.

During my college summers, I went down to Orange Beach and worked as a deck hand. I heard a number of stories that were worse than the above, but it wasn't a Bass fishing injury. First story.....a really wealthy gentlemen just bought a new Viking 50ft+ Sportfisherman, and himself along with his crew were all very inexperienced in terms of bluewater Billfishing. Long story short, these guys caught a Blue Marlin, and stupidly thought they could bring it on board for a picture and then turn it loose. Once they got the fish in the boat, it freaked out and ended up "spearing" one of the men on the boat right in the gut. The story goes that the wealthy boat owner never went out fishing again on the boat. Second story.......a group of guys were Tarpon fishing in a center console boat when they caught one and decided to bring the big 150lb+ fish on board (which is actually illegal in most states), again once they got the fish in the boat it proceeded to freak out. In the end the fish broke numerous bones and caused significant other injuries to all in the boat, along with completely destroying the boat when the fish trashed the center console and cockpit area. I feel like saltwater fishing rachets up the danger level significantly. Google is filled with tales of horror. The Most Dangerous Fish | Sport Fishing Mag

I use Reel Magic and apply it when first spooling up a reel with FC. I also use it in the winter on my reel's level wind and rod's guides to prevent or help mitigate ice buildup. If you run straight FC or mono on a spinning reel it's also really beneficial to help keep the line manageable.

I'm a sucker for a @king fisher fishing report, I just want so badly to experience that off the grid, un guided Mexico Bass fishing. To me that's injecting Bass fishing into your veins, whereas what I'm doing is simply drinking it 🤣

For weightless whacky rigging, exclusively Yamasenkos. It's the king of weightless stick worm action, nobody has ever replicated its subtle shimmy action....some good YT videos comparing them all underwater. For weighted applications including weighted whacky rigs, it doesn't matter what brand you go with in my book. The weight is going to kill the stick worm action for the most part. Maybe on a Free Rig, I'd go with the Yamasenko, again because of its natural shimmy action. That said, the biggest piece of advice I wish somebody gave me when I first bought a pack of stick worms to whacky rig was to buy the cheapest brand you can find to start off with, Yum, Academy brand name, or the BPS ones are good to start out with. The reason for this is because confidence in baits is everything, the single most important aspect imho. If you start out with GYB Yamasenkos at $7-8 a pack like I did and have fantastic success, there's no going back to Yum Dingers at $3-4 a pack. I've tried, and in the back of your mind you always feel you'd be getting more bites, catching bigger fish with the more expensive ones. The last week alone I've gone through $35-40 in senkos/VMC crossover rings. I'd be broke if I used them outside the months of March and April lol.

Thanks, and I would completely agree outside of one consideration in regard to the biggest fish spawning first. As you correctly stated, the Spawn is more of a season than an event. To this end, and especially on lakes of any size, or even smaller lakes that have a huge difference in depth zones throughout the lake, you'll sometimes find big girls spawning later in the areas of the lake directly adjacent to the deepest water that will take the longest to warm up. Last year's spawn proved this to me when the biggest female I saw on a bed came at the very end of the spawn. In fact, she's the biggest fish I've ever seen on a bed. I think the biggest fish generally spawn first for two reasons, firstly the fish with the largest egg mass are going to be the biggest females, but not all of her eggs mature at the same time, thus she'll need to spawn multiple times throughout the spawn. So, I feel like they know they've got to spawn early and often. Secondly, this provides an exceptional competitive advantage over smaller females with less egg mass, who might only spawn once in the season. That big female is going to be the first to lay eggs in hopes that a cold front doesn't wipe them out, and if it doesn't, she's just blessed her future fry with a massive advantage by ensuring they'll have the greatest shot at being the biggest young of the year Bass. I'd guess more Bass fry are eaten by siblings than by any other single source of predation. I could pontificate about Bass spawning forever lol, it's one of the final frontiers of Bass fishing knowledge, I just don't think we have a real great understanding of all the nuance, and complexity that goes with it. To me it's the most fascinating phase of a Bass's life cycle. I'm ate up with it right now because we're just cresting the peak of the spawn down here. What a magical time to be on the water. Even when you don't catch them, seeing all the fish up shallow is just so exciting.

Elite Series pro John Garrett posted this on social media earlier.....apparently his granddad pierced his ear for him

You're seeing the initial flood of males to the bank, although some of those fish are females as well. One thing I've learned is that most of the bigger females spawn deeper than most anglers think. If the majority of fish are spawning in 1-3fow, those bigger females will spawn in 4-5ft. If you can see them, they can see you firstly, secondly if they see you, most times they're not going to bite a bait until they truly lock down on the bed. That's why it's generally easier to catch spawning fish in the blind vs. seeing them and then sight fishing them. Lastly, I've found the whacky rig to be easily the most effective lure when targeting these spawning fish in 1-3fow. That said, you'll miss or lose a number of fish on them because many fish aren't actually eating you're bait, rather just grabbing an appendage and removing it from their area. For this reason, outside of the whacky rig, I don't throw Shakeyheads, T-Rigs, etc. that have lots of plastic without a hook. You want that fish to get the hook when it goes to try and move that bait. Another tip is to always be line watching, because again the fish aren't hitting your bait, they are many times just removing it from the area. Big females especially do this.

Haha, Bassmooch actually has a face mask you can....I think it's meant for using while on plane but it could perform double duty M5 Tournament Face Mask – BassMooch

I "liked" everyone's stories, not the fact you or others had to go through pain. Hearing all the other stories makes me realize this isn't all that rare at all. I just never heard of anybody personally getting hooked in the eyeball. Something extra tragic when folks are seriously injured or killed doing a relatively mundane hobby. With base jumping, it's part of the deal, Bass fishing.....no so much.

I'm out fishing yesterday on the lake, and I start complimenting a homeowner on their new Bass boat, and the gentlemen goes on to tell me what happened to his father recently while out on said new boat. The father and son were out fishing, and the father was throwing a Rattletrap. The father gets the trap stuck in a tree and proceeds to start trying to free the bait by ripping it with his rod.....we've all done this a million times. Long story short, the Rattletrap becomes free and flies back at the father, managing to hit him in his eye. The rattletrap hooked his actual eyeball. They immediately go the ER, but because it's such a traumatic and rare injury, they didn't have the optometrist surgeon specialist on hand, so the father had to leave the treble hook in his eyeball until the surgeon could get there. They are hopeful the father can regain his vision and will make a full recovery. I'm almost vomited hearing this story, and I simply can't imagine how much I would freak out if that happened to me, or somebody I was fishing with. I felt so bad for the son, and obviously the father, I can't imagine doing such a lovely fun activity, and within a nanosecond it turns into pure nightmare fuel. I suggest the next time you think about ripping a stuck lure free, you remember this story. That or you always where glasses while fishing and aren't afraid of catching a bait anywhere else on your body.

I didn't know Garmin made fishing lures 😁

Why thank you Katie, and right back at you! I've always been amazed at the number of calories that must be burnt fishing your style. Everything you do is human powered, which just illustrates how much you truly love Bass fishing. I also think anglers who live in the middle of this country like the Midwest have the most difficult fishing in the country. You gotta really love Bass fishing to fish in those states. It's easy being a Bass angler in the South.

I've come to realize it's one of those things that's absolutely visceral one way or the other to even the non fishing public. I've told a number of people who have never Bass fished a day in their lives about what FFS is, and they all instantly said "that's cheating". Do I think it's the coolest technology ever invented for fishing.....1000% Do I think it ruins the true nature and magic of Bass fishing.......1000%

@Pat Brown Way to go brother, and simply getting an invite is a huge accomplishment......kind of like a mini NC Classic 😎 You mentioned a Shad spawn which really surprised me reading it, what are your water temps? Heck you went from dead of winter to post spawn in a blink of an eye unless your Shad spawn at much lower water temps than mine do down here. They start spawning once it hits about 70d here. I'm jealous of that particular lake you fished the derby on, you alone have proven how many monsters live in it.

Robert Gee should have won the event, and Hamner should have won AOY, but the Johnston brothers teamed up as usual to both bully and hole buzzard Gee's winning spot. Chris was desperate to win AOY after all but blowing his chances after the first two days.......so he decided to fish within feet of Robert Gee to not only help his AOY chances, but also to steal fish away from Gee because his brother Corey was in 2nd place behind him. In the end he siphoned off just enough fish to win AOY and allow his brother to edge out Robert Gee. I don't associate them with Canada at all, when I think of Canadians of think of Cooper and Gussy, two exceptional ambassadors for Canada. It is amazing how many Elite Series guys Canada produces. Right now, there are 5 guys including rookie Evan Kung on the Elites. Pretty dang impressive if you ask me.