Pat Brown

Since she was 12 and 1/2 the first time and it's been a few years I'm going to say she's 13 😎 That's an absolutely gorgeous bass!!!! Catching fish like that is what it's all about. The damage on the tails looks the same also for what it's worth.

Only thing I can figure is that thicker braid doesn't cut into the guides as easily or something along those lines, but I've caught a lot of really big fish with the guides on my ugly stick and 40 lb. Braid! I use 4 carrier. I could see 8 carrier cutting more also! I just have like the ugly stick elite graphite 7 ft medium heavy fast. The guides are shiny and not black. I don't trust the black guides.

The GX2 does not have stainless steel guys. It has the cheap ceramic inserts that I hate with a passion.

Jerkbaits are so cool. So so many nuances to triggering strikes within this category. I'd say they're my favorite treble hook/reaction bait category by far and the one I'd keep if limited to only one.

@ol'crickety oh my goodness if my local pond allowed those 🫠🫠🫠🫠 I see some YouTube anglers using them and they seem excellent! I definitely can echo: Weightless stickbait/fluke Frog/Buzzbait/Buzztoad Swim Jig/Grass Jig/Heavier pegged T rigged creature bait. Flashy Swimmer/swimbaits

This is probably the writing on the wall for MLF. You can endanger lives or lie and cheat and still fish but you (validly) poo poo the boss and you're on the street. Hmmmmmm....makes sense.

For what it's worth, I usually like to balance things out between the rod and the line. I like a little stiffer rod when I'm running mono and I like a little give in the rod when I'm running braid. Seems like that's all I have to do and I can pick the line for the job after that. When you're sitting down in a canoe, you need all the power you can get to set that hook though!

I've been using an ugly stick with 40 lb braid for buzzbaits exclusively for 2 years now and I've caught countless fish over 5 lbs and dragged them out of heavy vegetation. Stainless steel guides are completely fine and I can't say the same about my Fuji Alconites! Take heed folks who believe the internet instead of trying things out! To the OP: Reel all the slack out of your line and reel very quickly while setting the hook and make sure you don't give them any slack during your retrieve. Make sure your hooks are sharp. A hook sharpener is a great purchase if you're not particularly wealthy and like to up your odds of catching fish. I do not recommend switching over to braided line unless you're fishing very heavy vegetation and need it. I vastly prefer 10 lb mono for most situations.

I didn't get pictures but day before yesterday the bank just out of the wind near the marina with all the snaggy timber was completely covered in Cormorants. We saw them dive and come up with 14"+ gizzard shad more than one time. It was awesome 😎. The bald eagles were out too and also feeding on the big gizzards. Funny thing is you couldn't catch a cold anywhere near them. We went to the opposite end of the lake and loaded the boat with big fish.

Lately the biggest concern here has been the giant wasps that will menacingly investigate our boat a half mile from their nests lining the banks - 'winnie the pooh' style giant nests hanging from trees...let me tell you from personal experience - you do NOT want to hang a bait in that tree!

Been thinking more on this one and I will say that when difficult conditions present themselves for a few days, I much prefer bank fishing at a small pond because there's only so many places for them to hide. I also feel like small ponds and bank fishing keep me sharp. In some ways lake bass and the boat makes me a little lazy and off my game sometimes. Small pond big fish are way less forgiving of little errors and don't bite if you're not on your game 😎😉

I love both so much for different reasons and I've caught half my giant bass from a boat and half from the bank. I love being out on the lake and finding where they're at and dialing them in. I love creeping around in the dark at a pressured small pond and putting my jig into just the right spot ever so quietly and nailing a 9 lber. Can I just pick both?!

I LOVE fishing spinning rods and can relate to all the 'it was all I did for many years ' people and I don't dislike when I do use them for something but for around here you get your heart broken a LOT less when you go 12 lb and up for your clear line and that just generally rules out spinning rods most of the time for me. I rarely go lower than 15 lb and still occasionally get snapped off in trees by big fish. I try to avoid that at all costs for me and for the fish. I hate them swimming around with stuff stuck in their face because of me. I like fishing them at the small ponds when bass are feeding on the flats. Nothing to break off on there!

Dunno how I skipped over this thick beauty that was part of our banner day yesterday in my post but here she is! Another tank on that bizzbait spinnerbait!

Bluegill are basically purple shimmery. I actually do pretty well on PB & J swimjigs when I remember to toss them. I usually like some subdued chartreuse strands on the belly. Henderson Craw from Siebert is great for this look. His 'bull gill' skirt also is an excellent more subdued bluegill imitator with some purples in it.

I've caught a lot of big bass on spinning rods and a lot of big bass on baitcasters. Where I'm casting these days, gonna have to be a baitcaster - Alex, the bait monkey fully and completely applauds your choices regarding rod, reel and line, knowing full well that breaking off means more money in his pocket, but he and I had a talk and as long as I keep throwing my baits into trees and heavy vegetation, we're good. Got my first frog bass of 2024 and Jake got his biggest frog bass yet yesterday on a nasty muggy drizzly cold day where we caught the snot out of them. Best 5 would probably tick 20 lb for the day which is pretty insane for my lakes. I also caught my PB crappie on the spinnerbait which also caught the big bass for the day! Bizzbaits 3/8 oz tandem Tn Shad color with no trailer.

Yeah, what I'm reading here is you might need a stiffer rod with a little more backbone probably! Also definitely learn @WRB's long distance hookset, it's become my go to hookset with single hooks on long casts for a while now and it works.

I like cold fronts in the summer and I like warm fronts in the winter. During the spring and fall I tend to prefer stability but honestly you fish the conditions either way.

Got some of Chris Zaldain swim baits and the beast hooks to try in lieu of a small underspin/swimbait I've been catching pretty well on and stuck this nice one in the pads. Ya think she wanted it!?! Missed 4 bites on the bait before catching this one so it definitely gets bit! I missed my first good frog fish of the year sadly and Jake had a good one come unbuttoned in the pads (he thought he was hung for a solid minute of the fight before realizing he was dragging a good fish and giving her slack with his retrieve). I missed one on a bigger worm and then switched to a smaller speed craw and never got bit on the t rig again. Weird day!

Honestly Justin Hamner is impressive and I'd love to see him continue to grow the sport of bass fishing and win some more derbies!

Honestly looks like Hamner has got it barring some magic! If so - well deserved.

Rate of fall and action and profile all add up to more bites with jigs when you get them dialed in. Jig fisherman will go out with a few different jigs that cover the spectrum and systematically alternate them in areas that should produce until determining what the bass are in the mood for. Give it a try on your lake and always stay open minded when it comes to trailer action and the overall profile!

Yeah, there's a big difference between a stream trout that was stocked and a lake trout wild caught on Lake Huron. A lake trout is more like a salmon from the Pacific Ocean lol.

Took a friend and a kid fishing yesterday and we did alright! Caught em all up shallow around newly growing vegetation. Jake caught another one that was close to 3 we forgot to photograph and we caught a few little guys. All in all a very fun day on the underspin and swim jig!

Yeah basically because of money but for me because they're around and fun! If I lived in Senegal Africa I'd probably target Barramundi. If I lived in Iceland, I'd probably target Snook and Cod and Pike. In NC, bass is where it's at! I will say this: fishing pressure has made bass much harder to catch around here and I am seeing more and more folks go for panfish/catfish/crappie and I'm very okay with it.