Champ188

Is Bo making a jerkbait these days? That don't look like no jig I've ever seen tangled in the net on that third smallmouth pic. 😁

Pics are there and they certainly look like Kings River "green trout," as folks call them on the Mississippi gulf coast. Nice ones. Crank bait bite just seems to be off everywhere right now.

Nicely done on the fish and a fine-looking older Ranger. What year and model?

Bo knows bass. Wish I knew half of what he does about deep fishing. And he's a good fellow.

I realize it was just a figure of speech, but no need to apologize, Vernon. That same Constitution is in play every day here on the forum ... giving us the right to speak our minds. That nasty golf/fishing combo virus is what we need a vaccine against. It might not kill ya like Covid, but it'll empty your wallet faster than a teenage girl at the mall. Let's go play as soon as it warms up some, buddy. I'm sure we are both capable of agreeing to disagree. LOL

In a word, bullsh**. You do not have the right to kill me or any of my loved ones with Covid. This is obviously an emergency that is not addressed in the Constitution, nor does it need to be. If you have a TRUE medical issue that prevents you from taking it, so be it. If not, I would like nothing more than to see the government mandate that all U.S. residents (citizens and aliens alike) be vaccinated against it. Covid is not a joke and it's not a platform for you to wage your silly "my body, my rights" junior high civics class freedom babble. It's a pandemic-level disease that has killed a whole friggin lot of people. Wear a mask, get the dang vaccine or stay away from me.

I'm in but looks like the group message board is empty ... i.e., no payment information. Can you PM that info, please and thanks?

Darn well said. Thanks, Ham. May cooler heads prevail in this time of sickness, political unrest and deep division in this still-great nation.

Classic. Couldn't agree more. But as Bill said, to each his own.

Bill, you are all over it. I'm definitely more of a blader than a cranker, but since that just won't get ya bit this time of year, I do crank a fair amount from December-March. I would offer one tip: There's no other time when you need VERY GOOD equipment more than when trying to throw as far as possible. Buy the smoothest reel you can possibly afford and you'll be glad you did every time you make a cast. And change the line. I'm a mono guy for moving baits. I use P-Line CXX in 10 lb for cranking. That stuff is as tough as line comes. Just be aware that the diameter is a smidge larger than some other lines, so don't go up to 12 pound. And since it doesn't cost a fortune like quality fluorocarbon, you can change it every few trips to keep that distance-robbing line coil at bay.

Donna and I have the Bill Babler signature series senior tag. 🦕🦖🦕 😆😂 No more stopping at the gate for us.

Thanks for the report! Good to know they can be caught.

If you're gonna invest in this technology and you have the greenbacks, Bill is the guy to copy. For as long as I've known him, he has gone to great extremes to ensure that everything he owns is operating at max efficiency.

I'm even later but hope everyone had a merry Christmas and here's hoping for a better 2021 --- in every way!

Like any other style --- deep stuff included --- you have to develop the skillset to (a) find them, and (b) get them to bite. I grew up fishing shallow for LM so that's what I tend to invest most of my time and effort. If I'm successful, I'll often catch a decent sack of fish. You do tend to catch bigger LM from now thru the spawn on transition banks, main-lake and secondary points --- all the places they like to "stage" in the winter for their next mission in life, which is making bass babies!

Would be hard to count the very, very good friends in my life who I initially met in the past 13 years on OA. What an awesome forum. Thanks, Phil!

You must have borrowed that picture fish from someone who had live scope, spot lock, down scan, etc. Ain't no way you caught that fish cranking that transition bank behind you. Don't you know there are no shallow fish anymore? My question is, since everyone is deep-sea fishing nowadays, when will the local paper's want ads --- and the swap shop radio show --- be flooded with lightly used Power Poles? No? Oh yeah, they were only for decoration anyway. 😆😂 Seriously, nice fish Sprint. Ain't it nice that practically everyone else is out in the abyss throwing cheater rigs and playing with their $10,000+ toys?

Nice job, Jeff. As always. Did you get livescope and not tell anyone? Pretty sure I read somewhere --- maybe even here --- that if you don't have it, you might as well stay home. Looks like you did fine without it!

How about old plasma TV's? 😂

This is all very good news. Glad to see our license dollars being put to good use here in our backyard. AGFC does good work most of the time.

My comments were 90% in jest ... I can certainly see the value in the situations that you guys mentioned. Especially napping! But until the Fortrex gives up the ghost, I think I'll make do with it. My next one will no doubt have spot lock, but I don't see myself ever stepping up to livescope. Video fishing is just not my cup of tea and to get set up right, you're looking at $10K or more. It's not worth it for me but can be worth its weight in gold to some of you deep-sea guys (Babler for sure). Later, guys. Headed to Beaver with a youngster from work and hope I can get him on some fish.

I'm waiting very patiently for my Fortrex to give out. Not showing any sign of it. Which makes me very happy. I'm a shallow-water guy and spot lock just doesn't mean much to me. Heck, the last thing I want to do is STOP and sit in one spot! 😆

At the HLS in Bella Vista, they have a downstairs storage room that is jam packed with skirts of every color (spider cut and full cut), as well as every weight and style of jighead you can imagine. I usually buy my heads and skirts separate and put them together myself. Hint: A drop of liquid Powerbait bass formula on the skirt collar will make it slide onto the jighead very easily.

Glad to hear it. I'm mostly a Bass-X guy when it comes to jigs, but Pig Sticker is a close second choice! Love that little Quick 5 football jig.

Let's make a trip soon. I finally got my truck back from the repair shop 6 weeks after our wreck at Broken Bow. Got the boat back home Friday. (It's been at a friend's house in Broken Bow since the wreck). I'm ready to go! Nothing like feeling that sharp "tick" when a drum pops that jerk bait.