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Fish from a few weeks back...She Smoked the Bullshad at the boat! Was released to fight another day!

I good job doesn't always mean highly educated. Yes many college, Masters and higher usually make a good pay but some do not and still live in mom and dad's basement. You can go thru high school and get into a trade, do it right and make a ton of money. What ever someone picks to do make sure you do it correctly and work hard. Usuallly 6 figures is a good salary but 100K is really not a lot of money for a family to do things. As a husband or father the real question is how can I support my family, thus meaning roof over their heads, food, stuff, enjoying times out with them. If you noticed there was no mention of swimbaits in the about sentence. As I mentioned before you should be able to cast off every bait you have and it would not effect the about sentence. I see many people selling baits to pay for repair, Dr bills, dog bills ect. You need to have a raining day fund set up and then think about buying baits for the money you have remaining. Good luck Brian

Went out this morning and threw a 68 black gizzard Shad ROF 5 around. This is only the second time I’ve thrown a Huddleston. Within about 10 minutes I was hooked up. Caught a 4.12. Most vicious bite I’ve had fishing for largies. Hooked another but came off.

My biggest mistake was not taking my grandmothers stringent advice on starting to work on my credit as early as possible. Even though she talked to me about it I never stopped to think about how one actually acquires a boat, truck, house, small business loan A.K.A. the finer things. Figuring these things out at a later date was a giant face palm moment.

Awesome perspectives guys! I come from a trade background, specifically union carpentry wood and metal stud framing, which is a 4 year apprenticeship and includes set/prevailing wage, vacation pay and full benefits. I got my GED young and did a year in cc and realized school just wasn’t my thing. I didn’t get into the trades until my mid 20’s and further more didn’t get serious about working until I was about 29. Starting to wrap my head around the theory of “the ends justify the means” was a giant eye opener. With all that in mind this is not, by any means, the highest paid trade out there but with in the trade there is always room for growth and advancement(and usually more overtime than you can shake a stick at.) I enjoy what I do and my environment is consistently changing, working out side in the spring and summer and jumping over to interior systems in fall/winter for inside work, also working with a revolving door of interesting characters makes for a fun day! All in all my choice in work provides me with the means to do what I want with my free time, fishing or otherwise. There are two things I didn’t factor in that you guys brought up: family and the nest egg My wife and I both work, we have 2 dogs and zero children. After mortgage and bills are paid my money is mine and hers is hers, but more importantly my wife is extremely understanding when it comes to fishing and spending ( in her words) “stupid money” on baits. I would like to reiterate on the more importantly factor of the wifey being understanding, this is a key factor in my ability to fish and spend when I want, with out that, life can and will be a living hell. The nest egg is a big one concerning the trades, you never know when your gonna get laid off, it can happen at any time. You never know if your going to get hurt on the job by your hand or another’s, some company's will fight workers comp and disability claims for years. One of the hardest things is looking at a 4 figure paycheck with 20 hours of OT on it and not planning out a shopping spree, it’s a lot easier to think that the future will be bright because that’s your current environment at the moment than it is to prepare for disaster. A rule of thumb I follow is to be AT LEAST three months ahead of the game, start saving $50-$200 every check, I have my company direct deposit it every week into an interest accruing savings account at my local credit union, I literally don’t notice it in my checking account because it’s already gone. Hopefully starting this post didn’t look like a cry for help, or personal financial advice. My intention was to get an open conversation going that might enlighten or inspire some of the youngsters.

Thank you to all that shared and donated. Together we raised $2,970.00 for the American Red Cross Wildfire Relief In Northern and Southern California. Each $10 donation included a raffle ticket towards the custom painted Bassjak x Hinkle Trout and Shad in Underground Camo and SU Hybrid Bait Wrap. An online random winner generator was used and the winner is @booneblankartz! Swipe left to see the random generator video. Again thank you to all! IMG_0200.MOV

Just got this one back

9lb 2oz I was on a little largemouth drought until today. We'll see if this holds up. Last time I took the lead someone beat me on the last day with a dd

Thursday's FAT Foot-Ball weight was 21lbs14oz.

I had fun this year. I caught some good ones but my new PB was a crappie. Another good one on a buzzjet coughed up a perch losing its contender status. Lol Took another su member from Caly out in a normally super sure smallmoutj stretch and bite sucked, but we had fun. Had a lucky to get home trailer repair. My old crestliner just luvs the water and skinny ones too. Even used it for tubing my teenage daughter and friends. P.S. Chem treatments continue to alter the sb game for me. The regular heavy hitters slammers, 316 wakes hudds had a bad year due to loss of weed edge. Finally got some mojo on my real preys (another what u think is going slow is too fast kinda deal) in the fall and have dedicated a rig to em next year. VID_20180805_125630.mp4

Been a while since I posted any fish here so heres a few nice striper. This one went 18lbs on a stocker trout 250 This one was only 12lbs but choked down the new BB trout 250. Sadly the back hook mangled her gills and I had to make tacos with her. This one went 24lbs on the 10" hiro trout And lastly my biggest of the year at 27.22lbs on the 10" hiro.

I finally did it! It took a while because i have been so busy but i finally made my first resin swimbait its a slow sinking glider that weighs about an ounce. I am able to work this lure super duper slow which is exactly what i was going for. Gonna test it on winter stripers at texoma once this semester ends!

Got a smaller one on the mother. She drilled it on the sink and the quads got her. Still a blast though.

So I got my tuned and painted dep 250 og back from dfeeesh, and decided to take it out for a swim. Thrown it a couple of times and after the fourth cast, this momma decided to have a early morning snack. Felt good to break my OG dep 250 in. Thanks to dfeeesh for a awesome painted and tuned job on it. Bait is On fire.

first top hook bait I’ve built, love how it turned out , very versatile little bait 1E4BAB03-9FFA-4EE0-AE9D-56B5A93D26E6.MOV 6A93030A-7C22-4FCF-9F12-3A09730597CC.MP4

Im not sure if this is a sensitive, T.M.I. subject but personally, I am always curious about how we (anglers/swimbapers/champions of feeesh) afford our habit/addiction. I’ve noticed a few posts lately, mostly geared towards the younger generation, stating “ get a really good job” “stay in school” “study hard and eat your Brusselsprouts” all of which I 110% agree with but a few questions linger in my mind: What is a really good job? How does one happen upon one of these mythical good jobs? How much schooling does said job entail? Is college even necessary for a really good job? If you don’t feel comfortable with this question feel free to ignore. I think this is a good subject to touch on, not just for community curiosity but more so for the insight it can provide toward the younger cats who may not know what they want from life yet or better yet what to expect.

Well, I am young compared to a lot of the guys on here but I believe (not intending to sound arrogant) I am very wise for my age (19). A lot of the comment above are very true so I will try not to repeat them. But in my mind the 2 best job types you can have are one that makes a lot of money and one that you absolutely love so much it doesn’t feel like work, it’s nice to find a job that is both listed above. Personally my passion is marine mammals and sharks. So I’m a marine science major concentrated in marine bio and then if everything goes right, I’ll get in vet school in 2 years. It just so happens that what I am going to do requires a lot of schooling, makes a good living, and is my passion. But that’s not for everyone, I know several people who are very fortunate in trades and personally my family are successful entrepreneurs. It’s all in what you wanna do and what opportunities are around you. Bottom line, find what your interested in/ good at, find an opportunity and work hard and you will be successful. While many people have it backwards, success in life doesn’t mean wealth , there’s been a lot of rich people That died unhappy and some of the happiest people you will ever meet are homeless. Do what you love and if it just so happens to make a lot of money then that’s a added bonus.

In my opinion, i use decoy snaps for glides (Except the negotiator/mother) because i believe the round bend at the end of the snap allows the bait to move more freely which i believe gives a better glide. And i use split rings on everything else, including my negotiator/mother because those baits i work much slower and don't want them to really see the large decoy snap in my clear waters. I only tie directly to baits that are segmented since i typically am working it faster i feel they don't care so much about the knot area. That's just my thought, certain baits work better than others with certain snaps/splitrings.

I gaffed off school. Didn't apply myself. Thought it was one big party. Thought sports would carry me through life.......They didn't, turns out grades are a pretty big factor as well.......who knew lol. I don't know if I would call that a mistake. Because for my lack of caring in school I had to join the military. And that is a HUGE help in the job market, and really helped me "attitude" wise. More or less the road not taken. Can't help to wonder what would have happened. I'm sure everyone has their story, and parts they would like to change, mistakes they have made. But it makes us who we are today. Scars of experience. Something school won't teach you......among the countless other valuable topics that are neglected in the public school systems. Once again......I digress....lol

for most people it does not matter how much money they make. Most people spend what they make and not what they need to spend. most people will always buy the extra stuff with the extra money IMO.

Me too. There's something about tying to a split ring that just doesn't sit well with me. That being said, it's actually best to try direct tie and a ring / snap to see which produces the best action from the bait or draws the most strikes.

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you're a little late to the party

Damn bro... that makes for an epic day on the water... great job

Great year BPB, way to adapt and overcome. Was a tough year up this way but looks like you did just fine

I don't think the fish are as line shy as some think. I've caught literally dozens of fish over 5 on that giant wire harness we call an A-rig. Fish didn't seem to shy away from it. JMO. I don't fish braid for fear of snapping off an expensive bait. I also don't like casting a leader knot thru the guides so I tend to use straight mono or Abrazx. Fish the bait the way the maker supplied it. If it has a split ring then leave it. Or replace the split ring with a Decoy egg snap or an oval split ring. This eliminates the chance of the line being compromised by the split in the ring, but keeps the ballast close to the same. While testing baits in my pond with an underwater camera, I noticed the when I had a snap on a glide bait, every time I would move the bait with the reel the extra weight of the snap caused the bait to rock forward or the head to bob up and down. Some glides are balanced so well that the weight of a snap can cause swimming issues. I don't use snaps for convenience any more. Only to replace a supplied split ring. I have been using a "Mark Pack" knot, similar to a SDJK and have had few issues with it other than it collects grass. What it boils down to I think, is use what you're confident in, comfortable with and what works for you.

Zero over 10 but I have 3 over 9lbs, breaking 10 in New England is like hitting Power Ball.

Had a fun couple of days! All are different fish and caught on a K9, 250 and Negotiator

Did have some slay sessions this year on the brown fish. Many nights of multiples over 4lbs. Lost some giants too. They loved the g2 Shellcracker, WSB gill, bull rat, bull wake, el raton and others. Must have caught 20 smallies over 4lbs and a ton of 3s. Lost a giant next to the yak one night on the 10” wake. Got a much better handle on them for next year

Sly guy crappie and toxic wade hogg