Neo

+1

+1 on the Hawg Trough. I do recommend Gorilla Glueing a couple 5/16" dowel rods down its back to reinforce it. Plus the GG will help it float.

As stated earlier in the thread swimbaits are just another tool in the toolbox. I throw frog and toads heavily throughout the year. Spinnerbaits are a search bait for me, jigs and big soft plastics are always in my crate. Each year I choose a bait/technique(s) to work on and I'll focus heavily on that bait to learn how to fish it more effectively and or to gain confidence in that bait/technique. I've found FOR ME that this has expanded my repertoire and given me the confidence to throw stuff that I would not have in the past. Swimbaits were that bait/technique a couple years ago. Old dogs can learn new tricks.

Nice fish! Congrats!

It was an idea I had. I doubt it would grow wings here.

The only way to make it even remotely close to an even playing field would be to split the country into four sections. NE, NW, SE, and SW.. Then do a total length plus weight total for each fish from each section of the country. So lets say a 26" 11# fish from Alabama would be bigger than a 25.5" 11# fish from Georgia. Even though the weight is the same the length is the tie breaker. The sections/divisions of the country would only compete against themselves until the last month of the season then the top 12 anglers would compete against each other (the top three from each division) for AOY in a sudden death shootout. As for spots and smallies there is a calculator that can be used to level the playing field for those two species. I believe it is the AMI Calculator. Or you can use length first and weight as the tie breaker because we have all caught skinny fish that were either post spawn or under nourished. Ultimately it does not matter though. Big fish don't just jump into peoples boats you have to put the time on the water. A 7# LMB is a nice fish no matter what part of the country you live in. And the vast majority of bass anglers will never see a DD fish in their lives let alone catch one regardless of what part of the country they live in or what type baits they throw.....

Always a smart ass in the group.

Congrats on the PB! Very nice fish.

10.75#

This is some old school stuff I learned years ago. 1. fully charge your new battery over night before you ever put a load on it. Batteries have a memory and if you load a battery before it is fully charged it will never reach its full charging potential thus giving you a weaker battery with a shorter life span. 2. When you use it try to get it as close to dead as you can do so safely (don't strand yourself in the middle of a lake) but use as much of the charge as you possibly can that way you can fully recharge the battery. This fully excites the acid in the battery. 3. If at all possible never "quick charge" a battery always trickle charge it at .5 to 1 amp overnight. Just about any trickle charger should work. I've had the same el cheapo charger for about 15 years and it works great. I do suggest getting one from a place you trust like an auto parts store or sears or somewhere like that.

Wow man! That's just pure awesomeness!

I caught a 3#er on the first cast with my 6" Fast sink. I noticed you have to fish it pretty fast to get any action out of it. Overall I like the bait and will continue to throw it on occasion. BTW Haven't caught a fish on it since.

Ft. Morgan is awesome My wife and I don't live too far from there. Speaking of tarpon I have some friends that fish for them from Kayaks. They go off the beach from around Orange Beach area. Lady fish are a blast to catch even if they do crap all over everything once you land them.

This has to be one of the coolest threads I've ever read. Nice work man!

Yep. I fish at night about 30% of the time I fish and I really haven't noticed a difference in the bite one way or the other. I know some will swear by the moon phase but personally I believe the fish bite in cycles throughout the day. One of my main night fishing haunts the fish bite just at sunset for about an hr and then again about 2:00am and again for the hr before sunrise until about an hr after; regardless of the moon phase. I do like to fish a full moon only because if the sky is clear I can see better. Yes the bite can change and does but on a consistent basis this is what I've seen. To me the thing that has the most positive or negative impact on the bite is water quality. Is it clear or muddy or slightly stained etc......

nice work

I use a Thermacell while night fishing in my kayak. Since I'm not moving too much and when I do it's fairly slow it seems to be pretty effective. The mosquito is the state bird of Alabama and it seem to fend them off pretty well. I noticed that the bugs stay away even as I'm loading up to go home. I discovered that by accident one night when I forgot to turn it off before loading up my stuff. I think they're about $25 and the refill kits are about the same but they last a long time. One butane bottle lasts about three pads or so. I think you get about 3 hrs from each pad. I know I'm off on the times I've just never really paid attention to how long they last.

same here, both easy and strong Me too.

I've wanted a Rago Rat for quite a while now and haven't been able to get one and when they pop up on the Black Market (which is very rare) I miss them. I do think these look like direct knockoffs but I will be getting a couple for myself as soon as they hit the shelves. I wish Rago made more Rats available and I don't know why he doesn't and really don't why all I know is this; "If you don't take care of your customers someone else will do it for you".