Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

Number 18 bass today...last shiner ...drifting back to the boat..I'm still shaking ..I thought 10 pounds for sure...She's 8.4 man ..great day.
Thank you Jesus. Took me a good 2 minutes to land her. :)

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

Here's the story..

Super windy day..my regular spot stunk so {Without a depth finder} ;)I went fishing for another spot. I ended up catching 17 before thisbig girl bit. My biggest was 3 pounds..up to 12:30 today.Then about 12:30 I decided to leave. I had one 3 inch shiner left on my medium Shakespere rod and Shimano spincaster..BAM! The rod almost leaves the boat..I grab the end..and immediately I knew this was a good fish..The ole head started going sideto side like a bluecat...Then I see the white side trying to break the surface .I knew then it was a bass and over 5 pounds. I screamed for Aaron to give me the darn net.She made 3 long runs and I was very concerned..When I ended up netting her I can see why I DON"T horse them..She was only hooked by a tiny sliver of skin in the side of her mouth..Any horsing at all would have pulled the hook from her mouth. I was honestly thinking 10 pounds even after I saw her..She was FAT! I was also worried the picture wouldn't take.The camera was doing funny things.

God bless,
C7

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

Nice fish Chuck!

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

congrats on a nice fish Chuck

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

Thanks fellows. To be honest It's the biggest fish I've ever caught.I got an 8.2 last year...If it wasn;'t a catch and release lake I may of had her mounted..maybe..She sure was the hardest bass I've ever landed..At the last spart of the fight she aimed herself for my trolling motor...That was scary.[X(]

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

Very nice fish chuck. Wish I could get one like that up here. I'm sure there are some here but they are very, very few and far between. Did you get any on plastics today or were you exclusively shiner fishing? Again, congrats on the beautiful fish.

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

yes sir,,I got one on a Carlolina Rig...that was it. I tried Rooster tail, Rapala Cranks, Little George and lots of rubber worm.The lady at the desk said they were all striking out today..that is why the shiners..;)
My old spot was not hot..I caught 4 there and moved on..I ended up catching one 150 yds on down ...so I drug my boat on the shore and fished from the shore..Why?? The wind was horrible.I was untangling rods all morning. I caught 10 more there real nice fish 2- 3 pounders.. Then I decided to drop my shiner down about 15 foot and driftto the dock..and go home ..another boat was watching...as I was in panic getting that fish in..She stayed green a long time.:DTwice I thought it was time to net her..WRONG! She'd run again...and the last time she was heading for trolling motor..I then had to trust the drag, the Palamar knot and Power Pro..plus I was praying...I ws shaking like a leaf..I was very relieved to see her going into my little Walmart net..
Thanks Gherd

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

Nice fish man, Well done

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

Fantasticfish Chuck, I can tell you were excited. I am going out right now for a little while and fish, try top catch one of the big ones I saw the other night. That picture gave me the fever really bad.

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

IT couldnt have happened to a better guy congrats buddy hope you get that ten your lookin or this year. I have gotta go upgrade my score only 3 oz and in 4th place[8D]

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

Thanks again fellows
c7

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

couldn't be happier if i caught it myself, now thats puttin on the pressure;)

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

Congrats to you Chuck, I agree with M.T. !! I also noticed that the photo apears close to shore, was that deep water or shallow?

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

Thanks Phil ,Keith...and Oneshot7...I'm still thanking you for turning me on to Power Pro.

Pits are dangerous..this pit drops off to 20 feet real fast. When I had my depth finder it showed 31 feet in the middle. Last week I was throwing that deep diving Rapala and I hooked on to one larger than this baby. That one broke the line ..

PHIL..the spot where I am at showed 31 foot on the depth finder.

Why? My hypothesis is this.. Until I started using the Palomar knot I was using the improved clinch knot. Matt and I had at least 8 break offs..and some where on fish as small as 2 1/2 pounds..We noticed every break was literally at the knot. I knw how to tie the Palomar..I just thought with 20 pound test it wasn't necessary. Since we started using the Palomar we've had zero beak offs. On crank baits it's hard ot tie a Palomar knot...but after loosing the haxg of a life time 2 weeks ago...I will find a way to tie a palomar knot on a crank bait.

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

make a "BIG" loop to go over the bait, flair the loop over your hand and fingers and run the bait thru;).

the palomar is the knot i tie more than any other, also went to a little siminar that hank parker was doing and he was testing knots/lines to the breaking point, the polomar knot held a higher % of the test/pounds than any of the other knots tied, i was amazed that some lines would break at 20% of there test rating, which could explain why you were breaking off fairly easy[&:]

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

Good insight there Keith..I will be using that palomar knot on everything..I'll just make a big loop.

That hawg I lost 2 weeks ago was strange..I purposely back off onthe drag while fighting the fish{Like I did yesterday} I would rather have a little bit too much drag than risk a boken line..Anyway, that big fish pulled so hard and fast that even a loose drag did not keep her from snapping my line and stealing my 7.00 Rapala..

Thereforel NO MORE CLINCH KNOTS.!!.. Thanks for sharing about the Hank Parker knot test. I like that kind of stuff. Fo rme..line is probalby the most important element..don't go cheap on line and know your knots.
c7

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

WTG Chuck! Congrat's

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

Chuck..Congrats on a great fish...

I ain't never even laid EYEBALLS on a bass that big, much less CAUGHT one...:D...

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

Chuck are youcurrently using 20# power pro. If so, 20# power pro is the same diameter as 6# mono. Which is a little to small to be throwing on baitcasters. The general rule when going from mono to braided line is to match the line diameter of your old mono with the new braid. For instance I used to use 12# mono and when I bought my power pro I went to 50# which has the same diameter as the 12# mono. Not only is the bigger diameter line more forgiving on your baitcasters you can also see it much better when you are worm fishing, which makes detecting strikes much easier. I know you haven't broke off since you started using the polamar knot, but if you go to 30 - 50 # power pro I know you won't break off. I believe the Power pro to Monodiameter looks like this:
20# Power pro diameter = diameter of 6# mono
30# Power pro diameter = diameter of 8# mono
40# Power pro diameter = diameter of 10# mono
50# Power pro diameter = diameter of 12# mono

This is just a suggestion you might want to try the next time you respool your reels. Hope this helps. If you are using heavier than 20# power pro then disregard this post. The way I look at it is, you are not really gaining anything by using the 20# braided line. 20 # line just isn't thatheavy when you are fishing around weeds, pads, or any other kind of heavy cover. The object of braided lines are to give you the unbreakable power of 30 -50 pound test line in a small diameter. Just my .02. By the way great fish again my man!!!! Didn't mean to rant just wanted to share this info. It may help you out in the future. Then again you may think I am full of poopy.[8D]:D

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

Thanks for the info my friend..I'm always eager to learn something new..:)
C7

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

WOW, is about allI can say, congrats buddy.

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

I dunno chuck catching an 8lber in under 2 minutes sure sounds like you horsed him in!:D Congrats on the bass!

RE: Back in first..God is awesome man!!!
 

Very nice Chuck.