Or your dads favorite lure

Favorite species always gives me a show

I’m new to bass fishing and caught this fish last night in a large pond by my house. I’ve never seen one with this odd head/mouth. Anyone know what’s going on there? He was 2.5 lbs so he’s obviously doing okay despite it

I’ve been wanting a Shimano Calcutta Conquest for some time now. I had considered picking up one of the gold models, but I was holding out hope that there would be an updated version in the near future since that one has been out for a few years now. Then I saw at ICAST that Shimano was releasing the 2026 Conquest DC in the States and I had to have one. I was surprised how fast these showed up at my local fishing store. I was even more surprised that my local place only charged $499! (Yes I know that’s still a lot but it’s much better than the MSRP of $649)

Apart from how good this reel looks, the one thing that stands out more than anything is how insanely smooth it is. I’ve used some high end reels before but this is truly in a league of its own. The best way I can describe it is when you turn the handle, it really feels like there aren’t any gears turning inside. Even the shop owner was amazed at how smooth it is. At the same time it has a ton of cranking power. And of course it casts like an absolute dream. It’s also very comfortable to palm which was a concern due to the round design. I do have relatively large hands so that might help. The drag clicker is a fun little touch.

The only downside is that it’s a pretty hefty reel. It comes in at 9 grams which is quite a bit more than something like my Lew’s Custom Pro Gen 3 or even a Curado 150M. It’s not really a surprise due to the all metal construction but it is important to note.

Overall I’m very happy with the reel and am planning to use it for many years to come!

My dog loves to go fishing! Used a Green Pumpkin Senko!!!

Picked up this crawler. Anyone have any experience with it? Noticed it has barbless hooks which I have never used. And even a spot for a glow stick for night fishing. Thought about changing hooks but not sure. Looks sick tho and can’t wait to try it out.

Went to the 🍯 🕳️ at lunch pulled out this 3lber. Spot always has some nice fish

I’ve had some luck catching bass off a senko worm when they were spawning in May and June (sorry if I get terms wrong, again I’m new). But now that’s it’s deeper summer I can’t seem to get a bite or even a chase for that matter. I’ve given the senkos a break on advice from a buddy and been using top water plopper lures. He says that bass will like to chase in the summer more than dead stick with a worm.

Still am not having any success. Anybody here have ANY recommendations on what I may be doing wrong or not doing at all?

Location is northern Indiana if that makes any sort of difference for any advice given.

Thank you in advance from someone just wanting to love this hobby even more.

Thought I had a 6 lb smallie on. Now in need of a new buzzbait.

You can see my friend working a popper over a point and getting hit and landing the fish. Not the giant we were hoping for but a start!

Oddly one of the colors I have more confidence in. Seems like every time I come back to it I hook into something decent.

4.5lbs caught on a DRT Tiny Klash in Palomino colorway - deep bill.

What do you prefer to use and why? My husband and I always use fluro. I have a St Croix GXR Lite spinning combo and he has a St Croix Bass X with Shimano reel. He swears by fluro but anytime we catch a big one it almost always breaks off. Doesn't matter if our drag is set properly etc. We use Seagaur 8lb line. ​​Ive told him we should try braid with a fluro leader but he wont listen to me lol. So settle our debate. What do you use and what do you prefer?

I didnt think I was gonna land this fish. It jumped so many times. Parts of me actually hurt after fighting this pig.

It was the hat that made it happen. And NO FFS! That made it that much better.PLUS I just remembered that my dad gave me that hat years ago. This was the first time I actually wore it.

For reference, I am in southwest Ohio and the water is low visibility. It’s about 75 degrees this evening

Caught this little guy earlier and noticed one of his eyes is completely white. Caught from a small local pond.

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For context this is a run-off pond that stems from a much larger lake, the runoff pipe passes underneath some train tracks that are elevated and some heavy brush surrounds the pond but there's a way through. I rarely have seen other fishermen out but there have been the occasional fee and I do see evidence of them being there from time to time.

For the last few weeks I have been going at least once a day on average, sometimes twice - I used to have an easier time catching bass here but lately it seems the bite has completely or almost completely stopped. I catch and release mostly, have only kept two from the many many catches earlier in the season.

So is it me pressuring the bass causing them to be cautious or is it really just July being tough on the bite and is August going to be even harder?

EDIT: that did it, after days of getting skunked. I hit a creature bait Texas rig instead of senkos and landed a nice one. I'll send a new post to show y'all. Thanks for the advice everyone it's very appreciated, this is a great community.

Y'all helped me in my last post, this is the same pond I was talking about. I hit it at lunch time with a weightless Texas rigged creature bait instead of my usual senkos and BAM! This is a great community thanks y'all 😎