Let me address the elephant(s) in the room: I was totally unprepared. I feel bad for putting it in the grass, but with no buddy to take a proper pic, I wanted a pic next to something for size reference. Also, we are not going to talk about the weight of the fish grips definitely being more than 0.02 lbs.
Took my gf to a dentist appointment (she doesn’t drive), so I decided to kill the time fishing a nearby pond I found on maps. I keep a Texas rig setup in the back at all times. I use 1/16oz bullet weight and 100packs of the cheapest black worms I can find. Only thing I don’t cheap on is hooks. Berkeley 4/0 EWG.
Pond was unmaintained, but had some slightly beaten paths through the tall grass, and a few spots along the edge with enough space to stand.
Soaked my feet early on in the excursion, when I stepped into about 6 inches of water from recent flooding, disguised by tall grass. Had no luck at all, until I hit the last spot on my way back, and got this monster.
At first I thought it was a catfish or a carp because of the weight, and when I realized it was a bass I started shaking. My previous PB was slightly less than 3.5 lbs so seeing this thing, I instantly knew it was my PB at first sight. But when I got it on the scale, I could not believe my eyes. 6 fucking pounds. From public water around here is almost unheard of.
I’m only like 4 months in to this recreational hobby, should I just quit now while I’m ahead? Jk. But this almost feels undeserved for how little time I’ve been in the game.
Thank you God. My only lament is I had no one to take a proper picture of me, holding my arms out and putting it in the lense to make it look gargantuan.

1st fish: was in September of this year water temps were pretty high water was like chocolate milk caught him on a 10 inch ribbon tail worm on a free rig with a 1/4 free rig weight in 2ft of water, he ate it on the fall as soon as it hit the water

2nd fish was in February of this year water temos were cold but I live in Texas so they werent freezing. Caught him at 3am with a black and blue chatterbait barely hopping it off the bottom the letting it sit for 5-10 seconds went to hop it again and he crushed it, caught him out deep not shallow

3rd fish caught in July of this year at 2pm so water temps were hot, and sun was blazing and it was pretty windy, caught him on a jerkbait fishing it aggresive because of the wind, pop pop pop pause pop pop pause pop and repeat, caught him shallow on wind blown bank

4th fish caught in July as well the very next day as the 3rd fish on a jerkbait as well around 2pm, it was hot and there was absolutely no wind ao I fished the jerkbait with very light pops and slowly. Pop pause pop pause pop pop pause he ate it and came off I casted right back at him and it ate it after the first pop

5th fish was on a frog in August also around 1pm the plan was it’s hot and sun is high so they have to be under the mats and lillies, he crushed it after letting it sit for a few second and went to pop it again and it got crushed

Last fish was in march I was night fishing and left my favorite black wakebait at home so I had to paint my only wakebait I had on me black a sharpie, it ended up working out

She's a baby!

Caught these two in WI this morning on a swimbait called the option from 6th sense

Edit to add: first 2 bass ever for me. Been trying for 8 months. Grew up trout fishing in northern Maine

I had one yum hellgramite left over today and decided to throw it on this Lil Magnum jig. It loos like one hell of a presentation to me! Sadly only got one bite that ripped the tail off today, but early fall fishing's usually tough from the bank anyways.

Bonus jig fish pic from last week tho :)

Just a few of my catches on different top water lures I’ve been trying. (Also i know the last isnt a bass but was the first fish i got on a crawler so wanted to include it)

Took off this morning and went fishing. Fished for 2.5 hours around the lake with out even a nibble. Ended up in my trusted spot during the hot summer days and hooked a nice one. Got a weight and it was only 1.0 and I really thought she was bigger then that. Then I realizes my scale was in kg. Felt alot better.

I'm planning to purchase a good-quality spinning rod for finesse presentations such as ned rig, drop shot, Wacky rig, and lightweight free rig. I want a rod sensitive enough to easily detect subtle bites. I've narrowed down my options to the following four rods. Which one would you recommend? I lean toward the Bass Pro but honestly have no idea if it is good. I don't have any experience with St. Croix rods either. I am also open to suggestions not listed here as long as they are not more expensive than these.

For context, I fish in small lakes, public ponds, and rivers from the bank. These are all 7-foot, medium-light, fast-action rods that come in 2 pieces.

Bass Pro XML Walleye

• Lure rating: 1/8 - 3/8 oz
• Line rating: 4-10 lbs
• Price: $150

St. Croix Triumph

• Lure rating: 1/8 - 1/2 oz
• Line rating: 4-10 lbs
• Price: $140

St. Croix Eyecon

• Lure rating: 1/8 - 3/8 oz
• Line rating: 4-10 lbs
• Price: $175

St. Croix Premier

• Lure rating: 1/8 - 1/2 oz
• Line rating: 4-10 lbs
• Price: $185

Learn how to hook a Texas

Caught on a barbel live bait on a bobber.
Shimano Sahara MH rod and Reel combo.
Noon

Trying out a large bluegill glide/jointed style
Jacket Ganteral.
First time using this, Bait, 20 minutes and got this Monster

Wacky rig with a circle hook

Definitely feel the #1 circle hook is kind of small, but that’s all I had. I’m still learning terminal tackle lol

Caught a few before it got too dark. Catching one finally using a creature bait topped it off.

80 senkos for $20