Rantoul, Illinois

First fish of the year! Wasn't very big but was worth getting out of the house for!

My first catch of the day thinking it was what I normally catch, a bass. Then later my first trip out of the house with my bait caster. Tried on my second cast and had my first real nest.

I love this bait and it seems the fish do as well. After some tips from YouTube I was ready to test what I learned. This was fish 6 that i caught! That's more than I'd caught in 3 previous trips-- Total!

First catch on a new 202 spincast. Need to practice with my 2 year old bait cast with one year old rod that are both practically new.

Tried super glue on the shank and it came in handy. Caught on the first cast but unfortunately the hook was set in the fish's eyeball! Safely released.

Switched from zoom u tail and no strikes after thirty minutes to the zoom zlinky. On the very FIRST cast, a strike and landing. From then on, one wiggles off within 5 feet; another within a foot; another I miss within a few feet. In summation, i did end up catching 9 from one spot! Some were directly after having had a catch.

What a catch! After having missed something similar in size I assume earlier in the day, this one was tough to bring in as it had vegetation with it. Figured I'd try to tire it out then bring it in. It hit so hard, the drag, set to the limit, started to squeal.