It's a good thing you cut that train off before it got to the trestle, the tracks were out.

When the water temperature is between 55 and 65 degrees, largemouth bass will seek out a shallow, protected area for spawning. Lakes, especially the larger ones, don't warm up uniformly. Therefore, not all bass will spawn at the same time.
Until that time the females will be eating everything they can catch, to build up for the spawn, then go back to feeding when it is over, only to slow down when the water warms up. That is when you need to slow your approach down to match their mood. Normally mid day 10:00 am to 2:00 pm EST is when the largest fish are caught year round. What ever you can find from Dough Hannon bass professor read it or watch it
Here is one that helped me forty some years ago (I read it) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF4j7YmD5J0&t=101s Just a sample of his stuff. The man made a life of studying bass by studding them by scuba diving with them

About 50 years ago my wife and I went to a sea food restaurant at the inter coastal north of St Augustine Fl. and after we ordered, a man and his wife came in and asked, "Bobby have y'all got any clams?"
Bobby said, "No sir, Mr Buba they're out of season, Ya know."
"Yeah, I know, but you usually have them. How's your Mama, and Pa?" Buba replied.
"They're fine Mama's in the kitchen Cooking." Bobby said.
"Well," Buba asked,"where's your Pa?"
"He's in jail." was the reply
"What's he in jail for?"
"Digg'n clams."
The next time we were there we had clams.

Do you remember the tie on forged in fire? They used my wife's head in the strength test both weapons broke on the first impact. They both got $5,000. I hope see doesn't see this, I don't want to butt heads with her!!

It is hard to get bass to really bite when the female is actively on the bed. The male prepares the beds, during which time the males will just about take any offering and the females are on a preparatory feed as well. When they actively go onto the bed they get what we call the soft mouth. At his stage they will be hard to get a hook in them. I had an opportunity to watch some bass close up in some very clear water, pick up a live shiner by its tail and take it off the bed and drop it. From the feel of it I would have set the hook, and it would have torn out of the bait. That being said I found that when you guide a small Brown, and I suppose Black Bullhead catfish on to the bed you get a sudden and violent reaction and if you aren't close enough to set the hook you will probably have a gut hook. I would try to imitate one of those or use live ones on the bed. After the female leaves the bed the male tends the bed, and she goes on a urgent feed, any kind of bait will work. They like to bed on shallow sandy bottoms.

77, In same boat But mine's got a hole in it below the water line.

In Jacksonville Florida there was an old feller, named Cap'n Hunter, that could do that could that after taking out his top teeth. A bar maid told him one night if he could touch his nose with his toque she'd go home with him. He popped out his top teeth and touched his eye brow with it and she left with him.

This isn't the knot I like but the method is correct. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpRo0jlTcnU

This is the knot I use. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcoAF_jspGo

Back in the summer of 1969 my wife, and I with a friend ran a trout line one night and caught 101 channel cat fish on 100 hooks. On one of the drop lines a small fish on the hook had a much larger fish with the line wrapped around it's gills. We cleaned fish for awhile and gave them to the folks in the area that needed them.

Didn't I see a hook in it' mouth? Looks like it might have been lassoed first though

Way to go, Bob, nice catch

Hey Girl, Start buy tying a knot in end of line (If you are using braid you may want a touch of super glue on the knot. Wipe any excess off, and trim tab off close to knot. Loop the line around the spool, and tie the end with the knot around the line with the, end knot, so that it come out away from the reel spool. Pull it tight so that the end knot is pulled down to the main part of the line, then pull loop down tight to reel spool. You should be in business then.

Reminds me of a friend's coon hound bringing her puppies' skunk to him. He was running down the road and she was jumping on his back with the stink cat.

Mr Samples, Enjoy your young man, and let him open your eyes so that you can see y'all's world through a child's eyes together. That's the best way for you to learn together and for you to remember the things you learned when you were his age. Happy times and tight lines.

I'm use to it now happens to me every few minutes.