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Hi All, It's late so I have to make this quick, I might edit this post in the future... I've been waiting over a week for the boat I use to be put in the water... Last Friday was the first day I zeroed after the fishing got good, and when I checked the water temperature it said it was 52*. This is relevant because when I checked my 2014 fishing log I noted that right when the water hit 52* last year I struggled for over a week to catch anything. I figured the fish must be transitioning into the spawning phase and must have moved out of the Marina I fish, so I knew it was critical that I needed to get the boat in the water by Monday so I could locate the bass either on points or in coves. After work today I made a call and found out the boat was still not ready, but it could be put in the water today if I help out and believe me I was more than willing. I knew a storm was moving in tomorrow (Tuesday) and today was pre-frontal & overcast so I really had a feeling today was critical. The boat finally got put in the water and the first thing I did was go retrieve two Bladed California Swim Jigs that I made some bad casts with and got hung up. The first one was over two weeks ago and the Keitech was swollen up from being in the water so long. The other one I lost just last week in a laydown but it was still working fine. I rigged up two rods, one with a DropShot (for finesse), and the other with the Bladed California Swim Jig I retrieved from the lay-down (big fish bait). It was getting around 5pm when I finally loaded up the boat so I only had a few hours left as it gets dark at 8pm. I immediately headed toward the near by point to try and locate fish, and after about 20+ casts I had a hit on the Bladed California Swim Jig but no hookup (I was using this bait to try and locate large pre-spawn bass). At this point I knew I was on the right track and after a while I just locked it in my hand and forgot about the DropShot. I made a few casts to some docks before you get to the point and Boom hooked into my first fish a 3lb 0oz Smallmouth Bass (Largest SM so far of 2015). A few docks later I hooked into a 2lb 02oz Smallmouth Bass. By this time it was getting around 7pm and I wanted to check the docks inside the bay for fish that might be moving toward the back where a creek runs into it. (I wanted to check the creek but didn't have time). As I was fishing into the bay about 4 docks into it I made a diagonal cast into the open water between the dock I just fished and the next one deeper into the bay. When I retrieved the bait 1/4 to 1/2 the way back to me ''SLAM!'' I hooked into something big. My rod bent into a complete U shape and the fish started taking drag. I thought I just hooked into a nice pike or probably my biggest bass. As I pulled it closer I could see it was a Largemouth so I quickly pulled it in and lipped it. NEW PERSONAL BEST 6lb 10oz! previous was 4lb 04oz I caught over 11lb of bass today in just 2 & 1/2 hours, and a lot of that time was used up taking pictures for my 2015 log. I think I might retire the bait since I just caught my new PB on it... [ 3/8oz Strike King Pure Posion Chatterbait (Black & Blue) + 4.8'' Keitech Swing Impact Fat (Rainbow Shad)] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Pics of the Smallmouth's I Caught Earlier... 3lb 00oz - 18'' 2lb 02oz - 16'' WolfyBrandon

The Team Daiwa starting lineup. Back row: five Fuegos and an SS SV Middle row: five Alphas and a Viento Front row: four Zillions and two TD-Zs

Your profile pic is of you blatantly showing off your carry handgun though. So it must not make you that uncomfortable.

well they are secret....

Bass locked on a bed are usually fasting, and not interested in food. In my opinion, if there's any secret to catching bedding bass it's not so much the lure itself, but your delivery technique. There's usually a hot spot in every bed, where trespass raises the hackles of parent bass. 'Any' drop-shot lure dangling over or laying on the hot button is going to provoke parental concern. Roger

The only good snake is a dead snake, and even those creep me out. I've been that way since I was a little kid. My body is moving before my brain even realizes what is going on. My wife and kids know to not get between me and the exit if there is a snake. Seriously... I'm so bad about snakes, that when I'm driving and see one crossing the road, I lift my feet up (inside the freaking car) as I hit it. Dead serious....

Two bass, one 15", and one 17 1/2". Big one on the Scorpion with a chatterbait. Water was 58 degrees and very muddy, Visibility about 3 inches. Hootie

You need to ask yourself - which deep water spot did it come from - what route it took to get to the shallows Thank you Mr. Perry!

Let's see ran a business for years successfully, retired and fish everyday. Hmmmm sounds like you're definitely on to something good. Had a bad day we all do.

So why comment? That seems quite counterproductive.

Late Report from Friday at Melvern, jerkbait and dead stick it is all they wanted 4 to 11 feet of water

When in doubt...set the hook!

Finally got the boat in the water today for a couple of hours. No wind at home, but white caps on the water. Only caught one fish, but for the first of the year I'll take a 4 1/2 pounder! The surface water temp ranged from 50 to 55 degrees depending on location.

Got my omens!!!

How about Florida strain LMB in SoCal that spend most of the winter at 35'-50' of water feeding on planted trout, then as the water temps approach 55 degrees the crawdads begin their migration upwards to about 20' depths. That is a magic time for jig fisherman, working jigs uphill on clay banks and major points. Definitely not natural Florida bass behavior.

Ok here we go. I'm still learning this but here's my c rig tips. I use a 1/8oz brass weight between two Carolina keepers with a glass bead between the keepers and the weight. I add a brass bead or brass clicker for sound when I twitch the rod tip. I use a 24" leader. And a s Weedless 3/0 or 4/0 hook. 349w eagle claw. This setup I use for senkos and brushogs in 10' of water along side a weedline in a open channel. I cast it out and keep my line taunt as it falls. Any movement of the rod tip. I set the hook. If I miss it the weedless spring is open telling me I had a strike. If it's closed it hit something. If I had a strike and a miss one shot of scent on the next cast it will hold on to the plastic long enough for a hookset. I repeat the up and let it fall again using the rod tip. I use the weedless hooks of all sizes depending on the size of the plastics. I use no scent on the first cast. The salted or prescented packaged plastics is good. Only on the misses I scent it one shot. Take your time in letting it fall and moving it. It's faster than using a split shot rigged worm. Watch your rod tip closely. Any bite set the hook. The rod tip movement will be light and suttle. Stay with it, it's awesome. I fish in the dark till dawn. I use topwater first, then shallow cranks, then deeper cranks, minnow baits, as the sky lights up I throw spinnerbaits, and repeat everything. As it becomes lighter and that big yellow ball is starting to tell the bass to leave the shallows for there deeper cover it's c rig time. Senkos and brushogs, I do throw culprit worms too. I find that I use shallow and deeper baits to the amount of sunlite depending on when the bass move. I'm fishing from shore but still learning after decades of being out there. If you haven't been out there at 4am watching the night turn to day your missing out on a wonderful experience. What a wonderful world we live in. Be aware of the beavers and freshwater otters. The freshwater otters swim together looking like shallow torpedoes. I was fishing from a low bridge when four of them cam at me at first light (dusk, twilight) all I could think of was the movie predator, all I had was a fishing rod. It was the first time I seen the freshwater otters. Now there are beavers and otters everywhere. Not too much gets my attention the bears don't scare me but those torpedoes in the water....... Fishing in the dark I hear some strange stuff.

My wife & I watched the Glenn Lau series of bass videos. As you'd expect, bass would inhale the lure head-first...but not invariably. In fact, I found it quite disturbing to see a few bass whack the tail or the side of the lure! In any case, I will sacrifice the short-strikers and continue to strike the instant I perceive a strike. On the upside, that might help to explain some missed hook-sets that we blame on ourselves Roger

Hey guys, I had it checked out. All normal. The motor is from the late 80's early 90's and he said often the discharge point won't be the only place to lose water from. As long as the mechanics of the motor are staying dry and the water pump is circulating the water then I am good to go. Also the compression test was perfect!!! :-)

Seems like the beautiful days are the worst days to be fishing. Was out on black hills Sunday planing for a knock out day but only could pick up 5 fish that went a healthy 13lb. No big schools of crappie on the graph yet. Did mark some big fish lurking in the bottom but thinking they are big catfish. Next 2 weeks should really be good. Caught my first black hills catfish and probably my personal best channel cat. Seen a wounded crappie floating in a area I think is a big bass factory and a light bulb went off in my head. We the next cast I let my bait sink pretty deep in the water column and when I wet to real the was weight. Long story short after 15 min of playing with this thing out popped a fat cat!!

Anyone denying that bass don't do what you described is in denial. With many factors involved bass hit in many number of ways and it can change with the environment/conditions. I have seen it plenty of times as well especially with longer plastics like worms and lizards. Sometimes they grab tail, then inhale, sometimes they inhale but don't get it all the way in their mouth so they inhale again. If bass slammed our lures every time with a full inhale, this game would be much easier. That being said I never wait once I detect a fish. Not worth the risk of getting spit. THAT being said, with lighter/weightless soft plastics you typically have more time (not always) before they spit so this approach can work really well as you have mentioned. The only time I ever wait to set the hook is if I miss more than a handful of hook sets and decide I need to wait a second more and even then it isn't much longer, still relatively quick. But with jigs, most of the time, you would be remiss if you felt a tap and didn't set immediately.

I don't drag the weight with a C rig, I hop it. If I feel any resistance when I pick the weight up, I set the hook. Yup, I've set hooks on stumps, rocks, and other stuff including bass. I rarely feel a pick up with a C rig, just the resistance when I go to move the bait. It is a very effective method to keep the bait above submerged grass. I also have had good success C rigging a wacky rigged Senko on a weedless hook. Keep trying. It will pay off.

Crazy cool

I tow mine around the yard and launched off the bank using my husqvarna lawn tractor.

You might grow to like it when it's your turn.

Here's my take. I'm with Roger, it's the delivery. http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/dropshot-bedding-bass.html

The customs can get pretty ridiculous...

Got my first of the season in baker park saturday morning. 4.78 lbs Smashed a lipless as I was casting and walking to my car. Anyone fish whittier lake at all? I hear its pretty good from a DNR officer I talked to a middletown park. He mentioned large fish and a good many of them.

Saw some intersting footage not long ago on the Hook-N-Look program. In the example they showed, fish were much more bothered by the sight of the boat than trolling motor noise.

You know why they call it golf, don't you? Because **** is already taken. Stick to fishing. You'll live longer.

Nope, That little thing is called jealousy. The higher end reels obviously perform better then 100 dollar reels. And dobyns rods are kinda great. So no but go buy some mega bass stuff too then they will make fun of you even more. Then come tournament time, show up and fish well and the respect wil come.

I just remembered a story that happened to my uncle and I a few years ago. We have been fishing partners for a while and have had many stories but none as crazy as this one. I was not with him on the first day, but he was fishing a stretch of bank on the river with a Rapala Shadrap. He threw over a little point and hung on a submerged laydown. He was unable to recover the bait and had to break it off. This is where it gets interesting. We were fishing the same stretch of bank a week later, me being with him this time. We were moving along and came up to the same point he broke the shadrap off on the previous week. He told me he broke it off here as we moved closer. As we were fishing the laydown, he noticed something causing a disturbance on top of the water 50 or so yards up river. We could tell it was a fish, but it seemed to be in distress. We trolled over to investigate, and as we came closer we saw that it was a drum with something stuck in its mouth. I got the net and netted it. As I set it down in the bottom of the boat, we saw what was in its mouth: my uncles shadrap. We stared at it in disbelief and then broke out into laughter. We could not believe how crazy it was that everything panned out as it did. We just so happened to come back to the same stretch of bank at the exact time that drum was nearby: how crazy. We removed the bait from its mouth and worked it back in to the water until it swam off. Needless to say, it as a win-win. We saved the fish and most off all my uncle got his shadrap back! How many of you have had crazy fishing stories like this?

I like the cut of your jib good sir.

Spro Aruku Shad 75 (5/8 oz x 3.0") Roger

Go to Home Depot and they have a strong insecticide that will kill them. Or... Save time and take a boot and smash them. DOA on tarantulas.. Airmail your lizard to the Amazon Jungle. That is all...

Shad rap for me

Line density is only significant when you compare the buoyancy of lines with 'nothing' attached. Once you attach a lure, water resistance moves center-stage, and the line with the finer diameter offers the deeper running lure (i.e. braid). Roger

I missed getting a picture of my PB smallmouth. It weighed 4.8 lbs. I held it in the water because it took a little while to unhook and it shook free before I got a picture. Still wish I had a picture of that one.

No bass but it's a start. About 2 inches of visibility on the Mohawk and some strong current make for some tough fishing.

The previous thread posted (copied) above covers this topic well and I enjoyed reading it. I'll offer this; if an angler believes in the "invisible" properties of Fluorocarbon line / leader & using Baits that "Mimic" something that the fish feed on to at the very least illicit a strike, adding unnatural sounds to the environment one is obviously trying so hard imitate, seems counter productive. We've all caught our fair share of suicidal bass, but if your objective is locate & land the bigger fish - you really can't go wrong with keeping "the Noise" down to a minimum. Each angler may have his/her own idea what that means and how far they prefer to take it. I fish some small waters where I seem to have better results on the above average bass by disturbing the environment a little as possible. A-Jay

I got out on Black Hills yesterday. The water temp was average about 53 with the highes being 54.5. The fish were still deep on main lake structure and still seemed to be somewhat lethargic. I did manage 2 at some trees in 45 foot of water. I had to slow way down and fished the tree for about an hour before I got a bite. Sure they will be turning on here soon.

Annexation wins first fish! I was out there on Saturday for a few hours and got skunked

Sure does ~ And the best part might be that Blue Sky. Congrats A-Jay

Met up with Jim and family last night for dinner, and to deliver Lumberjack Barbie. We also exchanged some beers and baits. Among the baits were the spinbaits to be used on this rod. It put me in the mood to get back to work on it. Turned the grip and glued it up this morning.

Wow great fish!!! Forget the picture. The amount of times I've caught a nice fish and then not gotten pic are uncountable. You have an unforgettable memory and a smackin pr. That's what counts. Tight lines bro!

SK Red Eye Shad SK 5XD & 6XD Bill Norman DD 22 HD 6th Sense - EVERY BAIT They Make. And the real Sleeper - 3/8 ounce Scrounger with a Super Fluke Trailer. A-Jay

One that floats, runs, and is paid for.

Chip Kelly is a class act! Admired his work at Oregon and I am amazed at what he has done with the Eagles. Of course as a Giants fan I will always hate the Eagles ... and the Cowboys ... and to a lesser degree the Redskins and will deny I ever wrote this.

My experience last year was with a 10k budget. I found that I had the choice of a 12 to 18 year old decent fiberglass model, or a 4 to 5 year old aluminum model. I chose the aluminum route. There are benefits in each. I go places with my aluminum boat that I wouldn't want to take a fiberglass boat. And I can run a lesser hp motor and save gas because it is lighter. But I drool every time I see a shiny fiberglass Ranger or any other model for that matter. Would I like a fiberglass boat ? Hell yeah. But I didn't want a old boat ( been there, done that ) Actually, I didn't want a old motor. Old boats are fine. in the end I am very happy with my choice, and I can afford upgrades because I didn't break the bank on the boat. Just be sure it's big enough. I have a 90 " beam and wouldn't want any smaller. 18' long. Wouldn't want any shorter

My two cents: My father and I have always had good luck with Yamaha motors. (It may be an unpopular opinion haha) I agree with the above suggestion of getting everything on the motor checked out by a qualified mechanic. Also, before you even put it in the water, I would go ahead and do little odds and ends such as, servicing the lower unit, spark plugs, etc... just so you know they are done right. Good luck with everything!