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Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ My 1-2 Pattern is as follows . . . . 1). Locate Fish Holding Structure / Cover. 2). Fish it. A-Jay

I have three kayaks, an 18' Xpress, and a 22' Bullet. I pretend to fish in every one of them. Come up with some real criticisms next time, we do not allow trolling. This one done.

This counts as a problem with spending money to fish for me. I have never bought more than a jon boat. Anyway yesterday I picked it up. Still needs some cleaning I just hosed it off on my way home yesterday. Its 18ft 2000 model with a 115 Johnson so nothing to fancy.

Being in Law Enforcement, I never will understand how lawyers justify the job they do, especially in today's world with the justice system so screwed up. I considered the fire route as well because of the strong urge to serve, but in the end I went the LEO route, it could have gone either way really though. Don't do it because someone is pressuring you into it, even if it is your brother. Do it because you want to do it and for the satisfaction of waking up and getting to go to a job that you don't hate. Serving others is a noble profession. Putting your life on the line every day, knowing it's a very real possibility that today might be the day, it's too much for a lot of people. This is going to sound dark, and it's hard for a lot of people to deal with because it touches a reality they don't like to think about, make a will and get life insurance to take care of your family if something does happen to you (I have extra benefits towards disability too in case I was injured to the point I couldn't work again). People are killed every day in fire and LE jobs (a detective was shot and killed in KC just today pursuing a suspect). A friend of mine was shot multiple times, once in the face by the guy as he stood over him and told him he'd never see his family again. He was just in the store to get a drink and something to eat on the way home in the middle of the night and just ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. You'll see things at traffic accidents and in fires that nobody should ever have to see. I've seen them, it's not something that you ever get out of your head completely. Sorry to be all "doom and gloom", but I see so many new guys that get torn apart by the mental abuse both lines of work can put you through. I figure it's better to know now so if it's something that can't be dealt with, you can pull the plug before having to go through it. A good friend of mine is a firefighter, we trade horror stories from the job, it kind of helps both of us to deal with some of the stuff. Good luck with your decision. Having the chance to do something like that with your brother sounds great. You'll make some of the best friends you could every have working a job like that. It's very rewarding when you get the chance to do something that truly does impact a persons life in a very real way.

1. launch boat. 2. wet line.

Fixed it for ya

LOL! When you live in this state, you appreciate those! I don't live in California anymore!

Just got another 50 series Shimano. The Alde 50mg. Just need to figure out a rod and perhaps a special spool for it.

Had a good weekend.Did chores on sat.but I'd fish out back a little between chores.Caught a few on sat.off the dock and trying out my new yak.My son came by and imediately got one that was around 2.75.I noticed some nice bream hanging around and caught 10 or so.Almost snagged a huge carp that was passing by. So on Sunday took mom to church, got home and my daughter had grilled steaks and taters.Waited an hour or so and went swimming and kayaking around with the g.kids. I'd fish between activities and ended up catching 4-5 just messing around at the dock.They are really wanting the zoom flukes now in wat.red.Then my son comes by with some whiting and croakers he caught at the river mouth.Cleaned them and watched a couple of "Alone" episodes before turning in for the night.I'm blessed to have a place to live with my family and fish there too!

Well on the upside, i got to fish Friday, Saturday and Sunday so you can't beat that! Friday, went to the pond near the house. Wanted to try out 2 new rods one of which was the Poison Adrena 6'6"M I picked up used on TT and other was a brand new Dobyns DX HP Spinning rod. Hooked into a pretty good one right off the bat on the Adrena (pic below) and just like the other days last week, it was all wacky senko.... This fish was guarding her fry from what i could tell after i caught it as i saw A TON of the little guys swimming around! Working my way on around the pond, saw 2 cruisers maybe 2.5-3.5lb so i tossed the worm in, felt the tap and line starts running sideways so i go to set the hook and heard a god awful SNAP. I hesitantly looked and sure enough, rod broke between the 5th and 6th guides from the tip! My heart was and still is broken.... of course i bought it second hand so have no receipt or anything of that nature went on to catch 4 other fish, all wacky senko, all on the new DX HP which is phenomenal. Saturday, hung with the wife in the AM and headed out in the afternoon to a place that's choked in lily pads, so i busted out the frog! Hadn't been there for 5 minutes and had a slurp strike on the white spro popper frog. was using the DX 704c and 40lb braid and got what felt like a solid hookset on it. i had the drag nearly locked down and this fish was stripping drag like a tow truck, i knew it was a good fish. then it decided to show itself and i had a mini heart attack. no doubt about it this was my new PB, i'm conservatively going to say it was every bit of 6lbs, but if it had gone 8 i would not have been the least bit surprised. right after showing itself, it took another run and headed straight for a logpile. about that time, my line went slack and frog floated to the top of the water got about 4 or 5 more short strikes on the frog for the rest of the day, but couldn't manage to land a single one. I'll be thinking about "the one that got away" for a while to come! Sunday, the wife decides she wants to take the kayaks out on the Chatahoochee... i shot up, got the gear and had the yaks loaded before she could even change her clothes! she doesn't often want to go so when she does, it's do or die!!! grabbed 3 rods, spinnerbait, wacky worm and jig. right off the bat, i had a nice one follow the spinnerbait back to the kayak. the water was low and clear so i could really see pretty good. just a little further down a whack on the spinnerbait, but didn't land it. then a nice run of trees was coming up and i was running the spinnerbait on the backside of each one and hooked into a nice little shoal bass, about 1.5-2lb. It had 2 of his buddies following him so i unhooked him quickly and tossed back, but didn't catch the others. i was moving quickly and wanted to catch those others so no pic, but it was a beautiful colored shoalie! so ups, caught some fish and fished 3 days straight.... downs, broke a sweet rod and lost a monster.... but that's fishing i suppose! nice pond bass ugly site.... frog city!

What makes any spot prime is how frequently bait travel through or past an area, from the time a bass becomes adult enough to move out to deeper water it already knows some of the best spots and how to find them, a location in the lake can have all the best cover and best looking structure in the entire lake but, if the bass know there is no food for them there then they have no use for it, follow the bait or baits, prime areas will offer many different species an ample food source, from plankton to bass, each have their role to play, the better or best areas will also offer deep water access or access to the deepest water in the areas that hold fish. I agree that it seems overwhelming and at first it is, but, it is simply, very simply, a matter of finding the predominate prey and how that species relates to the structure in your body of water on a daily basis, it's time on the water and lots of it, it's understanding what that sonar is sending back to you and then putting that new sonar equipment to work for you, what you will find and what you will learn from your body of water will a lot of times translate to new bodies of water, not all the time but it certainly aids in the search for possible areas that will hold fish, after that it's water conditions and technique adjustments. I am still learning, this is what I have learned so far to be true, it's a lot of work that is just now starting to pay back from a long period of scouting, scanning, reading and asking questions, two books will help you tremendously along with this website, "in pursuit of giant bass" by Bill Murphy and "Spoonplugging" by Elwood "Buck" Perry.

Cheap spinning reels drive me nuts - wobbly rotors, clunky bails that flop back on the cast, excessive twist from crummy rollers, AR slipping...you name it. I go Stradic or above these days. Yes, I prefer Shimano spinners. I have a Pinnacle Performa that actually pretty good too, but I think that's a $100 reel.

#1: Texas rigged plastics that maybe weighted or unweighted #2: Jig-n-Craw #3: Deep water structure

Technically correct, but I think fishermen divide lines into categories in what might be "fishing nomenclature" Monofilament = nylon Fluorocarbon: A blend of fluorocarbon crystals and resins Copolymer: A blend of two or more materials, i.e. nylon and fluorocarbon Braid: "String" regardless of the material or weave

That right there is flathead bait is what that is. One of the best fish there is to use for flatheads because they stay alive a long time on a hook, they're easy to catch, and they struggle really hard because they prefer to be under some form of cover. It's a green sunfish, no doubt. They go by many different names, but green sunfish is the only one that's right. If you put them in an aquarium, it better have a lid. I've never seen a fish that was as good at jumping out of them as those guys are. I had about 3 dozen of them in a big stock tank to use for bait the next night. I went out to get them about 30 minutes beforehand to load into the boat, I think maybe 8-9 of them were left in the tank, the rest were dead and bloated on the ground all around the tank. Next time I covered it with a big square of plywood, but the corners were still exposed, lost about half of them still. Brought home some stucco wire and covered the whole thing after that. It still had some little gaps where the wire wasn't perfectly flat in some spots and I lost about a half dozen to those tiny little gaps. After I put rocks all the way around the top to seal off the edges, I finally stopped losing fish.

The boat and fishing permits aren't that much for a JOCO resident. I need to get my Jacomo permit is what I need. That lake has a great swimbait bite and I'm itching for some swimbait fish but the high, muddy water is messing my chances up.

what are you trying to accomplish with said accessories? Pretty much anything you want is out there so if you have a problem yo are trying to solve it would be a good starting point for recommendations.

You sound like a smart, determined individual. If you think you want to go the fire route, go for it. Dreams are never achieved sitting idle. Good luck man. GJM

@Maico1 she needed a dress up! Jeff

Always obscure small waters' location, including making sure any embedded GPS/location metadata is stripped out. Crop tight, eliminate background objects if you can. Best plan, don't post it on social media.

Looking forward to using it but plan on cracking it open to see what is inside it first.........

Had a good trip out yesterday. After a long period of nothing moderately exciting to report, I feel like I've paid my dues. Went to a canal with a couple of friends and caught a cracking good zander and a nice black one too. Doesn't look like I'll get a bass trip in this year, so I need some more days like this to distract me.

It's 4:15 a.m. and I"m on the road to meet Eric at the Q. The air temp is 43º and it's raining lightly. The past week had been gloomy, unseasonably cold and leaves me feeling under enthused. Good numbers of smallies should be cruising the flats by now, looking to set up housekeeping for the spawn. I barely kept the skunk off last trip. Harumph. But really, who is confused? Not the smallies. They're doing exactly what Mother Nature hard wired them to do. They're not much brighter than a bag of hammers of course, equipped with a brain the size of a smallish chickpea. I'm anthropomorphizing again, a fun game but not helpful in a search for smallmouth. A realistic assessment is, considering the continuing blah weather conditions, the fish will still be relatively deep and reluctant to jerk the rod out of my hands. Met Eric at Gate 43 with Scott N.'s boat in tow. (Thank you, Scott!) Eric, always deferential and showing poor judgment again asked, "Where do you want to start?" I suggested a mid lake rock hump and flats. Here, as at other locations we fished, the water temp was 51º - 52º. It took several hours for the air temp to reach this and it never got a whole lot warmer. Was hoping for a blade bite at the upper end of this bait's effective range. Didn't happen. A jig on the bottom didn't entice them. What did work was a suspending jerkbait retrieved at a moderate clip. Here's Eric's first fish: I followed not long after with a smallie that measured but was below show off size. We continued drifting and casting for a while and then decided to try different water. Blade baits again did not work nor did suspending jerks or a bright red crank. The rubber skirted, twin tailed jig did, however. The bottom was a field of rocks and boulders like the shoreline above and, since bass didn't intercept my hair jigs quickly enough, I sacrificed two to Mistress Quabbin and decided not to waste more. It was getting gusty (20+ mph) at this time anyway and, conscious of Scott's generously loaned hull, we cautiously made our way back to the big flat where we started. "Bassmaster Eric," I said resignedly, "We could be doing worse, but they're not exactly active. Why don't we use the electric for controlled drifts along the deeper areas of this flat and see if we can fool a few that are moving up?" We did this for several hours, hooking up now and then. When it's slow going I tie on a Lucky Craft Pointer 78. Eric stayed with a lightly weighted X-Rap in the 4" size which netted him 6 smallies and several lakers for the outing. Among them, the patient and persevering Eric hooked his second 4+ lb. smallmouth of the season. To sum up, I think we can fairly say we did okay for a cool, gray, Quabbin day.

I can't speak for him, but my kayak is a hybrid, sits really low to the water and I have a bunch of holes in it. In fact, I even changed where my foot tracks are. I simply patched the holes and I'm good to go. Drilling into a kayak is not something to be afraid of It hurts when you first do it tho. Just use the proper marine goop and you're all set. There are a lot of different trolleys out there, including DIY. If you have a West Marine or store like that, you can piece the kit together, or use the Harmony, Yakattack, or visit some online stores like austinkayak.com and paddleva.com and check theirs out.

LOL ~ I will admit to doing most of my scouting for spots - during the day. Usually when that "1-2" thing isn't working so good. A-Jay

Having another great day

Eddyline Caribbean Angler 12

Cold was the last thing on my mind lol. It was about 10:30 so the sun was shining and water was high 70's so it wasn't bad. The worse part was watching he fish swim away, knowing along with her went $3-4K The gen3's are faster and clearer. They also are touch screen and have buttons, where as the gen2's just have touch screen. They are both great units. If the onixs are out of your price range, atleast give the Humminbird helix a look. They are very affordable, are great units, and support a lakemaster chip, which to me is a big advantage.

I carry mine the same way. 74 pounds would be way too heavy for me. That's why I got the Eddyline Caribbean 12. 45 lbs. I had the factory install scotty mount bases for me at the factory. They were real nice about it. So If I'm going out in some big water I can deploy the stabilizers and i'm essentially fishng from a jon boat I just got this in the mail yesterday............Ain't she purty? Daiwa Ballistic

Down here almost every boat I've been on the owner has a push pole of some sort for getting way back in the jungle. The key is stealth! I mean QUIET!! No banging the rods on the gunnel, no loud talking, no dropping a long nose pliers on the deck...you get the idea. If you're intent on going, stop way before you get to its edge or keep the trolling motor on low and shut it off when you get there. Constanly running the motor on low is better than constantly turning it on and off. Going into the middle of a pad field may seem like the thing to do, but once you hit the pads they will know you're there, and when you spook em they just head deeper where you won't be able to go. More times than not I've had boaters stop 10yds before we hit the edge, and let our momentum or wind take us to where we stop, and make long bomb cast's. All after we hit the outer edges. Think of it like walking through the woods and stalking a Grizzly. Mike Mike

Not to steal your thread but like Jeff said Mike & Robert are very approachable & helpfull. Don't be afraid to call or email them for questions.

Oh lord... van with black lights.... yikes! Whole boat gonna glow. Lmao!

That is a swept 102 Hawg Tech with cork knobs. I think I have over a dozen now. By far my favorite upgrade on a reel. A little pricey, but well worth it in my opinion. Makes for a nice customization of each reel and they are solid. Ever since I tried my first, I have been steadily upgrading each reel I have plus always budgeting in the extra for each new reel I buy. Robert and Mike have done a wonderful job with their creations and have always taken good care of me- even when I had a small problem a while back- it was taken care of and then some very quickly! Jeff

Terry Oldham's Trailer Hitch jigs have a 5/0 Gamakatu flipping hook specially designed & produced for Oldham's jigs. Cost per jig, $2.35

Dunkirk Harbor was productive yesterday! Hit the docks with a lipless. They were crushing em all morning. Got 7 in total. 4lb8oz was the winner. Love me some Mondays. Tight lines gents.

Depends on the trolling motor, boat, and operator.

Get the Daiwa. This should be the easiest decision you ever make.

Took my dad and my 2 man about 90 miles to the lake. Water was cold but it was a fairly warm day. Loaded the boat and I got in first and had him push us off I should have known better. The next thing I knew he was up to his neck in the water and we were headed back home without a cast.

Bass don't know a top end jig from a cheap ( $$$ ) jig as long as it looks real and acts like a crawfish, is all that counts!

I do some striper fishing and personally I don't think you need a really sensitive rod like for bass I would go with an ugly stick striper rod.

Swimbait and tick the tops of the weeds , I like a powerbait ripple shad on a darter head in this situation , yo yo it in out out of the weeds and bass will smash it . Also try a bigger swimbait waked over the top of the weeds , that can really show you what fish hold in that area and you can adjust to what they want . If they roll on the swimbait but don't connect , flip a senko or a weightless fluke in there and usually they will drill it .

LOL, one day after fishing i hit the gas station for some chips and a drink.... couldn't understand why everyone kept kind of eye-balling me until i got back out into the parking lot and realized i still had my PFD on!! that's a testament to how comfortable and discreet they really are!

That should match nicely with all your No Fear shirts.

I was down in PA for the week and fished a small private pond. The weather was rain and cold but I got a lot of smallish bass on a wacky rigged Yum Dinger, a few on a rattletrap and a lot of hits (but no hookups) on a frog in the slop as the fish were hanging right near shore. Thursday evening I cast a wacky worm next to a drain from a small retention pond and hooked into a big one. I was using light spinning with six pound test so it was a good fight, but when I tried to pull the fish up to the dock my line broke at the hook and I lost her. Ugh. Flash forward to Saturday morning, I was getting ready to go home so I cast a wacky worm where I'd hooked into that big one. I got a bite and had another nice fish. This time I was able to land it and what did I see as I reached in with my forceps to get the hook out? The Gamakatsu I'd lost two days earlier stuck in her mouth! So I not only got the fish again, I also got my hook back plus a picture of her. Since I don't get a lot of opportunities to fish for largemouth, this is likely my personal best.

that is a green sunfish I believe, pugnacious little creatures as I have caught them on 10" plastic worms before http://www.tnfish.org/FishIdentificationID_TWRA/TWRA_Sunfish_Identification_Key.htm

See above for reports from my two days this weekend on Conesus. Some additional info on Conesus that wasn't in those reports: 1. Water temp: It was 48-49 in the north part of the lake and up to 53.5 at the south end on Saturday. I stayed mid-lake on Sunday and it was 50-51.5, depending. That was surprising, as I always thought that the north and particularly the north west on the Finger Lakes would warm up the quickest--and my experience was that, too. 2. Water clarity: A bit murkier than in years past. At most, 4 feet of visibility, but at that depth, you can only see distinct things on the bottom. Need to have about 3 feet to actually see things moving around. 3. Depth: All the fish I caught this past weekend and last weekend were in 3-5 feet. 4. What's worked best for me so far: Not surprisingly, a lipless crank bait (red). So far, they've preferred it ground against the bottom. A swim jig in a bluegill pattern (a confidence bait for me anyway) on a steady, slow retrieve. Chatterbait in a bluegill pattern. Just get the blade thumping along the bottom. Ned rig crawled along the bottom. 5. What hasn't worked for me: Surprisingly, and disappointingly, I have not been able to get a jerk bait bite going, and believe me I tried to force feed it to them this weekend and last weekend. A single dink pike is all I've gotten on that so far. I was on Honeyoe two weekends ago in my kayak. Information is therefore a bit dated. But, knowing both lakes pretty well, I'm willing to bet that its a couple of degrees warmer than Conesus, that bass will be up shallow, and chewing. My experience on Honeyoe is number and not size.

This info is what the master himself(Mr. Yamamoto) recommends. Med Lt to Med spinning rod, 15 lb braid with 10-15 lb fluorocarbon leader, 3/0 Owner twist lock hook on the 5". Use a swing set to set the hook. I use hi vis braid, this makes it easier to see the bite. If you are not line watching you are going to miss a lot of bites. Tons of info on the pinned senko thread, check it out.

Newest addition to the line up

Three screws and out comes the Micro Computer and Spool.... As you can see there is a Spool Bearing mounted on the spool this time around ...

Someone ask where you caught it tell them "right in the mouth". If someone started demanding to know where I caught a fish and I didn't want to tell then I'd block them. I'm not dealing with anyone acting like that and then they shouldn't be able to see your pictures anymore.