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It's a rare occasion that I put a trailer hook on a buzzbait, but I'm sure glad I did. 5 pounds 14 ounces. They bite was HOT Thursday.

I really like the fall bass fishing season. When it's on, it's such a great time to get on both numbers and size; some Real Gorillas too. But in my excitement I often fish presentations that the bass aren't quite ready to get on. So, I'll struggle a while until the deal I'm going with is right. Sort of dumb when I think about it. This excerpt from a recent article by B.A.S.S. Elite Tournament Pro Greg Hackney, has me paying a little bit more attention to what's going on. It was dated 01 Sept 2016. "I’ve been reading about fall, and how it’s just around the corner. That might be true but here’s the deal: It’s not fall yet. It’s the end of summer. That’s not the same thing, not even close. These are what I call the blah days. It’s the end of summer. That means the air is starting to cool, but not by much. The days are getting shorter, but only by a few minutes. The water temperatures are high, but levels are mostly low. The fish are scattered and aren’t doing much of anything. This is typically the time of the year when you’ll catch less weight than at any other time. The late summer approach that I’ve developed over the years is to fish with smaller lures and to target isolated pieces of cover. I try to catch numbers rather than big fish. My thinking is that if I can get enough of them into the boat some of them will be respectable. Typically I throw baits like a 1/8-ounce buzzbait, a tiny spinnerbait or a Strike King 1.0 crankbait. Any of them will come pretty close to what they’re eating. Despite what you hear and read, most of the shad and other baitfish at this time of the year are small. If they were born in April or May, they just don’t get that big by August and September. I do flip and pitch some. My first, and usually my only, choice is a 4-inch tube weighted with a 3/16 or 1/4-ounce sinker. I want something that’s about the right size and not too intrusive. That’s the thing about late summer. Most of the bass are not aggressive right now. They’ll eat something if it looks good, but they won’t go to any great lengths to get it. You have to go slow and easy to catch them. In another month or so when things really start to change that won’t be the case." Makes perfect sense to me, especially considering what has worked and not worked for me the past couple of weeks. A-Jay

The list is very long. Don't want to leave anyone out unintentionally. You know who you are. And the great thing about the BR forums is that while reading your report posts, looking at pics & watching your videos - it's almost like I'm there with you. Almost. A-Jay

I have not had a day like yesterday in quite sometime. I don't mean that in a good way. First cast of the day my line breaks and my buzzbait goes sailing across the lake. The area I was fishing was only about 4 to 5 feet deep so I was able to snag my line and get the buzzbait back. Tried to retie and my line kept breaking. I don't know what was going on there, maybe the mono I was using was too weathered. That rig was put away. I got one bass on a fluke, and two on a blue/black jig. All three were about the same size, around-1-1/2 pounds. That's when I had my next problem. I noticed that the jig was hanging down from the 2nd guide from the top. I thought the line was wrapped around the rod so I turned the rod over, but that didn't help. I take a closer look at the rod and see the reason that the jig is hanging down from the second guide is because the rod tip is gone. The guide is down the line next to the jig. Rod tip is ok the guide just came off. I cut off the jig and put the guide in my pocket so I wouldn't lose it. This is the second tip for this rod. The original was damaged and replaced about 6 years ago. I tied the jig on my rig I was using for t-rigs and fished a couple of more hours managing to catch two more that were about 1-1/2 pounds. When I got home I decided to clean the reels and put new line on all of them. Rod tip has been reattached with epoxy.

In no particular order: Catt, to learn and tell stories. AJ: Simply because we like to fish at night and his positive attitude In general. Dwight Hottle: I would dearly love to throw jerkbaits all day with the man. This bait Is a weakness and To me there would be no better teacher. Mike Seibert : Fine tune my jig skills and talk fishing all day with a genuinely great person. Scaleface: He likes older and sometimes vintage baits. I truly like the simplicity he employs In his fishing. There are many more as this Is a great community!

There are quite a few that I have already fished with. And just as many that I would love to fish with. Think older, wiser, better fishermen than myself! Best way to get better, is to surround yourself with people who push you to be better! Jeff

Hmm let's see Definitely Catt at Toledo bend In the summer for structure fishing Everythingthatswims cuz this kid is one heck of an outdoorsman. And can catch whatever he decides too that day. Hootie cuz he seems like a character and would be fun to fish with A-jay cuz he has a nice new boat and shouldn't have any problem putting us on the fish Wrb to try for a dd bass That's all for now but I've got more

You may be addicted to bass fishing if you're checking the weather forecast in the middle of February (for us northerners) as if you'd be able to toss a line in. You may be addicted to bass fishing if you spend your time when not actually fishing by: A. buying fishing gear B. Organizing fishing gear C. Planning the next fishing trip D. Scouting a new location I'd venture to say that my fishing habit is more expensive than an 80s rocker's drug habit. Just not as self-detrimental.

Weight plays a factor in two ways. First and foremost weight to stiffness ratio where the blank is concerned. Graphite modulus , scrim , resins , mandrels etc all factor into the final result. Secondly any unnecessary weight saved through component and design allow the blank to retain more of its inherent qualities. This doesn't mean that Rod A will be more sensitive than rod B simply because A is lighter. It depends how the weight was achieved.

Note to self...never go fishing with Dave

I wait in my house all winter by myself to go fishing. Checkmate.

I had an interesting day. Being new to a baitcaster, I've been working a lot on my casting. I have apparently improved... and it ruined my day fishing. I was fishing a local creek that is fairly wide. I'm using a Abu Garcia Silver Max reel with some old braid on it that came from a friends broken baitcaster that he had hardly used. Not a ton of line, but more than I have been able to use. Well today I reached the limit. I have a frog on, and I'm trying to cast as close to the other side as I can because that's where the shade is. I cast as far as I have in my life, and my frog gets stuck in a tree that I thought was way beyond my casting distance. I try to pull it out, and it breaks off, in the process creating a massive knot in a lot of my line. I spend an hour sitting on the dock trying to untangle, and finally, since I was thinking of buying new braid anyway, decide to cut off the knotted portion. I've still got enough line to do a little jigging around the dock, so I tie one on, and just as I do, a fish jumps halfway across. I decide to cast as close as I can to the blow up, and sure enough I cast through all the braid, through the backing mono, which breaks clean off the reel, and waves goodbye to me as it follows my jig landing just beyond the fish. I stand there, dumbfounded holding a rod and reel with ZERO line on it, minus my only frog, and my only jig. I just walked back to the car and went home. Unbelievable. So, I bought this tonight at Wal-mart. Good choice? Oh, and let's hear your stories. Surely I'm not the only one to have a comedy of errors like this happen.

you get up earlier on your day off than you do for work. catching a bass negates any plans to head home soon, no matter how long you've been fishing.

I like many others will state,... alot, and thats because of the interest that we all have, to be here to begin with. With that said,...A-Jay cuz he seems to fish alot like i do and lives closeby., Gets to fish northern waters, like myself. And although he bought a awesome rig that doesnt come into play here. Its his attitude, integrity, and due dillegence. Catt, because he's extremely knowledged, and I once had fished with a guy named Larry from Lake Charles LA, and we had a blast. Cuttin up and catching fish with him was a day I wont forget. (And Catt "seems" to be like Larry), But that aside, I think I'd be learning some lessons, and I can appreciate that, as Im usually providing info. Nitro,..because he is a standup guy that offers his time, resources, and patriotism to get veterans out fishing. (kudos to you sir) and he seems to be attentive on really understanding bass. Reminds me of myself many years ago. WRB because he knows big bass are a different animal. Most anglers think that Big bass are "just" bass that guys get lucky catching. I know different, catching big fish is a extremely dilegent task, If you make one mistake, even the smallest one, your done. Fishing with anglers that dont know this? make those mistakes, and it can really ruffle your feathers, when you put them on big fish and they screw it up. Any of the mods,... because first of all, they have put forth the effort to provide this site for us. I for one, cant thank you guys enough. They obviously have grasped enough bass angling knowledge in their areas, most likely have a well rounded list of techniques, and Im sure, I would enjoy their company, as I too am as passionate about this diverse sport as I can be. I have yet to meet a truely passionate about this sport angler I didnt get along with. Sure you wont agree with everyone, and when you first meet not everyone gets along.,..But In general, its easy to sit back and talk fishing with another angler.,.to invite them on my boat? I usually need to meet them first. But my list? These guys are welcome on my boat anytime, They have earned my respect ,..and like I stated up front,..alot more. This "list" is just the guys off the top of my head, there are more and you know who you are,... but I dont wanna go to long with this post as I always do.

Last time I went out ice fishing I came back with 25 lbs of ice and a glass of Jamesons (neat). BTW I found a photo of the last winner at the ice fishing tournament.

The two on my list would be WayneP and A-Jay. Wayne has an incredible knowledge of electronics and learning from him would be awesome. As far as A-jay goes, he just seems like a cool guy to hang out with and besides, he has that fancy new boat now

Well at least you did catch some fish. Also no lure was totally lost and even the guide was saved so all in all it could have been way worse.

My man, I ceased many years ago counting the baits I have lost in a first cast let alone 3 times.

"Best Day Of The Year" on a local pond last Thursday. Give this a try: Rage Tail Structure Bug on an Owner 5/0 J-Rig.

A-Jay

Downsizing and slowing down has worked for me the last couple days. Typically the slowest I fish is hopping a Senko with a 3/8oz weight but with the way it has NOT been cooling off yet I have been throwing weightless Senkos(which worked), Ned Rigs(which worked), and yesterday I threw a Trick Worm on a half-***ed Carolina Rig and just let it sit for a while. That worked to the tune of my unofficial PB.

Not bad for a Yankee!

I went to a local pond last night (about 10:30 pm) and decided to do some fishing. There are a couple of lights on one side of the pond but it's pretty dark. I'm throwing a black war eagle buzz bait. I can't see it in the water but I can hear when it get's close. So I'm casting and listening for the plop, plop, my bait is getting close, so I anticipate picking it up out of the water when I hear something strange with my bait. It was close to what a hit from a bass feels like but I didn't feel it in the rod, just the sound. About a millisecond later I see what looks like a 747 directly in my face and realize that a hawk has swooped down and tried to get my buzz bait. It's flight path was directly at me, and he missed my head by what seemed like inches. I felt the wind coming off of him as he passed. Instant adrenaline spike. Anyone else have any scared excrementless moments while night fishing?

Thought I would start a thread on this topic because of the confusion surrounding monofilament or mono line. Looking at TW who has a seperate listing for fishing line by category types Braid, Copolymer, fluorocarbon and mono that should shed some light on the topic and it only confuses the issue further. Techinically speaking mono is an term used for single or single filament line that should cover all single filament fishing lines but it doesn't. The first monofilament fishing line that I recall was Du Pont Stren followed by Western Filament W40 back in the early 50's when the first French spinning reels became popular. Working on a boat landing we sold monofilament line to trout fisherman in the 50's, those were the 2 brands available. Somewhere along the line the term mono became attached to Nylon polyimde monofilament fishing line. The first copolymer line I recall was a German line Maxima and blend of 2 polymers; polyimde and polyester claimed to improve strength and abrasion resistance. Copolymer is a single filament line extruded a blend of 2 polymers. Trilene came out with XT and XL monofilament lines that are a blend of 2 types of polyimde or Nylon, technically a blend with UV additives to reduce degradation from sunlight. Lets go back to Stren one of the original monofilament Nylon lines now called mono, it also was a blend with UV additives giving it the blue glow coloration. Stren and Trilene were considered mono line and Maxima a copolymer. Enter fluoroploymer introduced by Seaguar a new single filament line called Fluorocarbon. Marketing needs to separate the new from the original so new claims can be made to sell the new line. There are problems with fluorocarbon line, high cost, lower knot strength, higher memory so Yo-Zuri introduces a lower cost co-extruded fluoroploymer line with polyimde core and fluorocarbon jacket called a hybrid. So now we have; Polyimde mono, polyimde blends called copolymer, copolymer blends of polyimde and polyester called copolymer, co-extruded flourocarbon over polyimde called hybrid and sometimes called copolymer. The lines have become blurred beyond definition. Tom

Fishing might be a more expensive hobby,but it's definitely worth it! All of the above!

Fishchris

Yes, a lot actually, last year it was the only think the small mouth would bite, this year it has been producing good as well. River smallmouth love a small orange senko Yes

The more TLC I have to give to a fishing rod, the more attached to it I am. My swimbait rod has a replaced tip and a replaced guide, both of which were done by yours truly with sewing thread and scotch tape heated with a lighter so it shrinks. The tip is 2 years old and the guide is 1 year old. Still going strong!

BTW ~ I may have to frame & hang your shredded thumb picture in my tackle room. Just so I can refer to it occasionally during the hard water season . . . A-Jay

A-Jay because his philosophy and style seems to jibe pretty well with mine. Plus I wouldn't have to drive very far. SemperBass for much the same reason. CGRINDER so when we weren't busy catching fish we could fill the void with talk of The Metal. Really a lot more, this is just in my state...

The last picture says it all.

I'll usually have at least 10 rods on the deck and I have no problem picking a rod up to make a single cast at a good looking spot for that particular bait. Once the fish are found I'll stick with what they're eating and fish an area harder though.

Two baits I rely on a lot during late summer are a RocketShad and a Booyah Boo Rig with a small crappie size crankbait. I can follow up with a drop shot or shakey head with a french fry.

You can and should fish in a manner that you enjoy. I have a couple of recommendations. First, and I'm betting you're not doing it much now - fish a jig & craw or a Texas rigged plastic bait more. Secondly every time you stop to fish, turn off the trolling motor and drop a 15 lb anchor. As the day progresses, you may find that you'll be spending a little more time at each spot and you may just bump into a few more (better) bass. A-Jay

I have a 12ft Talon. Use it all the time. It's not just for shallow fishing. Offshore humps in 10ft of water....drop the pole. retying equipment, drop the pole, no dock parking and a rocky shoreline, drop the pole, shallow water and tight quarters to get out of, drop the pole and pivot out. No worries about backing into trees or the bank as long as you have room to spin the bow around on the pole. I have the bracket for a second unit and WILL have one when the finances let me aquire one. Oh, and did I mention current, yep drop the pole. Fold down bracket is used when I store it or need it. Why did I buy a Talon, 12ft vs 10ft, and it's in a 4ft unit where the Power Pole would have been even taller and yes, that 2ft does make a huge difference. I didn't think I'd use it as much as I do, but having it there you find yourself using it more often then not.

A Jay, as you know I've been doing some panfishing over the past few weeks. You mentioned downsizing. I've been using nightcrawler pieces for bluegill. Let's say 1"-1.5" long on a long shank gold aberdeen Eagle Claw hook with a splitshot dragging bottom in 12-14fow. Been hammering bass in the 13"-15" range. As far as bass go, that's not too impressive BUT it says a lot about downsizing and slow presentation. Maybe it's Ned Rig season.... That's all I got

That's a good one!Where do I begin to describe my fondness of bass fishing...here's a couple that show I might like bass fishing a little too much; 1.I have fished countess times in unsafe weather conditions because I had a "feeling" I was going to get a big bite.Got rained on more days doing this than I caught biggin's,but it was worth all the trouble.I don't do this anymore though. 2.I have drove +5 hours one way(+10 hour drive time) to go bass fishing on several occasions,with one of those trips on the same day.Caught several bass over 24 inches on this day and my better half was with me on each of these long distance trips. 3.I have gone bass fishing in areas that most people won't go to since you have to be surrounded by big alligators.You have to walk though the swamp to get here,and it's a long walk in the middle of nowhere. Haven't done this trip in years,but man is that place loaded with fish! 4.I had a close friend of mines get very upset with me one day since I didn't want to join him every single weekend in his boat to do offshore fishing for kings,dolphin, wahhoo,snapper,grouper, and other types of tasty fish.He said that he didn't understand why I was wasting my time with bass.I explained to him how challenging it is to catch big bass from land and he couldn't care one bit for it.I have gone fishing with him for years and he still thinks bass fishing is a waste of time.Oh well, guess I might be a little too fond of bass fishing.

I waited 4 hours one time in the truck with MY WIFE,waiting for it to quit storming so we could fish. Top that!!?

Lunker Lures Triple Rattleback

I'm tweaking. Haven't seen the water in a couple weeks. hoping to get out on Sunday before the Bears Game GO BEARS!!!

I have had success using loud lure colors when the water visibility is bad.

i fish the same colour water and i do well on bluegill coloured baits, green pumpkin chatterbait being my biggest producer, i also do well on red craw lipless cranks

Black/blue jig with blue craw trailer of your choice

I would not throw a 12' diving crankbait on a medium power rod. You would definitely need a MH for something like that. Here's what I use/recommend. Squarebills/DT4/DT6/Shad Raps/Wiggle Warts - Medium power (I personally use a Champion 684CB and a Crucrial 7' Med-Mod). DT10/5XD/Rock Crawler/CB12/FF Shad - Med. Hvy power (Champion 705CB/765CB)

Great game last night.... Even better, was seeing Cam lose again.

Strike king and Stanley usually does ok off me this time of year. The SK bitsy bug jig and Stanley's 1/8 oz vibrashaft wedge spinnerbait are staples for me. I'll "start" by buying a dozen or 2 of each, and "tweak" them the way I do. Handtie on the custom skirts I painstakingly make 1 strand at a time, touch up the hook by bending it upward just a touch, and sharpen it to the point its almost surgical. clean up the weedguard on the jig (no paint allowed ty Mark B.) then acquire the proper color trailers for both. Usually zooms salty chunk jr for the jig, which I trim to give a smaller profile,..or a 101 pork rind (again trimmed), and a 3 inch curly tail grub for the tiny spinnerbait. These 2 and a certain 1/8 ounce Yo-zuri pins minnow are my main baits for this "tough" time of year. But, using them you wouldnt think it is a "tough" time. It takes light (8 or 10#) line, and a 6'6" or 7' med lite spinning rod to throw the spinnerbait and minnow. And I use a old 5'9"shimano med heavy xl spinning rod paired with a old semytre 4000 reel spooled with stren 12# for the jig. And do they work? OMG! you'd think it was late fall, and your tossing "the magic lure" while they're feeding up for the freeze. Smallies really go bananas for them, but buckets like them too. These are lures that those "blah days"??? I use to put some fish in the boat. Its taken a awful long time for me to come up with these gems. They kick butt up here, when nothing else seems to work, and I know its the size of the smelt/shad/herring right now thats the key. But, I cant help but wish I had them when I was tourney angler. I know things would be different, as it was those "tough" days back then that really stumped me, and forced these solutions. I got tired of being a "contributor" and sought out articles on this time of year and read, and read, and read.... Everything pointed towards smaller offerings so I did so, and these are what I ended up with. Did my grub/jighead work? yeah but sketchy like, I wasnt cashing any checks with it. But by the time I found these 3 I was done with tournies. This "blah days" scenerio seems to be a fickle thing though. Some years its early, some late, some even seemingly non-existent. Maybe its a yankee thing as our temps are generally cooler than say Texas, or Florida. And the upper atmospheres jet stream plays a varing "game" with us up here. But I imagine that you southern anglers are faced with this as well, just maybe in a different manner, like maybe a longer period, or a higher degree of figuring out those finicky bass. I cant be sure as I only fished wilson and pickwick one spring. So, I can only imagine what you deal with this time of year. Some year I will get down there to fish the fall season, and I actually look forward to it. But this year? I will hopefully get out on the boat and be fishing these three "light solutions". Its a gratifying feeling when you end your day, and at the ramp you get that famous question. "How'd ya do?",... years ago?,..I learned to just say "I did ok,.you?" as I didnt want to give away my secrets. But nowadays?,... I'd just as soon offer them to you all here, they have done good by me, and hopefully one of them may just turn someone's "tough day" into a day to remember. And trust me, when you're out all day, burnt out from the sun, exhausted from tossing huge deep diving cranks. Stumped by a few hits, but no takes. Switching over to these lighter options, is a godsend. But keep in mind,..it takes "Light Line" no hauling them over the gunnel type fishing. Much like the dog days finesse fishing, but different

You can tell the difference between a male and female bass but you're not to sure about that neighbor kid.

You can barely spell, but Yamamoto and Gamakatsu are no problem.

...You are driving down the road, looking at the hillsides and imagining where the fish would be if it was all underwater.

Drop the doors requirement, and cut the cylinder requirement out. Then buy a Harley. Better gas mileage and much more fun to drive. Plus they are 20million times easier to work on.