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Here is our “Day on the lake” report for Tues. the 31st. This was our first trip of the year and the very first time we have ever been to CC lake. We only fish for bass unless a crappie or some other stupid fish gets in the way. (And we don’t consider channel fish since they don’t have scales!!) haha Late start and in no hurry to get on the water.... since the air was still colder early in the morning. By the time we arrived around 9:15 it appeared everyone that was going to be fishing today was already here. (about 11 other boats minus the one that put in, couldn’t get started, and ended up leaving.) Guard shack said there was 11 the day before also. Started the day heading up toward the warm water outlet. Mainly to see how many boats wanted to be in the same small space and then surprised that there was only 3. The end of the jetty was around 53* to 55* and warming heading in. Stopped for just a few min to throw a few traps and cranks. I was just not comfortable here. My wheelhouse is dirty, shallow water, with some sort of structure. The water at the outlet had about 8+feet of visibility, was deeper then what I like to fish, and even if fish are biting in a spot I still prefer to find an area away from others. So we set out to find exactly that. Headed North towards the bridge, hugging the left bank to avoid the eagles that were hanging out, thinking the water would be more to my liking. Made it to the bridge to find 1-2’ visibility. Trees that started in about 1 ½’ to 2’ and extended all the way out into the lake to around 10 or so feet. The water here was 47 deg. and an added bonus of no other boats. Starting shallow and working our way out: first bass came in 4 ½ feet, Soon after I picked up three more in a 50yd stretch. All four were just shy of 2lbs. We kept slowly moving farther out fishing deeper to 7’-9’ with no more fish. We now had our pattern set for the rest of the day. From this point on we run and gunned tree lines coming off the bank but only fishing the 3’ to 6’ range. Every place we stopped we picked up at least one if not two or more fish. Other than my dad’s single rattletrap fish all of the bass were caught on a 3/8oz jig… He caught the biggest that went 3.69 lbs Overall we had a good day. If I was to change anything it would have been to just show up earlier to get those extra 2 hours that we missed. Oh… and it would have been nice to know beforehand that there is good size rocks "on top" of the boat ramp, so I would not have accidentally taken a ¼”x 3” chunk out of the skeg. I would also like to thank Ondrejka for kindly answering the few questions I had when researching for this trip. Thank You.

Mr. Yamamoto recommends a 3/0 hook with senkos

Yeah it should make a significant distance provided you are using an UL rod.

I fish mostly clear water for smallies. Senko type stick baits work well in clear water. So do suspending jerkbaits. Actually, any lure will work in clear water. Clear water extends the strike zone so fish can see the lure from farther away. Clear water makes a stealthy presentation more important. Staying farther away from the fish, and making longer casts is important.

General rule, use a hook with twice the gap as the thickness of the plastic you are putting on it. I keep around four or five types of weedless hooks in mostly 3/0, 4/0, and 5/0. That covers most soft plastic baits.

Caught my first fish of 2017 and my first bass after my 8 months overseas. Caught on deep crank bait 8ft Powell endurance cranking rod and lews tournament speed spool reel. She was a small one.mcoming in at 4.7lbs.

Good call A-Jay with the mono didn't think about losing line to backlash. Which reminds me I have a giant backlash I have to cut out sometime before the ice melts. Thanks for the reminder! That thing almost turned me off to them. Now I rarely ever use spinning gear. Thinking about finesse fishing this year so I just might use spinning gear again. I need to find some patience first.

It was so hard not to pick Aaron Martens this time but I had to go with another guy. This one looks right up his alley. If he kills it then I'm going to kill myself haha.

Current active duty. 10 years. Still have yet to be stationed with another bass fisherman.

USAF

I have some of those flatfish, but you have to reel them painfully slow to keep them from rolling. I fish them on 2-4 pound test and an ultralight. I like the new ultralight offerings from Rebel that have a single, barbless hook on the back of them. I've had good luck with the small craw crankbait. I have one of the small poppers also but I never remember to use it when I'm out fishing with my ultralight. A lot of ultralight baits won't even fish properly on line heavier than 6lb has been my findings. You'll do yourself a big favor dropping to 4lb.

For a great starter rod and reel combo, I suggest a Abu Garcia Black Max, very easy to handle and will last a long time or at least for me.

It is a great knot. If it works, no reason to change. I switch between Mod'd Albright/Alberto and the super simple uni-to-uni and have no problems even going through micro guides. I've tried the FG numerous times, practiced a lot and it is simply not a knot I care to use. I have no issues with well tied and lubricated knots mentioned above that I need a long knot like the FG. Let alone having to tie it while on the water in my kayak.

Ordered up a few things

Hello all, Asking all my fellow anglers to please help us out. Once again 'they' are planning more destruction to Candlewood. Completely out of control! Many of the BassResource family have helped make a difference in the past with several petitions for issues both B.A.S.S and the general fishing community have faced in CT. We all greatly appreciate anyone helping out and signing this petition. Donation not required! https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/dont-poison-candlewood-lake Thanks!!! - Dave

Let's start this way. You said you want to stay under one hundred dollars. So to start with look at a Daiwa Exceler reel. This reel sold for $99 just a few months ago now it is $70 from tackle Warehouse. They are very well made and easy to learn on. A couple of friends and I use them for bass, stripers, and even big snakeheads. For a rod look at a Berkley lightning shock rod. They run around $45. Some times you can find them on sale for $25. A nice 6'6" or 7' should work. The medium moderates work real nice for spinnerbaits, crankbaits, rattle traps etc. The mh ones are better for bottom bouncing baits like jigs but a medium moderate will work for an all around use. I personally fish two of the 6'6" medium moderates for rattle traps to catch stripers. There are other options but these paired will work well and it will be close to $120, just over your budget. I do not like to encourage people to buy gear that they will end up upgrading from.

The point of a jika rig is to have the weight drag the bait straight down through the weeds, leaving it free swinging from the weight. I don't see why a wire leader on the weight would offer any advantage. I make these myself, out of trolling weights and heavy punch/flipping hooks. I tie to the heavy split ring.

6' 10" MH/F (though it feels more MF to me), Ethos rod from Academy. Normally $60 but I picked it up for $27.

If you're talking Xpress Hyper-Lift hull the discussion end there!

@Bluebasser86 those Rebels are cool, and Rapala has a fairly new line of ultra light lures too. I like the tiny rippin raps

And with a little searching you can usually find the rod or reel you're after in the trade in for even cheaper somewhere unless specifically after a BPS brand rod or reel. Exactly

Signed

Depends on what we're calling clear. In the lakes near me, 3-4 feet of visibility is clear. Or are we talking Bull Shoals or Beaver Lake where you can read the label on a can in 30' of water where 3-4 of visibility is muddy? I prefer small, natural looking baits for the most part in clear water, although sometimes gaudy colored baits that look ridiculous in the water pique the fish's interest. I was beat badly fishing a very clear small lake while I was wacky rigging a watermelon stick worm, by my brother in law fishing a bright chartreuse spinnerbait. We could watch them coming from 20' down to eat his bait, and they were not shy about it. A wacky rig, Ned rig, and shakyhead are some of my favorites in clear water. I also like to fish jerkbaits, walking topwaters, and big swimbaits when conditions are right. If it's an option, I'll usually avoid clear water and head for stained or muddy water instead.

Aside from the size and style of hook to choose, you should also take into consideration the thickness and strength of the hook itself. I use a lot of light wire hooks because many of my rods are medium power and I rarely use heavier that 12lb mono. 8lb is the norm. No way am I getting a good hook set with a 3X EWG. They not only penetrate the fish's mouth easier, they go through the plastic easier also.

I have used it, but I like the Rage Grub, and Rage Menace better on a swim jig. Rage swimmers are on the short list of new stuff to try as swimjig trailers this coming season. What I love the most about the Rage products as swimjig trailers, is they work at ANY speed, and are NOT affected by skirt bulk, or the blade turbulence of a chatterbait, or any other things that hinder a lot of other trailers action. I have tried to make other products work as swimjig trailers, but the Rage tail stuff outfished them all ....by a large margin. I am not one to heap praise on a bait for producing fish, as a lot of times it's the guy holding the rod that makes stuff work....but this is one exception..Rage stuff is just flat out better when you need a bait with action built in.........period.

I couldn't agree more...

Moderate fast action will work on a spinnerbait rod as long as there's enough power and back bone to drive the heavy hook home. Remember slower action doesn't have to mean softer or whippy tip.

^ what he said. It wouldn't surprise me if you doubled your distance. You should never use 8lb line on an ultralight spinning rig

I catch tons of fish in warm or hot water on jerkbaits. As long as the water is clear they are an excellent bait. My favorite clear water baits would be a drop shot, wacky senko, shakey head, spook, jerkbait, and small swimbait. Light line is key!

No,although Ive fished Orange. Orange has dark water. I guess you could say somewhat muddy.It used to be a great lake.It got real fished out in the 80s but I heard its making a comeback.I finished 2nd in a tournament fishing Lochloosa.Back then, it was fairly clear of weeds compared to Orange,which was almost completely covered with hydrilla.In its hey day,Id give the edge to Orange but Lochloosa was so picturesque with all those cypress trees. The green lakes I was referring to are Newnans and Wauberg. I actually did better fishing Wauberg especially for specks and its not nearly as big or well known as Newnans .Both have some HUGE gators.

I really appreciate all the solid advice fellas! I ended up going with angler jacket after reading all your posts and thinking about it some more. Looking forward to trying it out. Adam

Oh yeah...I have a few of those! Actually, a pretty good pile of them

Got to go out on Sam rayburn Monday to try a few new areas. Caught a few fish from 6 ft to 20 feet with no real pattern. Blue bird day with lows @35 and highs @75 caught them on Carolina rigs and crankbaits..... beats working though, water temps were around 56

Started dipping Coppenhagen back in the 60's and dipped for probably 30 years and quit. One of the reason is I had a son and didn't want him to dip. One of the hardest things I have ever done but glad now I did it. I really don't see how people afford it now. I think it is over $4 a can. When I started it was 23 cents. I think I am very fortunate to not get mouth cancer.

I have a 7' med-mod blue ethos rod from acadamy i am extremely pleased with, especially for $59. Very light but good backbone and casts and loads well. Its my main cranking rod i use now til its time to get deep.

This is the route to take if you are learning to use a baitcasting reel. Get your hands on a quality rod and reel for a cheap price because you are learning. Learn on something you won't be worried about breaking. The same goes with the initial line you put on. Go the cheap route to get the hang of it and when its time to get a more expensive reel you will know what YOU are looking for in a rod and reel.

We all must make life choices but we really should be a little more respectful of other folks decisions. I don't exclude myself from this statement. We all do something we should not do.

wow....no smokeless for me for past couple decades...but I won't/don't judge or preach...and I sure don't want to hear anyone telling me I shouldn't be smoking my cigars. I chewed Redman for a few years and Cope for another 15 or so I'm with @bigfruits , good thing you didn't ask what beer or whiskey we drink

The Spring Classic used to be so much better, but the last few years has largely been on BPS brand products (save for the trade-ins) and with each year it seems less is offered. Darn shame, really because it was *the* event to find early deals.

this is when i use my Christmas gift card.

Wurming67 - good thing you didn't ask about favorite beer. imagine the number of deaths that bad habit has caused.

I don't remember them doing that much for sales, seems like they only brought a few items down in price to where most companys charge originally anyways.

Anchor pins are so much easier than actual anchors in slop and mud.

I really wanted to use fc on my spinning reels but I got tired of the loops and losing line. Once I learned to tie the Alberto knot, I was good to go with braid fc leader.

You get better sensitivity with the braid mainline, better line management, and spooling up with straight fluoro might be more expensive depending on the brands. Plus if you decide you need to downsize/upsize your fluorocarbon on the fly for whatever reason you are trashing a 10 foot piece and not an entire spool of it.

I almost watched the videos, but then;

Sure you can. Don't let your dreams be dreams. Thats my go-to setup.

Finally came across a Mattlures Hardgill I had to pull the trigger on. Can't wait to get back out on the water!

Can you run a green bean harvester or a dump truck? If so, buy a plane ticket, fly out here, and you have a job...................oh, and in your free time I'll show you everything you need to know. You'll be sick of catching bass by the end of the season.