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My 12 year old son and I were out fishing today at one of our usual haunts and nothing was biting. This spot has been pretty consistent bank fishing spot for 2-5 pound largemouth and 1-2 pound crappies so it was a bit disappointing and frustrating. My son got bored and stopped fishing so I gave him my phone and told him to dig into my tackle bag and set up the iBobber to see if anything shows up on the sonar. In the fish finder mode the iBobber shows red markers for fish under 18" and green markers for fish over 18" and it provides a readout of the depth of the fish. So my son casts the iBobber out and then starts calling out, "Red - 4 feet. Green - 6 feet. Green - 9 feet..." At the same time I am beginning to see some fish feeding on the surface out towards the middle of the lagoon where my casts won't reach. All I'm thinking is, "Why aren't all of these fish hitting anything?" I'm fishing slow, fast, medium, topwaters, spinners, buzzbaits, Senkos, crankbaits, and not one nibble. Then he calls out, "Green - 24 feet" and I'm thinking to myself that can't be right. Unless some sinkhole opened up under the water it's not that deep anywhere in the lagoon. So I ask him, "Is that in demo mode?" and his response is, "No, but it does say 'demo' at the top of the screen." AARRRGH! As it turns out, the iBobber wasn't charged so the app defaulted to demo mode. I was cracking up because here I am thinking there's all these good sized fish around and I can't even manage one bite no matter what I throw! We packed it up a few minutes later and called it a day. The morning may not have produced any fish, but at least it produced a good story.

Spoken for. Thanks!

What's the point?...sorry for the barb, eye'll try to temper my sharp comments, I guess there is a gap in how I understood your statement, maybe my perspective is a little bent, or I'm just set in my ways and other folks' ideas don't penetrate my thinking, I'll try to reverse my position and off set my prejudices.. (I can't think of anything for kirbed, but I'll circle back if I do)

I found a picture of the pike.

We want to personally thank everyone for your support of our sponsorship and business. This has been our most successful sale. There is still time to get in on it if you have not. Thank you to all.

I used to put the console graph in demo mode for my non boaters

Nope - there is no such thing as "too cold." I've caught them pulling blade baits off ice shelves before...then when it freezes up, if ice fishing is your thing, plenty to still be caught through the small holes. Not all ponds are created equal though, so you might need to rotate through them until you figure out which ones still produce down to liquid ice conditions. Avoid the muddy ones, too. Look for clear water and green weeds, and reachable holes or deep water from shore.

This gives away my location but oh well! I rarely take good pictures but I like this one. We never seem to catch anything downtown so I was pleasantly surprised.

I'm sorting thru my tackle and my plano box that I keep my hooks in is stuffed full. I need to add more hooks and there is no more room. It made me realize I'm a hookaholic. Hooks are one thing I can't pass up whenever I shop. Weighted, unweighted, worm, swimbait, wacky, dropshot, shakey, jig, the list goes on, and on, and on. They look so innocent hanging on the racks in the store, but as I pass by I hear their little voices say " buy me! I'm new and improved, I'm soooo sharp, you won't catch anything with out me! I'M SHINY, BUY ME!!!!. I'm sure I need help, but there's no time. I'm off to buy more hooks. Jim

Finally got my baits in from Phil 2 custom painted lunker punkers

You're just not in the right area brotha.... They take cards now a days! ? @Bluebasser86 That's a sick looking Phoney man.

Well, I think I’m going to go with the crush, thank you guys so much!

I use Lew's reels pretty much exclusively, have not tried their rods out yet. It looks like from their website that the only difference between the two rods is the guides. Lew’s Mach Crush SLP Baitcast Combo: One-piece IM8 graphite blank with Nano technology American Tackle Airwave guides Lew’s exclusive SoftTouch graphite skeletal reel seats Winn advanced polymer Dri-Tac split-grips Lew’s Mach II SLP Baitcast Combo: One-piece IM8 graphite blank with Nano technology Guides are constructed with durable stainless steel frames and aluminum oxide inserts Lew's exclusive SoftTouch graphite skeletal reel seats Winn advanced polymer Dri-Tac split grip

Nice. Real nice. My season is kicked down now. Had a fun year. Did get a few nice smallies. Two people that are not Smallie fisherman I had them out and hooked them up with a few nice fish this season. They were cool with a few pics and putting them back. I have Lake Ontario in my sights this upcoming season. Can't wait. Never Smallie fished it but I'm not gonna over think it. Just gonna go do it.

Mullen to Florida. Quite a surprise. Canada of LSU to ?????? Maybe yes and maybe no. UCLA got their man. Texas A&M has their sights on Dumbo Fisher, again. And Dumbo may be ready to make a move, now. Gus to Arkansas? Can't see it unless he wants to poke Awbunn in their eyes for spite. Ole Miss just retained their head coach as their head coach. And is Tommy Tubberville ready to move back into coaching? If so, will the Vols take him? What about Les Miles. He wants to get back into coaching. Stay tuned. It is going to be another year of musical college coaches changes.

Thanks for the ideas. I'll see what I can come up with. A-JAY- I would always want the rod on the bottom Jim

Wow this thread has slowed down especially considering all the black friday deals. I had to put together a small TW order. Got some hair jigs and Iovino jig trailers (it's cold up here lol), a couple stanley spinnerbaits to try, replaced some of the tungsten weights I lost this year, and got some yamamoto grubs and a couple swimjigs. I also hopped on Ebay and picked up some Winter reading material. In-Fisherman's Critical Concepts 1, 2 and 3, In Pursuit of Giant Bass by Bill Murphy, and the classic Spoonplugging by Buck Perry.

About 10 years ago, Cabelas had these Terminators in clearance bin for $1.99. I bought every 1/2 and 3/8 oz in the East Grand Forks store. I then had them look to see if they had any more at any of their other stores. They had some in Texas, but wouldn't look through them, so they shipped them up here with my name on them. I remember going in and asking for them, and they handed me a bag with over 250 spinnerbaits in it. I sat on the floor of the store and went through and picked out the ones I wanted. I think I bought over 80. I thought I would never run out of spinnerbaits. I opened my last one this past year. Most were lost to pike, a few to snags and a few to bad knot tying!

The hardest winter bass to catch is that first one. Years ago when I was trying to turn my bass fishing into a year round activity I can remember that first December when it seemed pretty hopeless. Three weekends of no bites and the water temperature was dropping towards 40 degrees. I was fishing a small swim jig on the bottom in 10' of water out in front of a beaver dam. I just kept mindlessly retrieving that jig, ticking little branches and sticks when I felt that pop of a bass inhaling my jig. I froze for a good 5 count not believing what had just happened but stared at my line moving off in a different direction. I set the hook and reeled in a lethargic 18" largemouth (they fight poorly in cold water). I could not have been more proud of catching that bass. The door had been opened, the next week I caught my last bass of the year and the first of the next year. The New Year's Day bass is something I always strive to make happen. I have come to really appreciate winter bass fishing. You have the lakes to yourself and the catches mean more to me. Yes, I get skunked and I have a lot of one fish days but because I get out there and grind away all day with a jig I catch some of my biggest largemouth of the year. I catch them in 37 - 38 degree water and when my lakes in Maryland freeze over I roll down to Virginia where you can almost always still find some open water. Here is a nice one from the day after Christmas a couple of years ago.

Nope, the bite is never "over with", the fish still gotta eat once in a while! You just have to adapt to the conditions.

I throw my a rigs on 30lb braid with 17lb mono leader, my swimbaits on 50lb braid and 20lb mono leader

Lost one today that was easily over 10lb. But we still had a blast catching them on lake Istokpoga.

Well, I went out and thre a jig at around dark near some rip rap. Caught one on my 3rd cast. Just saw the line move. The Bass was about 2 lbs. Cool

I wish that blowing you off is the worst that can happen. If you've been following these forums, you'll see that there are many fishermen who carry firearms. Most people HATE being called out for their bad behavior. If flipping you off is the most that they'll do to you, you are very lucky. Things can quickly go beyond words and get dangerous. One of my rules is not to scold anybody for their behavior. You aren't going to change them, you are just going to make them mad.

Never take a picture holding someone else's fish.

Was out around Meshoppen on the 16th and killed them

Its over. Put away the rod and reel and dream about spring when once again the lakes and rivers will be filled with fish. Don't forget to fill up your tackle box with all the lures you are only going to use once then go back to the lures that worked last year. Good luck next year.

Thank you for the troubleshooting. Very helpful tips

Texposing will help, as will a hook with an exaggerated z-bend (I like VMC). But also, you can peg the bait at the eyelet using a tiny bit of 40 pound mono line leader. Rig the bait so the nose of the bait is just over the eye of the hook, then insert the mono line through the nose of the bait so it also goes through the eyelet and just reaches the other side of the bait. Then trim. You can keep a handy length of the mono line tied on your belt loop for this purpose. Anyway, bass will tear up these baits. So you will, in any case, have to refresh your hook with a new bait after each bass or two.

Super easy answer for this one ~ NO, it's not over. As long as there is open water - Bass can be caught. And since many bass are caught through the ice - late (and very early season) open water is no different. I've caught many fish from partially frozen lakes. Late season, I almost always have to fish deep. But regardless of presentation depth, I always have to fish slow. Blade baits & lippless baits (fished like a blade bait), as well as hair jigs, & deep jerkbaits, can & do catch bass for me - especially smallmouth. While the late fall / early winter weather here in Northern Mi often does not offer many opportunities to get on the water, I'll go every time I can and I certainly expect to get bit. My best trips often include the sun, less wind, and fishing during & through the warmest part of the day. And fishing super slow can not be over emphasized. I was on the water two days ago, water temps were 35. A 5/8 oz Silver Buddy blade bait took 6 smallies up to about 3 pounds. My frozen face smiled every time. Forecast says Tuesday might be good - I may have to crack a little ramp Ice - but that rarely stops a motivated Basshead. I got out for the first time in December last season - here's a clip of it. A-Jay

I think the double whammy for us Northern folks is a lot of times you've got to fish super slow sometimes to get bit, like 5-10 minute casts slow, or just straight deadsticking. Now if you're fishing that slow and don't have electronics, or aren't very familiar with the lake, finding fish is going to be VERY difficult, and if you aren't getting bit...it's difficult to understand why. Were you in the wrong spot, fishing too fast, wrong bait, were the fish just turned off from the weather, from turnover, did you simply not make enough casts in that area to come across sluggish fish? The issue is you could fish an hour in one area, doing everything right, and not get bit....and you would never know it and likely move on to a new strategy. It's a grind for sure, and electronics IMO are going to help you out now more than ever because you simply don't have enough time to eliminate unproductive water by purely fishing. It's a high percentage game and I feel like you really need to commit to an area that you have confidence holds fish, and just grind it out. Now is the time to fish the lake you know like the back of your hand. I've had very little luck so far this November, some decent action in earlier in the month but the last few weeks it's been nearly dead. I've fished Hudds, jigs, slow hopping lipless cranks, and deadsticking large swimbaits. I fish mainly from a kayak with no electronics. If I go out again I will probably try dropshotting deep areas on the lakes I know well. Also I feel you on the whole "6 casts per hour". I've slowly forced myself to fish that slow and it's tedious. I fish for fun too but I also am okay with going fishing and not catching fish, I still find it enjoyable, a little less so than if I was loading the boat sure but I;m content to grind it out while being the only soul on a lake.

Welcome to BR and thank you for sharing some bait pics; some old, some new, some craw, some blue.....sorry. Ok, so the first pic looks like some Banjo Minnows. A soft jerkbait that could be used in fresh or salt water. I would definitely throw those in fresh water for bass, usually on a calmer wind day, shallow on a spinning rod with short twitches/pauses. 3rd pic, yes, are jerkbaits. Some good brands and colors in there. My go-to in cold water spring and fall. 4th are lipless crankbaits; referred to traps (a catch-all name taken from the most popular lipless bait the Rattletrap). Also a go-to in colder water for me but not to be dismissed all year long. As far as color, you will see many baits in colors that do not look like anything natural in the water but bass still eat them. Some show better in different colored water. Time to experiment. 5th is a selection of shallow to deep diving crankbaits. Also and experiment in color and style. What I mean is you have to try different baits on a given day to see what they want to eat. And typically, the larger the bill, the deeper it dives. And I'm no bait expert but the upper, left 2 baits look like Rapala Shad Raps which are known to excell in cold water too. 6th...selection of some cool baits to look at. 7th are bass bugs to be thrown on a fly rod. Floating top water baits And I'm not familiar with those old worms but I would do more homework on them before opening them. I'd throw some new, common worm first and keep those packaged. Definitely more to be said but that's it in a nutshell.

Most "basic" spinning reels are more than adequate for fresh water fishing. I'd use it and see how it goes.

Well I was lucky enough to have this guy come to a light rattle on Monday morning after throwing the kitchen sink at him. Shot him at 35 yards.

Well you can rip the tail off and use them as regular senkos. Typically you can rig these like any paddle tail swimbait on an EWG (weighted or weightless) or rig them on a jig head and work it like a jigworm. Lotta people use them on carolina rigs and as chatterbait trailers too.

Get a room!...

#1 Bama and #2 Miami both hit the dirt! College football in so unpredictable and maybe that is why it is so exciting.

Slightly embed the hook point into the body (Texpose).

I have never been glad that the season was over. Until now

The Terminators vibrate really well and they put out more than any War Eagle I ever used. I make my own spinnerbaits and have been for a long time but I've used a lot of what is on the market today. Terminators have a titanium wire form and they vibrate more than any other bait but it is a fast, shallow vibration versus a slower, heavier vibration felt with stainless wire forms. As for the Ware Eagle vibration more than the other brands, the answer is simple, Ware Eagle uses piano wire while Booyah and Strike King use regular stainless and it is heavy like most are around .040" diameter wire. The Stanley vibra wedge, and vibra-shaft both put out more vibration than a War Eagle, at least every one that I used and if I wasn't making my own and was buying a bait, it would be the Stanley Vibra wedge. That tapered wire and tapered blade they use make for their baits really make for the most vibration I ever encountered out of a double willow configuration. Don't get me wrong, the War Eagle is really good because of the piano wire but Stanley vibra-shaft and vibra-wedge baits are harder thumping in my honest opinion. On a side note you may wan to start hording War Eagle spinnerbaits, Pradco bought them out and I imagine they will move production to Guatemala and stop using the Sampo swivels so get what remains of the old stock before they are gone.

Original post was nearly 5 years ago. Hopefully he settled on some baits by now

I'm not great with dropping it straight on them but I have caught largemouth casting a similar rig against the bank. Great for clear water. A lot of times the reason it is geared toward smallies because they are wolfpacking around eating shad in open water and can be found with electronics easier than the largemouth, which behave a little more like a grouper hiding in shipwreck or mangroves. The lure/rig will catch any species when they see it, the tactic just marries up more closely with open water smallmouth packs

Use it until it dies on you and then just buy something else. Got a L Daiwa combo from Dick’s. They were buy one get one. I could tell the reel is a piece of junk, but it’s held up so far. I’ll use it until it fails.

Several old baits and though I don't think they're worth anything, I figured somebody on here will know for sure! I will say that the descriptions on the back of the producers are hilarious.

Assume everyone is carrying in the south. I don't carry while fishing because I afraid of ruining the gun.. The worst thing I usually see is boats leaving a big wake or getting too close to my yak, and also littering.

Well it's here....wish the very best to all of you and may your day be blessed. Heading for my second cup while the house is quiet.

The Golden Rule! Tom

I don’t wear a belt today....

@TnRiver46 Jeff Little's instructionals are awesome! Very few guys crush river smallmouth like he does consistently, and he's a kayak OG. His approach to finesse fishing is awesome. I just wish I had more patience to deadstick. The advice about being careful is huge. Cold water is no joke. This is becoming the season I switch primarily to fly fishing for trout since they're so much more active in colder water.

Although I don't have one, I've been on boats with the new ultrex terrova, and boy, they really work! They really do lock you on a spot. Great for fishing deep water. That said, no matter the make, they all simply "lock" the trolling motor in place. They can't control the swinging of the boat due to wind. So they're terrible for fishing beds, tight quarters, spots where boat positioning is critical, etc. Just something to think about.