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First Jerkbait Bass of the season. The frugal fisherman strikes again. Bought a Lunkerhunt perch pattern jerkbait for less than $3 from Field and Stream this week. Tied it on for the first time last night. Patience and persistence pays off when Jerkbait fishing. Spent an hour walking the banks casting and retrieving with a jerk, jerk, pause, jerk pause method. This beauty hit it less than 5 feet from shore.

Nothing too big, but had a rare day where we could do no wrong. Caught fish all day. Here's a couple of them.

I haven't seen any actual beds, but they're definitely shallow here. After failing to convince anybody to chase a chatterbait, I took a hint and switched up to a a plasmatail worm on a shakyhead. Found this one chillin' under a dock:

The Bass are starting to bed in my area. For the last few days I have seen shallow bass over the telltale circular patterns. First day was easy I was able to cast a floating crankbait past the bed and retrieve it through to get a Bass to swipe at it. Second day not so easy. Crank didn't work, Wacky rigged Dinger didn't work, weightless Fluke didn't work. Last thing I tried was a Berkley powerbait Pogy Swimbait firetiger color. When I swam that past the bed the Bass would grab the tail then spit it out. There is an exposed hook near the head of the bait but the Bass wasn't choking it. I stayed at it, casting and retrieving over that bed for an hour with swipes but no hookups. Finally I changed my angle and casting from the side rather than straight out and the Bass choked it! all in all I worked this fish for about 1 and a half hours with different baits before landing it.

dodging tropical downpours here in the southeast but the fishing has been great here on Lake Norman. we caught 24 spots yesterday in the jon boat, and then 29 this morning in the Javelin. everything i have is waterlogged.

Without a doubt, I've caught more fish with zoom super flukes than any other bait in the last 15 years. Great choice for a bait to learn. Good choice on the colors. I use watermelon red or watermelon seed or other specific watermelon choices. Also have red shad that I use for dusk fishing. Got several others that I don't use near as much. Once caught an 8 pounder on a murky golf course pond using a bubble gum fluke ! I don't fish murky water much either, but root beer ( and bubble gum ) was the best colors I used in the one murky lake I fish. I use a 3/0 Gamakatsu wide gap hook for them. I fish them weightless. Most of the places I fish are shallow, and it works better. If I fished more consistently with water over 10 ft I would use a little weight. I catch 80 % or more of the fish I catch on them just deadsticking. I throw it out and let it sit for 15 seconds on average. Pick up and check if you don't see the line twitch first. They will often be swimming off with it. I also like to throw it up on a bank and gently pull it off into the water. This induces a lot of hits. I also twitch it twice after deadsticking it, let it sink, wait a few seconds and repeat. They will also nail it pulling it over and through grass.Sometimes they will follow and blow up on it just reeling it in. When you get bit, esp. with deadsticking, reel up and set the hook asap, because if you dont you will often gut hook the fish with flukes.To me, It's one of the most versatile baits there is. As for bullet weights I don't use them much , and when I do it's only when using ribbon tailed worms .

Yesterday was pretty perfect for my wife and I. We hit our favorite lake for the day. This place is a real gem. It's about 1000 acres of good clean water with everything to make it a great SM,LM, fishery. Even better the launch is not the best, and you have to go thru a narrow culvert to get to the main lake, so not many larger boats try it. Yesterday the weather was perfect, slightly overcast, no wind, around 70 degree temps. Spring was in the air and the spawn was in full swing. We had decided to just concentrate on non bedding bass, but from the second cast out we caught fish. I set the trolling motor to slowly follow the shore line while we cast in towards shore. While running down the shore line we picked up several fish, but as we were going we kept looking down at all the fish on the beds. At some point we just put our fishing rods down and kept looking in the water. We ran into every nook and cranny and saw fish every where. We stopped for lunch over a SM bed and spent a half hour watching him keep chasing a rival away. I don't think we covered 1/10 of the shore line but still saw well over a hundred fish. On the way home we didn't talk about the fish we caught, only about all the cool things we saw. It's a day we will remember for a long time. Fishing is our joy, our passion, our fun. It's what get's us out to great places like this. We could have had very high numbers on this trip. But yesterday really reminded me how important it is to sometimes just stop, look around, and enjoy all the great places this "fishing" thing of ours brings us to. Jim

Last night fished a little tourney and it wasn't long before I had two in the boat for a three fish limit. But I found myself fishing a little faster wanting that next one and setting the hook a little harder. (i use braid with leader mostly) OMG....after I landed the second keeper I could not get one to the boat....it was almost funny (almost) then.....I broke off two with 25# leaders fishing a poisen jig. Now I know I'm not supposed to jerk like a maniac here but I did...I'm glad their building rods tough these days!! The others I was using a brush hog style bait.......usually never this much trouble...oh well....guess I'll watch a "MLF" and try to feel better.

Stage 4 lymphoma survivor here! Six months of chemo under my belt. Never give up and stay strong. if you have and questions or anything shoot me a PM. I try to help anyone out who's never been through it first hand, because I would've liked to have an ear to bend when I went through it.

I have set the hook and hit myself with the fish before. We all do it.

This isn't about a set up for fishing. It is about carpal tunnel syndrome. I had it in both wrists so bad I had to wear braces to fish and alternate right and left hand casting every few minutes in order to fish at all. My doctor put me on NSAIDS which helped. I finally had to have surgery to fix my right wrist. My left was getting worse and I was thinking about surgery on it but then I had a blood clot in my brain which caused me time in the hospital and considerable rehab time. The first thing they did in the hospital is take away my NSAIDS and told me to quit taking them due to kidney or liver damage down the road. They also said I needed to give up alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, and wheat in order to help prevent another stroke. I thought the wheat thing was insane but I don't want to go through this again so I quit all of them. After about a month I noticed I was having less symptoms in my left wrist. It has now been 2 years since I have had any wheat products and I still do not have carpal tunnel in my left wrist. It might be worth 30 days of your time to get off wheat and see if it helps your situation.

Anything that isn’t a Texas rigged curly tail worm,,,

Multispecies canal catches - don't know if there's such a thing as an invasive grand slam, but this might come close: Mayan ciclid: jaguar guapote: tilapia (quite a big one, took a worm...) Got a few snook also: Failed to land a decent sized peacock on the same day...

Texas rig them, with a pegged weight, and pitch them into the slop.

Biggest yesterday 11" crappie Today 13" crappie

went out for a night mission last night. hit a spot i havent been to in awhile, its a real pain in the ass to get to. saw fish bustin up top at sunset in the pads. figured the bite was on. it was a slow night, few half hearted hits. got a 6.13 on a slammer. been a tough spring for me, first fish over 3lbs in 2 months. feels soooooooo d**n good getting good fish again, IM BACK!!!! im so happy,. WOOOOOO

I was hoping we'd have a member step up and offer. Thanks.

Or claim to have. ?

One of the best ways to understand what's going on in your waters (with the bass) is to fish the bluegill spawn. Spent a couple hours doing that last night and managed about 4 dozen nice gills. Planning on pulling out the fly rod and hitting it again this weekend.

Doesn't @Bluebasser86 use a Spartacus with a Seaknight? spool for casting really light baits? Edit: Found it, baitcasting set up for casting 1/8 oz jigs.

Probably because they started out as a smallie bait. The first tubes I recall were Gitzits. In fact, no one called them tubes. Any jig head stuffed into a tube was a "Gitzit."

I'll second that, and add that in close to 40 years of Daiwa brand loyalty I've never been disappointed by their workmanship or performance. Many, many of the reels I've owned over those many years are still in service either on my own rods, or as "gifts" given to new anglers.

Been there, sort of. My 'problem' was always when I first start out. It'd take me an hour or more to start thinking straight and being more consistent with my presentations. Usually it would take getting that first one on and then asking myself what I was doing. When I couldn't answer that, I knew I was in trouble and I had to slow down.

I think it's safe to say anyone who fishes tournament's has done the same from time to time. Your whole being is zeroed in on sticking the last one but that's the problem! Dont beat yourself up as it will probably happen again. ?? Mike

No rum, coffee, Cohibas or Pizza? Just give me one of those corrugated hoses for my tailpipe.

Definitely the 3000.

Went to a close lake to home yesterday after work. It's not a big fish lake but a fun lake. Managed 50+ fish in a couple hours. All shallow in weeds. Carp were rolling pretty bad tried getting one to take a Ned but nothing doing lol. I really wanted to fish a swim jig but the fish just kept nipping the tail so I switched to a Texas rig creature bait and that was all it took. Nice seeing fish taking a liking to a new bait I'm pouring red gonna have to put it to the test this weekend.

Crankbaits. I caught a crappie on a crankbait during our Thursday night tournament tonight. I think that's the first fish I've caught on a lipped crankbait since January.

I agree. A mess of fried frog legs is hard to beat.

A new combo is much cheaper than carpal tunnel. I'd suggest a daiwa tat sv or curado 70 for the reel.

with temps rising some 10 degrees in some lakes in the last few days the fish are kind of in a weird stage from what I've seen. Normally the water doesn't heat up nearly this fast and they begin to start moving up at around 60 in my experience. The warm rush has definitely caused some fish to spawn although I wouldn't be surprised if we still had fish moving up throughout the next month. On the topic of warm water, anyone else catching topwater fish yet? I had about a 20 fish night yesterday on a popper. Pretty cool for the week after opener. Water was around 69-72.

I'd go with the Daiwa. I like that they own their own factory's. They don't contract their work out.

I had no confidence in them when I started out but started using a squarebill more often, and if I had a choice that's probably my favorite way of fishing. Lighter rod and line for a squarebill, when a fish crushes a squarebill the rush of adrenaline is like nothing any finesse fishing can match.

This site doesn't have the styles you listed, but they do have the Ward that BrackishBassin mentioned above for $58.00. Since they are a discounter, inventory changes daily. Check them often. https://www.steepandcheap.com/sunglasses?p=brand%3ANative%5C+Eyewear&nf=1

Turned 64 today and finally bought my license. Had confined all my fishing to this point in HOA lakes (with great success). Indiana lets you buy a lifetime permit at 64. I've been wanting to wade real bad lately as the creeks are pristine. Got out this afternoon and caught a bunch of rock bass and a couple of decent smallies (14 and 16") on ned tube. Feels good to get wet again.

I have become a big fan of Daiwa's "budget" stuff. Namely the Aird X, and Fuego rods. As well as the Revros, and RG spinning reels, and the Fuego CT casting reels. The quality is much better than my previous favorite budget offerings from Pure Fishing....IE Abu, and Pflueger reels, Abu, Fenwick, and Berkley Rods. I used to use Shimano reels and St Croix rods exclusively, and did so for many many years. But for the $300 you'd spend on a Shiman/Croix combo, you can get 2 Daiwa's that will not take a back seat to performance, durability, and quality.

This is my third video of some highlights from April including my Fiance's first bass. Took some of yall's comments on board and found a software program that will work on my laptop (kind of).

Thanks Team9nine - good to know I'm in the ball bark as I also have a spool of #12 BG to compare with as well ... I'm sure I'll have a need for #15 lb. BG for something even if I like #12 lb. BG better . J Francho : Thanks - never heard of the line by Tuf-Line but I am happy to look into it - always up for trying something new ! Probably will need to check someplace that carries Tuf-Line (Like TW , etc.)... In the meantime I'll experiment with straight braid and same + short leader.

You'd be better off with a PLB/GPS messenger (Personal Location Beacon). Something like the SPOT Gen3. Walkie-talkie isn't going to cut it, so it's a waste of money, in my opinion.

Now if we could only figure out which one of you is the evil twin.....

I'm gonna wait for the long weekend next week and go with the 40,000 nuts that will be out there.

Yesterday I went out to my sister from another mister's trailer in Bethany, La. where I used to live a few years ago. Got to fish for a few hours in the ponds by her trailer. They are the trailer parks ponds. They're not that big, but there's bass in them. Been fishing about 2 and a half hours before I found out she had a little john boat. Wish I'd known it was hers from the get go. I'd have probably caught more than just this one. Been out in the boat about 30 minutes casting chatterbaits, spinnerbaits and plastics with nothing happening. Tied on a 1/2oz green pumpkin Dirty Jigs swim jig with a Power Team Lures(guess that's the name brand) black and blue craw type trailer(one of the packs of baits that @A-Jay sent me, thanks again my friend). First cast with it was to the bank and I thought it had been hammered as soon as it hit, set the hook it was just moss or something. So I just started swimming it back to me and out of nowhere about 5ft from the boat this 1lb 6oz beauty did acrobats under the water and slammed it. I could literally see this happen. I set the hook hard, couple turns on my reel and it was in the boat. Not sure what the red reflection is in that one pic. My tackle bag is red, so I'm guessing it was a reflection of it in the glistening tail. It wasn't bleeding. Took my pics and set it free to go get bigger. Heard there's a 6+ and a 7+ lber out there. I'll definitely be back out there again soon. Next time I'll be in the boat the whole time...lol! ?

Stupid or Texas rig em with a pegged weight and drop em down the sides of standing timber

Found a Whopper Plopper 90 the other day and promptly lost it in some brush an hour later. However, I loved the action and bit the bullet and bought one yesterday(I’m rather frugal when it comes to lures). Took it for a test drive this morning and it didn’t disappoint. 6 in a few hours. Wasn’t the size I was looking for, but the topwater strike is fun regardless.

T-rig and skip under docks and pitch around bushes.

Bank fishing last night in the cool light rain before sunset. Six 3 to 4 pounders just like this one, a bite on every cast, over ten minutes, all from the same shallow spot in a little cove -- the most exciting ten minutes of bassing I've had this year. A passer-by stopped to watch and I was glad for a witness, even an anonymous one. Watermelon red Magnum U-vibe Speed Worm was the ticket.

Made a run to Lacassine again this morning, in the boat this time. Me, my youngest son Scotty, & his friend Wesley. We caught 20 tighteyes with maybe 5-6 around 1-1/2 to 2#. Not a single picture! We all 3 powered our phones off thinking the other would take pictures!

1st topwater bass of 2018!!! Using a Rebel Pop-R at sunrise in small subdivision pond and this 5lb, 21 inch football slammed it in about 1 & half feet of water. Some good ol RVA Bass Fishing!!!

That is the worst case of Bass thumb I have ever seen! Worst and best can be used interchangeable here.