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After six fishing days & four days of travel to Rainy Lake Canada I decided to try my home waters. When I left Erie the surface temps were around 49-51 degrees. Ten days later the surface temps were only 51-53. There was a massive mud line from shore to 4 miles off shore when I left. When I went out yesterday the rain from two days before left the water a little turbid but not to bad. I started fishing a LC pointer 128 & a deep diving jerk bait. The 128 proved to be what the bigger fish wanted. I caught two nice eater walleye & about 9 smallies. My best five smallies went 24-25lbs. Big fish of the day hit the 6lb mark on my boga. It was a great welcome back for me.

Caught a dozen or so bass in northern Indiana on a topwater frog on Friday. One of them even pooped out an ewg hook that I was easily able to remove the rest of the way.

4 in a couple hours on the t rigged black/blue Dinger. Largest was 2.7. Hooked into a big fish and it snapped my line. In the past 1.5 years of fishing 3-5 times a week, this has never happened to me. My drag on my Pflueger was cranked all the way down(from trying to get out of a snag). So that was a bummer.

A nice 4+ on a black buzz bait before going to work. hit right over this fallen tree trunk that ive been casting at for the past 3 years. this was the first ever catch at that target.

^ Previous [May 20, 2018] Sometime last week while planning our next fishing trip, Jeremy mentioned that he might not have a lot of time. He asked if I would still be interested even if we only had a few hours to fish, to which I replied I'm always willing to go. We planned to fish during our weekend on Sunday, meet up at his place around 6:00am, and probably fish till around noon. When I woke up I took a look at the forecast for today... I could see it was partly cloudy with a high of 73F. There was a front off the coast, and a low pressure system to the south. It was looking pre-frontal as the pressure was going to fall after a few hours, and the clouds were moving in with a chance of rain. Arrived at his place at 5:50am, retied my starting bait selection which was the same as our previous trip except I swapped the Bladed Jig to a Wacky Rig. We headed to the lake at 6:15am, launched the boat at 6:35am, and noticed the lake level had dropped slightly since our last trip. Water temp also dropped from 49F to 48F, and the water clarity was now about ~3-4ft. We headed to our first location at 6:45am... It was a short run to our first location, water temp was 49F, and stained with ~3ft clarity. We began fishing and noticed the area had some current to it. They must be really drawing the lake down today, which explains the lower lake level even after a day of heavy rain last week and the snow melt and spring runoff still continuing. I was using the current to my advantage letting my weightless wacky rig get pulled 3-6ft under a large mat of wood, logs, & debris. I didn't have high hopes with the water being this cold. We moved down to some current breaks and fished around them and even into a pocket with slack water. There was enough pollen on the surface you could easily see where the edge of the current was. We fished our first location for 1 hour, and not a single bite for either of us (lots of snags though due to the current). During our time fishing the first location we saw numerous bass boats heading to the south end of the lake. I haven't been checking up on the tournament schedule lately, but what we didn't know was there was actually a bass tournament held on this lake just yesterday the 19th. We decided to move, and were discussing where our second location should be. Jeremy wanted to head south where everyone else was headed (thinking they might know something we don't), and I wanted to head north where everyone else might be overlooking. We actually had some time today and the possibility to do both, so the question was which one first? I figured since the south end is shallower we should head there first during the morning hours, and before the fishing pressure increases. The idea was to spend and hour or so down there and if things don't work out, turn around and head back up north while we have time. We also wanted to at least check it out as around this time last year (May 22, 2017) we actually had good luck fishing the south end, though year to year conditions can vary. At 7:50am, we headed south... On the way there we slowed down to an idle to check out a ledge and creek channel that we passed over a few trips ago and marked fish. There was also a large debris field near it on the surface created from all the runoff. We didn't see much activity out deep, so we continued on. Second location, water temp 48F, water clarity stained ~3ft. Jeremy wanted to make a quick stop and give this area a try, as it's an area he's fished in the past. We fished it for 25 minutes without a bite and decided to move as the water here was still pretty cold. In the short amount of time we spent here, we could still see boats coming to the south end of the lake. Third location, arrival time 8:35am, water temp 57-60F, water clarity stained ~4.5ft. We could see two other boats in this general area off in the distance. 10 minutes after we began fishing, Jeremy gets my attention and points out what looks like good sized fish hitting the surface like crazy out in the open water. At first I thought it might be birds as I could see something but couldn't make it out. So I zoomed in 8x with my camera and snapped a picture. Then zoomed in on the picture and could see it was actually a small patch of lilly pads out there and sizable fish hitting the surface all around it... We put the trolling motor on high and started heading for them. Couldn't tell if they were bass or not, but we could tell they were sizable fish over a few pounds. I just so happened to bring my box of topwater walking baits with me today, so I swapped out the Deep Diving Jerkbait for a Reaction Innovations Vixen... There were multiple surface strikes every few seconds within a very large radius, they were everywhere and before we knew it we had them on both sides of us. They were busting like a cast & a half away from us, and I could almost reach them with the vixen, so we stopped the trolling motor and went quiet. That's when they got a little closer and I was able to make a few good casts with the vixen and... nothing. I had this sinking feeling that they were not bass, but was curious just to catch one to identify the species. Time was ticking away and I told Jeremy the only way we could possibly catch one is to wait till one busts and cast something right on the rings. Well as luck would have it, one busted the surface, Jeremy made a perfect cast with a spoon onto the rings and let it sink to the bottom. Once he hopped it up and began the retrieve his rod loaded up, Fish On! It was only when we got it to the boat we learned they were big Northern Pike Minnows... Not the target species we were hoping to catch, however this is the first time either of us has seen surface activity like that, chased them down, and were successful in catching one of them. So in a way, it was a win for us. All the surface activity had brought in numerous ospreys & bald eagles to the area, and though we didn't want the fish, a bald eagle was more than happy to make a meal of it... I swapped the Vixen back to the Deep Diving Jerkbait, and we headed back to where we were originally fishing. I started throwing the Wacky Rig around and actually broke off what would of been my first bass today (seen it flash). Shortly after that (as I was retying) Jeremy hooked into his first bass which was a nice little largemouth. I was also throwing the grub around, and felt something pick it up and drop it. Never could get that fish to come back and bite again or take the Wacky Rig. We spent a total of 1 hour and 47 minutes at our third location and those were our only bites. Not wanting to waste any more time, it was now time to head north. We decided to have a little lunch break on our way out, as it was now 10:30am. Headed north, we could see snow still high in the mountains, it's going to be a while before that cold runoff is finished... Fourth location, water temp 51-52F, water clarity stained ~3.5ft. We arrived near one of our "honey holes" right at 11:00am. Behind us, we could see the edge of that front moving in... Throwing both the Wacky Rig & Grub, It took about 30 minutes and I started catching them... Bass 01 - 15'' - 1 lb 05 oz - Grub Bass 02 - 14 & 1/4" - 1 lb 08 oz - Wacky Rig Bass 03 - 14 & 1/2" - 1 lb 07 oz - Wacky Rig Bass 04 - 16" - 1 lb 14 oz - Grub I was hooking them one after another yet Jeremy was struggling to even get a bite. It wasn't until he made a bait change to a soft plastic craw, he was able to catch his second bass today. They seemed to want a dead stick presentation or something, I would throw the Wacky Rig out and just let it sink, work it out to 10-12ft depth and wait. When I would check the bait the fish would already have it. Had one deep hooked, but my Quarrow Hook Remover made short work of it. (Love that tool, it's a fish life saver.) Spent a total of 1 hour 55 minutes at our fourth location, and it was now 1:20pm. We only planned to fish till around noon, but the fishing was just starting to get good... So we decided to keep fishing and head even further north up to this specific bay Jeremy wanted to give a try. With the front moving in, the wind from the west had picked up even more where it was now starting to whitecap, and the boat ride north was getting rough. Fifth location, water temp 60-62F, water clarity stained ~4ft. We were fishing the southeast corner of the bay, right where the wind was pushing everything, and it was loaded. Jeremy caught his 3rd, we doubled up for my 5th and his 4th, then he caught his 5th, and later I hooked my 6th. Bass 05 - 13 & 1/2" - 1 lb 01 oz - Wacky Rig Bass 06 - 14 & 1/4" - 1 lb 05 oz - Wacky Rig There were more fish in the area, Jeremy saw a good sized bass follow in one he had hooked. I made a hookset with the Wacky Rig where I lost a Yum Dinger, but still had the hook & O-Ring. Something swiped at my spinnerbait as I saw it move sideways but didn't get hooked. I even managed to throw the Squarebill and hook into a bonus fish... A nice 7 lb pike (didn't get a measurement). Even though the fishing was great, it was now 3:00pm. We were 3 hours into overtime and had to call it, so we headed back to the ramp. We pulled the boat out at 3:30pm. The front had moved in over the south end of the lake, and we could really feel the drop in temperature as we headed back to the ramp. We even saw a bolt of lightning off in the distance. It was quite the day, started off slow, but with a change in location, and even the changing weather, things really took a turn for the better. It ended up being our best fishing trip so far this year. WolfyBrandon

Tough fishing yesterday. Fishing behind a dozen other boats on a <200 acre reservoir didn't help much, and I couldn't find anything offshore either.

A-Jay

Pb rainbow 3lbs even. They don’t get really big here like they do out west...

I have now been fishing Clearlake for 3 days. My visions of giant football shaped bass have not yet become a reality, and unfortunately I don't think we have a shot at more than a couple of them. Weights for tournaments have been way down lately, and we have not heard of anyone catching big fish consistently (although I'm sure someone is). There has been a ton of pressure on the lake recently (maybe it's always that way, I'm not sure) and that combined with other factors that I can't pinpoint seem to have the larger fish in a funk! That being said, we are having a ball with the smaller fish, 20+ bites a day in the 2-3lb range, however nothing over 3.5 in THREE DAYS! It would only take an 18"er to be 4 or even 5 pounds too, these fish are built like nothing I have seen before. We have caught bass all over the lakes on a wide variety of baits, I can't figure out how we haven't at least stumbled across a big one. One more day of practice and then it's showtime!

Just have to say that after some great advice here on BR I took a single rod and practiced on nothing but Texas rig and wacky. Worked nothing but these two methods for the past couple days. Took me a while but I landed several nice sized Bass. Feels good to take the time to study and practice and get a great return... thank you all who took the time out to give me great advice. .

I've been able to locate some of the smaller fish on Lake Erie if you need any tips

I wear a diaper when bank fishing, like an astronaut so I can focus solely on bass fishing I’m just hard core like that.

That's about right, based on the billions of browns I've caught. Also, at least I get to hold my PB brown over you. 22 lbs. Beautiful fish by the way. Up here, the spots are very faint until late summer early fall. Spring: Fall:

Long time lurker but first post. Had some fun with the power of the ned last night. Along with the bass came 2 muskies and 3 strippers. Quite the surprise to reel into a muskie using a TRD.

Pretty Morning ~ A-Jay

Fished a couple's tournament on greers ferry yesterday. Absolutely stunning lake, beautiful clear water. As for the fishing just caught 3 keepers and a bunch of almost 15 inchers so the finish wasn't too hot. Had a blast all-n-all though. Good weekend spent with the significant other. The fish in the pic was by far the smallest of the day lol

I caught a turtle! He smiled for the camera.

Yesterday, I caught another laker on the ned rig. Again, just dumb luck as I was fishing shallow for bass with a senko and would cast way out to deeper 50 -60' water with my other rod letting the ned rig settle as I fished the senko back to the kayak. When I started reeling the ned rig back, I felt the pressure of a big fish. Took me about 10 minutes of getting towed around in my kayak and reeling up before the fish came to the surface. Estimated this fish to be well over 2' long and 10-15#s. Realized my 16" long net wasn't big enough, so fortunately this fish was hooked at the front of it's mouth, (As a side note, almost all the many ned rig hooked fish of various species that I have caught are hooked that way), so I was able to get this one by the side of the kayak and wiggle the hook out; after which it slammed the side of my kayak with it's tail and it swam back down. A fun battle and lucky enough to be able to unhook this fish and not break off. PS - Also, in reply to the separate thread about using bass gear for trout - used a SC Mojo Bass MJS68MXF, Pflueger Supreme 30 reel with 6# Pline CXX. I would recommend this set up for multiple applications, not just bass.

Ridiculous numbers this year on largemouth in the lower Detroit River... Will go through streaks where I've caught fish on 5 consecutive casts. Kietech 4.5" Swing Impact with tail dipped in chartreuse on a 1/8oz swimjig has been killing it. I'll be honest, about 70% of the bass I'm catching are in the 10-14" range but also catching some 18-19" bass in the 4lb range. In five separate 2-3hr outings this past week I've netted 105 largemouth. Never had that kind of success before. Been having a blast, developed a sore forearm and elbow though from fighting fish LOL!

Why are bluegill attacking my lipless? I caught four this size.

Few summertime spinnerbait bass from last week in arizona. Was getting fry guarders to come out and play. Was expecting alot more since there was fry everywhere but they werent cooperating.

Of course i didn't have my scale with me, but she was a MONSTER! well over 5 lbs.

Hot on the dink bite... Few days later the Dink Fest continues, and his first Snot Rocket...

went out on the local rezzie today with my brother in law to test out a new piece of gear he bought. i dont think we caught one fish there the whole of last season and not for lack of trying. the fishing there is tough. well today was a different story. i hooked into five fish of five different species one after the other. beautiful evening not sure what was up with this guy, abnormal coloring smallie up on the bank. if you didnt get your bait close in to the bank you didnt get a fish this next fish i threw a morning dawn yum dinger wacky rigged up against a rock face near the bank. as you can hear my bro was amped. i was frozen in disbelief. did not end up landing the fish. we were completely unprepared for this guy. my wacky fishing rig is a 6'0 fenwick eagle medium-light strung with 10 lb spiderline braid and 8 lb super silver thread copolymer leader. it lasted much longer than i expected. he didnt inhale the bait i actually had him lip hooked with a 1/0 finesse wide gap. but he eventually turned and got his mouth around the line and sheared it off. was hard to fish after that, that was the first time i ever hooked into a musky. didnt know what this was but im told it is a white perch. this thing inhaled a 4" cinnamon yamamoto, and took a dump on my leg pickerel on the bagley minnow b took a swipe at it hooked him backwards through top lip was pretty shocked to get 5 species like that in a row. managed one more largemouth before the wife summoned me home to help with bed time.

There are several great lightning apps out there and we use them for athletics all the time. That said, ANY dock in a storm is legal and encouraged. I had an issue a couple years ago, when there was no way of making it through the channel so I was seeking shelter on the back side of an island. A home owner saw me out there and started flashing her porch light and dock light. I pulled in to wait it out and was invited in for a cup of coffee. While there are some real *ss’s in the world, there are some Good Samaritan’s too

I have always wanted to try Rainy Lake on the Canadian side so a small group of four guys decided to go. Three of us drove two days to get there & one guy from Atlanta flew to Duluth Minn to meet up with us. We pulled one boat up & rented a 2nd boat up there. We stayed at LaBelle's Birch Point Camp on Northwest Bay. The accommodations, food & boat rental/guide service was great. Ice out was May 5th & we arrived on the 11th. Water temps were 47-53 during our six days of fishing. The bass were confused as to where they should be location wise with the three week late ice out. We searched & searched & searched looking for them. We tried points, bays, humps & islands all over. Most days we ran 20 miles out & 20 miles back. Weather was cool & sunny and mostly dry until we left. We had three days of high wind but fishable. We found one or two fish on most spots we tried but no schools or concentration except for one day. Our best day gave us 55 smallies for our boat that day. Most other days were 20-30 fish for the boat. We caught lots of snot rocket northerns & some walleye mixed in. Walleye season didn't open until the day after we left so they were released rather than eaten. Early successful baits were tubes dragged on bottom or just off. As the water warmed my favorite bite started to shine. I only fished jerkbaits & a few flukes the rest of the week. Our biggest fish was 4.5 lbs. Five pounders are considered trophies up there. The camp owner has a 6.5 lber to his credit over 30 years of fishing Rainy. Typical good days on Rainy average 50-75 smallie per day to a boat during normal conditions. If you want to try a Canadian smallmouth trip Rainy Lake is a good choice.

Reading all these posts about skin cancer got me to thinking about better protection from the sun. I can't stand anything tight across my face or neck so a boony type hat and sun screen have been my go to. Problem is I always seem to miss a couple of spots and have been burned my ears and back of my neck more than once. The wife and I were out shopping over the weekend and came across these Sun Guide Caps, and bought a couple. We tried them out today and although they look dorky as all get out ( looks like I have beagle ears ) they were very lite weight and totally covered my neck and ears. You can also snap a front flap to cover the front of your neck. Here's a pic from todays trip. Try not to laugh too hard.

The reel frame is not made of graphite, it is composite that may have graphite reinforcement fibers. 2 reasons to use composite materials; weight saving and corrosion protection. Composites are about 50% lighter then aluminum and impervious to corrosion. Modern composite materials are far more expensive then aluminum alloys and can be stronger, all depends on design and materials used. Tom

Contrary to many of the answers given, yes, there is a difference: "Inexpensive polarized sunglasses differ from more expensive lenses in significant ways. Cheaper sunglasses may only have a thin chemical laminate on one side of the lens. The thin layer may only provide minimal benefit and the thin layer can be rubbed or scratched off easily. You may also notice aberrations in your lenses, as these are usually mass produced stamped out lenses that are lower quality. Higher quality options have film laminated between two layers of lens material. Encasing the laminate protects it from being scratched and provides additional benefits. The thicker the polarizing film, the more protective the lens is against glare. A note about lens color: darker lenses are not a sign of better protection. Ask your eyeglass retailer or optometrist how the polarized laminate is applied to the eyewear before you purchase it. As far as other options go, polarized glasses are available in a wide variety of colors, materials and lens designs."

Picked up a Fuego CT 8.1.1 at Cabela's for their big May long weekend sale (Canada) for my Fury 735. Spooled it up with 50lb j-braid with a long 18lb FC Sniper leader for swimbaits. Caught a 4lb SMB on a dark sleeper fishing for pike. My brother caught a 40" (~20lb) pike on the exact same lure, 2nd biggest fish we've caught on Deep Bay. d**n thing was a crocodile.

These vids show several options.

Congratulations on winning the battle, but the war still looms.

Sad that people kill them for no reason. They are an awesome sport fish that has been around since the time of the dinosaurs.

If you see any of my previous postings you will see I am a BIG fan of the Daiwa reels. I fish a bunch Tatula, Tatula Type R reels and Tatula CTs along with the Fuego predecessor the Exceler reels. The Fuego is built on the Tatula CT size frame and shares the Mag Force Z brakes. This is a great brake system but you will need to learn how it adjusts correctly, which is really easy if you forget how every other reel adjusts. First watch these two videos. After that go for it. You will not be disappointed. BY the way check Cabelas they may have that reel on sale. Ignore the fact he is talking about a different model, the brakes adjust the same.

Went back to the basics this weekend and caught about 50 dinks with a zoom curly tail grub on a jig head as well as a YUM crawbug. The little guys were fun. There's not much forage in this pond but some large cannibalistic females that will try to eat their babies off your bait, and the small bait for small fish to get the sharks hungry has become my go-to tactic. This is the pond my 10 pounder came out of, and a 13.5 was caught out of it last year. I'm after her. I managed one good bass doing this, getting them close with the small fish and then tossing a jig and craw chunk in their face. She's the one pictured with my Abu. Then I found a savage staring down some bream beds and had the finesse rod in hand, and I'm so surprised the tiny hook held. Penn reels have great drag. I also caught what I'd estimate to be an 8 pounder on the same pumpkin jig with craw chunk, and my phone was on the charger at home. She hit in about 2' of water early in the morning, I guess she was up there feeding. The pond owner has me asked me to remove carp, so I was actually trying to snag what I thought was a carp when I casted to her. She picked it up as soon as it splashed. Here's Craig the Bass, who also happens to like to catch big fish. This is his PB 4.5" swimbait. I'm looking forward to taking the kayak out to the lake soon, beating the banks has made my legs sore on this Monday morning at work!

me and my cousin hit the water around 7 this morning in the little johnny. skies were mostly cloudy and an easy SW breeze made for perfect conditions. we caught 39 spots and 2 largemouth.

Caught my first smallmouth and striper out at Havasu and got into some largemouth as well! Night fishing with a jerkbait worked really well.

Caught my first Florida strain at Diamond Valley in Hemet, CA today. Not the size I came out here for but I guess that’s why they call it fishing and not catching. A 4.34 and a 3.0.

Best two from today's adventure ~ A 5-10 & a Fat 6-0 ! A-Jay

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.

Personal Best Brown Trout Today ~ A-Jay

Out on the bass hunter today. Boated 19 bass, shallow cranks (bps the egg, h20 wake), 110 whopper plopper, Jackal Kaera frog doing the damage.

Back to bank beating some bass now that I got my fill of bluegill bedders. This was the best of nearly 3 dozen yesterday. Finesse Worm

T rigged black/blue and Junebug Yum Dinger getting it done on a private neighborhood pond this afternoon. Largest went for 2.5. Lost my Whopper Plopper that was working so well. Buzzbait was getting slammed, but no hookups in the late afternoon. I can’t help but feel like if I had that WP, all those strikes would’ve been landed. Oh well.

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.

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! ?