Leaderboard

Had to share this with you guys. Stopped at a local Walmart where I've gotten tons of soft plastics for 75 cents on clearance in the past. Couldn't find a price on a kvd crank so I price checked it..... $1.50. Needless to say I stocked up with what they had. 6 kvd squarebills, 2 red eye shads, spool of 30 lb spiderwire braid, and two packs of yum vibraking tubes for a grand total of 17 bucks!

Can't crawl a lip less slowly through the rocks like a lipped crank, or stop and go to get the slow float up. I wouldn't want to fish one in trees where I fish a lipped crank. I love lipless baits, but I need the lipped baits too, no matter how much I don't like fishing them.

You all are forgetting the down side with lipless lures, low strike to landing bass %, they top the list! 90% of my lipless hooked bass are on the front treble hook and lightly hooked bass. Any LMB over 3 lbs is a breath holding fight. Occasionally a bass engulfs both trebles but not very often. Structure spoons only have 1 treble hook and a heavy spoon to shake loose but my strike to catch ratio is higher with structure spoons then lipless. Tom

After a few chilly nights, woke up to 46 degrees here in SE Georgia this morning and almost didn't head out. Was glad I did I after i pulled in a new PB. She weighed in at 8lbs 6oz. Getting closer and closer to double digits!

I've fished both ways. If you want to target big fish mainly, expect your numbers to go down. Bigger bass will hit smaller baits too. Targeting big bass is really knowing where to fish. Location is the key

@Siebert Outdoors Fogy kind of weekend. Caught some on other stuff, but the biggest ten or so were all on Fogy

I bass fish to catch bass. If I catch a bunch of small ones I am happy or if I catch a big one I am happy. Really I am just happy to be out on the water.

Spots

Out on the water a couple of hours before dawn this morning. Didn't do me any good though. Very slow bite today, last Sunday it was a bite a chuck for a while, complete opposite this weekend. Tried one last spot with some history on my way back to the ramp and must have landed my dropshot on his head. Dreadful picture, but a great memory. 4-06, my biggest of the season so far and as far as I can remember my biggest for a couple of years. An ounce bigger than my biggest bass in Spain a couple of weeks ago!

Friday I caught a new PB at 7.1 lbs. This morning, I braved the cold for a 6 pounder. There was frost on the windshield when I took my daughter to school. I dropped her off and headed on over to the lake. This was a trial run for winter fishing. I put on my thermals and layers. I used muck boots to keep from getting the feet wet. I made a beeline for the area I caught the PB in. I caught a 2 pounder on the same spinnerbait. That cove didn't seem to hold anymore bass so I paddled down the adjacent bank, skipping a @cadman custom black/blue grass jig with a Chigger Craw trailer under the overhanging brush. There's a beaver adding lots of bass habitat. Just a few casts in and BOOM! A 6 pounder. I went on to catch one more 2 pounder on the spinnerbait and a dink on the jig. I was off the water after 2 hours and 45 min because my daughter got out of school early today. Funny, this fish looks half the size of the 7 pounder. It's actually longer with a bigger mouth. But it hadn't had breakfast yet.

For me...And this related to skipping with casting gear as I think that's the topic. Spinning is obviously easier and a good way to get some of the basics. -Leave brakes alone, just use whatever setting you normally would for casting. You can tighten spool tension a little bit (maybe 1/4 turn, more if needed) to help with backlashing, but once you get better you won't really need to do this. Reason for spool vs brakes is that brakes (especially centrifugal) need the spool to get going a little bit before kicking in enough to help, while spool tension is constant. -Put yourself an appropriate distance from target...Too close is harder than too far, so if in doubt back off a bit. This might be the most important thing, I see a lot of guys get too close and that steeper angle for the skip is really hard to do unless you pitch-skip which is like skipping level 2 . At least 2 full rod lengths away is what you want. -One fluid motion and follow-thru with the cast...Raise the rod tip as the bait moves toward the dock/target. -Practice makes perfect...On the water. It's very hard IMO to practice without being on the water, concrete/ground/etc is not the same as water in terms of skipping a bait off it....So dialing it in at home might actually hurt you when you get to the water since your muscle memory will be set for your home practice. -If you aren't already reasonably accurate at casting in general, practice that too. Bait placement has a big effect on how successful the skip will be. There's a 'sweet spot' for the bait to land to get that perfect skip, you want to be able to hit that. It's obviously not a static spot, but the point is that you need to have good control of you where your bait lands. Take a look at this no-shame bragging video for a good view of distance, cast, and follow-thru with the rod tip .

The 15# BG will be perfect. Why would you prefer fluoro for a spinnerbait? You gain no advantage using fluoro.

Fish had lockjaw, but the elk are still bugling. Photo taken near the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge Headquarters this past Saturday.

Many anglers wrongly assume being a versatile angler means being able to use a wide variety of lures & techniques. What ends up happening is the angler becomes mediocre with a lot of techniques & a master of non. In my pea brain a versatile angler is one who truly understands a lure/technique to the point where they can fish effectively it under any condition.

I'm of the belief, if it's working why try to change it! I very rarely lose fish on em but I don't fish em like everyone else. I use mono & a medium heavy moderate fast rod. Ya wanna absorb some of the initial shock of the strike & the shock of a run. I am kinda prejudice because my personal best was caught on a Rat-L-Trap!

-I agree. targeting bigger fish is not always about using bigger baits. I target bigger fish most of the time. Some of my largest fish have come off of shakyheads and ned rigs.

Lipless crankbaits are very effective lures for bass but there are many times another lure will do a better job.

There’s really 2 jig patterns I use in the late Fall, and Mop Jigs are one. Everything revolves around one thing - finding the remaining green weeds (coontail) in or adjacent to deeper water. Maybe 8-15 fow. If there is taller, thicker weeds I fish more vertically and pitch a relatively light 3/8 oz Mop Jig with the big floppy Megadaddy trailer. It’s a slower descent down onto the weeds, bouncing off cover and eventually working it’s way towards the bottom. The big skirt really flares doing this. As it starts to slow, I pop it a few times and make sure it’s not hung up, and lift and drop it back towards the boat. As the weeds die out or are more sparse, I switch to a different jig pattern and fish more horizontally. I cast a 3/4 oz All-Terrain Grassmaster jig with a Pit Boss trailer. A jig is pretty much a jig, but I find this one to maneuver thru the grass as well or better than any jig I’ve used (reviews on TW are solid too). Cast out medium/long distance, let it settle down just long enough to hit the tops of the weeds and retrieve horizontally, slow as possible without getting hung up, with a few lift/drops or pops along the way. Pit Boss still flaps very well when retrieved really slowly. I prefer a jig when the water temps get below 50 degrees. You can work it slower than squarebills and spinnerbaits and get down in the remaining junk in front of slower moving fish that save their energy for something larger they can easily reach without too much effort. No matter what... it’s worth driving around to find the remaining green weeds in/adjacent to deep water. That’s probably 10% or less of the water now. I think the old saying is if you want to catch ‘em big, you gotta use a jig... Might be true, but with a large Mop Jig or similar I rarely catch anything smaller than 15-16 inches. Probably catch less fish overall, but fine with me if I eliminate the dinks and get a few extra 18-21+ inch fish mixed in.

I caught a fish on a fluke today! Well, on a d-shad but you know what I mean. The advice in this thread really helped.

paint them green and call them celery sticks.

In my previous outing summer patterns were still lingering like a bad hangover. Almost no bait balls, much less bass feeding on them. Low activity. Hot temperatures. Then I had to keep the boat in the garage to do some work on the trailer. After two weeks I finally was able to take her out again. What a difference those two weeks made. Water temps dropped from 73 to 67. My graphs, previously lifeless, now showed a ton of activity. Excited to be fishing shallower, I pitched my jig outside a weedline at a cove opening and the rest is history. A friendly kayaker helped take this picture for me: Picture actually makes it look smaller, but I promise you it's a 8.09 lber. Just a tad skinny. If I had caught her with a full belly.... Been fishing in California for 4 years and I could not break 7 lbs. Slightly embarrassed, but sometimes people think huge bass just jump in your boat out here. Lakes here get a lot of pressure. On to double digits! Some areas in the country have people already winterizing boats. Quite the opposite here. We're at the end of the fall transition into fully fledged "fall" fishing. Bass are getting more active and I managed to pull out some 3s and a 4 in addition to the 8. Can't wait to capitalize again.

Very excited. I just caught what was easily my personal record bass here at Pinchot. It was easily 5 pounds. Probably more. I was using blue and black chatter bait with a sapphire blue super chunk Junior trailer. If I can figure out how to post a picture I will. (It Says my picture file is a bit too big so it won’t let me post it.) But regardless it was quite a good fight and I enjoyed the hell out of it.

AND I’m a Daiwa guy! All my baitcasters are Daiwa except for my two heavy rods which have the Revos to take advantage of the massive drag. Mixing brands doesn’t bother me with fishing stuff. I’ll use whatever works best for me. But anyone that puts a Chevy LS engine in a Ford should be kicked out of the country...

Well.....back home safe and sound. Was truly an awesome trip even though there were some burps. We arrived on Tuesday and checked into the Seven Gables which is an older motel but awesome. They let us BBQ out front and the boats were in front of the rooms like in the old days instead on three floors up like at the host motel. I had told my wife (who loves to golf) we would golf Tuesday and the last practice day Friday. Didn't feel like I needed to fish friday as I wanted to get boat ready and tackle and just chill. Well....golfing was excellent on Friday and I even beat my wife which is unheard of. We also had some good friends come along and so this made the trip even better. Pre-fishing was good....found some fish way down lake and thought I would have this end of lake to myself mostly.....NOT. Believe there were four tourneys this weekend. Anyway ..... Saturday dawned pretty windy and rainy but not to cold and within a hour I had two solid fish in livewell. Now this was a no cull tourney so the first five in the livewell stayed. Well I ran down lake and fished my third spot and went to start the boat and click...click...click....sadness. Non boater was awesome. His nickname was Peanuts and he's from west Tennessee and was a huge help and a class act. As we were floating out in the lake we try and pull the cowling off....now this is fun if you've never down in in the waves in heavy cloths. So anyway he starts tapping the starter and I turn the key and the boat starts...whooohoooo. Am I nervous....yes. So I keep motor idling and the alarm goes off after about an hour. So turn off. Now you guys don't really know me but I like to fish a spot for about five minutes and if there's no customers ....or I see no fish I leave. Well this really really crimped my style....I was nervous. So I fished water I was new too and the excuse's go on and on. I ran back to be close to the ramp with no more keepers in live well. This was the first day in all my time fishing here that I hadn't put a limit in boat so was kind of sad but oh well. Found out it was very tough for everyone. Second day dawned clear and frosty. My good friend who had brought his boat to practice out of let me use his boat the second day. This was the first time in my life I have ever borrowed a boat....was nervous. Filled it with gas and used about five gallons....maybe. There were too many buttons and gadgets and lights. Was nervous so didn't want to go to far. My close up plan had fish...lots of fish but too many short strikes and this made it tough. Ended up getting four small keeper spots on mostly a drop shot and one on a spinnerbait. My non boat too was a class act but had a rough day...rough. Could not hardly get bit even though we were on top of the fish. I gave him my bait and within a short time he lost it and didn't want another. We've all had those days....(too many). I could hook the dinks...but keepers were tough to come by. All in all was a great time....wife had good down time and was so glad she came. I ended up on the boater side just out of the top 12 by about a pound and a half....close but..........who knows what would have happened if my ol boat would have worked....who knows. But....that' my story....and I'm sticking too it. Tight Lines All P.S. Thanks to all who helped on the side...was awesome. Oh...am going to try and enclose a picture of a rock structure by the lake on one of the spots I liked fishing. Spoooooky!! Having troubles

I do realize now I screwed up the title. In my original post I talked about comparing lipless to other cranks, and said it is the tube of cranks. What I meant was lipless being my go to for crank bites, but I am never putting down soft plastics, because there are so many places that no cranks can be fished. You guys can flame me now on this one lol, but for sure has been an interesting conversation. Now I know why i get in trouble with the wife, because I always assume that she knows what I am talking about;)

I used to fish some club tournaments with an older friend, "Frank" who is gone now. He rarely won these events, but would usually bring in the biggest bass- sometimes only one fish. His lure of choice- a 7.5 inch Culprit worm, Texas rigged. His secret: he studied fish location! Mainly Buck Perry. He helped a lot when I started out. Once I started reading Buck Perry's stuff, I didn't look at fishing the same way again. Targeting big fish is a different ball game. Once I started thinking that it's not about the hot new bait, but WHERE your fishing, it changed everything! Can't preach it enough! Location is where it's at!

This past spring lipless crankbaits were my go to bait. The bass were tearing them up. As the temps warmed up the bite on the lipless died off, and switched over to jigs and plastics.

My only cautionary comment is that cheap is not good if you are trying to teach a newbie how to use a baitcaster. I've taught a lot and contrary to what many would think is normal............Buying a Cheap Combo to start out............is totally wrong. It takes more skill to successfully cast a cheap baitcaster than it does a mid range one. Better drag/spool control/breaking systems all help a new learner develop the technique. I've seen way too many discouraged new anglers who think they can't cast a baitcaster and gave up it. More than likely they were using the cheapest baitcaster they could find. Once I put a good mid-range baitcaster properly set up for someone who hasn't used one a lot, in their hands with a little instruction, they quickly change their mind.

I need lipless , shallow , med and deep divers .

I strive for both .

No you can’t fish a lipless crank in every situation “lipless cranks do we really need anything else?” Yes we do. I went threw a stage where I was having a lot of success with lipless cranks and started buying all different styles of lipless cranks all colors of the aruko shads and red eye shads plenty of super spots but I quickly realized that i was wasting a lot of money on a bait that I couldn’t use in every situation. It’s good to master a lure like a lipless but to suggest that’s all you need we’ll thats just absurd.

Yes, I've had silicone strands in ElazTech, just like scaleface's creations, and they are still aok -after a year.

Early in the season, I'm a numbers guy. The long dry spell from Oct.-March has me chomping at the bit once my season opens and the addiction for catching becomes paramount. The same situation happens the last few weeks of the season. I'm looking to carry a high into the off season. The remainder of the season, I'm targeting big fish. Most days it's only two or three bites, some only one. I may get an occasional dink. Big baits/small baits are determined by the fish. Yea, I know what you're thinking: "If he's only getting two or three bites a day, how can he determine what the fish want?" I fish areas known to hold big fish and I start off with bigger baits, but before I move on to another area, I'll go small. (My bait of choice then is a hair jig and a 4in. straight tail that I also use with a drop shot} If I get bit on the big bait, I stick with it. If not, I switch to a smaller presentation before moving on. I landed two fish on my last outing. One on a 6in. paddle tail swim bait, the other on a hair jig. Four hours apart.

Bought my grandson the Ugly stick spinning set up (open face) when he was 9 (he's 12 now). The 5' 6" rod is perfect for most kids in the 6 - 12 age bracket unless they are extremely vertically challenged in either direction. (Very small or very tall for their age). The only gripe I had about it was 2 hours into its first use the reel literally fell apart in his hands. Poor kid was heartbroken, thinking he had done something wrong. So, the lesson learned was...stay away from those blister pack combos and get something you can actually "try" before you buy. He's still using the Ugly stick, but I paired it with a better quality but still reasonably priced Pfleuger. End result- happy kid who isn't frustrated or heartbroken because of equipment failure. Long term outlook, another generation to carry on and grow the sport. Win, win!

The boy is kinda cocky! Don't know where he get it ?

This is the reason lipless cranks are not my go to bait. I will use them if I feel they are the best bait for conditions. Hooking a bigger fish on a lipless crank is a challenge, trying to keep it from jumping and spitting the lure back at me.

hang in there brother. we’re gonna keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

If you get a spinnerbait with at least one BIG willow You can probably use it 3/4 of the year in AL. I do in SC. Then I use Colorado blades for colder water. That's partly because colder water here tends to be really off-color. My favorite line for spinnerbaits is 15 lb Big Game mono, but that 10 lb will do in a pinch. If using around cover or you catch one, check to see if it needs retying.

Without knowing anything about the boy's family situation, I think you did the right thing in showing him the positive in his rod/reel outfit. I know I'm guilty in pushing some of the tackle I've talked about around some of the beginners on this forum, but in retrospect, I want to ensure everyone I started with nothing and had to pay my own way. I attribute this from being raised by parents who lived through the Great Depression. One thing I am sure of, kids have it harder today IMO. With all the media behind the pros, Googans and Googan want to be(s) out there, there is a lot of pressure on these kids today. Yes, you did the right thing @Mobasser. Maybe we should spend more time reading Walden and why it is we really fish. The smile on his face...Priceless!

Birthday gift Lew’s Mach Crush spinning combo from Dick’s since I wanted the exclusive to DSG colors. The black Winn Grips won’t get filthy like the blaze orange ones. I was able to take it out yesterday and break it in DSG also had a 20% off all online orders this weekend that included sale items. I was able to get a Lew’s LFS baitcaster, normally $100 on sale for $80 down to $60.

Lipless are certainly both versatile and underutilized, but I for one wouldn't think of fishing them (or any other lure) exclusively. I will agree that most anglers could select 4-6 lures and catch fish all year in most places, and we all own too many lures though.

I love lipless cranks in lakes/big bodys of waters. But using them in a creek or pond with algae, and lots lots of grass? no sirrrr

Jointed tiger bait.

I just threw up a little in my mouth....

I fail to see how the MLF is growing the sport.

Just got out of the hospital after a little bout of pneumonia. I know, I'm supposed to take it easy. But isn't taking a leisurely 1 hour stroll along a nearby golf course pond -- just me and my T-rig -- taking it easy? (My wife didn't think so, but that's her opinion.) Anyway, my little Rage grubs were gobbled down by some really nice bass tonight. One of them had a pointy belly due to a massive bluegill in her gut, the tail of which was still in her mouth. She was awfully greedy to want my grub for desert before she could swallow its predecessor. Also, I was blessed by the appearance of a great blue heron, wood storks, a rare (for me) roseate spoonbill, and a beautiful sunset. Now it's time to kick my feet up and relax with a gulp of Robitussin, peruse the pages of BR, and try to burn tonight's little adventure deep into memory.

Apparently this, is the couch to be on for a good afternoon nap ?.

And another Mexican Bass Fishing Adventure begins . . . . . A-Jay

Another view of my home sweet home.

Anyone want to turn that valve off for me??