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Welcome to the forum. Nice fish. My thinking on estimating the size of a fish it that it's unfair to the fish to underestimate it's weight so I always try to error on the high side. So lets just call it an 8 pounder ?

Ordered these Thursday, and they arrived today: Yes...that's 51 baits for a total of $75.48 shipped to my door!

A-Jay ~ CHAPTER VI – MORE ON TACKLE – RODS, REELS & LINE. When I use Mono leader it's big game, Braid main lines are Suffix 832 green and fluorocarbon line & leader is Seaguar InvisX or Tatsu - And I use this as well as AsbrazX for leader around line shedding cover like zebra mussels. I buy reel fillers spools for leaders and bulk spools for mainlines in Everything (braid & Flouro) I like spinning & casting for jerkbaits ~ both sticks are medium / fast and on the 'shorter end. 6' 9"-10" is the magic spot for me on both - for line 10-15lb braid on spinning gear (suffix 832) and a 10-12lb big game (green) mono leader about 10-12 ft. All 10-12 flouro on casting gear. Swingheads, casting & football jigs, most Texas-rigged plastics, swimjigs and 4"-5" swimbaits. - 1/2 - 3/4 oz - I like 7' 2"-3" MH casting gear - both fast & X fast work OK but I like Fast better. 15-20 lb fluorocarbon Squarebills, Mid-depth cranks, vibrating jigs, spinnerbaits - all on 12-17 lb flouro with a 7'4" MH KVD composite Cranking stick. Lipless (RES) Same line as above on a 7' KVD MH Cranking stick - I like the shorter rod to rip the RES out of the grass - Top water - very close to the Jerkbait stuff above - except I will ALWAYS USE BRAID MAIN LINE and a mono leader. regardless of spinning or casting. I'm ALWAYS looking for casting distance and the braid ensures good hookups. Popper & walkers are both easier to work with braid too. For throwing some of the heavier walkers 3/4 oz - I will use a 7' M Fast spinning rod (but it's pretty stout (an older Quantum Tour rods that may be close to some brands MH blanks - DROP SHOT rods - I have 3 different ones (length & actions) that I use in specific situations. I use only braid & flouro leaders for all drop shots presentations. (all my spinning gear is braid now that I think about it - tried flouro mainline last season - disaster for me - major line twist.) -First one is for my 'light' stuff - 8lb braid / 4-8 lb leader and light weights - 7 ft ML fast stick. -Second is for mid-range - perhaps longer casts - 10 lb braid 6-10lb leader and D/S weights to 3/8's Deeper or windier stuff - 7"1" M Fast stick -Third is for deeper and a little bit bigger D/S baits & weights - think 5" caffeine shad and 1/2 - 3/4 oz D/S weights - Deep & or Stiff winds - 7-4" M Fast stick - *** My 2 favorite D/S rods are Fenwick EliteTech Smallmouth rods - the Green (Older) ones - with the fat cork grips. I am slowing moving away from the 'tiny' D/S hooks too - starting using some models that were a little bigger & seemed to keep the bigger smallies pinned better - but they need to be used on a rod that will drive them and most ML wands are a little too whippy - more to follow once I get a handle on that. Also, my nose-hooking days are just about over too. I am really liking using a straight shank hook and rigging it along & out the top (back) of all shad and even craws. So there ya go - get back to me with what I've omitted and or all questions. 12poundbass ~ Absolutely perfect! This answered everything, thank you! A couple of questions I have are about weeds. Typically at what depth do weeds quit growing (I know it's kinda hard to say for sure because of water clarity)? And how much do weeds factor in to a good area and a not so good area? A-Jay ~ Good & Good Question ~ CHAPTER VII WEEDS Here are my thoughts on weeds - they are a necessary evil because they hold bait & crayfish and BECAUSE they also hold the food for bait - and crayfish - and I think crayfish actually eat some weeds too. Might be dreaming that though . . . Either way unlike green bass, that will often be right IN the weeds - most of my brown bass hunting takes place around, near, over, under and in-between 'the weeds.' So Although I have pitched into 'weeds' to catch smallies - most of the time I'm probing around them. Sometimes I need to be closer than others and often that's depended on light levels - activity levels of the fish, what the weather's been doing lately (barometer crashing) & finally water temp & direction - rising, falling or steady (it's always doing one of them). As for depth, you're right depending on any number of things - basically the clearer the water - the deeper you'll find them. I like to fish the 'edges of weeds'. The very bottom of a deep weed line - especially a sandy bottom, can be killer if the winds right. Often I'll need to get very close or even go into the weed (coontail for instance). Boat position is key as I need to drop whatever into the first few feet of weed, get it to the bottom and work it out onto the sand - usually 8 - 20 ft deep we're talking here. Bass will take it when it comes out into the open. Another sneaky deal is to switch that around 180 degrees. Sit back over the weeds. Cast into open water - work the bait back along the bottom and pull it right into the bottom of the weed line - bass with stalk it and eat it often right before or right after it goes into the weeds ~ I guess 'before it gets away'. And finally something worked parallel to that same weedline - doesn't always have to be deep but sometimes it's best - but unless the 'line' is long & straight or you can see it clearly - it's hard to work anything with trebles along there without getting a bunch of salad every cast. But if you can or if they are willing to pop out of the weeds and strike as bait goes by - Swim jig w/ craw or paddle tail, vibrating jig, a standard jig & craw, Just about any Texas-rigged plastic, a plain old grub on a jig head - when there's too much weed action. And any mid-depth crank if the opportunity presents itself. (dig it into the bottom the whole way - it's like magic - even on super calm days) (That one’s top secret think spro rock crawler) - I think you get the point. So you're going to show up to your lake and see 'weeds' of various type at various depths and ask yourself - now what ? Well, there's no hard & fast answer - you have to fish it to find out. But some of the info I passed here already in regards to structure & cover STILL ALL APPLIES just have to figure out what depth the bait & the fish are using that day But here's the Great part of all of this - SMALLMOUTH are HOMERS. When you find a place/area that has fish in April & May & then In June & Then in July & August, Then September and then October & November - unless there is catastrophic change of some kind (and sometimes there is) those (class) of brown bass can be there like clockwork EVERY YEAR at the same time. Just waiting for you And when they are not - it's usually because something changed - like this past season with the Super Crazy Late Ice Out. Jacked everything up. But I will often stick to my guns and fish THE BEST PLACES REPEATEDLY - often starting much earlier than I "think" - just so when they do show up - I don't miss them. I do that a ton early season and again in the late summer & early fall. That's how I get on almost all of the Biggest smallies I catch - often means many long fishless hours days & even a couple of weeks in some places - but the reward is worth it for me - many 5's - 6's & even that 7lb smallie - I 'hunt' them down my friend - and you can too - it might not be something 'the family's' gonna enjoy a ton. Guess you may have to pick your spots. What else you got ??? Bring it, I'm on a roll !!! 12POUNDBASS ~ Great info there. I'm glad I asked about the weeds, you gave some good tips, and some good ideas, also the tip 'SMB are homers' that one right there could be absolutely priceless! Oh and the Spro Rock Crawler is on this list for sure. Ok you said bring it on, so who am I to not oblige? You mentioned barometric pressure, and weather, lets go down this road. I haven't reached that section of Spoonpluging yet. IME after a nasty cold front rolls in the fish are very shy. What's your experience and how do you approach chasing after the brown ones after a front has moved in? A-Jay ~ CHAPTER XIII WEATHER ~ Sponplugging has quite a bit of good info - especially considering when it was written. Pursuit of giant bass by Bill Murphy - - even though it is centered around giant green bass helped with the mindset of 'hunting' down trophies - brought some of that with me from my days chasing stripers up & down the east coast as well. (much of what I do now 'feels' like that). Something to think about. OK, so weather changes then – Since retiring, I can fish mostly when I want to - I usually do not go when 'the conditions' are super bad. But when you go when you can go is the deal, there are some 'generalities' that I keep in mind. First, some supplemental info - 11 years ago (2007) when I retired, moved from the coast to the north woods, I was in a similar position you are now - just getting back into a situation (ability & opportunity) to fish for smb again. I always loved it from the first one I caught in Massachusetts in 1970 something - yup I'm that old. Anyway, the reason I went there is that I had to go back and read stuff & study maps and read more stuff and study more maps and all that was 'helpful'. But what was more important, at least for me, was to get out there and fish. So what does this have to do with weather & fronts and how brown bass move & perhaps where do they go ? As I stated previously, my preference is to fish for fish that are looking to eat. So where the general consensus is 'bass shut down' during abrupt weather changes; especially cold fronts - IME I have to agree to a large extent. What I cannot say for sure as to why, but fishing on the day of & for some time after a front passes, it's often tough sledding. No way around it. For brown bass, that often means they are 'tighter' to deep cover or suspending over deep water - However, the more IMPORTANT factor there for me is THEY ARE NOT LOOKING TO FEED ! So although I may be 'fishing for them' - that's about where it usually ends - cause there ain't a whole lot of catching going on. If there are any 'bite windows' at all - they are usually Very brief and the numbers & size of fish rarely are "the best days ever". So it pays big dividends to be a Weather watcher and have some knowledge of how wind & waves can affect the waters you fish and I'll tell you why. There's often a very nice (wide open) feeding window at some point 'PRECEEDING' a cold front or weather change. So being on the water then is good ! When it actually occurs is somewhat tricky to pin down - here are a few of my personal moves. The Bigger the 'front' is expected to be or Longer it is expected to take to pass - the earlier I like to get out on the water. Meaning a 'big' front may mean that the smb might start looking to feed TWO full days ahead of it. Smaller ones may mean only one day ahead of it is the time. And this doesn't necessarily mean bass are jumping in the boat, may simply mean the 'normal' feeding areas & windows may have more & or bigger bass at them and might start a little earlier or last a little longer. This is not something that is "written" in many articles or periodicals on the subject, but it's real. And I know that MANY bassheads never get on this and miss out on it entirely - especially up here - cause I'm the only one out there. Often in advance of a front - there may be wind & clouds - as long as it's safe I'm fishing- especially if the sun is peaking through half the time too. "Warming" winds in advance of a front in the spring & fall can often trigger a bite. Here that usually means something from the South or even South Westerly. Summer may be one time when 'cooler' wind & some clouds at the lake can be a 'good bite day' especially if it continues for a couple of days. Initially the start of it can trigger a bite but unlike other seasons - the bite can sometimes get better as it continues - as bait has to 'reposition' because of the wind or current, this makes them vulnerable to the bass - (something I learned chasing stripers - happens every 6 hours at every tide change and the fish take advantage of it to feed). So while many anglers will 'seek out' the leeward sheltered areas when the winds up a bit - and there's no doubt it's easier to fish - I have ALL BUT ABANDONED that in the warmer months - If I can fish it safely & effectively (which can be a bear at times - Talons help here) - and I think there's bait and or active bass in a spot - I'm fishing it. And if I find bait balled up on a windy bank - but the bass are not there - Yet; I will sit on them for a while or at the very least come back to them during 'a bite window' and see if they've moved in on them. They almost always do at some point. I do tend to look for warmer sheltered stuff early season (but I'm sure I already mentioned that somewhere along the way). So if one were to look back at my videos - and take note of what time of day, and specifically - what the weather was doing while I'm catching brown bass - you may note a trend. Usually some sun, some wind- rarely other anglers on the water - and it’s Not Raining!!!! Topwater and drop shot bites for me are a calm water deal usually - so times when that happens I look to fish those presentations when I can. Other than that - some wind & sun are where it's at. If a front coming even better. When it's sun & wind for several days - even better. If it suddenly cools in the summer - with sun & wind - even better. Be a Weather watcher and know the forecast 3-5 days in advance - that's how to better predict when & where to fish. As a retired USCG Boatswain's Mate Chief, it’s a way of life. (Always had to know the weather, my & other's lives depended on it). Is this making sense - ??? btw - there's a ton of 'stuff' in this PM 12poundbass ~ You aren't kidding there's ton of 'stuff' in this one. Bill Murphy's book it on my to get list. I chatted with Team9nine and he said the two books an angler needs is Spoonpluging and Bill Murphy's book. It's good to know that the feeding window before a front can be open a couple days before. I knew that just before a front or storm could be good, I just thought it was hours not days, so that's a huge help. My best day ever came on a mid October day, a front started rolling in windy, overcast, and a real light rain. Danielle and I only caught 7 or so but the smallest was just under 3 lbs and the biggest was my PB at 5-7 I believe it was. Don't worry I learned more than just that. Ok let's talk about bait location, wind, and current. You mentioned bait balls getting pinned up against a windy point. Does the bait try to seek shelter so they don't get pinned up against a windy point or am I giving them to much credit? Example: you have a wind out of the SW do you look for the bait on the north or east side of the point/ledge? Same with current (I don't fish rivers/impoundments)? I've read that bass will hang out on the non current side and ambush bait and other fish as they go by. Another question. The one lake (connected together) I know has SMB in it and I'm going to target frequently in 2019 has an inlet and a small damed outlet, will there be a current because of the inlet and outlet? If so would the current be enough to be a factor? A-Jay ~ CHAPTER IX BAIT & MORE ON WEATHER (WIND) & WATER CLARITY I think the bait's number one deal is 'survival'. They are trying to live and not get eaten. Along with that is 'food', they need to eat too - can't say for sure as to why smaller bait ends up on windy banks, and at the inside turns of points - but it does. And just to clarify, there are TWO types (sizes) of bait to discuss here. First is the basses food like Perch for instance - then there's the 'bait' the perch may be looking to eat, which is rarely anything that the adult bass are eating but it plays a pretty big role. It's this 'smaller bait' could be little minnows, bugs, whatever, it this stuff that can be largely affected by wind & current; as it lacks the ability to overcome it and is often as the mercy, if you will, of the conditions. The whole food chain thing - So whatever the perch or smaller prey fish are looking to eat, can totally be affected by the current in the lake caused by the wind. Watch the submerged weeds in some places that are exposed to the wind - they can & will tell you if there is any 'wind current - as they ALL will be bent over to go with the flow. Bass will use this to their feeding advantage. Often sitting just inside whatever current break or eddy there is - bass's bait will get there too but usually tighter to whatever cover there is. Some day’s bass will seek out the windward side of the structure / cover - other times they will be on the back side or leeward side out of the wind & current. May depend on what they are looking to eat & where it's stationed. Once I get a few I'll usually fish that side first and only check the 'other side' once a bite stops on a spot before moving on. It has been my experience that brown bass in lakes will not sit in strong current for very long - and may completely relocate or shut down until something changes. So prolonged days of heavy winds I'm rarely on the water (regardless of season) and usually give that lake a few days - to calm down (or clear up if the water gets turbid). When I am out there in the 'wind', after I've hunted most of the places & deals previously mentioned with little to nothing to show for it - I will often start looking for bass on smaller isolated cover; one boulder, a weed clump, perhaps some shallow or mid-depth wood - and it's almost always a jig & craw deal. Toss it in there bounce it a few times, let it sit for a second or two - a couple more throws and then I'm off to the 'next one'. I will search this stuff out while having a sandwich mid-day in July mostly (dropping waypoints as I go) - when there's no bite to speak of - It's a good time for Recon . . . SI & the 360 have proven invaluable for this. Wind doesn't seem to affect much when bass are looking to feed on crayfish, only that it can make it a better bite. If the bass are looking to hunt these buggers in 'shallow' clear water - say less than 8 feet or so, some wind on the water can obscure the surface visibility just enough that the smallies may be a little more willing to go in & feed. Might mean they stay a little longer in the morning or go in mid-day or go in a little earlier in the late afternoon. Either way, that's ANOTHER example of the bite being better with Some Wind. In the end, the way I approach all this is, I do not really have to know what the bass's food is looking for, nor do I have to know exactly how or why the wind affects an area as it does - I just need to know that it does and try to use it to help determine when, how & where to look for brown bass. I say it that way because much of what has been written here has been realized by my experience & bass catches. We each may perceive what we hear & read differently. So how I 'spell it out' appears in my mind one way, but to another basshead, it might be something different. Once we get out on the water and start 'doing own our thing' (which is exactly what all this stuff is) and start getting on fish our own way, and are able to occasionally repeat success, then we can articulate as to why, how, when & where with our own version of 'Brown Bass Tools': which will make perfect sense to you. What about water clarity? Dirty or colored water ?- Colored water - perhaps a slight green tint can be very good. Muddy, rain infused dirty water - especially cold / rising water - usually very bad - no bite at all - seems like the bass do not want to be in it at all and will relocate to be in clearer - probably easier to breath - water. If the smallies live in a lake that's always tannic or has 'low' visibility - they are probably more adapted to it and it's no big deal. But when routinely super clear lakes get muddied up - it's often no good until it clears or at the very least, I can find some cleaner water. Some general water clarity 'guidelines' are; the dirtier the water - the closer to the bottom I am fishing. The cleaner the water, the faster I am presenting my baits. Seasons & water temps drive these choices as well. But in colored water, I'm fishing baits on the bottom - still can be moving baits, but on the bottom; the cooler or colder the water, the more and or longer I may pause a bait. Swing heads, crankbaits, deep jerkbaits, vibrating jig, swim jig, paddle tails, even a lipless or blade bait can be the deal. ***Old School Crankbait Tip for colored or even cold water; OVER Weight your bait so IT SINKS. Suspending baits are good and floating cranks catch fish, but there are times when smallies will love & choke, a mid-sized crank that will sit on the bottom at rest - you can even work it like a jig over a clean(er) bottom. Not even close to a new deal - Rapala made the Countdown (sinking) minnow like 50 years ago - but somehow - they seemed to really lose favor with bass anglers - don't know why - they catch the heck out of the bass. I even do it with jerkbaits - Just don't talk about - Imagine paying all this money for a super suspending Megabass 110 only to really want it to sink like a rock ! Yup- Guilty as charged. A couple of different ways to do it - Suspend strips (the little lead strips made by Storm) - or sometimes even just bigger trebles will do it - I've even used both on one bait - try it you might like it. When this works - a swinghead will too. A craw, a rage bug or a 3.5 - 5inch paddle tail swimbait are all great swinghead trailers for this. How am I doing ? 12poundbass ~ You are the man! You're on such a roll you read my mind and added in water clarity which I was going to ask next. I'm going to go back through and read all these again for the third and some the fourth time and see what else I can come up with as far as questions go. I imagine once I actually get out on the water and start applying this information and tips I'll have a ton of questions. One thing I did catch I asked on the very first PM that went unanswered was the tube. I had to chuckle because it was so easy for you to overlook, you were like a kid in a candy store who had free reign of the merchandise when I asked about SMB! So I'm guessing you use SK coffee tubes? What size tube do you typically use, same with the tube head? When and where is the best time to use them and what presentation is best ? A-Jay ~ CHAPTER X TUBES Where do I start? Such a simple & super versatile bait. One that's been catching fat brown bass for a long time. A bait that has perhaps fallen a little out of favor recently, something I've been guilty of the past two seasons myself. Looking backing, that was probably a mistake. A TUBE really is perhaps The One Brown Bass bait that I should almost always have tied on. There's been a lot written about it and with good reason frankly: there's a lot to say. It's common knowledge in many brown bass angling circles, just how many different ways & places a tube can be presented effectively, and how easy it is to fish. Some may say that there is no wrong way to fish it. Long before the 'stick bait' came along, the tube way was same deal for me: Just whacking'em ! Rather than attempting to name each & every tube deal, I'm going to cover a few of my favorite & most productive. First - a tube for me is almost always a hard(er) or at least semi-clean(er) bottom deal. While a couple of inches of eelgrass is OK (and sometimes exactly what the doctor ordered) anything more than that, I'm usually presenting something else that will fish through (or over) any bottom cover a bit more effectively. And while Texas rigs are good & Tex-pose is popular - by & large, I prefer to fish tubes on the plain old tried & true, lead head, open jig. I fish the standard 3.5 inch size the most but will do 4" and even 2.75 inch is some instances. The SK Coffee tubes have been great. And before that - and still, quite a bit now - the Provider Tackle 3.5 inch "Performance Series" tubes are one of my all-time favorites. Great colors for clear water and super durable. As for jig head weights - 3/8's get most of my fish but lighter & heavier have their place when fishing shallow & deep. What a tube 'imitates' is anybody's guess - crayfish, little bottom bait - now the goby. May not matter. Pick one and go with it. This one's easy to have confidence in. What may not be a surprise, I fishing tubes in places & at times when brown bass are relating to the bottom. For me - the clearer the water (better vis) the better. Tubes can & do work when fished with a variety of "retrieves" - hop it, drag it, pop-it; whatever. When the brown bass are looking to eat, these will all get bit. I usually fish 1/2 oz & less on Medium spinning gear - 10-15 lb braid mainline and a 8-10lb Fluorocarbon leader (AbrazX). Heavier than 1/2 oz, I'll either pump up my spinning gear (rod & line) or go to casting gear that will present, hook & land a spirited Smallie. 3/4 oz heads are reserved for deep (more than 20-25 ft) and or big wind & waves. This size can & does get "thrown" on the jump by bass more than the lighter heads - so that's something to be aware of. My standard 'way' to fish tubes is the same regardless of depth - I fish them like a jerkbait. Meaning there's a couple of twitches & a pause. How many twitches & how long a pause can be dictated by the water temp and the mood of the fish. As mentioned previously, I believe smallies like to chase - so I like to offer them that opportunity - if they're willing. I might keep a tube moving along with a series of twitches where the bait travels 2-3 inches, pauses for a split second and then moves another 2-3 inches - I may continue this for 4-5 feet and then pause . . . . . . for like 10 seconds . . . . . . and then do it again. One may need to 'practice' this in shallow water where you can watch your bait. There's a tendency to 'move' it too far on each twitch, which seems to nullify its effectiveness. So it's a good Idea to check first - it requires a small movement, especially with braid. Using Fluorocarbon can make it a little easier to get the small movements, but I lose so much hook setting power on the long casts I like to make, that I don't use it; Zona swears by the Flouro for this - I can't do it. So I stick mostly to the braid. So that's just an example of ONE way - there's no limit to the number of different ways to fish it - just like the jerkbait. Of course, the old stand-by of 'drag & stop' can be all one needs to do to get a savage take. There's also what's often referred to as "Snapping a Tube", where a heavier head is used and the bait is literally 'snapped' 3-5 feet off the bottom and then allowed to fall back on a slack line. The tube will spiral back down to the bottom - which is where the vast majority of the strikes will come from. Can be deadly but will also twist the heck out of your line - I'll often use a small swivel between my braid & leader to help with that when doing this. I'm throwing tubes up & down drops - all around and up on top of humps, off the tip and both sides of points, along the bottom of deep weedlines and across a promising deepwater flat. There's also a few times where I found some fat brown bass cruising up shallow and I'll use an 1/8 oz head and fish the tube like a stick bait (before I knew what a stick bait was). So I'm dead sticking it more than I'm moving it. This is in 2-5 feet of super clear water - fish can be very skittish and easily spooked. So I'm well back from the fish, making as long a cast as I can and sort of letting the fish 'swim into the bait'. I try to not to move the bait too far, too fast because the 'strike zone' is right there. So the less I do with it- the longer it's there in their face. Less is more in this instance. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. A-Jay

I do a lot of bank fishing in the evenings after work, usually for an hour. I also fish club tournaments with a local club about once a month, usually at Lake Okeechobee or in the Everglades. My biggest catches have been from the bank, usually from waters with little pressure and walkable banks. I consider myself very lucky to have such places nearby. They give me lots of hook setting experience for tournaments, and have allowed me to become reasonably proficient in most categories of bass lures and techniques. I guess I prefer the bank over the boat.

Recently BR forum member @12poundbass & I started a Q & A deal in the PM’s regarding how, when & where to catch some Michigan Smallmouth Bass on inland lakes. It went on for a while and turned into quite a bit more than we both imagined. We talked it over and decided to share it here with the hopes it might help others to catch a few. Had to break it up into “Chapters”. 12poundbass ~ Good day A-Jay hope all is well with you and the Mrs. In case you hadn't heard Santa is coming next Tuesday! The only thing I've asked for is TW gift cards, which brings me to you. I have a healthy inventory of green bass tackle. I know a lot of the tackle work for both, but and suggestions and ideas are greatly appreciated. The only brown bass I've caught were on a small river using jigs and Senkos. I've already made one TW order that has a couple SK 1/2oz spinner baits, I'm ashamed to say I haven't used a spinner bait in probably 8-9 years.? I also bought a couple SK red eye shads, I had one before and loved it, but lost it. One smallmouth lure I've thought about was a tube. I've never 'really' used one before, so I'm as dumb as they come when it comes to them. What size is a good start, what's your recommendation for a particular tube jig head? I'm getting a good inventory on vibrating jigs, what are some good trailers though? I took your advice on a video and grabbed some SK Rage Craws this summer, the two seemed to pair well, the strikes were plenty, I can't say the same for the hook up ratio, we already discussed that previously. With the new boat in tow in 2019 I'm branching out and I'm going to focus on the smallmouth as much as possible, so if you'd like to help me spend Santa's money at TW I'm all ears! As always your knowledge, ideas, and suggestions are welcomed here anytime! Thanks again. A-Jay ~ Cool, give me a bit I'll put something together. Fair warning, I'm in the mood to type so this might be extensive! 12poundbass ~ LOL the days are short and the nights are long so type away! ? A-Jay ~ OK so here we go – CHAPTER I ~ First let's talk about what a smallmouth is & what it is not. Keep in mind - This is Smallmouth according to A-Jay - some of it may sound familiar, some will not as I've not shared this stuff - Yet. I may after this though. Since you'd like to focus on smb and before you spend Santa's money, let's start with what a smallmouth is - and I don't want to compare lmb vs smb, because it can get confusing IMO.  Let's just talk about the smb as a different & separate deal; because IME - it certainly is. Thinking & approaching them like a different fish has enabled me to get a few decent ones. So what are their characteristics & habits? And I'm only talking about adult fish - because that's all I want to target. They prefer 'deep' water (relative to the body of water). They prefer cleaner usually very clean water. They prefer cooler water. They will go ANYWHERE in the water column to eat - including super shallow. The fish I'm targeting are looking for perch, crayfish & smaller panfish and in the bigger lakes it's GOBIES & crayfish with a few perch mixed it. I know this because the bigger fish I keep in my live well puke & poo this stuff out all the time (except for the gobies - I've not found one yet.) This is important because it tells me where to look for smb & bait and where to start fishing. SMB are big-time Sight Feeders. While they can & do feed effectively in varying levels of clear, colored & even tannic waters, there seems to be a preference for lower turbidity when given a choice. They have a personality that can be described as a mix between a green bass, and perhaps a trout. The bass part is obvious I think. They pull & jump and eat all sorts of aquatic things. The trout part revolves around how nomadic they are and how selective they can be when feeding. Not always but when they are 'on' a bait, like mayflies, for instance, good luck getting a bite on something else. So it pays to have a fairly wide selection of presentations & locations in mind as fishing begins because there is & can be a wide array of locals & possible baits that may have to be employed before contact. So fishing for smallies may not be like LMB, where you can go flip wood or docks and sling Senko's all over and expect to get bit. Works early season, pre-spawn bedding bass are suicidal - and guys who "Slay them' at this time of year, often struggle the rest of the season because those fish were easily found. And if one does not know how or is not willing to learn how, to locate smallies the rest of the season, (Especially on big water where the really big girls live) – season could be over. So there's that part of it. Now let's talk a little about baits & tackle. I use casting gear (with 10-20 lb flouro) to present most moving baits and spinning gear (10-20lb braid mainline) for most everything else including, topwater, tubes, drop shot obviously AND Jerkbaits. Jerkbaits work best in the wind, and throwing them on spinning gear allows for long cast straight into it (my favorite) without worry. I do use casting gear for swing heads & rage bug deal - 15-20 lb flouro. And worm,& tube hooks & jig head hooks need to be stout & sharp but not in the super line class - But 5 plus lb smb have incredibly strong jaws & crushers. So KVD EWG 1x strong 2x short trebles go on EVERYTHING that has treble hooks. Otherwise The One fish you're looking for may totally bend your deal and go free. In cold water (50 and below) smb 'wallow' when hooked. (sort of like a walleye) In water over say 55 degrees plus they make you work - in 68 and above - THEY ARE MENTAL. I've had them ram the canoe many times - hold on my friend. THE SINGLE HARDEST ASPECT OF SMALLMOUTH BASS FISHING IS FINDING THEM- especially the big ones. Seems obvious right. But it really is that simple. But when you get behind the wheel of your shiny new rig, on some big body of water you've never been on - no matter what type of fancy electronics you may have - where do you start? More to follow - I have to go feed the dogs - Tucker is giving me the Stinkeye ! brb 12poundbass ~ Wow! There's quite a bit to process here. Way more than I was expecting, which I'm very ok with. Last Christmas actually I received a copy of Spoonpluging. I haven't read the whole thing, and it's actually in storage right now as we're in a rental waiting out the 30 days after closing (which was yesterday) before I can dig it out and start reading again. Back to my point, finding the smb. This is going to be a huge hurdle for me. There's a couple of lakes connected that I'm going to target this year. One is Blue lake, It's very clear, if I had to guess I'd say 10-15' clarity, sand/gravel bottom. The big lake Lincoln lake isn't as clear but has a lot of gravel and sand. I have a map card for my Humminbird and a map card for my Garmin. Hopefully both have 1' contours, if not I guess I'm mapping as soon as ice out. First things first I need to learn where to look. Enough for now, I'll wait for chapter 2. Thanks again! A-Jay ~ You're welcome ~ Chapter II OK so let me back up a little. What that first section was hopefully doing, was to help offer a kind of 'smallie mindset' - it's something that has served me well. But there's still quite a bit more to it. Let's talk more about 'location'. In an effort to try and make this as simple as possible, I’ll offer the following: IME- there are 2 'types' of places smb will hang around long enough for us to get bit. And this part is Does Not include bass on beds; that's a separate deal. BTW - I'd encourage you to not start 'depending' on bedding bass as your 'spring pattern' like so many do - you'll learn Nothing that will be of any use to you later in the season and is essentially IMO, a waste of time - now back to our regularly scheduled program . . Oh yea, locations. Smallies spend only a small part of their day actually 'feeding'. (I know not exactly new info - but work with me here) The rest of the time is spent pretty much just “chilling.” Feeding is done one place & chilling is done someplace else. I prefer to fish for feeding fish as they are always much more willing to bite. Chilling fish can usually be 'close' to where they feed - but close can be a relative term. Sometimes these buggers will go a long way to feed and then go a long way back to chill. Occasionally we catch a bass or two that is 'in transit' and we think we have found a new spot; only to find out after casting an arm off, that was not the case. Transiting fish are an accident and not worth 'fishing for'. Chilling spots are hard to find too - why? Well because the darn fish are chilling and not very catchable! More on that in a bit. So if looking to fish for feeding fish, and fish only feed a small percentage of the day, then being at the right place at the right time seems Very Important. We call those times "feeding windows" and they can & do vary in length. Early & late season they can last hours or even all day at times. Mid-season during warmer weather they may only happen super early or later in the day and only be 'minutes' in length - that makes it a bit tricky but it's do-able. A very important factor to consider when trying to 'predict' where to be & when revolves around what we think (or hope) the bass may be looking to feed on in that area. Again my deals almost always revolve around perch & crayfish. Sometimes that happens together but at least half the time, it's one or the other. So knowing at least some of the habits of both is pretty important & usually helpful. A good way to learn some of this (and it's something that has helped me recently) is using the live well. When & where the state regs allow - retain your catch for at least a while. Give them a chance to gag up some chow and show you what they've been dining on. It may stink to high heaven but it's worth it ! The only other way to know for sure what they've been eating involves a fillet knife and I'll have none of that action. So back to 'chill' locations. Are they even worth looking for? Can these fish be triggered into biting? - I'll say Yes - sometimes. SMB are seriously aggressive & competitive feeders but when they decide not to play - they don't. And if they are suspending over deep water - I don't even bother - I'm O and forever in that arena. One thing that I have capitalized on over & over again, in warm, cool & even cold water - is that SMB Love to Chase stuff. I mean they will often chase just to chase. Its one reason I am such a big fan of LONG CASTS - gives them time to chase and then eat. Short casts, you get the chase to the boat, but then they turn away. Long casts satisfy the ITCH! With the clear waters we fish - I can often see them coming a long way off - sometimes whole packs of them - it's pretty intense. So when looking for fish or when looking for chilling fish, because the bite has died in the feeding areas, offering a presentation that they can 'chase a while' before they eat it can be an effective approach. We need to select a bait that works with the water temp - meaning slower in cooler or cold & faster in warmer or hot. We'll cover the actual baits later. So by presenting a 'chase bait' to a chilling smb - or even better a school of chilling bass - we can sometimes trigger that chase button - and get them to strike - good times. Where exactly are these - feeding & chilling areas located? How do I find them? This is the tough part - it truly is. Because there so many factors involved with it that we have no control over and even worse - don't really know if our assumptions & speculations are valid; until we catch some bass. There are a few 'generalizations' that we can use to start us off; and again they revolve around the smb's food. Perch like to be in & around cover that holds food for them and offers some camouflage from predators. Crayfish are the same way. But each & every lake is different in its habitat, so there's going to be variances to that. Then there's The Big One ~ THE SUN ! SMALLMOUTH BASS LOVE FEEDING IN THE SUNSHINE - to disregard this statement will lead to many, many, many fishless trips - over and over and over again. Can they be caught on cloudy and or overcast & rainy days? - yes. But if you want to improve your chances of getting bit - At Least Some sunshine will always help. But what about the wind ?- Yup Wind's a Biggie too. All things being equal - wind is Almost as important as sunshine - especially in clear water and when the smb are shallow (say less than 8-10ft). Early & late season when the air is cooler or cold, the warmest part of the day with the bright sun are by far my most productive. Mid-season (summer) bite windows are often short-lived and completely over in shallower spots one hour after Daylight - notice I didn't say sunrise. The summer late day bite can be very brief as well - often the very last few minutes of sunshine on a spot - then it's done. There are often a few smb to be had after these times but as a man who has STAYED well past these times - for years - machine gunning the water to a froth, the number of bites does drop off quite a bit outside these windows. That's it for now - In Chapter III (coming tomorrow) we'll cover more on location. We'll go into what different types of structure to look for & why. We'll cover boat position - super important. We'll discuss how to present baits & why. If all goes well, we may even talk about specific bait selection . . . . . . This is great therapy for me - thanks 12poundbass ~ Holy smokes A-Jay this is absolutely awesome and way more than I expected (not that I expect anything from you or anyone)! Notes are being taken and I'll save my questions for the end, so I don't disrupt the momentum. I've never fished for bedding bass. I've pondered it over the years. Up until the last couple years when I joined this site and really started to get serious and expand my bass fishing knowledge, I was under the impression the only way to catch the real big ones were to target the fat and happy mommas full of eggs. I've learned since joining here that's not the case. There are a lot of habits I've developed over the years that I really need to break this year if I'm going to get serious and apply all these tools I've learned from you, this site, and Spoonpluging. The one you mentioned is the wind. I usually run for an area that has some protection from the wind. The reason I've done this is because of the TM and because I had a little 14' tin boat that would get blown around like a tin can. The TM I used on that boat was a wireless MG with a key fob. I had a foot control but it was a major POS! So anytime there's wind anything not weedless was a major PIA because I have to quit retrieving to adjust the TM to stay off the shore and stay on course. With my new boat and the foot controled TM this fear of the wind should be easy to break. Another bad habit is beating the banks. I believe this will be easy to break as well now that I have electronics. I've done a fair amount of research on both models I have over the years so hopefully the learning curve is shorter than most. The other is the d**n Senko. That is my crutch as I've mentioned many times before. I feel by breaking the other two habits I mentioned this one will easily be broken. The other two kind of helped create this one. Getting confidence in a lure is a hard thing to do, especially when your fishing time is limited to 4-6 hrs a week. I'm hoping and thinking that'll increase this year, especially since we bought that house on a lake, unfortunately there are no smb in my home lake. Again thank you so much for all of this! I never thought by asking for for a few lure recommendations would lead to this wealth of knowledge from you. I was cool with earning it like most, but I won't stop you, and if it's therapy for you that's great and I'm really glad we're both getting something out of this. Off to work for a bit. It's the week before Christmas and the ground is pretty frozen now so not a whole lot of work which leaves me time to kill. ? A-Jay ~ It's all good. I realize there's a ton of stuff here and more to come. As we go along I'm building you up to hopefully bring it all together in the end - I will cover the Wind and it's effects & how to make it all work in boat positioning. I'll go over beating the bank and how that's not a bad thing in a bit as well. All your hours of fishing a stick bait are going to serve you well - I'll tell you why & how soon. Don't work too hard & stay Safe.

I forget to get any measurements on this bass. I know it's really hard to guess weight purely through picture, but does anyone have a guess?

Went to the slaunch factory here in Az. Lost 3 tanks but caught a nice tilapia. Not my biggest but decent.

For just the crankbaits I'd go Medium, but if your going to throw spinnerbaits and chatterbaits with it I'd go MH.

Today I Only caught one from 1-5:30 or so but got 3 right before dark.

When your on a lake where this is the average size ( that’s a 36” rod for reference), it can be a pretty fun day. But I’d still rather fish from my boat though ( only another 3-1/2 months or so to go).

Got her today on the rapala jerk bait. 24” Virginia Stud. Was noticeably larger than my 9.3 from January.

Sort boxes in tackle bag - for the 500th time Strip last year's line off reels Examine contour maps of lakes you plan on fishing Search for catch histories of said lakes Peruse online stores for lures, accessories to put in your wish list Keep hitting 'refresh' on the Forum to see if there's any interesting talk

I just restocked my supply of sassy shads. Those little swimbaits will catch anything.

Tall with a young face, that combination will do you well over the rest of your life. Knowing you are even taller than I thought just makes the fish bigger, so it is a no doubt 5 lb in my opinion. Congratulations again.

Mister Twister made the first fluke style lures I seen . They were two toned , good looking lures and came with a jig head . They also made buzzbaits and spinnerbaits . I still have one of the spinnerbaits . A very unique lure with two blades on a three way swivel . It puts out tremendous vibration .

I used the 12” mag buzz worm this summer on Kentucky lake. It was excellent, I like them very much. Especially the plum type color.

I still have a healthy supply of the little known Mister Twister Slither Worms I throw every day I'm on the water.

I still use the phenom as a jigworm. Watermelon, pumpkin pepper, Grape/Blue flake/white tail, and perch are my favorite colors. Also the 3" and 4" twister tails -- some of the best skunk repellent ever made. I wish they'd bring the Thunderworm back. EDIT: Oh, forgot about the lizards -- I use those too. They have a longer tail section than most 6" lizards, almost like a ribbontail worm.

I bought my grandson Aiden, a new casting setup for Christmas. Berkley standard model Lightning rod, and Academy H20 Mettle casting reel. His rod is a 6'6 med ivy. The rod is relatively light, fast action. The guides are decent quality, and are aligned straight all the way. The handle is comfortable, and has a "tac" grip, similar to a Fenwick HMG I have. The reel- smooth retrieve, thumbar and everything works well. It balances good on this rod too. I don't buy very many new rods, and usually don't replace any untill they break. I usually learn about newer rods from reading about them on this site. What I must say is it's pretty amazing what quality you can get now days for the money. This outfit feels good in the hand, and cast very well. All in all, a winner! It's not as pretty as more expensive rods, and is considered entry level, but I have no doubt it will hold its own. It makes a perfect setup for a novice, or would make a good spare for a more experienced fisherman. Good value for the dollars, and if we have any problems Academy has a good exchange policy.

The original Phenoms curl tails tend to stiffen up with time and need to be boiled for a few minutes, laid on a flat surface straight to cool. This makes them soft and then they swim at very slow speed. Tom

Thanks A-Jay. I have been around the block a time or two for sure! But you guys have covered it all pretty well. Great job. What you need to do now is to find a publisher and co-ordinate a book writing. Guaranteed it'll become a best seller.

Incredible amount of golden information. Thanks!

Back in the day, my go to smallmouth bait was an unpainted, 1/8 oz ball head jig and a 3 inch pumpkin and pepper grub. I would buy Mr Twister curly tails in bags of 100. They were, and still are a very good value. I still carry a few with me but I don’t often tie one on. I know they still catch fish and I’m sure they always will.

I don’t know anything about the Alx rods but I do fish with 2 avid-x. One is mine a 7’ medium spinning and the other is the exact one your looking at. My dad owns the 7’ medium-heavy fast casting rod paired with tatula sv and lord does he love it. That rod bombs any bait he puts on it, light and sensitive yet loads of power to horse a fish out of the depths and slop! He loves it and the few times I fished it I was very impressed. I love my avidx spinning rod

If you're willing to spend the money, go for it. I worked in a machine shop where we had to supply our own tools, and as a low-level person I couldn't afford the high-buck items. I purchased and used HF tools and never had an issue with the manual ones...the electrical tools I did spend more - Ryobi.

If you're on the fish yes it can be fun. The beer drinking is a blast. Remember fish are cold blooded so their metabolism is really slow, so fish don't feed as often. If you have an $8-10k set up ice fishing isn't horrible, but still a lot of work. Think about it, drive out to the spot if you have the nice set up, if you don't you're pulling a sled or a shanty. You get to a 'spot' unload your anger, again if you've got the set up you coughed up $500 for a power anger, if not you have a hand anger and are drilling through usually 8" or more of ice. You drill the hole, clean it out, again if you have the 'set up' you coughed up at least $400 for a flasher, this is where things can go your way or not. You drop the transducer in the hole and you see no fish, so you move and repeat. If there's no flasher you sit on a bucket for and hour with no bites because there's no fish there, but you don't know that because you don't have a flasher. You sit that hour on your bucket and keep telling yourself "I'll give it 5 more minutes". You eventually move and drill another hole and repeat over and over. If you have a hand anger drilling through more than 6" of ice gets old real quick even with good blades. I could go on and on, about ice build up on your line, your line getting tangled in the snow and ice chunks, taking your gloves on and off 150,000 times in a day. Don't forget it's cold and your sitting on a giant ice cube! No matter what you do your feet get cold. As for my lake, there are no muskie only pike. Where I am Musky are truly the fish of 10,000 casts, they are that few and far between. As far as the fun videos goes keep in mind that's probably the finished product, and there's probably hours upon hours of thumb twiddling left on the editing room floor. I don't know if pike and musky school up but if you found a 'pack' of them it could be fun. So there's ice fishing in a nut shell. Trust me I know a ton of guys who love it, my step dad does. It's not for me, I applaud the guys who do it. As for me, I'll probably set some tip ups go back to my house and check them from my back porch from the warmth of my house. ?

I use a mixture of Wiha and Wera. Both have precision sets that have a size that will pull out that Daiwa Death. The set's are around 25$ and worth every penny.

Trust me. @12poundbass is correct. It was so boring that I did it twice. I couldn't believe something with fishing in the name could be that boring. It was.

My typical outing consists of one rod, a few baits in a velcro lure wrap, scissors, forceps (instead of pliers), and a rag. Sneakers dedicated to trampling goose poop and mud and I'm good to go.

Ditto the above, from another guy who loads spinning reels from off the floor, usually of the boat though and not the house. And if it's braid instead of nylon/fluoro, it just gets tossed to the ground to roll wherever it darn well pleases

Many anglers think Colorado blades have more thump & flash... wrong!

A-Jay

Expensive Jika rig is all it is. I make my own Jika Punch Rigs from trolling weights:

Another bait to catch fisherman ?

Shimano SLX Combos $129, normally 199 https://www.americanlegacyfishing.com/shimano-slx-casting-rod-reel-combo.html

I'm a glass half full guy, but you and I know even though the days are getting longer for us and the sun is getting closer we still have all of January, February, March, and if it's anything like last year a week or two in April. We never really got a spring, there was cold and snow then BAM 80 and humid. I'll give you my address, you can come up and fish my lake for Pike while I watch the look on your face go from excitement to pure disappointment in a matter of hours from my recliner in my warm house. ? I'm sorry but it's boring. You aren't missing much.

Fussy, complicated, expensive, and I'm not sure what this rig solves.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. ??

It's a pretty significant event for MY culture!! I despise winter and I live in the South! These short days are the pits. Even in Ms the sun has set by 4:45PM. That's just depressing...

How about a positive story? One of the most traumatic experiences of my life was losing my maternal Grandfather to leukemia. He was 52. I was in my teens. I am 1 of 4 grandchildren. Only child of his daughter and oldest of the four grandkids. My maternal Uncle has 2 boys and a girl. I spent every summer growing up with my grandparents on the farm in Iowa. We lived in Omaha, Nebraska. My grandparents went to Canada every year, Lake Lac la Ronge in Saskatchewan. Back then you had to drive 150 miles of gravel road to get to the cabins they stayed at (Lindy's). It was no cushy trip. You had to split your own wood for heat and carry your own water. The standing rule for the grandkids was that you could go as soon as you were old enough to pull your own weight. I was the first and only one to make the trip before he passed. He brought his own twin 35 hp Johnson motors for the deep v wooden boats used. He had the same Indian guide every year. To say it was a trip of a lifetime is an understatement. We had shore lunch every day, we caught walleye, pike and musky by the hundreds. We did a fly in to an even more remote lake by seaplane. It instilled in me my love for fishing. When he passed, I gave up fishing. It was too painful. Fast forward 25 years. A neighbor prodded me back into picking up a fishing rod again. We went every once in a while and I got interested in smallmouth wading on the Shenandoah river here in Virginia. I had access to 3 miles of isolated riverfront and camped there often. It was on a warm summer's morning, I woke up just before sunrise, gathered my spinning rod, put on my waders and headed out to the middle of the river in a heavy fog. I could only see about 4 feet in front of me but I knew this section of the river like the back of my hand. The river was perfect, the air cool, the current smooth, no wind and other than the sound of the river, there was beautiful quiet and calm. Made a few casts, caught a couple smallmouth when all of a sudden I felt someone touch my shoulders as if putting their arm over them. I don't know how I knew, but I knew it was my grandfather. Just as sure as I sit here and type this I knew it was him. No doubt in my mind. I heard his voice and saw his smile all in my mind. It was if he was standing right next to me. I felt his joy. Just at that same time, out of the mist and fog came a herd of about 15 deer wading across the river. They didn't spook, they split and went around me on both sides, close enough I could have touched them. As they disappeared into the fog, I found myself once again alone in the river with total peace and serenity covering me like a blanket. From that day forward I was a fisherman at heart and to this day, every time I pick up a fishing rod, a little bit of that memory resurfaces and I smile. Every time.

MH/F casting (jigs, texas rigs, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, some swimbaits, etc) M/M or MF [I prefer MF] casting (crankbaits of various kinds etc) M/F spinning (weightless plastics, small texas rigs, etc) ML/F or XF [I prefer F] spinning (dropshot, ned rig, various finesse) * topwaters appropriate to size on any of the rods ^ that would be my bare bones arsenal of choice if I was limited and wanted to do darn near everything. So whatever you're lacking from that is what I would get. If you want to get even more bare bones than that you can axe the ML if you're in the south. If you're in the north I would axe the M spinning. But I wouldn't be happy without either.

Currently I use " my brain " But I'll check into this other stuff ?

These may not be anything special, but it's been a while since I've had multiple bass in such a short period of time. These sweet baits did not cost much. Bait monkey saved my wallet this time.

Perhaps it only works in Tokyo ~ ? A-Jay

Taking it apart is not the problem, it's getting it back together.

Sometimes it's fun just to grab a small box, one or two rods, and go! Good fish can be caught from the bank too

"High Percentage Fishing: A statistical Approach To Improving Catch Rates" by Josh Alwine has a chapter on moon phases. He discusses the arguments for gravity, light levels, and position of the moon. He also looks at some studies like the moon phase when world records catches were made. He makes a pretty strong case that the link between fishing and moon phase is a myth. Then he makes an exception for muskie fishing ?. Personally, I don't consider the moon phase when planning my fishing. I always catch more fish when I'm on my boat than I do when I'm on my couch.

All I know is that according to my grandfather, the fish won't bite if the cows are laying down.

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