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I was able to fish today for a couple of hours. I fished crystal lake in montcalm county. it rained all morning and then when I arrived at the lake it was over cast and slick calm. around 2 o clock the wind picked out of nowhere and than at 3 pm it started raining again at which, I called it a day. it had been spitting and shuddering a little all day. I can handle some ran or some wind but not both. I left my gloves at home seeing how forecast was calling for a 70 degree day. Anyhow, Things are definitely progressing into pre spawn. The 12-14 inch males are roaming in 2-3 ft of water. I did not see any nests made yet. However, i’m sure within the next week they will start to see best building pick up. I was trying to concentrate in 6-8 ft looking for bigger fish. I really wanted to crank and use jerk baits but, with the lake being slick calm that did work. I was able to get one bass on a tube. 1 bass on a michigan rigged bandito bug. the rest including a 22 inch walleye and a small smallie came on a LC LV 500 gold lipless crank. I’d do anything for consistent weather and no wind. the wind has been blowing 15-20 mph for the last week. With the atmosphere this riled up it’s probably going to be scorcher of a summer.

Over the weekend I picked up a 4lb pond mama on a chatterbait, and a 6lb cat on a spinnerbait.

Caught one today on a tube. On my 7 foot wall lol.

Haircut and fashion police has put in a 2 week seasonal notice. With heavy heart, I will no longer be able to police all the bird nests, facial jungles, holey jeans, and over night re-worn outfits until November again (when I'll be done fishing again for the season). With our gamefish/bass season finally opening up in 12 days, I've got better things to do again than point out all the problems with people's hair and clothes. Voluntary compliance is appreciated. Funding is nearly impossible to come by for deputy help.

I was invited by an ex coworker to fish on "his" lake. The lake he lives on is semi private. The lake has 1 spot for public access and the rest of it is either wooded or private access. I've known this guy for about 10 years. He's lived on the lake a few years and I have fished it twice, both times for crappies. The grandson pulls a 5 pound LMB out of the lake a couple weeks ago on a minnow from the public access pier. This was my first time fishing from the public pier. No one else caught fish while we were there. I was with the kid so I wasn't fishing, just untangling lines and baiting hooks. There was another bass guy out there throwing jigs and swimbaits. He got nothing. I asked my buddy, later that evening, if he had ever thrown a suspending jerk bait off the pier. Specifically, a 5" Husky Jerk in Baby bass. He said no. I told him I'd be throwing it thru post spawn. He hasn't been getting giants but, he's been getting big numbers of buck bass throwing the HJ, since we spoke. Point of my post. Don't get stuck on one or two presentations. It happens to all of us. Pay attention to everything. A second set of eyes might be all you need to clear your head.

I caught fish this past year on topwater in December and January and February with surface temps in the 40s. I like to throw topwater when the fish are active and chasing things in shallow water. I like frogs and floating worms and poppers in calmer water and buzzbaits when it's a little more choppy. I don't like topwater when it's completely dead slick calm or when it's windy. I like it to be rippling a good bit or nearly slick calm but ever so gently rippling. The kind of 'calm before the storm ' that happens in the spring literally before a storm gets turbulent and breaks with the rain and thunder is often the perfect kind of ripple. I have caught fish on windy days on topwater and on slick calm days but I usually do better with other things when those conditions present themselves. I wouldn't worry too much about water temperature. I'd focus more on conditions. I like more overcast days for topwater and I like warming trends and again I generally focus on shallower water with lots of cover available - preferably where bass are actively feeding. Temps largemouth bass will eat something off of the surface of the water? Any temperature. I have heard from northern anglers that bass will actively try to get through ice to attack things they can see through it. So literally any temperature.

I ran the gamut this weekend fishing off my back yard, as a co-angler in a tournament, then out on my kayak. On Friday evening I was setting up my gear for the Saturday tournament and experimenting with different jig head / swimbait / minnow combos with various rod & reel combos. As a co-angler, I don't want to pack the kitchen sink and I was trying to limit myself to 3 rods and 4 trays plus a few bags of plastics. I really, really, really like the Reaction Innovations Big Dipper and Little Dipper baits and was seeing if I could find a jig head suitable for both sizes to reduce time spent cutting and tying baits while in the tournament. As luck would have it, I landed a nice 4 1/4 pound LMB. And did I mention that the tournament was on my home lake? Off to the tournament the next day and draw a boater with over $100k in career winnings, so I'm hoping he puts us on the fish. But it was brutal out there. The winning boater bag was only 14 pounds and the winning co angler back was only 12 pounds. I had only one keeper on the day for 2.5 lbs, a few that were too small, and a 15 pound catfish. My boater caught 4 for 7 pounds and two big catfish. We fished the same 3 spots all day and on any other day I'd bet those spots would be productive, but the bass weren't biting. I went home and because I can't get enough punishment, fished along my seawall and caught a few two pounders. Too little, too late. So early this morning I was fishing off my backyard again and skipped a Big Dipper under some trees along the shore and caught a few small bass gorging on the shad spawn. Later that morning I skipped under those trees again and pulled out a 15 pound catfish. My son and I ran some errands, I fished off my seawall and I swear I caught that same catfish once again. About 4pm I headed out on my kayak and instead of loading up with everything I packed three rods and four trays instead of bringing 7-9 rods and a crate with 600lbs of tackle (sarcasm on the tackle). I run two graphs on my kayak. The Garmin provides FFS, DI, SI, and Sonar and I used a Helix 7 for mapping. I also have Smartstrike on the Helix. My plan was to fish close to home in the creek channel where I live instead of contending with boat and jet ski traffic. Targets were sea walls and docks, but the wind was a constant 12-14mph with gusts 20+ so I ended up casting around docks instead of setting up and picking them apart. I caught one small one, then headed to an underwater point highlighted by Smartstrike. I'm finally starting to get better with FFS. I don't care what anyone says, it's not as easy as some believe. It would be wonderful if I could set up, toggle on spot lock, then pick apart targets and catch bass all day long. But the reality is that spot lock on a 12 foot kayak getting blown around by swirling winds and current can be a giant pain. So I get the current moving me, spot lock trying to put me into the wind, and then having to keep turning the FFS transducer mount to where on the point I want to look for fish. It doesn't matter if I first position myself with the nose into the wind because the current is trying to move me and the wind is changing direction. I was in 7 feet of water and wishing I had Power Poles. I scoped around the point and targets lit up my FFS display. One of the things about targets is determining their relative size as the size of the target return can be large or small depending upon how far out you're scanning. Lately I have kept my scanning at a constant 60 feet. This way when I see a target I can immediately slow down to a crawl or spot lock so I don't get too close to the target and potentially spook the fish or run past it. I find one of the bigger targets about 45 feet out and cast my trusty Reaction Innovations White Trash Big Dipper out there and it gets hammered right away. I set the hook but then it runs right at me and breaches not once, but twice and that second time it goes past me. It was pure luck that it didn't spit the bait at that point. I didn't have my scale, but it was bigger than the 4 1/4 I caught the other day so I put it at just over 5 pounds even though she was spawned out. I made my way out to the major point at the end of the creek channel but didn't hook up so I swung back around and immediately saw a big target, casted my big dipper, and it hit hard. Catfish. Ugh. This one was was over 10 pounds. I head back towards the underwater point, making blinds casts along the way and BAM - another 12-15 pound catfish on a Big Dipper. I get to the underwater point, don't see anything, and head back towards my house, then spot lock on a secondary point when I see a bunch of targets. But this time I put on a Riot Reactor 1.5 crankbait (check out this crankbait - they have been great for me), take a few casts, and BAM - another 15+ pound catfish. But this one ate the trebles. Ugh. I don't want to get it on the deck of my kayak and slime everything up, so I tire it out so I can grab it with my fish grippers. There's no way I want my hands near those trebles if that big cat starts to thrash again. Then I realize my long pliers are in the crate that I didn't bring and all I have are short pliers. It took me over 10 minutes to get that thing out. I was out there for only about 90 minutes, but I had enough catfish for the night and headed home. It's amazing how aggressive the catfish have been hitting everything. I have never seen that before. My guess is that the shad spawn has them in a frenzy. One good bass made it a good day, but what made it a better day was FFS is pulling me out of my comfort zone. When I fish, I prefer to pound the banks and docks. Some of that is because I fish out of a kayak and I try to stay away from boats and jet skis. But the other part is as a kayak angler and bank angler that banks and docks have been my comfort zone and now I'm moving away from that. I'm also throwing different baits and working on new techniques as I work with FFS.

This is my first bass of 2024. The NED rig was the choice lure, wouldn't take the whole plastic so a trimmed it down and that worked.

Mistake alot of people make is thinking topwater only works in certain temperatures. You can throw a topwater year round and still get bit. But ill start throwing them alot when i see the bluegills starting to hit the surface or start swimming around in smaller schools close to the bank.

LOL ~ Fixed that one for you. A-Jay

Short trip today. I would have fished a little longer, but my shoulder was hurting. A few years ago I avoided surgery on my shoulder with PT. I kept doing the PT even after all my appointments. For some stupid reason I quit doing it a couple weeks ago. I've already done my reps for today since getting home and won't be skipping them anymore. I caught 5 Bass, 4 Spots and 1 Largemouth. The first (pictured) was a 16 inch Spot within my first dozen casts at 6:57. The last,(pictured) a nice 18 inch Largemouth was at 8:38. I thought the Largemouth was bigger. It hit like a BIG Bass. No bump, or tap, I just felt the spinnerbait blade quit spinning. I swung on it and connected. It walked on it's tail like a BIG Bass does too. I considered fishing longer but decided to give my shoulder a break for the rest of the day. The rest of the Spots were between 13 and 15 inches. I also caught a several small White Perch, and 2 small Channel Cats. (no pixels on the perch or cats)

Algae blooms and the effect they have on water bodies is a strange thing. There are two lakes we like to hit that are less than a ½ mile apart from one another with each draining directly into a salt bay via dams. One month ago, the western lake we fished already had pads popping up everywhere along with flourishes of almost fluorescent green bushy weeds emerging in the middle. However, the eastern sister lake which is nearly its carbon copy with regard to depth and shape is murky, practically pad less, and seems to have no new weed growth. Only filamentous algae laced zombie weeds still standing from last year were found. In past years, and at this point in the season, this place was nearly topped out with a carpet of weeds from shore to shore and had sporadic but dense pad fields. Both lakes have a good flow from inlet to outlet, so it's odd how one has been affected and the other hasn't. Kettle lakes usually don't fare well against an algae bloom, but dammed mill ponds seem to overcome them because they have flow, but not this one. Still, they were bitey until un forecasted rain and a chilling wind drove us out after two hours. My brother caught a huge pickerel that nearly swallowed his Tiny Tum. Just a nightmare to unhook it, but no blood, so it darted away with vigor. He shook off one buck bass at the boat, so his skunk was off. I got a buck pitching into zombie cat tails with a Zman ProcrawZ, then a nice chunk swimming a Berkley Grass Pig out in the middle in a patch of zombie weeds. Not bad for one of the few spots we can back right up to and dump the boat in and leave just as easily. Too bad we had to stop on a good bite, but it was miserable getting soaked and spun all over the place by wind. A win is a win.

A-Jay

It was your choice though wasn't it Murph? Gimruis didn't file a complaint did he?

I recently picked a line spooling device that has a way to adjust tension. I also have a force gauge that I used to employ when adjusting door closers in a previous life. Sounds like I could use those two tools together for spooling line. That is the issue I was initially having with Smackdown, and the 'bumps' were sometimes little, and other times, not-so-little, and the reason I abandoned my BFS/braid experiment until I could figure it out. Nice of Shimano to (not) acknowledge this when they specifically use the trade name POWERPRO in the specs for the Curado BFS (yes, I am being sarcastic here). PowerPro and J-Braid are the two braids I use most on my spinning reels, so although not perfect, it's hard to know that there are better solutions out there without being willing to fork out a lot of money and time to try all of the options available for both reel types. Thank you for being willing to provide useful feedback. I am here to learn as I have obviously been doing things in a way that has made braid untenable for me on BFS rigs. I meant to include a disclaimer regarding my reference to braid and test strength being that I referred to it in that way, but I was only doing so for line I have used , and intend to convert to line diameter or PE going forward. That is why I included this quip in my OP (I should have made that clear): That is why I am here, hat in hand, looking for solutions. This is useful information, and maybe worthy of it's own 'thread'. . . I'm going to have to mull this one over. Backlash seems like one of those ever present facts of life inherent to any baitcasting reel. I can cast most of my reels most of the time without backlashing, but if I have a moment when I forget about casting certain baits into the wind or I'm not mindful to make adjustments when the weight of a bait changes significantly (on a BFS combo, that can be a 1/16 ounce change that suddenly becomes more challenging). If you're saying that you are able to set up a reel, and then get maximum distance and then not be concerned again about backlash, then I applaud that, and that is what I am always hoping to achieve. We all have to start somewhere and be willing to go through the learning process to get there. Thank you to both of you for taking the time to respond thoughtfully.

Murph, you don't seriously think I can comment on that bass given it's right next to your bare naked chin, do ya? Nice one, Woody! Those 18-inchers are hard fighters.

Went out yesterday to the New Reservoir it was slow going for a while at least until the forecasted clouds showed up. 80 degrees with winds gusting to 30mph out of the SW. Managed 4 dinks on the DT4. Photo shows the typical size. Went home grabbed a bite to eat and went back out, this time to the public pond I visited last week. The dink parade continued with another 4. Went down to Burr Oak early this morning hoping to add some size to my weekend haul but was thwarted by the skunk. Still some great views.

Verbosity and details are my blessing as well as my curse. If they are not your thing I understand. I was reading another thread here about one angler's BFS-ish/Finesse line choice dilemma, and although the thought of glomming my situation onto his thread crossed my mind, I decided not to complicate their thread with my issues. So. . . . I now have three BFS casting reels and have been enjoying this style of fishing, but as with many things, when things get toward the extremes, things can get complicated more than straight vanilla middle of the road gear. I started with a Curado BFS casting reel and thought fifteen pound braid would be a smart choice, so I picked up a spool of Smackdown 15 lb braid and was off to the races. Or, so I thought. With me at the controls, I was having issues, especially with line dig after boating a fish, so I abandoned braid and tried some 7 lb Daiwa fluorocarbon line that worked much better for me than the Smackdown braid. Lately, I have simply reverted to the devil I know, which is 6 lb monofilament. It's not perfect, but I make it work for what I do. There is a bit more to it than I would prefer. I am also finding that, on a long cast (even with a 1/8 ounce weight), when I have the rod tip up higher than horizontal, the weight of the monofilament will often drag the bait towards me. I am theorizing that it is the weight of the monofilament (and perhaps any weight from the water that the monofilament has absorbed) that is causing this. In my perfect world, I would be able to use braid (which weighs less than monofilament) with a fluorocarbon leader to maximize sensitivity, still have a relatively low degree of stretch, and would not have the tendency of dragging the bait towards me once I stop moving the rod and/or turning the reel handle. It wouldn't get line dig, and the knot would flow through the guides without hanging up (my two biggest issues with braid to fluorocarbon on my BFS setups). . . . In my perfect world. My perfect world might only exist in my head. Or there might be a solution that requires more understanding of the tools and materials I am working with that would allow me to more effectively use the right materials with the tools I have, or get the right tools for the job. I noticed that @bulldog1935 mentioned that it would be in our best interest to think about braid in terms of line diameter rather than 'xx' lbs test as that would allow for better accuracy and consistency when comparing lines. . . . At least that is my interpretation of what he suggested and that seems like a logical first step so we are comparing apples to apples. I might even be willing to have a (PE-lbs test-line diameter in mm and inches) comparison chart tattooed on my arm so i can refer to it quickly and easily. I noticed that 15 lbs Smackdown has a claimed line diameter of .235 mm, whereas 15 lbs Power Pro has a claimed line diameter of .190 mm (20 lbs Power Pro has a claimed diameter of .230 mm). I have also discovered that Shimano owns Power Pro, and in the specs for the Curado BFS reel, the line capacity refers to Power Pro by name and states that the line capacity is 45 yards of 15 lbs Power Pro braid. Part of me is also wondering if the line lay characteristics of the reels I am using work best with certain types and sizes of line. I would love to have 1,000 yard spools of all the different braids neatly arranged in my super-secret underground lair, but such is not my lot in life and it these days, it would cost a small fortune in time and money to conduct my own independent investigation into the secrets and tricks of the BFS world. So, I am trying the next best thing I know to do and that is to try to find shortcuts by tapping into the collective BFS wisdom and experience of my meticulous BR angling friends in order to separate the fly poop from the pepper so to speak.

A couple more things, I like the line through heads. Although they are hard to find locally, 1/8-3/8. The 4” senkos buy one get 50% off just like the crush city. I didn’t really need them but I wanted them for sure.

My port-a-John is a wide mouthed Gatorade bottle. Fits right in the boat. And also one of my fishing dogmas is “poop before you get on the boat”, because Gatorade bottle won’t do much to help that.

My wife says I'm already a Major Dickason without adding this stuff. 😂 We pee in the lake... A LOT!!!

I stalk other anglers and cast where they're casting.

This last Feb., I whacked them in 42d on a Shimano World Popper.....As far as I'm concerned at least down here in the south, no water temps rule out the usage of topwater. Most people don't throw topwater early enough imho, including myself.

24K. More gold. I do think there are regional differences in bass behavior. I live on the coast of Maine, where the wind never stops blowing in the Spring and the air and water warm ever so slowly. Contrast this with interior states, where you can have temperature swings of thirty or forty degrees in a day. Then there's the South, where it's pretty much never cold, even though it feels cold to heat-acclimated Southerners (I see you guys wearing your coats on 55-degree days!). My point is that bass are living in sharply different environments and what works for bass at X won't necessarily work at Y. Since coming to Bass Resource, I have bought so many lures because other BR anglers touted them. Some worked. Some didn't. Going forward, I'm going to stick with the lures that I've found to work where I fish.

I take exception with pretty much all of the above that @Big Hands pulled out of post contexts. I built BFS-mod frogger and surf reel both fishing PE#2 in YGK WXP1, which has 45-lb breaking strength. Again, we lose context talking about braid test instead of braid diameter. I fish down to PE#1 in surf micro-jigging, which does count as a "normal BFS" niche, though an unusual BFS-CT reel. I filll all my shallow spools to max capacity, but I make sure the stacked line beneath is dig-proof. If you do this properly, you can't fish a line dig. If your system is working, it ain't broke. But if it's not working, you need to look for something different. I also didn't consider braid before 832, so 8-strand, round, coated braid is the only braid I've ever fished. The reason- I saw too many wind-knot catastrophies w/ my friends fishing yellow power pro on their Penn spinners. The only time I've ever experienced line dig was on 4200SS and SpiderWire copolymer - my daughter was catching giant sheepshead on the flats, which turn into UPS trucks trying to get back to deep water. The SpiderWire, in its first and last fishing trip, extruded to half its diameter and sucked deep inside the spinning spool, shutting down my daughter's day - that's ok, we brought home a meal of schoolie specs. That was 2010, btw. Also, backlash is so far from my memory, the only time I think about it is initially setting up a reel, finding the point of incipient backlash to start my brake set-up. But if backlash is something you think about, you probably shouldn't be fishing threadline braid on BFS reel.

As @bulldog1935 was saying, proper tension is required when spooling thread line or dig-in can rear its head. I use a Daiichi Seiko line recycler which has a knob to adjust tension. I use my spring scale and set it for 2lb, just as if I were setting my drag. The Daiichi Seiko is a nice tool and runs about $35 to $50 depending on where you get it, or you can get the knock-off version from AliExpress to your door for $20. Once upon a time when I was less mindful of the tension used to spool a reel, I was getting dig-in with anything less than 0.235mm line. It wasn't bad dig-in, but enough to where I'd have a little "bump" every so often when casting. Another thing to think about is the line itself. Power Pro is a 4 carrier line which means it isn't very round, but more a square shape which will give more potential to hang up on itself. An 8 carrier or better would help remediate this since it is more round and smooth. Regardless of the number of carriers, line stiffness should also be taken into consideration. Stiffer lines aren't going to dig in as easily as the more limp stuff. There are some lines I do not use on a baitcast reel simply because they are too limp, those get used on spinning reels where the line doesn't feed straight into the spool. Daiwa J-Braid is the perfect example of this. It's a fine line, but the thin diameter stuff is a no go for BFS for me.

Long as you got a leader to take the shock, it shouldn't be a problem...just don't 'swing for the fence' when setting the hook. That's just the optimal line to use with the rod - also, ignore it for braid as it's based on line diameter, not pound test. My flipping stick is rated to 25# test - I got 50# braid on it...so don't worry it too much. This will help with the hook-setting issue - a Regular by Daiwa is pretty much a M-MF by others...good treble hooked lure action.

Even though the bass fishing season is still relatively young up here, when it comes to the basic premise of this thread, I'm ashamed to say that I pretty much chicked out. Being a closet superstitious basshead, I didn't want to jinx it by making some wild prediction, only to fall flat on my face. I do enough of that already. So I can't make any claim to 'calling my shot' for what size fish I might catch. About the only thing I did get right was hooking up into a decent fish, and saying "I hope it's a bass" and it was. It's a little hard to hear with the crazy wild wind blowing in the back round. And I say it all the time, and it's always a big pike; except when it's not. A-Jay

I have (and am) guilty of that, but lately I’ve been forcing myself to try new things. Or old things that worked but have been neglected at times. It’s an easy trap to fall into. But nothing works great forever.

A big bowl of oatmeal keeps me full for hours, and keeps a warm breeze blowing inside my bibs in cold weather. 😁

Had a very windy day this week so we decided to just anchor and see if the channel cats were hungry.

@Big Hands - here's what doesn't sound right to me. You're getting line dig on 0.23-mm dia braid with a factory-BFS reel that should already have increased LW pitch for wide line lay. BTW, I did begin with 600-yd spools of 832 when I began using braid. I fish that diameter on deep-spool Super Duty using 20-lb mono backing for a built-up spool arbor. Maybe you're not properly tensioning your line when you load it. Here's how I always load my lines - reel secure on a rod in a clamp rod holder; line through the 2 guides closest to the reel; line through a phone book with an adjustable weight; source spool on an axle in a vise. I can walk away from this and come back to it, and the line still has proper tension. As far as line differences, Jun Sonada used to recommend never use a coated braid on a baitcaster, for the reason that soft coatings make the braid more susceptible to line dig - this put Power Pro at the top of his list. He also used to divide his PE Braid Spectra into two categories, Coated and Non-coated. He can't do that any more in Japan, because they only sell coated braids now. So he's adjusted to recommend hard-coated braids for use on BFS. One of the first coated braids Jun recommended was Yamatoyo Resin Sheller, which I found the coating didn't hold up, especially compared to most YGK braids, and Duel X-wire stood out as one of the first-best hard-coated braids - I just replaced a hard-fished 3-year-old X-wire spool with Varivas Si-X. I think Varivas wins across the board on braid coatings, though their hardest coating, Si-X, is still pretty expensive. However, every one of my salt reels that needs new line gets Si-X, and can find good deals if you're already shopping in Japan and can add it into a cart with other items you need. Where I'm stacking spools, I still have old pieces of larger-diameter 832 for backing. What you gain with braid - no stretch, huge breaking strength, less drag through the water, and of course, increased cast distance at light end. ... almost left out the most important thing, Totally Limp, NO MEMORY - this sent me to 100% braid, except on loaner tackle.

After years of chasing Smallies in Missouri Finally got a Smallie Spot Cross. Not big but finally

In south Florida with all our heavy cover I am using a MH 7’ bait caster rod with 15 pound floro or a similar bait caster with 50 pound braid for heavy cover pitching, 90% of the time. The day I caught my PB we struggled all morning to just catch a few small bass. Around noon on a Cristal clear day, I decided to change tactics and go with my only spinning combo. A 6’7 spinning Rod with a Shimano Sahara reel with 8 pound mono, and fish the outside weed edges. I suddenly saw a commotion next to a steep bank in two feet of water, and immediately threw my weightless zoom fluke into the swell. The bite happened quick, and lucky for me the fish decided to run out into deep water instead of into the weed fields. I got her to the side of the boat and was amazed at her mouth. She was 27.5 inches long, and 11.5 pounds. 40 years of fishing all over south Florida, and to this day is my personal best, taken on a very difficult day of fishing, on my lightest rod and reel, using the lightest line I use. How Sweet It Was!

And there is the truth of it...

In PA its about the same, has been since March. Several different lakes and ponds too. From 40 degree days a month ago to our 70-80 degree days the past few weeks. The bass dont seem to want anything, fast, slow, big, finesse, quiet, loud.... The big bass didnt even come out for pre spawn this year, weve already got smaller bass up shallow in 6" of water and a few 2-3lbers along with them, and even the people fishing beds arent catching any. Ive spent several hours this week fishing, covering as much water as possible. Once on the kayak and the other trip fishing from the bank, fished almost everything i could think of, weightless senkos/flukes, various texas rigged stuff, cranks/jerkbaits, chatterbaits too. Seen a few bass up shallow, very shallow but aside from that theres 0 signs of life aside from panfish or trout. But the other night and today just before leaving the lake i decided to tie on the 1/2oz lipless crank (red of course) and thats when i started getting bit, 1 the other night just before leaving and 2 on back to back casts tonight. If it werent for that lure i wouldnt have caught a thing. Id highly suggest trying one if you havent already.

On the rare occasion that I'll be fishing all day, breakfast is usually a couple fried eggs and a potato, sliced and fried with plenty of butter and salt. Throw salsa on top of all of it. That's my go to. Quick, simple, and it tastes good. Then I take a banana and an apple for the road. Edit: I see some of you talking about coffee and the horrifying thought occurred to me that some of you heathens might not drink God's Greatest Gift To Man. So, to differentiate myself from those placing themselves under the judgment of all things Holy, I have added what I assumed everyone would take for granted: I drink a large thermos full of strong coffee with a dash of heavy whipping cream. Every. Dang. Day. Like God intended.

I had a guy that launched right in front of me when I was about to leave this morning. Right side (his right when launching) ramp was wide open but he skipped it and went to the one on his left (my right as I’m pulling the boat up to the dock to pull out). I was annoyed but whatever. I tie off to the end of the dock as his wife walks the boat off and ties off. He goes and parks his trailer RIGHT NEXT TO MINE. He leaves both truck doors open on my side and as I walk up he’s futzing around, doesn’t look like he’s doing much. He’s get up to my 4Runner and he’s working on a diaper change for a young toddler while about a 4 yr old is giving him the business for her sister’s behavior and a few other normal 4 yr old complaints (snacks, Bluey, she couldn’t wear her princess costume, etc.). He looks at me and goes “I’m sorry, trying to get everyone ready” and I just laughed and told him to take all the time he needed, he had his hands full. I didn’t tell him he’d miss this, but he will. point is, give people some grace, some of them have a lot going on. Not the tailgaters. Those guys suck.

Had a short but fun morning dragging for catfish on Mountain Island Lake. Fish were scattered and seemed to be around spawning/post-spawn groups of crappie. 6 catfish in about 3 hrs and some white perch and crappie on the UL in between cats. Biggest was pushing 30 lbs, a ton of fun in my little tin boat. I had a 15 that was foul-hooked in the dorsal that was a challenge to subdue without a net.

Had a great day today at my favorite little pond. Had only caught one crappie since October (but the bass bit all winter) so I wasn't expecting much. Caught 7 crappie and 4 bass in a couple of hours. All the crappie were much bigger than normal and I think this one would be my PB ever. Out of the 11 fish, ten bit on a Beetle Spin grub without the spinner. The biggest bass of the day (3.5 lbs) hit a red lizard on the first cast of the day. Another fish hit it on the second cast but ripped the tail off and I never got a bite with the missing tail after that.

Somehow got a catfish double , one was hooked and the other just twisted up into the line a thousand times. They also had a branch interwoven into the mess

A Clif Bar, getting up a 5am is hard enough 😁

Hey, Caught these two decent fish this morning, very cloudy and rainy today

Got about an hour of fishing in from the bank.before work today, caught 2 both on a buzzbait with this one weighing 3-12

"Texas man sets world record after catching rare hybrid fish The fish was a hybrid large-mouth, small-mouth bass" https://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/community/forums/topic/world-record-hybrid-largemouth-smallmouth-bass/ "The term "meanmouth bass" was born when Childers observed a school of largemouth-smallmouths attacking a female swimmer." https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/hybrid-black-bass/154884

I have and love my exprides, but haven't ever tried any of the H/F. I doubt you could go wrong with either. I use the 7'3xh for that purpose, love the mod/fast action for heavy jigs in cover, hook up/land ratio is tremendous. Also super versatile with frogs, texas rigged swimbaits, heavy swimjigs. Might be worth considering. scott

It's simple. You might not think so, but you're actually letting your thumb off of the spool too late. For anyone coming from a spinning background, this will be a small obstacle they have to overcome. I guarantee that you feel like you are not letting go too late (i.e., the thumb coming off of the spool), but indeed you are. The mechanics and physics of the casting equation tell the truth. You can't break the laws of physics, but you surely can confirm them, lol. How do I know? Because I went through the same thing. Fortunately, I played a lot of baseball as a kid and I was a pretty darn good hitter. As a right handed batter, I could hit it to right field if I wanted to. This knowledge and experienced gained as a baseball player helped me to quickly conclude what the issue was. A later timed swing usually makes the ball go to right field and too early a swing pulls the ball to the left. Relating this to casting, a sidearm cast flying to the left means the angler is letting go too late. In addition, this is even more so the lighter weight you try to throw. So it will show on someone attempting to toss 1/8 oz weight who has not yet gained enough experience. No worries. All in due time and even faster if you realize what the problem is. All I can say is thank God you didn't try to overhand cast, because that same late release will translate into your lure slamming into the ground right in front of you, and thereby enabling the angler to make a glorious overrun if his or her thumb is quick enough, lol. Funny, but highly possible with a late thumb release. The solution is to release your thumb earlier than what you are accustomed to. It was also be very helpful if you practice with a heavier weight like 1/2 oz at least until you have acclimated to the earlier release time. A bass casting weight is ideal for this. If you cast overhand with 9 o'clock in front and 12 above you, the thumb release point is somewhere between 12 and 1:30pm. From this, you can take an educated guess where that release point for a sidearm cast is and fine tune it to yourself. I say this because sometimes, you will want to cast to the left of your position.