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Note: I am not good fishing off-shore brush-piles. I am even worse fishing crankbaits. Yesterday was slow...so tied on a Shad Rap, and worked the brush-piles... Eight LMB's in a little over two hours. Ended with a 17", 17-1/2", and 17-3/4" in a ten minute span. Good fun!

Got some intel on a couple new spots…rumor has it they both are filthy with bass. First up is a creek that connects two man made lakes that I have fished previously. However I’ve never tried to fish the creek until now. Caught three small ones with the below fish being the largest. Next day I tried the other spot which is a reservoir. I had high hopes seeing as how it was off the beaten path. While the rumors were true that it was filled with bass but unfortunately they were all this size A little frustrated with the lack of quality I returned to the New Reservoir where I did slightly better from a size perspective and a lot better numbers wise.

A few catches from this morning.

2nd biggest fish caught this year at the dam on the Sheyene river in ND. Caught while fishing for whatever wanted to bite using 30LB 832, 15 LB flouro leader, 1/8 ballhead jig tipped with a minnow using a bobber.

One of the most exciting things that happens is when you’re throwing a frog in a pad field, a prop bait in scattered grass or a Magnum Speed Worm over topped out vegetation. Then out of the corner of your eye about 20ft away you notice a pad move down or the grass is pushed just slightly to the side. You stare at it for 3 seconds and realize its getting closer. You grab the rod a little tighter, your reel hand tenses, you breathe faster, you plant your feet harder on the deck all the while never taking your eyes off whatever’s coming towards you. You don’t even watch the bait anymore. Then nothing. No movement. Everything is still, while your whole body tenses up. You see the splash but don’t hear it, you hold your breath and BAM!! Yeah, you’ll know Mike

Just the opposite for me. Bass always hit my surface lure when I least expect them to. Out of shock I react jerking the bait away from the bass.

What makes a spinnerbait worth $35? It's a combination of two things. First someone needs to put that price tag on one and second, someone needs to be willing to part with enough cash to purchase three, quality spinnerbaits because he either has way too much money to spend on fishing gear, or he is of the mindset that there is a magical spinnerbait out there that will always catch fish, you just need to pay that kind of price to get one. I prefer Stanley and Terminator SBs, but to each their own. Just don't ask me to give up my Stanleys.

Just saw a spinnerbait online called the Jackall Megalo Doon. Price was $35, and it's sold out. What makes it worth that kind of money when no can catch bass on a $1.00 Walmart spinnerbait? Is it really that good?

I've not been posting a bunch because of some life issues. My van tore up, and I had another car, a Chevy Tracker but it needed some repair before I could drive it. This took a while, and as a result I only fished 2 times in 3 weeks. During that time, I went through a spell of poor service too, so I wasn't able to check in as often. Well, after I got my Tracker running, I took it to town and went fishing. I went to the heavily pressured public lake that I've mentioned several times. I like fishing this spot because it's a challenge. It's fun to catch a fish here and there when others say they've fished it, sometimes for years, and never caught anything. I'd learned some about tying soft split rings with braided line, and I thought that this trick might just be something that'd give me an edge. I tied my favorite gold crankbait thusly, and had tried it a few times with no luck. It does feel differently though. It pulls through the water with less sound, less vibration, and overall is just "different" feeling. Well, this day, I was by myself, I started working my way around one of the holding ponds that is attached to the north end of the main lake. These ponds are connected to the lake via a small channel, which the city dams up to hold the fish in case they need to work on the dam at the other end of the main lake. This particular day, there wasn't a crowd, but there was 4-5 other people fishing. I fished a split shot rig a bit, with no success, so I switched to the crankbait. I caught a nice 1lb10oz bass. I worked my way down about 20 yards, making a few casts. I was working the squarebill crankbait at a medium speed, probably just nipping bottom on occasion, in about 4 feet of water. I was sweeping the rod tip sideways to move the lure, but not letting the lure pause between sweeps, rather, just letting it slow down. About 10 feet from shore, I felt a strike. I set the hook. I saw my line moving sideways to the left, I began reeling, and the fish ran directly towards me! I reeled as fast as I could. This bass knew all the tricks, he went right for a bush! A skinny bush, but a bush nevertheless. The shore line in this spot is about a 3' drop off. I held my rod out with my left hand as far as I could to persuade the brute to come free of the bush, all the while thinking... I am glad I have 12 pound Big Game mono, and not something lesser! The fish emerged from the bush and just sort of submitted, swimming right to the shore's edge and the surface, looking right at me. I could see it was a very nice fish, and guessed 3-4 pounds. By this time, someone was walking by. Three younger guys. I'd played the fish maybe 30 seconds, but it seemed like 5 minutes at this point. I was thinking... how am I going to land this thing without a net? I was reluctant to flip it because I didn't think it was hooked good enough, and I couldn't tell for sure, but I know there are some 6+ pounders in there, and I didn't want to chance losing this trophy regardless of weight. Well the passerbyers saw the fish and congratulated me. They offered to help, so I let one of them hold the rod, while I collected my possibles, which consisted of my tackle bag and another rod, that were about 30 feet away. I returned to the rod, and took it in hand, then I proceeded to walk up the shoreline about 40 yards towards the nearest spot I could reach the water, pulling the fish with me. The fish knew his environment well, and lunged for another bush, then a large stick that was in the corner. After I made it around the bend, it wasn't far until the water was at foot level, and I was able to swiftly slide the fish from the water right up onto the shore, which consisted of short grass. Without further ado, here is my new personal best, a weighed 4lb7oz, with my scale registering 3/4oz light. I'm quite proud of this fish. I know that it's not the largest fish in the lake, but for me it shows that all the hard work I've done to learn the lake, and how to fish pressured waters is paying off. Up until the above fish, I thought that the following was my PB, but I had not weighed it. I estimated it at 5 pounds based on my box that I had previously weighed. Then, I caught this one: and I weighed it at 3lb14oz, so I was pretty confident that the fish above was closer to 4 pounds, rather than 5. Now, after catching the fish in the first picture there is no doubt about the one I didn't weigh. The new PB fish was physically larger, and it was noticeably heavier to hold. Shame there wasn't someone handy to take a picture of me holding it. I unhooked and released it. I thanked God, and I hollered whooo! Then I got a text message from a friend that heard me holler. He said "you at the lake? I heard you whooo!"

Well, my drift and cast idea didn't work. I did catch nine in two hours, but none of the four-plus-pounders I was targeting. It was pretty choppy with the occasional whitecap: I was mostly using a spinnerbait. My lipless caught nothing. This was the average size: When I was blown into a shore, I saw a bass feeding and pitched a popper to it. It was my biggest. The fish are fattening for the winter. Even this short one was well fed. Pretty pic! I'm launching again tomorrow morning in the dark. Fingers crossed I find a big one!

These strategies help turn a tough time of year into a chance for success. https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/fall-transition-bass-how-to.html

I am a believer in durability when it comes to spinnerbaits. Cheap Walmart versions for 3 bucks will catch a few fish but they will inevitably wear out sooner because of inferior components, specifically the frame. I have northern pike here, a lot of them, and they are wicked aggressive. They love spinnerbaits. That’s the primary reason I use premium versions. El cheapos would last one assault by a pike and then be done. $35 for one is a bit steep, but I’ve paid 15-20 bucks many times for one.

I’m a dollar Walmart spinner and buzz bait buyer too…. I buy different ones, change blades, add beads, etc…. I don’t cry too hard when I loose one ether.

I know I'm about to step into the Twilight Zone here, but do you ever know when a bass is about to hit your surface lure? I do know, about once or twice every trip. I'm not talking about the obvious line in shallow water where a bass is charging your lure or FFS, where you see a bass rising to your lure, but that little flutter inside, much like Spiderman's tingle, where you say, "Hey, a bass is about to hit." and then it does. It could be I'm seeing a shift in the water made by a bass around my lure that I can't actually to define it with words because it's so subtle. It could also be that my lure is sitting, structure, cover, and weather-wise, in a situation so similar to others where I've caught bass that I'm making a very good guess that one is about to strike. Or it could be straight-up Spidey-sense. Whatever it is, it feels a little like a pigeon is fluttering inside of me and I prepare to set the hook because a bass is about to strike.

Initially planned on doing an Install Video, but it really wasn't necessary. So I took a few quick pics instead. There isn't a whole lot to it. 4 nuts and bolts, added some protective film or tape to the motor to protect the paint, and I was done. Entire deal took about 30 minutes. I did chose to use a better quality Clear tape than what was provided in the Leash Install kit. This one is a couple of mils thicker. Once buttoned up and completed, the unit seems to move freely with the tilt/trim. Hope I never need it. A-Jay

We look for clues and tells Two different things. Why else did you stop where you did, and use what you tied on? Taking advantage of what you’re seeing and putting those pieces together is the recipe for success. But when nothing tells you anything and you set the hook because it just feels right sometimes that’s the best feeling of all. Mike

Sounds like when Nadine inhales a jig & just sits there. No thump-thump, no line movement, nothing, but I set hook anyway! My grandson Aiden: You wasn't even paying attention. Me: Yeah I was, that's why I set hook! If the bass is big enough I can tell when it's trailing my spinnerbait/crankbait.

Some do, some don’t, some use a combination.

If I did know I guarantee I would set the hook to soon and miss almost everyone of them.

I’ve caught exactly one bass on a top water, so I can reliably guess when I’m not going to get a hit.

Took advantage of a few sales going on out there on the ol' worldwide web. Not sure what's going on with the Bait Fuel. It's always been clear for me. I wonder if it's old? Anybody else ever get any that has a slight yellow/brown tint to it?

Just added some new custom color jigs in Hot Craw, Blaze Craw, and Sapphire Craw. I have also updated my Megalodon spinnerbaits. All of them now have Owner hooks and the 3/4 oz you can get a light wire or a heavier twisted wire. https://siebertoutdoors.com/products/ols/categories/special-make-up-custom-colors?sortOption=descend_by_created_at

What you are discussing is a gut feeling or intuitive thought you know a bass is going to strike without conscious awareness. intuition is something we have to some degree, not always a good feeling. Bass fishing for some means getting in touch with surroundings looking for clues for activity and when everything is in focus undistracted your intuition kicks in and know where the bass is and when it will strike so trust you gut feeling. Tom

I heard this on the radio this morning while listening to fantasy football weekly in the boat. The three highest paid quarterbacks in the league have not won a single game combined yet this season. Burrow, 0-3 Lawrence, 0-3 Love, 0-1 Combined 0-7

I went for about 3.5 hours this morning targeting largemouth. I was pre-fishing for a derby on Monday. A friend and I caught about 20 fish in 3.5 hours. A few early on a buzz bait and a spinner bait, but by 9:30am when the sun had risen higher, that bite was done. Moved deeper, found some good green weeds, a nearby school of sunfish, and did some damage with a jig worm. Several doubles, and at one point I caught 3 in 3 casts. Size ranged from 15-19 inches, with one bigger than that which jumped and spit the hook. By 11am we were pretty toasted out there. Hot, sunny, no wind, and still plenty of pleasure boaters out there. Jet skis, wake boats, and pontoons were all out like it was the middle of July. Water temps are still 72 degrees.

No, and I've never had issue. And I've never needed a switch to back reel on a spinning reel. And I've never had a rod take a bend from leaning against something. And I've never had braid put grooves in guides. Or anything else people say can happen, other than storing wet tackle and baits causing rust if not dried off first.

I gotta give props to the Tigers. 0.4% chance of making the postseason in August and here they are. First time since 2014. They may be last year’s Rangers. A hot ballclub on a roll.

I have had that happen numerous times when working a jerk baits under water & out of sight. I can sense I'm going to get bit before it happens & I call it out loud to my fishing partner. They are always amazed when it happens like I'm clairvoyant.

Try using 2 lb XL for a few trips then switch back to 4 lb. It'll make the 4 lb feel like cable lol

@DaubsNU1: Swell fishing, Daubs! Good size too. I'm going fishing this afternoon. Gonna drift and fan cast, hoping to stumble on a big girl wolf pack. When I reach the end of a windblown drift, I'll troll back and begin again. Fishing tomorrow morning too. If today's drift fishing works, I'll do more of the same tomorrow morning. If not, I'll do the old plug and grind.

It's been years since I caught fish on a Shad Rap (...maybe even never....hard to remember....) Yesterday I was working some off shore brush piles, and having no luck. Tied on a Shad Rap...and started catching fish. Hit Scheels yesterday and Shad Rap Elite 75 Balsa were on sale for $9.99 #BaitMonkey

Anything becomes worth the price tag if people pay it. Would never be me.

Thank again @Glenn I was on a lake in Tennessee after they had a big let down, water was way low anticipating a big thaw. I found a cove with a huge cliff, maybe 500 hundred feet long that was normally submerged. Took some pics, made mental notes. Came back in the spring, guess I wasn’t the only that saw it, three other boats were there. We all caught fish, letting it bounce on bottom until you saw your line going deep where it fell off the cliff. I guess with today’s electronics you’d see that.

35$ spinner bait? Needs some zircon or some titanium or both - needs to have a spinner that uses Bluetooth to spin. Needs to have been used by a touring pro to win a tournament. Needs to have been hand *cobbled* by a true artisan in somewhere like Italy or Sweden. Every time you cast it the fish swim up to it and visibly fight each other verbally over who gets to bite etc

Perhaps quality of workmanship, quality of components, innovation, artistry, handmade, supply/demand, etc Any number of reasons.

From hurricanes? Look it - there are large parts of western NC that don’t have power or internet or water and likely won’t have those things for days and in some cases weeks. People are asking fly fishing groups on Facebook is anyone is in the area of loved ones that they can’t get in contact with, and frankly won’t be until the above is resolved and maybe never in many cases. So maybe we hold off on any political/government criticism for not protecting us from a catastrophic storm.

Back to BASS. I’m a big Randy Howell fan, rockin the flat top since the turn of the century 😂

Siebert introduced his Megalodon spinnerbait yesterday on this forum! Tom

Siebert Outdoors Cosmic spinnerbaits are my favorite premium baits. They aren't super cheap, but they are way better than bargain bin stuff. They come with wire tied skirts that last forever and a stupid sharp Owner hook. https://siebertoutdoors.com/products/ols/categories/spinner--blade-baits

no spinnerbait is worth that much unless you catch one on every cast......just sayin...now if it's made of gold it's under priced......

I’m sticking with my Oktoberfest while it’s in season. @BigAngus752 this one’s a bit better than the Shiner in my humble opinion if you have it available by you

You came to the right place for advise on spinnerbaits. TnRiver 46 is the site expert on spinnerbaits. I'm sure he will be able to tell you everything you could ever want to know about spinnerbaits. I recommend you buy four colors of spinnerbaits. White, Chartreuse white, black, and Chartreuse black. Blades I recommend singe Colorado, tandem willow, and tandem Indiana in silver and gold. 3/8 1/2 and 3/4 oz. Don't be afraid to try black in the day time. The bass don't know that black is only for night time. Fishing a black spinnerbait in the day time wont get you a fine from the bass police, but you may get a warning citation. Rip up the citation, and ask them to apologize when you catch your PB. I personally don't use trailers or trailer hooks, but you can get away with only two colors, black and white if you buy some chartreuse trailers. Trailers make for good contrasting colors without having to change baits. I probably should use trailers, but I have such a hard time deciding what one of my hundreds of spinnerbaits to throw, I feel I may suffer from bass bait overload trying to determine what trailer to put on what bait. Save all of your parts off of broken spinnerbaits. You may end up building your own some day and you can never have to many parts. Be warned, the Bait Monkey is very fond of spinnerbaits.

Last salt trip of the year for me. Conditions were different, we got a lot of rain that raised the water about 2’. Grass was also starting to die back. Fish were not in the areas I found them previously so I had to do some exploring. I found a lot of fish concentrated in a small area sheltered from the wind. Every 30 seconds or so I would see a fish boil or a back or tail sticking out of the water. However they were not biting very well. I must have cast at 30 different fish before one finally hit. Fortunately it was a nice one(didn’t have my measuring board on me but I believe it was somewhere in the 28-30” range. Overslot!). I stuck around for a while trying to get the breaking fish to bite. I ended up with one slot fish and 4 undersized. Pretty surprised at how tough it was despite seeing fish all around the area.

I think we're finally in fall down here. Car said 54 when I got to the lake this morning. They weren't where I expected them to be but I eventually got into some. Only stuck the one, but had probably six or seven misses which is a positive sign. I don't think the giants are quite up with them yet but we're not far from that

24 Sept 2024 ~ . Last Update back in August noted that Lynn's Kidney function was SLOWLY / Incrementally improving. We're so grateful that trend has continued, as her blood numbers continue to improve, she still participates in dialysis 2 days a week. She's tolerating the procedure much better with only a an occasional headache in the aftermath. Lynn's kidney healing specific diet and hydration intake monitoring continues and does seem to be contributing to positive gains. Working with her assigned nutritionist has been key. Side note, I've always believed my own 'diet' was important and staying strict on what I've learned over the years has worked for me. However living through this deal with Lynn, and seeing first hand how 'just the correct diet' can change a once critically ill person, to one who is doing much better, really drives the point home. Next hurdle, Lynn's eyesight. Not sure if I mentioned it or not, with everything that was happening all at once, but during one of the many test /procedures done on her in the hospital, Lynn threw a blood clot into the back of her right eye. This has essential blocked 100% of her vision in that eye. So like so much of her life the past several years, she's had to learn to live & adapt to being a one eyed woman. There's been a learning curve as you might imagine. We've been to see two different eye specialists and there is an eye surgery scheduled for the middle of Oct to remove the blood clot from behind he eye. The expectations (insert hope) is that after the somewhat lengthy healing process, Lynn could regain some if not all of her vision in that eye. She's also been on blood thinners this whole time to help control the clot. She will need to ween down her dosage to a lower level prior to the surgery. As always, despite whatever these challenges may be, Lynn continues to amaze me with her upbeat, positive & live for today attitude. I love her for it too. Stay Well my friends and thank you all again. A-Jay

Among some other things (like feeling like you need to get the other(s) on fish, and length of stay, start/stop times) I feel like this is a big hurdle for a lot of people. The ability to just sit in silence with someone and not feel like you need to fill the void. I have this with both my father and brother in law. I've fished with others but theres always been a need to make it a social event from the other person or even me if they seem awkward. Between fishing and hunting its amazing the things you'll see and how close you can see them at if you just close your mouth and sit. Not to mention be able to appreciate it all more.

I've always enjoyed fishing alone, actually preferred it. Now that I'm older (65) and have balance issues due to a couple of concussions, I've come to realize that having someone onboard isn't the end of the world...... .....as long as they don't talk constantly!

I spent a lot of years fishing Team Tournaments where each boat was allowed to weigh 5 bass only. Each angler must catch at least 1 bass. I fished with same partner for 36 years. I also enjoy fishing alone but there will come a time when that is no longer an option. That time started a year ago for me. I'm still allowed to fish alone but no more running marshes & swamps alone.

This Was caught on this Blue Fox Flash Spinner Ya...I use inlines - the Blue Fox pictured above, Mepps Comets and Aglias