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Different lake, same outcome - water still in the mid 70s and even the thermocline looked to be intact. A good shot of cool air over the next week should help the bite get fired up a bit, I hope.

Three Tap Theory as explained to me by Shaw Grigsby The first tap the bass has inhaled your lure. The second tap the bass has expelled your lure. The third tap is me tapping you on the shoulder asking why you didn't set hook!

Got to the lake and they were already five boats at the boat ramp.. this was 40 minutes before sunrise. Managed 14 bass, this was the largest at 20 in long. 4 lb 11 oz. Water temps between 63 and 65. Light North Wind at 8 Miles an hour. It was a good day.

Hit up a reservoir yesterday, left my camera in my life jacket so posting today, was a little tired. 38 degrees in the morning so in no hurry to get out. On the water at 10, clear blue skies with a NW “breeze” so I wasn’t too confident. 14’ visibility so I figured they would be in deeper water, searched around a bit and found some in 20’ to 28’. Got the first one after a hr, a small Largemouth, then a couple more small ones. Then got a nice Rainbow but with no net when I got it unhooked it slipped out of my hand before I could get a picture. Then got 2 decent Largemouth, then more small ones so I left them to look for Smallmouths, well that didn’t work out. Wind picked up more and it’s a real pain to fish from the kayak with just a paddle, fishing with the rod in one hand and trying to position with the paddle in my other hand/shoulder. Wound up with 12 fish landed, 10 Largemouths, one Rainbow and a Rock bass. All fish on a drop shot and green pumpkin Max Scent flat worm

Went out for a few hours on the kayak while the kids were at school and caught 5 in about 4 hours. Water temp was 64-66 depending on location. All my bites came off the first area of cover in coves off the main lake. 3 on a Senko wacky rigged and 2 on a crankbait. The little bass that you catch on cranks always make me laugh! Biggest was 2.1 lbs which is largest I’ve caught at this lake in a few months. I did find a few off shore schools but no fish on a jerkbait or dropshot. I got a few bites on the drop shot but came back without my minnow tail a few times so not sure what was going on there.

Went out today for the last 90 minutes before the sun started setting. I wanted to test out my new Tatula Elite Casting Rod and was hoping to break it in on some strip pit fish. As you can see by the photo today I was throwing a jig. I’ve caught fish on swim jigs and football jigs, but never on a casting/flipping jig. Today was my lucky day as I caught my first ever jig fish, and a decent one at that. I caught it off the end of a laydown. It made a last minute run as it got close enough to shore to see me but I was able to land it. I caught my 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th jig fish shortly after that but only one was picture worthy I felt. I’m pretty stoked that jig fishing has finally clicked for me. I’m confident that given the bodies of water that I fish it will be a very useful technique for me going forward. I think the biggest difference for me today versus all the other times I’ve tried the jig, is casting accuracy and being able to thumb the spool to minimize splash.

Blanked at Meredith today but I caught the rarest thing yet - my first random encounter with a forum member in the wild! I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with @Skunkmaster-k this morning, great guy and great fisherman. Really enjoyed the conversation and the time fishing. Sometimes it's not all about the catching

How bass preceive colors as seen by human eyes & interpreted by a human brain.

We don’t have a clue what colors bass see by dissecting their eye. Color is interpreted by the brain. Experience contradicts that blue disappears in deep water but I have caught bass 50’ deep and the color they would eat was blue neon 4” French fry worm. Tom

Since largemouth bass lack blue color receptors as the experiment done by F.A. Brown Jr states, and you run a chartreuse black-back crankbait through a blue blind color blindness filter it looks identical to a gizzard shad pattern, white with a black back. This being the case, why is chartreuse black-back such a highly recommended and bought color for stained to dirty water? Wouldn't I have the same success on a gizzard shad when looking at the data from the experiment? After the experiment, I can't help but think it's a waste of money rather than just getting one or the other.

I think a lot of various colored lures get sold and used because they catch our eyes on the shelf or listed online, not because bass can or cannot see them. It’s like buying a frog because the top of it has an interesting color variation.

Tank did pretty good during his annual routine Vet Check Up. I was happy to be his emotional Support Human. A-Jay

Studying the largemouth bass by reading ANYTHING the Doug Hannon wrote or revealed. I’m a rescue diver and I was in the military in the 80’s and applied to him for a camera operator (underwater) he called me later and told me many things but he said he was humbled by my interest in LMB and being in the military looking to pursue other interests. I didn’t get the job but he is my hero when such topics are brought up. He was an incredible Man. (We both lived in Florida.) RIP Doug Hannon.

It’s always the simple things we miss the most! Mike

The brand and type of grease for use on reels is given way too much significance. The single most important thing is to do regular maintenance and keep things clean and lubricated with something appropriate. The feel of a new reel has little to do with the type(s) of grease used. Shimano bantam drag grease works well on both drags and gears. It’s similar to Cals. Personally, I’ve pretty much settled on marine grease for gears, Cals for drags that require it, gear oil for frame bearings, level wind and sliding parts, Lighting Lube or air tool oil for spool bearings. Tsi321 in tuned reel spool bearings. Ps: I’m not giving the OP hell, lol. You’re not doing any harm by tinkering and experimenting but I hate to see you or anyone following stress over this.

I don't know what color bass, see, or how they see them, but if they want to get caught on a worm of mine they better like some shade of purple. If they want a deep crankbait, they better like chartreuse and blue, and if they want to hit a rattle trap I'm fishing they will have to be hungry for a chrome with blue back. If they can see and or prefer other colors, than they can bite some other anglers line.

Stuck a nice one this morning before I had to pack it up and go get stuff done. Interesting progression of fish. The bigger one ticked in right at 4lbs, absolutely crushed a walking bait while I was on the phone scheming with @LrgmouthShad. Off to the panhandle, maybe I'll post a smallmouth later

Stopped Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday at my favorite pond this week with no luck Friday but Tuesday and Wednesday caught a few both days on a jig and an in-line spinner that I just started fishing with again thanks to @bulldog1935 & @Swamp Girl for reminding me of how productive they can be. I’m including the dinky bass here of which I caught 2 on the aforementioned in-line spinner.

From Brown Bass Tools https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/211811-brown-bass-tools-~-questions-answers/?do=findComment&comment=2928027 SUNSHINE vs The SMALLMOUTH BASS Back in Chapter II of this deal, I penned the following paragraph . . . “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.” That was in December 2018. At the time, I believed in that philosophy very strongly as so much of own brown bass results (or lack of) seemed to conclude this was mostly the way to go. Well, after 4 more season on the water and quite a few plus sized brown bass later, I am singing a different tune. Besides some nice smallies, these local lakes are home to big trout, deep water walleye, pike & muskie. About half the water’s I fish regularly have largemouth as well. The green bass seem to populate the skinniest water, perhaps out of self-preservation. And when I get a few LMB, there’s rarely any brown bass mix in with them. This is sort of what discouraged me from even looking for SMB shallow very often. Shallow in these instances means less than 5 feet or so. While First and Last light have been eternally productive, I’ve still slipped my Frabil under plenty of good ones with the sun shinning very brightly; all be it usually deeper than 5 feet. As a retired human, I can pretty much pick & choose when I am and am not on the water. Once I got over my ‘cloudy skies phobia’, there has been at least as many brown tanks on the scale hooked with a decent layer of cloud cover or even no sunshine at all. In fact cloudy might even be better for big bass. Either way, the more it happened the more it made me rethink my approach and in a big man way. As I did, I realized that I needed to adapt my presentations, timing & mostly locations to fit the conditions. The biggest factor has to be that, almost like night fishing, I started finding bigger smallies much shallower than I would have ever believed. So the cloudier it would be, the shallower I would fish. Dark bottom area’s turned out to be just as key as when the sun was shining. Stealth & long casts became even more important. Admittedly, none of this is exactly rocket science. But it has opened both my eyes as well as my own big brown bass fishing opportunities quite a bit. Especially when one considers ALL the cloudy/overcast days I spent on the beach when I could have been yanking on trophies. Frankly, I’m a little embarrassed by the whole thing. #knuckhead But that’s how I learn sometimes. Fish Hard (Rain or Shine) A-Jay

Studies regarding all things bass are cool, usually fun to read & ponder. However I do not subscribe to any of them or their results. Instead, I prefer to do my own 'research.' All of which happens on the water in real world conditions. As for what bass see or don't see, or if they are even using 'sight' as often as we think they do, is not something I can say with any confidence. But what I do know is if & when the bass are where I'm fishing, that sometimes, color, size, profile, sound, & speed need to be a certain way, or I'm not getting bites. Bass Fishing in total darkness taught me the same baits, (color, size & profile) that work during the day also produce at night. Like @Catt always says and I'm paraphrasing here "a basses food don't change color at night". Additionally, is there a chance that just like us, older bass lose some of the senses they had when they were younger, or do they get better ? Wish mine did that. Finally I absolutely have 'favorite' colors of baits. But they get in that club my producing big bites for me. How or whether or not a bass sees them like I do, doesn't come into play to me. If a pink flop flop with a treble hooks caught Giants, I'd be rigging that deal up pronto. YMMV A-Jay

My Daiwa Procyon went south on me this summer (bummer!) so I had a hole in my spinning reel arsenal. American Fishing Legacy was blowing out the original Shimano Vanfords since a newer version was released this year. That's my favorite time to swoop in and get a great reel at a big discount! Shimano Vanford 3000 $181 with free shipping and no taxes. Plus I used $14 in customer loyalty points so the price was $167. That's a tidy bit of shopping IMO!

It'll be 5 mph when I launch at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. It doesn't sound like much, but when your canoe is 15' 6" long and only weighs 32 pounds, it works like a sail. So, I'm hoping for the reward that you mentioned!

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/topwaters-october.html

Capitalized on a 'False Spawn' for the first time. The 2nd week in Oct and with water temps hovering around 60 degrees for a bit longer than we're used to seeing, I found a few big males on beds in 4-6 feet of water. Clear, Flat Calm & sunny conditions really helps spot them. Most were pretty wary, but this one hung just around long enough for me to introduce myself. https://youtu.be/Z3BrvrIA8wk?feature=shared&t=191 A-Jay

Two things that always stuck with me…. 1) Never leave fish to find fish 2) Whenever you think you’re fishing too slow, you’re not Personal Note If your boater puts on a Goalie mask and tightens his vest..Hold on tighter Mike

I'm fishing in the evening now that it's cooler in the mornings and not catching nearly as many as the morning bite. My shoulder won't let me cast much so I'm worm fishing mostly. Lots of bait but it's hard to find any fish in it. Thursday the dock pole bite was the ticket and here's the largest.

Sweet! It was a pleasure meeting you too.

Next time you're in DFW I'll do my best to show you some bites at Roberts! Awesome to meet you man

Your beard is even more amazing in person ! Next time you’re up this way holler at me , and we’ll get you a walleye .

I was catching them on a Shimano World Popper last Feburary in 41d water temps which is about as low as the water gets down here, so I'd say no. During the coldest months of the year, that's when I see by far and away the most surface schooling activity. In the summer and spring I rarely seeing Bass schooling and blowing up bait on the surface.

What changed my fishing? The day I tied on a Senko. It opened the door to finesse and I have never looked back. That was 30 years ago.

When I had an Elite Series angler stay with me for a week to pre fish for a tournament, his opinion was that we get too hung up on color. He had 3 color groups….clear water, stained water, and muddy water. He based his color selection on those conditions and went more with shades than actual colors.

When I was much younger, in my latter twenties, I had a wife and four children at home. On Friday nights,the kids would be asleep between nine and ten o clock. I'd take a casting rod, a small one tray tacklebox, a good flashlight and go walk the banks at a small lake near home, night fishing for bass. My night box contained a few spinnerbaits, a jar of #11 pork frogs, and a bag of large Culprit worms, hooks and weights, as well as two Jitterbugs, a 5/8 oz size, and a then new muskie jitterbug. I always fished the same cove. The cove was not very large, and had an old half rotted wooden dock, with one light above, which put out a little bit of dim light. Some guys would promise to meet me there, but almost all backed out, so I made these trips alone. On certain nights, bats would circle the light, occasionally swooping down close by, but there was never any problem with them. One humid night, I decided to hike around the cove and fish the other side. Using my flashlight, I made the hike, walked down the bank and began casting. Directly behind me around ten feet distance, was a large thick wooded area. Very overgrown and thick with trees, vines and deadfalls. No paths or trails in this woods, and I'm sure nobody ever went in there. After a short time, I heard a tree crack in the woods behind me, followed by some loud commotion. This happened again, but sounded closer. I held my flashlight up and scanned the woods, but everything seemed still. There was something in that large woods, trying to get through, and getting closer. I heard what sounded like a larger branch breaking along with more rustling noise, and that was it. My imagination got the best of me. I quickly reeled the spinnerbait to the rod tip, grabbed my tacklebox and quickly( very quickly), made a beeline back to my truck, on the other side of the cove. When I got to my truck, I was sweating, and it took me a minute to calm down. I stared into the woods across the cove trying to see just what it was that made that noise behind me. Whatever it was, it was large enough to break branches and make some serious commotion. Night fishing for bass can be awesome. Your senses become very sharp, and everything is amplified. This all happened over 35yrs ago. I'll never know what was in those woods that night, and I'll always wonder. I still have my black muskie jitterbug too. I've never caught a single fish on it. Now, it's just a reminder of a night time bass fishing trip from years ago. Please share any strange or unexplainable things that you've experienced while night fishing for bass.

I don't doubt that FG is a superior knot but the Alberto is easy to tie and I have caught so many big fish using that knot with a leader that I don't even question it anymore.

Science also contradicts that blue disappears in deep water. Blue light penetrates the furthest in water. That’s why the ocean and swimming pools look blue.

I tried buying into all the studies, but ultimately I think it's impossible to say for sure how bass see and react to colors. I think there is bias, especially when it comes to certain colors. If everyone is throwing red in March, lots of fish will taken on red. I have lots of confidence in blue, particularly blue fleck, and colors with a little blue in them, like magic and molting craw. I've seen certain colors consistently smash others that according to a few studys appear identical to the fish. Right at the end of the prespawn that pearltruese base color, like LCs crack or some Tablerock patterns out fish white and pearl consistently.

My morning on Lake Menderchuck started out foggy & cold. But shortly after sunrise it was like a different world. Water was super clear with temps still in the low 60's. Experienced my first false spawn ever which was pretty cool. Had a slow pick most of the day. Couldn't put down the jerkbait. Fish Hard A-Jay

In general, advice here on BR. In specifics: 1) @WRB's comment about the idea of 'adult fish' - when they get big they behave differently in some important ways. 2) @Catt's comment about the intersection of the thermocline and structure holding bigger fish.

I was catching a bite to eat after the first day of a tournament. Another angler, I never got his name, was talking about fishing the entire water column, in an area where he'd located fish during practice, before giving up on a spot. I didn't have the kind of free time to prefish a tourney, but it got me to thinking about structure I had been targeting. Next day out, I began with the top of the water column on a small point that didn't show on any of the maps I'd checked out. I switched to a mid depth crank, caught a limit of nice fish and moved to another, bigger point. I continued to catch and cull from that one and finished in the money. Now I don't leave a spot I have confidence in until I fish the whole water column. Or a 20lb. flathead. It's happened to me twice this year, but without FFS.

Measured my Victory spinning rod tip guide inside diameter is .150. Tom

Seems like some of you guys use grease for everything. I go by the saying that if it touches use grease, everything else use oil. Mike

Yeah, I learned the same lesson, mostly from my dad. Now we're both too old to reach the yonder lakes, but we can both return to them whenever we want with our memories.

Flat Calm, Blue Bird Skies, super clear water and just about zero wind. But I still poked a few. A-Jay

Never let the truth get in the way of a good fish story.

Another tough morning yesterday of missed strikes, I blew it on all of the nicer fish. I still caught 8 and provided a mild show for the other anglers around, but I had barbs in a few really solid feeling fish. Thankfully I never saw them. Sooner or later I will get them stuck stuck. The common denominator with the lost fish is the vmc trebles I'm using, I got some of those finesse trebles with the slick coating. While they are very sticky, they slip out way too easily. I want to like them but for distance hooking they're just too slick. Back to the gamakatsu short shank ewg trebles I love so much. Off to the panhandle tomorrow to play a show and fish lake Meredith for smallmouths

Slow day with cold front moving in, blue skies, cloud arrival delayed, and light winds. Just stuck a few long skinny guys along with 8-10 crappie. Wind blows today, but hoping for a change of scenery on Friday.

Little guy and a three pounder both on spinnerbaits. Buddy of mine pulled up a largemouth a bit bigger than mine and a handful of perch on a beautiful fall day.

Got a tip from a friend there were some fish schooling, my goodness were they ever. They were so violent, I was even able to feed one a spinnerbait. Got surrounded and even splashed by fish crashing thru shad. I took some video of far away fish schooling after I had already gotten several, should have ran some video when I was sitting in the middle of the blitz but I couldn’t stop casting long enough

Me & my buddy Pat was back up in a little cove in his 14' jon boat. I was on the back deck which put me about 10-15 yrs off the bank, the bank was lined with buck brush. Wasn't much moonlight because of cloud cover. We heard something scream like something I've never heard before. This was followed by something crashing through the brush & water splashing. Before Pat could lift the trolling motor up, I had the Suzuki fired up & bouncing off stumps. Didn't stop till I was a half a mile offshore. Didn't know what is was but I knew where it ain't!