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I reconnected with an old friend I hadn’t seen for at least 30 years. He came over to fish and catch up on our lives. It was super windy and cool . We caught around 18 -20 fish on Culprit worms, Super flukes, uv speed worms, and yum dingers.

Well, that’s it for our 2024 season. Wes and I fished for a couple hours this afternoon. Water temps were 50-53F and we only caught 1 pike. I don’t know where to find ‘em when it’s that cold, so we’re done for the year. It makes me sad, but we had another great year in our little Bass Tracker. Time to winterize the boat and spend more time in the fall woods. (my biscuit topped squirrel pie just came out of the oven 😁)

I set the hook as hard as I can. Into fish, limbs, rocks, weeds, trash, brush. Whatever feels different to me I swing for the fences. From ned rigs and drop shots to T rigged in slop.

My 'hooksets' are tackle dependent. Each type of tackle, (rod, line, terminal tackle & hook), will transfer my 'power' in it's own way. So my hooksets are all the same, mostly. But the amount of force applied changes. No matter how 'hard' I set the hook, with medium light spinning gear, I can never duplicate what happens at the end of Heavy casting gear. So rather than trying to guess what I need each time, I do the same thing and let the gear do what it's designed to do. If I get choose the right gear, I'm usually OK. YMMV A-Jay

Learned a long time ago the rod cross their eyes hook set applies very little force to the hook. I described the reel set with rod sweep in a 1986 In-Fisherman article A Rare Chance for a World Record Bass, lake Isabella CA. The Reel set is lower the rod tip pointing at the lure while reeling fast to get the line tight and hook point started the a firm rod sweep to complete the hook set. I demonstrated this hook set in 1974 during a presentation on my Cosmic Clock and Bass Calendar. I had a good angler do his cross the eyes hook set across the room while holding my jig between thumb and index finger, the jig didn’t move. I used a piece of 2 x 4 and had the angler hold it with my jig hook point slightly sticking in the wood. I did me reel set and rod swing yanking the 2 x 4 nearly out of his grip and hook penetrated past the barb. This is I manage to hook giant bass after casting over 120’ using 10 or 12 lb mono line. Tom

I fished again this morning. Cold again, but with double gloves and Hot Hands warmers, I fared better. Not warm, but better. I caught 20 in four hours, which sounds like a fairly busy morning, but it wasn't, as I had two flurries and lots of dead time. This was the biggest: Several this size: Even the smaller ones were well-fed: Except for this super skinny smallie! The pretty pic: I was admiring these three sugar maples all morning, so I paddled over to photograph them: Most of my bass were caught with a Depps 6" fluke. A few were caught on my popper. I also caught three old soda or beer cans with my net, which made them my morning's best catch, as I love to remove lazy people's trash.

@The Budget Angler As mentioned above, there needs to be big bass in the system you're fishing. If there is not, that's your first move - Move. Also if you are, STOP using dink bass baits to get bites. Clearly, big bass eat small baits but dink bass eat them too. Perhaps Eliminate the use of neg rigs, anything with the word neko in it as well as 'downsized' stuff. Fish baits 8 inch bass can't eat. Replace the above with full sized Jigs with a trailer that's a mouth full, Big Spinnerbaits, Swimbaits of at least 5 inches and A-Rigs. And although I am allergic to them apparently, and might be the only man on the planets that is, Full sized Glide baits get big bites for everyone else. I think you get the idea. A 3 inch Senko isn't your friend right here. Good Luck A-Jay You are fishing is big bass heaven. Try thinking big bass in northern Vermont and get back to us ~ A-Jay

Ditto But a 9.5, I’m a litter older Mike

The guy had the nerve to have me escort him to the boat.

Got another tricky species, maybe a Kentucky strain spotted bass ? and a skipjack for catfish bait

Last year I couldn't buy a bite on a Ribbon Tail and caught my biggest of the year on a straight tail worm. This year I can't get a decent bite on a straight tail worm, but have had days when the only lure in the box that gets bit is a Zoom Ole Monster. I don't know why, but with bass like this wanting ribbon tails, that is what I'm going to throw.

Yamamoto 10” Ichi Worm down to a 5" Bonehead worm.

Every bass is different Every bite is different Every hookset is the same In my opinion more fish are missed due to poor strike detection. Speed is key, how soon the strike is felt vs how soon till you sethook. My hooksets are slightly less than Hackney but I still rock the boat.

Any bait with an exposed hook, I just use a firm sweep set. When pitching cover, on a scale of 1-10, my hookset is about a 13. 😉

The full moon brings fun times. Caught 8 snook on a DOA shrimp. All small, the biggest (pictured) was ~15”. It’s been a while since I’ve gone snooking and the bugs weren’t bad, so I’m happy with it.

Learn what structure is, how to truly identify it, interpret it, and then fish it effectively. Learn what the predominate prey species are in your lake and how that species relates to structure with each season...morning, noon, and night. Learn that next after location is timing; just because you don't get bite does not mean the bass aren't there or you tied on the wrong lure.

The way I see it is that 90% of quality/large adult Bass take up the best 10% of habitat in a body of water. If you catch a big fish on a spot, the odds are that you can continue to catch big fish on that spot. You simply have to fish around enough to build a big enough of a data set to see where the bigger fish are coming from. At the end of the day, the first priority is to A.) Fish where big fish live, and B.) target those fish in the specific locations they like to be at. A great place to start is anywhere there is good cover or structure that is near deeper water. Big fish like to relax in deeper water, and then simply slide up into shallower water near a critical piece of cover/structure like a main lake point to ambush easy meals. Learning where the biggest forage size and base are within a body of water is extremely advantageous. For example, target the areas that have the biggest Bream, and Shad. Gizzard Shad for example like to be in specific locations. If you find a zone of life that has significant life from other species like Catfish, or Crappie, often times big Bass will be around, or even call that area home. I've caught many of Catfish within feet of where I ended up catching a huge Bass. The easiest way to catch big Bass is time on water. The more time you spend fishing, the more big fish you'll catch. There is no substitution for learning with a line in the water. You learn 10x as much on the water, and most importantly your brain retains it vastly better than if you watched it in a video or read it online. You never want to be comfortable in this sport as long as you're interested in growing and becoming a better angler. If you're fishing for big Bass, you have to understand there are far less of them than normal and small sized Bass, and you have to be willing to fish for less bites or even be okay with getting skunked in order to explore new areas, and fish baits you've never tried. When I first got back into the sport, I learned how to always catch at least some fish trolling a finesse chatterbait. I must have caught hundreds of sub 2lb Bass doing this. Whenever I thought the bite was slow, I'd just start trolling. Long story short I never got skunked, but never caught a fish over 5lbs trolling a small bait. I came to the conclusion that I wasn't out there just to catch Bass, my priority is to just catch fish over 5lbs so if I wasn't going to fish for 5lb Bass I might as well just leave or learn a proper way to catch them. The comfort of catching easier fish was a huge detriment to the uncomfortable task of trying to catch larger fish.

One of the reasons I use braid is because of how little effort is needed to get a good hook set compared to mono lines.

As far as ribbon tails go, I have caught more fish on a Culprit Original 7.5" in Fire & Ice than any other, and it's not close.

That unit served us well for a long time so really can't complain. My alternate heat source is a wood burning stove and I have plenty of fuel for the fire. But it was Too Warm to light that deal up. We would roast unless it's at least below 20 degrees and we were in the 40-60 range. So it wasn't so bad. Either way, we're good to go now. Lynn's recovery as always has had a few bumps in the road. But trending OK. A-Jay

I don't have a clue where the hook point is going to contact. If it is the thin area just inside the lips, it doesn't matter much. If it is in the roof or a bit back on the bottom of the mouth, even a light wire needs a bit of force. A hookset that doesn't to the get the barb means more lost fish. I have prioritized hook setting.

Set the drag at 1/3rd the mono/FC strength or not over the rods lifting power* and use the same reel hook set for everything. Just adjust the rod sweep force for single hooks. Vertical hook sets use the rod line is already tight. * ML = 2lbs, M = 3 lbs, MH= 4 lbs, H= 5 lbs.

It's bait by bait I've found. For moving baits with exposed hooks, I almost never set the hook per say. For bottom contact baits like a Free Rig, the hookset is absolutely paramount to success. I can't imagine it being anything but extremely difficult to catch fish on baits like a Free Rig, Texas Rig, Jig, Carolina Rig, etc. without a proper hookset. On the hand I can't imagine having much success setting the hook on jerkbait or crankbait fish with a proper hookset. *Proper hookset to me is laying the hammer down, very powerful and fast.

Not too bad a morning. Should have brought a jacket as I got a bit chilly. Pretty good breeze that blew all the pine needles and algae to the west side of the pond on the north bank. Very nasty lol, but it’s also where the bass were hiding. Caught four, lost one. First was on a squarebill. Second on a black 5” Senko TR and the last two on a black Zoom Magnum Trick TR. Tried an A-Jay special, a jig-and-craw, a green pumpkin Yum Dinger TR, a stupid tube and a Ned rig with no bites.

It used to be that I'd focus on hook setting and even set the hook more than once. Now I keep fish pinned by using braid, upgrading hooks, and maintaining tension. Surprisingly, I lose far fewer bass. I especially don't lose the bigger ones because, I'm thinking, they pull harder, so the hook penetrates deeper. The YouTuber and competitive angler, Kristine Fischer, really lays into bass, but I don't...anymore...and it works for me. This is likely why I'm a lousy frog fisher. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the wimpiest, how hard do you set the hook? I'm a 2.5.

I have been doing this for so long I don’t think about it at all. From the moment I feel the first tick, or see the line jump, I take up all slack, and as soon as I feel some weight, I set the hook. Depending on the boat position in relation to that the bite, I wil either side swipe or up set up hard. Because of our thick weeds in Florida especially the Everglades shallow flats it s important to get their head up quickly and headed for the surface. I set the drag tight to accomplish this. I use high speed baitcasters 90% of the time to pic up line before the hook set. Playing with a big fish in shallow heavy cover is a road to failure. All of this is done automatically without any conscious thought process. After 50 years of bass fishing I still have much to learn, but the hook set is not part of it. I seldom lose a big fish unless their is a terminal tackle failure. Check your line often, and re-tie if you see or feel any nicks. Next one could be a new personal best!

You talking about these? … yea they don’t work. Give me all you got. 😉

In a nut shell ~ Well Said. I fished 8 hours yesterday for one bite and Never got it. Catching half a dozen tight eyes wouldn't have made me feel any better or less sore. Nature of the game. 👌 A-Jay

I'm a fan of Culprit worms. 7" blue, purple, and black. It's a great worm, and one of the classics.

One thing is you need to fish where bigger bass are. That might be one reason. We there it’s body of water related or structure related. The thing is you found where the smaller bass hang out and how to catch them. Which is great. Now you need to find the bigger ones homes.

Limited out last night with the help of a small tiger trout. Two good takes on a spoon, had to switch to bait to get that last bite.

Not for me I got my PB on a 7” red/shad Fat Max and always have it ready... My first choice is always a Magnum UV Speed Worm but when the bite is slower than it should be the Fat Max is next. There are no other options Mike

As I was listening to the sports talk radio here in MN this past week, they discussed this. It is nearly 100% due to to the transfer portal. 20 of their 22 starters on both sides of the ball are transfers, including 8 from the previous team that the head coach was at (James Madison I think they said?). I have not seen them play but what they did to Nebraska today was a butt whoopin. That being said, the transfer portal is a joke. It’s essentially free agency for college sports. It’s become way too loose. They need to make players sit out for a year again if they want to transfer.

Im curious if theres a difference with Country Bros in the north vs the south of these here United States? Up here its usually the guys between 20-30, squatted trucks, 300 credit scores, just moved out of moms basement, have a "im a country boy" sticker on the bumper but live in a city and dont know how to start a lawn mower. Windows down but blasting music. Seems counter productive.

I fished my second of four Indian Summer trips. It was cold when I launched and even though I wore wool, fingerless gloves with Hot Hands stuffed into them, I still had to take a hand warm-up break to keep using them. It was foggy when I launched too. See: I rigged six rods and the wacky worm, spinnerbait, walking bait, and Sixth Sense crankbait all failed to elicit a single hit. All bass were caught on a Yo-Zuri popper and 6" Depps black and green fluke. I caught several around 17 inches, like these two: Then I caught a thick 18.5-incher on my fluke: Then I landed my biggest, a 19.25-incher: There were other solid bass in the 17 to 17.5-inch range: I caught smallies too. Some thinner: And some thicker: We catch bass so differently. I have leaned on my Yo-Zuri popper this fall, catching hundreds of bass on it. I even caught bass today with a high Sun under a blue sky on my popper. No fishing tome tells us to reach for that lure under those conditions, but it worked. Our bass want what our bass want and my trying to force feed them four other lures was fruitless. If you were fishing with me this morning and I reached for my popper at 10:30 a.m. under a cloudless sky and cast into the middle of nothing, you'd think, "Whadda maroon." And I'd reply, "Fish on." Going fishing again tomorrow morning to the same pond. I left my canoe and all my gear there! Here's the pretty pic:

ALF 25% off loomis. Unleash the hounds.

We took a family day trip up to Houghton Lake for a color tour. We tried fishing but skunked. Here’s our skunk photo the Mrs. took.

Fall bite is finally turning on over at the ponds--got one right at dark today on the 3:16 Baby Wake, part of this "traveling bait share" thing we're doing on the swimbait forums. Bait arrived today and I ran out for a quick sesh (each of us gets 7-10 days before we've gotta send it on to the next guy on the list). She went 21" @ 5.22lb. God is GREAT, and so faithful. Hopefully more to come before the season's done!

Depends on the presentation. I fish from a bass boat so I have a much more stable platform than a kayak or a canoe, and I’m standing up. I let the rod do most of the work. I am mostly using a bait caster too recently, and hooksets are better with those than with spinning. My last few outings the bass have not been hammering my lures because the water has been colder. I would sometimes feel like I was hung up on a weed, and it turned out to be a fish. Even minimal resistance would sometimes be a bass. Hooksets are free, why take a chance. When a pike would hit, it was jarring and very obvious compared to bass in cold water. They try to destroy lures.

Let's make it easy for the man....

Just throwing a tip on probably won’t be great with that much broken. But you can sleeve it and it will be fine.

Down here in Florida some of the worst water turn overs have been in the hottest part of the summer during a real heavy thunderstorm. Water temps get above 90*, a bad thunderstorm develops with rain temperature in the 60’s*. 5” of rain water sinks rapidly to the bottom and pushes unoxigenated water up the column to the surface. I have seen thousands of fish floating on the surface dead from a rapid turn over. Sickening to see this but the gators are overjoyed!

Caught 3 yesterday on a random pattern I found offshore, thanks to something @A-Jay said a while back that stuck. It was 60/35 high low temps and I was very sure they would be in the Sun. I fished banks for 2 hours with no strikes and was getting irritated. Then I flashed back to what he said. As I was trying to think of a way to Target offshore bass. I had no crank baits with me but did have some chatter baits which I never threw, but I decided to throw them deep and let them touch bottom and then rip off the bottom. Doing that I found several three-pounders in the Sun in about 10 to 12 ft of water on gradual Banks. The sun went down before I filled my limit but I hope to give it another run this weekend and see if that pattern is still in play. I've never had luck with a chatter bait. this was new and fun for me. Fishing offshore with one when I am normally pounding the bank from my kayak. Fall fishing is always something new.

Well I caught bass today This morning went well, caught some super dinks on the surface then headed to the ripraps for a later morning bite. Hooked into some with a chatterbait. Went home for a nap and some pork belly mac and cheese. Went back for a sunset bite. Decided to throw the 3/4oz red eye shad around for kicks and giggles. Had some adventures with other people's cut/stuck line, eventually lost that lure. I tied on my other one and immediately ran into a brick wall of a fish. I wasn't able to land whatever that was, but I was positive I had a rock for a few seconds until it started kicking. Given that I've caught multiple double digit flatheads right there on red eye shads I'm almost positive it was that. I broke off again. Then I caught this trailer bunk, which held the second lure I'd snapped off. What is old becomes new. After that it was a few more bass on a chatterbait along the ripraps and a warning from the sheriff on the way home. All in all a much less expensive day than it could have been. I'm tired.

These pics are from our last fishing trip on Oct 9 when the day was like late spring weather. I was fishing the culvert and was only getting small bluegill out and around the culvert. Thinking the crappie moved out to their winter home a guy showed up with Gulp minnows using a bobber and he bomb casted as far a he could and he cuaght a 12 inch crappie, then he caught another and ...... I was blown away by all the big crappie he was catching so quickly. So i changed my bobber to a weighted bobber and using 1/8 oz jig along with 1/8 oz split shot and crappie minnows I bomb casted within a few yards from him and i immediantly caught a huge crappie, we struck up a conversation and we were both catching 12- 13 inch crappie every few recasts, the crappie were on feeding frenzie, these were the biggest crappie we have ever caught in numbers. I was so stuck on old habits of fishing close around the culvert i didnt bother casting far out so i thanked him for getting me out of a funk. We caught our limit and went home. The filets were thick and meaty, best crappie day ever. I made a big boo boo when putting a crappie on the stringer which we hung from a rail leading down to the culvert, as i put on the crappie and it slid down the stringer i pulled the stringer completly out of the water to see our catch and when the crppie hit the fish the stringer slipped completly out of my hand and was going into the culvert so my wife grabbed my fishing pole with my Pflueger president XT and stuck the whole rod into the water, reel first to hook the stringer which she was successfull. I was going to put some oil on the line guide bearing but to this day i havnt botherd to.

The river is the lowest it’s been all year. Still lake fishing

Fishing was good again this morning. Stunning fall day out there too. Went with a friend and his son, caught 15 bass and 5 pike in about 4.5 hours. We caught 4 fish over 4 pounds, including a 19.5 incher that I caught which was over 5 pounds. I am done bass fishing for the season. I intend to muskie fish one more time though.

Got on some rainbows, could have limited out, but I guess I made the mistake of leaving fish to find maybe bigger fish. So made off with two, couldn't get a third.

Brown trout