Leaderboard

Cuz it’s fun

Bass fishing for sport goes way back before tournaments. Read Dr Henshall book on black Bass it’s written in the late 1800’s. Bass can be caught by a kid using worms with a cane pole or a pro with $100,000 worth of tackle, plus they located nearly everywhere. Tom

Day 1: Arrival I left around noon eastern on Saturday and didn’t get in until 6:30 am on Sunday. I hit some heavy rain and dense fog, so I pulled off a few times to try and sleep. Even though I’m short, squeezing and contorting into the cargo area of my Bronco Sport was not an easy task. I dozed a few times but didn’t sleep. Once I checked into the hotel I slept for three hours, unloaded, and set up my kayak. There was dense fog on the lake at 10:30 am, so before putting into the water I checked my nav lights. Wouldn’t you know it, the starboard bow light was not working. When I pushed hard on it, it would come on, but it wouldn’t seat properly. I fooled with it for 30 minutes to no avail, but by then the fog lifted so I launched off the ramp at my motel. The water level is down two feet and that makes navigation especially treacherous with all of the submerged timber. I spent more time using FFS to avoid hazards rather than finding fish. Since I have a rigid and not articulated transducer arm it spent half the time on my deck rather than risk shearing the mounting plate again. There were only 2 or 3 boats out in this part of the lake today and they all fished the mouth of a creek channel that I had marked. I didn’t see anyone catching anything. I was scouting and saw nothing in the shallows. There were plenty of baitfish near the surface in the 18-30 foot depths but I saw no predators. I came upon a flat between to lines of brush and saw some bigger fish on FFS in the 9-12 foot depths. i tried top waters, minnows and paddle tails, dragging a jig, a Senko, and a chatterbait and caught nothing. They would follow but not bite. Then I tied on a 3/8 oz spinnerbait and got bit on the first cast. I ended up with four 1-2 pounders in three plus hours. That’s not going to cash a check. Tomorrow I plan to run up to the NW corner of the lake and work my way shallow to deep. Water temps are 73-76 where I fished, which is about 10 degrees warmer than back home. My guess is that the bass are still staged outside the creek channels and pockets chasing shad, so that’s where I’ll start. Tonight is map study and getting rest. It’s a long day tomorrow.

One word @JHoss sums up my answer to your question- “solitude”.

Went out on the creek last night with son #3 in his jon boat. Tide was going out, caught several species: perch, speckled trout, Reds.

I didn’t choose bass fishing. Bass fishing chose me.

Rode the skunk for about 8hrs today. I thought I was gonna ride it home, then I ended up picking up two on a main lake point with a steep break into 30'. Both were right on top of the ledge in about 12'. 32" and 45". Only took a pic with the 45. Raised four others with the A rig, but they wouldn't commit. Crappie rig saved the day again. Guide buddy and his bunch got three today, all on crappie for them also. It's tough out there right now, but I saw some BIG shad schools out deep today. It won't be long now if the forecast holds. 🤞

Only started fishing because I heard its a great way to meet women.

Why do guys bowl and golf and not be in the PBA/PGA?

Woo! It’s Monday, top of the week! Let’s get provocative! I like this post because the author brings up some good points but the community will bring up some excellent reasons they prefer to fish for bass. After all, it’s a hobby. We should do what makes us happy!

As for myself, I am wrapped up prefishing. Koz and I meant to link up but our schedules did not align. I’ll see him the 15th. I’ve been fishing Fork for the past three days over Veteran’s weekend. I have oscillated so much between thinking that I know what I’m doing and thinking that I don’t. I’ve got some stuff marked. Some stuff is shallow some stuff is a little deeper. I’ve got a halfway-there game plan. I don’t know, man, I’ve never done this tourney stuff before. So I’ve concluded to stick to my plan but be ready for it to fail, focus on the mental side of things this week, and don’t stress myself out. I’m going for the big fish because it has the highest payout potential.

I've been keeping an 85 lb. Old Town two-person canoe at my pond and paddling it backwards from the bow seat. It's a goofy design as it mimics the vintage birch bark canoes with their raised bows and sterns. Being high up front and in the back means it catches more wind and paddling it from the bow seat and backwards means I'm not centered in the canoe, although the bow seat does move me a little closer to the middle. So, tomorrow I'm buying an Old Town NEXT canoe. It's 29 pounds lighter than the current canoe at my pond and a solo boat, which means it'll be more efficient and faster. Of course, it's shorter, which means it'll be more crowded. It has a kayak-style seat, which is padded and will be more comfortable. I'm buying it used for $550. I'll leave it at my pond and I expect to catch a few bass from it. I'll keep the tandem boat at my boat for when I have a guest and for friends to use. Here's the new canoe:

Veterans Day pays tribute to all American veterans —living or dead— but especially gives thanks to living veterans who served their country honorably during war or peacetime. Thank You Brothers & Sisters. A-Jay

@JHoss when I first read this post, I actually thought you were writing it in jest. I mean C'mon man, really, You find it odd ? How the other half thinks ? Like you came out of the womb and fished a tournament the very next day right ? Good Luck with your quest for the answer to this this most "complicated" question. Looks like winter's setting in early - again. A-Jay

Why? Cause I wanna 😉

Bass are the Goldilocks Fish -- "just right". Among other things: -Size: They're not too big to handle, but large enough to provide some excitement. -Challenge level: They're easy to catch occasionally, but difficult to catch consistently. -Diversity: They inhabit a huge variety of environments, which require different approaches and yield different angling experiences. -Convenient access: They're everywhere; I'm always close to a body of water with bass in it -Resilience: They tolerate being caught and handled well, and survive release at a high rate; the perfect catch-and-release quarry.

I fish for bass because I love fishing, and they are a convenient fish to catch. Honestly I would rather be standing in a northern wilderness trout river fly fishing, but at our age and stage sitting in a comfortable boat in a near by bass lake is the way to go.

New Academy had their grand opening sale in Fort Myers, so I snagged some pretty good deals while I was there. Baits and lures were all buy one get one 50% off, so I snagged some Zakos since I was running low, picked up some 6th Sense Provoke jerkbaits to try out, some MiniMax chatterbaits, and some Yamatanukis.

I have been primarily bass fishing for the past 60 years not only because it's fun but because of the challenge to be good at it. To go out each trip and try to figure out what works best that day is what keeps me going after all these years.

He spit it back out….. 😂

I’ve loved bass fishing since I was a kid. It’s fun and it’s my therapy.I’ve fished for other species and it just doesn’t do much for me. I have always had less than zero interest in tournament fishing.

For enjoyment

Y'all Kick Bass 😉

Not my picture but worth sharing.

My goal is to cover the cost of my trip. I believe setting goals leads to a higher probability of success. In the few tournaments I fished earlier this year I just showed up and fished. No real plan, no goals. No success, either. I treated it like a day fishing for fun on my home lake. I want to try a different approach and improve myself as an angler. I also want not only to be competitive, but also to win. That might be wishful thinking, but it’s a goal. I’ll fish for fun when I get home.

South Florida we often have an east wind. It doesn’t change much for me, but I will attack favorite spots a little differently. Wind will cause current if it is constant and from the same direction for a few days in a row. Bass will position themselves behind structure and weed clumps and face into the current. This pushes small baitfish into them and their ambush points. I have had both good and bad days regardless of what direction the wind is blowing. I prefer steady wind to calm still days. Regardless of the direction it’s blowing.

The wife and I are looking forward to watching Iron Mike drop this fool. It will make me feel better about my own age too! LOL

Original, sorted by type in $1.99 plastic file folders from staples. They last longer than zip locks. You can buy the good clear folder style fishing bags from BP, TW, etc for 4x the price but my boat stays dry so I don’t bother.

Not trying to offend anyone, just trying to understand how the other half thinks. If you don't fish bass tournaments and don't ever plan to, why do you target bass? It's always seemed odd to me that people would target a species that is not often kept for table fare and is not the biggest/strongest fish in the body of water. I grew up fishing saltwater where most trips were focused on putting some food on the table. When we weren't targeting an edible species, we were targeting the biggest, strongest fish around. I can personally say that if it weren't for the abundance of locally available tournaments, bass would be a rare target species for me. I love the puzzle they present, but there are much better eating fish and much better fighting fish out there, so why does the black bass obsess so many?

Bait Monkey now days, Thanking TW 😅

Heck yeah, I get this! I fish and hunt because my dad took me when I was young and those are some of my fondest memories. I have a 4 year old daughter who has the attention span and interest to fish for about 20 minutes, but I'm so hopeful that she'll be my fishing buddy sooner or later. I can see that. I imagine if I was fishing for a living, it would suck a lot of the fun out of it. You hear a lot of the pro guys talk about that. But spending $40-50 every other weekend to fish a local tournament doesn't put that kind of pressure on it. If I win, I cover my costs for the next couple events. If I lose, I'm out an hour's wage in exchange for an exciting 8 hrs on the water and hopefully a few new lessons learned.

Because it makes me happy.

Because its cheaper than the psychiatrist (not by much)

A. Bass are in fact the biggest/strongest fish I can easily access. B. I could saltwater fish but B1. I’m afraid of the ocean, I grew up on it and faced death a few times. B2. I spend about 3-5k a year bass fishing, if I took up salt it would be triple that.. at least. I would need a 2nd job, then I’d have no time to fish. B3. Even if I wanted to approach saltwater casually, which I’m not programmed to do, traveling although not actually far, would cut into my time on the water too much.. my 5 favorite bass ponds are 5-10 minutes from my house and/or job. Literally go on lunch break almost every everyday.

I got hooked on Smallmouth Bass back in the spring of ‘75 as a young guy while trout fishing with some buds. We were all spread along the creek but I stayed close to where I had the truck parked because I didn’t want to be parked illegally, didn’t think I was. I would have moved it if I would have to. Trout fished that lower section as many times before. Creek in that area has very little or any slack water. Full of rock steps and riffles. Was within short walking distance from the bigger river. Had all but my limit of trout, 7/8 in a short time using Velvita cheese and flathead minnows. I switched over to some Panther Martins and CP Swings figuring that the trout bite would slow down and I’d catch and release until the other guys came back to the truck. It wasn’t but a couple of cast with the inline spinners and I started picking off the smallies. Was a pretty steady bite of them. Until that time catching the occasional never got any interest. Within days I had bought some small Rapalas floater divers and Rebels and fished that creek section down to the river. Needless to say was hooked on bass fishing from there on out. Bought an aluminum boat w/ 10 hp motor a couple of year later after graduation HS and made the bigger river home. Still hooked to this day. I fish a lot differently for them these days and have been working at catching lake smallies also over the years.

I don't fish tournaments cause of the crazy rules - like polygraph test, which has been debunked more times than I can count and the Justice Dept states that they can NOT be used as evidence in court trials...need we say more. Also, I do eat bass...I'm a follower of Al Lindner's "Selective Harvest" mantra, so I will occasionally keep bass in what I consider the eating range. Now I do fish for other species...walleye and panfish to be precise...but bass put up a good fight, especially if you're using lighter rigs.

But what is it about bass that makes them the fish for you? Have you tried fishing for other species and settled on bass being the best fit for you? Is it the thump of them hitting a jig, the way they blowup on topwater, the jumps and acrobatics when hooked, all of the above? Clearly a slow day at the office! There's a reason all my posts on this site are Monday-Friday between 9-5. I've heard Ken Duke speak about Henshall and intend to check out some of his works based on Ken's advice. Thank you for taking the time to answer the spirit of my question.

Two words and it's the solution to this topic for me anyway

Love chasing them. It’s a lifestyle Been Rockin River Smallies since 73. Can’t really picture life with out them. I watch and follow tournaments, Never fished any. Just me against them .Just ate up with bass fishing

Problem solved My grandson Evan reminded me he has a 3D printer.

Full clouds, light rain. Slight breeze. Thought it was going to be a great morning. But one missed (dink) bite and one catch. That was it. But the catch was unique. I saw a bass busting baitfish against the bank and cast a TR Senko to the spot. It took it right off the bat then it felt like it was gone. Then it started fighting again but it felt completely different. As I got it near the boat I saw it hooked in the belly. But I saw my Senko up near its mouth. After netting it, I saw it was an old, almost rusted through hook stuck in its belly and my line was threaded through the gap in the eye. As I lifted the bass out of the net, both hooks fell out. So I caught one bass and helped it get rid of an old hook.

Interesting day ! Fished my way up the river and wasn’t having anything but dink nibbles . After a couple hours I finally got a solid hit and it was and 18.5 + inch SMB on a black jig! Ambassaduer 4600c and 50 lb seguar tactx braid . Great fight lots of fun. For some reason I went way on upstream and tried some different stuff until I drifted back down to where I caught the first one. I tried one of @Bluebasser86’s bladed jigs with no trailer in sparse millfoil and a 4.82 lb large grabbed it! Using the st croix mojo rod seviin reel and seaguar jdm braid. Only two fish but they were two nice ones for here

Dad at 17,000 ft

Last day out for the season. 2 nice bass were the highlights of the day. It was a great way to finish a great season.

Fun BFS fishing morning. Found a little school chasing a bait ball they had trapped in a grass pocket. The bass would only bite when they decided to flash through the school but it was consistent for almost 4 hours.

I may have found the travel angler’s nirvana - a Buc-ees and a Bass Pro Shop on the same exit!

More after work fun. They have been slamming the shad on this bank all week. The mayor and hybrid swim jig. I need to dig out my scale.

Mrs. Chunkworth in the fog right after breakfast this morning… a hair under 6, good start to the day..

@ReggieT Notice that most suggestions are in the NLT $100 range. I vote for the Lew’s Speed spool LFS, but many others will serve you just as well. The problem is that if you go too cheap and struggle too much with backlashes, you might just give up and never realize how useful and fun baitcasters can be. A better reel will be easier to learn with because of better breaking systems. Side note - If you crank a spinning reel with your left hand, you might consider a left hand reel because it crosses directly over from a spinning reel. (Cast with your right, crank with your left) I learned to use a baitcaster after 20+ years using spinning gear and I couldn’t get used to cranking with my right hand - so I bought a left hand reel and never looked back.