A-Jay

Workout Day 5 Today. I was a little ticked off going into this one. Just one of those days I guess. #borninfiftynine A-Jay

Nicely Done with some Great Smallies. For folks who have never 'fished' in those conditions, that big water gets wildly brutal. To get any bites at all is a testament to ones determination, grit and pure love of the sport. Helps to be just a little bit crazy too. Congrats Sir. A-Jay

Me too #hateit 🥴 A-Jay

What's your favorite kind of water to fish and why? I've fished a variety of places and techniques over the years. Chasing the pelagic beasts of the Deep Blue waters of the Atlantic Gulf Stream, the infinite opportunities offered fishing in-shore habitats of most of the East Coast to the many sweet water lakes, rivers & streams of northern New England where I grew up. But being a prisoner of the moment, my jam for the last 17 years or so has been on deep, clean, lightly pressured in land lakes of northern Michigan. Most all of these are multi species experiences. However, Smallmouth bass are my current quest. When I get it right, it's on par with most everything previously mentioned. Might even be world class. Honorable mention has to go to Lake Baccarac in Mexico where I have experienced a kind of largemouth bass fishing that I wouldn't have believed was even possible without video proof. It's the Disneyland meets Jurassic Park of Green Bass Fishing. A-Jay

ReelX grease and oil. I use ZPI Zero for bearings and there's a few to do. A-Jay

After a couple of decent days on the water, I was back in the home gym for Workout Day 4. Completed 3 working sets of the 4 movements scheduled. Showing them here. #borninfiftynine A-Jay

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

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

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

Hello Cooper and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ We're all addicted to it up in here. A-Jay

Thanks - yes. Mostly perchy looking deals. Unless the water has some color. Then I send in the clowns . . . A-Jay

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

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

Over 16 years ago, I joined the Bass Resources Fishing Forums. The benefits have been countless and priceless. Thank You. A-Jay

Sorry to hear about your wife Mike Hope she can be better soon. A-Jay

The biggest brown bass I catch, quantify my level of stealth. IMO, stealth comes in many forms. But fish size is often directly related to my own version of it. I will always take the long hard road, because everyone else I see, does not. YMMV A-Jay

Congrats ~ Hope that's a good thing. A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ I also fish for smallmouth. My 7' MH/F sticks are rated for 3/8-1 oz baits and 12-20 lb line. I find 15 lb works for me when fishing with bottom contact baits. I like FC or Mono depending on the application. If your tackle is similar, this might be the way to go. Good Luck A-Jay