bigbill

I read where a local Tornie fisherman sad there's nothing over seven pound bass in my state of ct. my pb is 10lbs and I lost bigger and seen bigger swim by me. I told him what I just said. His ego got the best of him. I fish three different places heavy. All three places hold bigger bass. My theory is all these bass fry aren't coming from the light weight females. then all of a sudden the other tornie guys were posting bass from 9lbs to 11 lbs. one by one they proved me right. There has been bigger bass caught in Maine too so big bass aren't limited to a shorter season nor a colder season. stay fishing,

Odd jobs, don't spend my lunch money. I made p&j sandwiches instead. Rake leaves, mow grass, anything to make money. Don't forget a zebco 202 reel was $5. We fished so much we wore one out per year. there wasn't much in fishing lures during that time. Creme worms as the only one. I ordered that back page in the comic books it was 40 lures for $4.95. That included fishing hooks too. Remember? Five dollars was a lot of money back then. Today it's a KFC box lunch.

I been fishing the same places every year. My catch did decrease somewhat. I learned in the smaller places the fish learn our baits and even my scents. What bait was hot this years will reduce the catch next year. This is why I started varying my selection of baits. I switch baits and colors till I get action. One time I had no action at all I changed from a regular bass scent to a garlic scent and I got action. I know the bass are there it's a matter of figuring out what bait will they hit. It's a challenge and we need to think it out. There is more bass as the population is growing. mother nature controls the population of the fish by a winter kill during the ice over.

Something I heard about it opening the bass fishing season later after the spawn. So the time during the spawn the bass are off limits. In a heavy, real heavy fished environment I could understand it. in one state they shoot pike with a 30-06 rifle. i witnessed many fishermen even taking 2" sunfish to eat. It's pretty bad with people in need. They can get help nowadays.

I was watching a Bill Dance tv video on him fly fishing for bass. I seen short strikes behind his fly that the camera picked up on the side view but no one said anything. Seeing this made me adapt to it. I watch behind my shallow running baits and surface baits a lot more now. The short strikes tells me to slow down the speed or change colors or change baits. just a tip.

Btw, enjoy fishing in the early am. Watch the sky start to light up at twilite. Look for the freshwater otters at this time. They disappear as it gets lighter. Watch that big yellow orange ball rise up (sun). Be one with nature it's awesome.

I fish from shore and pond, lake, river hop too. Let's get serious about bass fishing. I stayed going, stayed motivated and focus on just catching bass. I caught all sizes and was having a blast. That's many bass between 1lb to 6lbs and many inbetween. The more baits and different presentations I learned the more knowledge I learned the better fisherman I became. We don't target big bass. They target us through our skills on how to use baits and presentations. Skill catches fish not luck. now I figured out that I was fishing in the evenings and the place was crowded at one of my spots. I caught bass but nothing over 5 to 6 lbs, I wasn't looking for big bass I'm more interested in the number of bass I was catching. Then I figured out to give up evening fishing and fish in the early am when the place is quiet with no one there. I wanted peace and quiet no one chucking salt water rigs with heavy weights. I wanted to relax and just fish. Im alone in the dark at 4 am. My bass that are caught are bigger but less in numbers. Like I said I wasn't even thinking about catching a bigger bass. I'm just a nut who loves bass fishing. Give me a dozen dinks I'm happy. Now I fish from springtime everyday till I get burned out. I'm up at 3:30am and at my spot by 4am fishing. Every morning, everyday for three months or till I get burned out. being stealthy is the key to not spooking the big gals when there feeding at the shoreline early in the mornings. This one morning I'm quiet, more quiet than a church mouse. I walk up to my spot, not stepping on rocks or roots sticking out of the ground because it sends sounds and vibrations into the water. I handle my tackle very quietly too. It's like I'm not even there. I even close my car door quietly too. I use locking ball bearing snap swivels too. I use a one AA battery flashlite. I keep the flashlite in the hood of my tackle box not to light up the area with excess glare. ok I'm casting my rebel big claw crawfish crankbait. I'm skip fancasting the area. I put each cast away from each other. Not to spook fish. I made one cast two feet from shore parallel. I'm fishing from a low bridge on a man made road with a drop off. I'm slowly working the crank towards me and as I ripped it out of the weeds into the channel she hit it. This is at 5am. The battle was on, I got off the bridge and went to the shoreline to get her. In the low light I had no clue to how big she was. She scared me at first I never seen a bass this big. I only seen big saltwater fish this big. She weighed in at 10 pounds. Now I'm thinking this was easy right? I just got into bass fishing really heavy for a few years. It's like buying your first lotto ticket and winning. I was setting the hook on bigger bass but losing them. I can see in the water at the drop off and see bigger bass than 10lbs swim by me. One day I was tossing those bps stick o worms 7 1/4" ones. I didn't know they were that large. The biggest hook I had for acwacky rig was a number four. So I used that. Here I am working my c rig with the stick o worm wacky rigged on a c rig with a 24" leader. I felt a tug and I could see a large bass with my worm in its mouth at the droppoff. I wear polarized glasses. I knew the hook was too small. I waited and thought do I try to set the hook or not. I finally got tired of waiting and set the hook. She spit it as I swept the rod back. there ya go you want big bass stay going. Stay motivated and focused. Learn everything you can here. Learn every bait with different presentations. On a slow day practice with each bait. Learn all you can. now focus harder during the moon phases. I go anyway wether the moon phase is right or not. But I do focus during the best times to fish by the moon phases. Just stay going everyday or as much as you can. When I'm bass fishing I'm in my own zone. I don't talk, or do anything else but fish and focus on my award winning presentations. Your presentations have to be perfect to fool the big bass because there smart.

I swear by using weedless hooks. If we feel a bump and the weedless keeper comes up still closed we hit something. If it comes up open we had a strike and a miss. Slow down your line speed on the next cast. I've seen the bass grab the tail of the worm. That tells me I'm reeling too fast. night time baits I like the mister twister top prop. In a slow reel just fast enough to make the prop spin. Any topwater popper or spook that has a rattle in it. A shot of bass attractant doesn't hurt too. Fact/tip, i find myself reeling too fast sometimes, I'm in a rush to fish. I slow down and work the area over slowly. Slowing down your line speed is the key to success. my favorite presentations is a 1-2-3 twitch n pause. Make the twitches even, try short pauses and longer pauses. Another one is a slow reel, line speed. Move the blade baits just fast enough to make them spin. With crankbaits just fast enough to make a short slow wobble just under the surface. You can make the deeper running cranks run more shallow by going slower on your line speed.

My favorite river and stream baits is a silver blade white skirt inline spinner like a wordens. I look for backwashes and a line in the water parallel to shore between the moving water and the slower water. Work that edge between the two different speeds of the water. Another good bait is the smaller rebel crawfish crank in chartreuse. Don't be afraid to toss a split shot rigged worm too. Don't forget the inline spinners too.

I find the inline spinners and spinnerbaits work better in windy conditions. If it's raining and overcast too the better. I like the strike king inline spinner in silver blade black bucktail or joes fly 1/4oz bass in firetiger Apache. My spinnerbaits presentation is holding the rod up at 12 o'clock letting the spinnerbaits run on the surface making the blade smack the water on the surface to the right and left as it moves.

When throwing plastics I like to use a weedless hook on a c-rigged wacky rigged senko or Brushog. You could toss a weightless or splitshot 6" worm too.

I stock up on both. I notice lately the crankbaits, some of my favorites are being discontinued. I have boxes full of them in different colors. But I do purchase more in my hotter colors. What depth to buy? How deep is the area your fishing. Sometimes I bounce a crankbait off the bottom. Most of the cranks I use from shore run 10' deep. But I also have deeper running cranks if I go out in a boat. In the late fall(November) I like to throw swimbaits like the yum money minnow. The dying minnow presentation works well. I was out in late November fishing during the snow flurries I had the bug to go fishing. I had a strike and it battles for 15 minutes till it spit the hook. There still feeding in late November. Go plastics.

I use yum money minnows but there are some cheaper knockoffs.

How sharp are your hooks? I've seen new hooks that are dull.

Rocks lol. On rocky areas I use a jig n pig. On Rocks I use a spinnerbaits. A one split shot rig works too. A 24" Carolina rig with a 1/8 oz bullet weight with a senko or brushog. I may drop a non weighted worm in there too.

Looks like one of those frog cars? Lol i posted this post to get some giggles out of it too. The plastic worm is still the number one bass bait since it was invented. We were using creme worms with beads and propellers for years. Then it was the split shot rig? dont forget everything we read on the internet is true I been told lmao

First it's not luck it's skill. With a spook I use a 1-2-3 rip then pause. Wait and repeat. Repeat again. or a slow walk the dog. Don't go too fast. spinnerbaits, bass can be finicky and shy Sometimes. I cast my spinnerbaits out and run it above the sight line near the surface. Sight line is where I can see it. after a few casts I slow up my line speed so it runs just below the sight line were I can't see it. Now it's in there strike zone. i have confidence in every bait I use. It's confidence in my presentations that matters. I throw different baits, sizes and colors till I get action. Then I'm on them. Water conditions vs colors vs speed. In the past I found myself fishing way to fast. If it's a slow bite I practice my presentations with different baits. The fish will let us know when we get it right. when I'm fishing, don't talk to me, I'm in the zone, motivated and focused. It's you, your rod setup and your bait, pay attention to what your doing. Don't cast on top of them. You will spook some of them. I cast to either side and work my bait slowly past them. I had heavy action in the pads. I caster ten feet to the right of the edge of the pads. I worked my topwater bait slowly past the pads. I pulled out a 32" fat pickerel. Not a bass but the fight was fun.

My very first successful plastics was a split shot rig creamer black worm. It's still a hot bait when I use it over fourty plus years later. It's from field n stream life before the internet. But I tried a culprit 12" shad worm one night I had a 13" pickerel try to rip it off my line. now a yellow 2" grub works pretty well. I like the mister twister 4" split double tail grub. I like it as a trailer on my spinnerbaits. I haven't tried it alone yet. My fishing time is limited do to pain.

The Topwater strike, 1. Get out early in the morning, before the chickens wake up, at darkness before dusk/twilight. Be very quiet with handling your tackle. Walk softly and don't step on rocks or tree roots sticking out of the ground. They are natures alarm system. The noise we make goes straight into the water. I keep my one cell flashlite close to my tacklebox. I use locking snap swivels because I can't tie or see my line in the dark. For lures its spooks, walk the dog, rebel pop r, shallow cranks, rapala minnow, mister twister top prop. I use a steady retrieve or a one, two three twitch and pause. But this twitch and pause timing wise has to be perfect. If I'm throwing my 24" Carolina rig with plastics I use a brass bullet weight with a clicker with a brushog or senko. With the top prop I reel it slow. Or a one two three twitch n pause. During the pause the top prop goes almost vertical just be ready to set the hook. i find the big gals are feeding at the shoreline so being stealthy is the key. Walk softly and don't talk. its a matter of being focused and motivated, stay going.

My live crayfish here are red sides with black backs. My hottest color craw lure is the rebel BIG CLAW CRAWFISH crank in chartreuse D74 dives to 10'. This seems to work everywhere I fish. I cast it out and give the rod a sweep back motion to get the lure to dive right away then reel slow yet fast enough to bounce it off the bottom. She floats and runs to ten foot depth but a slower reel speed it can run between 1' to 10'. Don't forget the topwater action too just cast it out and twitch it on the surface, over open weed pockets. It's the lure we're using but the presentation too. i carry all the colors of the BIG CLAW too the bright red works too. The smaller rebel crawfish lures work great in shallow rivers and streams.

Someone ripped me off when they took my plastic see thru box of $25 each cranks. I had custom painted lures too. Now I'm replacing them. I probably had $500+ in that box. Look out for dirtbags.

The best fishing lures of all time. https://lineandsight.com/31-greatest-fishing-lures-time/13/

Usual suspects man on fire enemy at the gates. winter war(fire and ice) (Finnish/Russo war of 1939) rifles of the white death good book. 32 Finnish soldiers held off 4,000 Russians and there was five Finns left when 3,600 Russians retreated.

Been there and figured out some of it. I fish the same small spots over and over. What bait is hot this year might not be hot next year. Of course time to change baits. I change baits, colors and presentations till I get action using crankbaits, etc. if no action I go to brushogs, wacky rigged senko on a 24" Carolina rig. I throw a few different lures too like rapalas, bomber shallow cranks, Norman thin n, inline spinners, spinnerbaits, yum money minnows, topwater poppers, spooks, etc. I use the baitmate bass attractant. I switch to garlic flavor too at times when no action is happening. Another thing I notice is the water conditions can change as we go deeper. It could look clear or stained on top but as we go down it can get even more stained, darker. Don't be afraid to throw brighter, larger colored baits. Don't limit yourself stay motivated and focus on your presentations too.

A few decades ago I was new to bass fishing, I was doing decent fishing from shore at manmade dams for century old water power. These old dams have roadways on top of them. Like I said I was doing great at these Hardly fished places in the springtime just before and after the spawn. Now comes the hot weather with the weeds. It shut down my fishing. I went online and started looking for weedless lures. Here's a few, mepps timber doodle size "0" silver blade white trailer with trailer hook, mister twister top prop with a trailer hook, I would also clear a path on top to use my crankbait topwater. For an hour or so I cleared a path topwater. The fishing did get better. The mepps timber doodle I cast it out and let it fall. I'd move it slowly threw the weeds. The top prop I'd reel it slow enough to make the prop spin, I'd stop it over open pockets in the weeds. I do the same thing with shallow floating crankbait. Go slow and stop them over open pockets in the weeds. I'd even cast into the weed pockets. There is so many weedless lures out there.