deep

I do sidearm casts all the time; whether there's any wind or not. I have noticed that I tend to whip the bait, and not load the whole blank, when I cast overhead.

Glad they took care of it!

Kinda late to the party; but happy birthday J.!

If you want to fish a silent jerkbait that's easy to cast; the LC silent pointer may be your answer. I only wish they made it in a bigger size.

Way to go PR. Now for a bigger one!

I don't personally fish for bedding bass unless I think she's big enough to be a new PB. I find it sporting though; just that it takes too much time (usually; for me) to catch any decent-sized bass off a bed. And I'd rather fish for fish that are looking to eat. Once you can get the bass to nose down on your bait, it's a done deal. It might take one more hour to get her to actually eat your bait; but she will. You have to find the right angle of retrieve, and the right spot on or near the bed that will get the fish to take the bait in its mouth. Try different things; if whatever you just did has a negative reaction, don't do it again. If it had a neutral reaction from the bass; try something else. If it had a positive reaction, keep doing it. I learnt this from Matt (of Mattlures) You need to understand the "body language" of the fish. I usually try two baits; a swimbait like a softgill, and a plastic on a jighead. Hope that helps, and please take good care of the bass you catch.

Most bigger bass have beds that are in deeper water, that are difficult to detect unless under perfect weather conditions without a good pair of polarized glasses and (this is very important I think) if you don't know what you're looking for.

So am I. Totally understand what you're saying.

Unfortunately, no; mostly from the lack of putting time in. Almost caught an eagle once though; if that counts. I did catch a 4# class fish on the OG deadstick last year; and a couple more strikes with no hookups.

They come with hooks.

I use leftys for everything! Both of my Curado G's as well as my upgraded (boca bearings/ supertuned) CItica D cast anything down to 1/4 oz just fine. The Citica is a pitching machine btw! I found the rod is really important when I try to throw a light bait on casting gear.

Sometimes a contrasting trailer gets me more bites; from the smaller more aggressive fish anyway. Experiment and see what the fish wants,

I think the most realistic thing about a hudd is not how it looks (yes, it's a fairly real looking trout shape), but how it swims..

No catfish in this reservoir, Whisperer. I reported that I "suspected" snagging, and wondered if the warden could do his rounds a little more frequently. It's just sad to see how it's so common to see the warden during the trout stocking season, and there's (apparently) little official presence to protect the trophy largemouths, which is the real treasure where I fish. I know there are reasons, but big bass (big anything) is a resource that should be taken care of. Anyway, what's done is done. P.S. See how one of the hooks is bent out of shape? I wonder if a stump did that to it? There's no trace of any bait on either of the hooks at all.. Maybe there are noob snaggers and experience snaggers.. just like noob fishermen and good ones. I have found a few weighted trebles you talk about as well (not recently though)..

(not that it matters now...) So yesterday when I got to the reservoir, I saw a couple of dudes pointing at "something" into the water and doing occasional jerking motions. They were looking at a logjam at the dam where small crappies, bluegills, and dinky bass usually hang out. I though nothing of it (should have thought harder) and decided they were amusing themselves. Fine with me. There were half a dozen young guys and girls admiring the view from the dam (it's pretty picturesque) anyway, so I drove away and fished elsewhere. After a couple of hours when I came back to the dam, I found the two dudes and the other guys and girls gone, but an elderly man was making repeated casts to the same logjam with what looked like a dead(?) minnow. Not my favorite way to fish, but whatever. I wanted to fish the dam, but well, I have other spots. Come back after a while, and there's no one at the dam. Yay! So I start doing my thing; chucking my swimbaits, checking for follows, and looking around to see if I see anything interesting. Well, I did see something interesting. A couple of snagging hooks tied to a high lb test line which was tied to a post (snaggers probably wanted to come back today), and a couple of decent-sized bedding bass inside the logjam; in about three feet of water. Them larger bass should have been smarter and made a bed in deeper water. Anyone could see them, with or without polarized glasses. Casted a glide bait towards them, and the bigger one spooked off and didn't come back to the bed. It did come back to the general location and hang around. Well, that one was smart, and would probably not get snagged by the bedfish snaggers. The other one (looked to be a 5-6 lb class fish) was way more stubborn. It just would not leave the bed (except to chase away bluegills) or get spooked. I had a dilemma. This looked like a fish that could get snagged, if someone could get a hook near her (or maybe a him). The logjam saved them earlier. Thought about it a bit, and decided to fish for it. Thought that maybe she'd be wiser after she got a hook in her (mouth). No matter what I read, legally catching a (decent sized) bass that doesn't want to eat and knows you're trying to catch her isn't easy. I did have my bedfishing gear in the car, but this wasn't a place for 8 lb line and a spinning rod. So I fished with an 8" weedless hudd (lol). Yes you can do it. I've bed-fished with a punch-rig before too. After an hour and a half, I catch her (hook in mouth), weigh her (5 lb 15 ozs) and release her; hoping she would be a little wiser, and not get snagged/ caught and eaten. Didn't keep an eye on the bigger one all this while. After the C&R job, I see the two fish hanging out near the bed, but not quite as near; they seemed to be a lot more spooky too. Good; hopefully they have learnt the lesson. So over the next hour, I do my thing; which is hauling water with a hudd and a hardgill. Come back to the bed around sunset, and I still can catch a glimpse of the two bass once in a while; but, and this is why I'm feeling bad, bluegills are running all over the bed. The bed is gone, but the two big bass are still alive and well, and hopefully will find another bed to lay eggs in. I didn't leave until it was so dark that you couldn't see a thing underwater even with polarized glasses. Went back early today before sunrise, and didn't see either of the two bass anywhere near the bed. Left a rather professional note too (the first version was not very "family-friendly") saying that the snaggers and their vehicle license plate number has been reported. (The latter is a bluff.) Hopefully the note will serve as a warning for other would-be snaggers too. We'll see. Makes my blood boil every time I even hear about these scumbags. Probably a good thing I don't own a weapon. I don't like meat fishermen keeping big bass either, but I'm not gonna tell another grown man what to do as long as it's legal. (I still try though.) The snagging hooks tied to the line are now residing in the trunk of my sedan. That's one snagging setup that'll never snag another fish. (The line tied to the hudd is 25# for reference.)

Curado G/E whichever you can find in that price range in your favorite gear ratio.

LOL, this is only the third 7+ I've caught this year.I'm far behind, compared to 2012...

Hooked and landed a 7 lb 1 oz LM today. She ate a butch-brown rigged ROF12 hudd in about 30 feet of water off some rockpiles on a very sharp dropoff into a feeder creek channel. Typical post-spawn fish; long, skinny, beat-up; and probably older than most of the swimbait/ big fish I catch. Landed the fish, weighted her, and then discovered that I forgot my stringer AND my camera in my sedan. I don't usually carry the camera anyway, and travel light. Besides, the last thing I want to do when fish are biting (which is not often) is to waste time and get a good photo. Also left the phone in the car because there's no cellphone reception in most of the reservoirs I fish. Anyway, she wasn't very pretty. Gear: GGR medium swimbait rod. Cardiff 401A, Berkley Big Game 25#, ROF12 hudd in cutthroat trout (it's a special color).

Hey Chris, your post means a lot to me. Thanks. Did you take your site down? I have been hunting a DD (not sure if there's one in this reservoir, but if there is one, I'm going to catch her sooner or later) and was hoping to get a pic on your site when I catch her...

Thanks. So far a hundred percent, But this was only like the ninth or tenth fish I've caught with the 8" weedless, so that ratio probably doesn't mean much... With the braid and an XH swimbait rod (different from an XH regular bass rod) I don't have any problems driving the hook home. I did notice though that the hook makes a pretty big hole in the mouth of the fish (if hooked nearer to the lips), and that's not good; neither for the fish nor for the chances of my landing her...

Thanks gents. Yes Sir.

Most of my soft plastics are watermelon red...

Pit Boss and the RI sweet beaver are my two favorites.

I'd pick one or two "proven" baits, and learn them inside out. Catching big bass isn't exactly easy, and there's no magic bullet that I know of.

Are you fishing behind your friend jrsmith? In that case, you may want to consider a similar but different bait. or maybe a more finesse approach; to pick up the fish that didn't bite his bait.