Bankbeater

Welcome!

Crappie - crankbait, stickbait, Texas rig, jig and craw, Pop-R, Zara Spook. Bluegill- crankbait, Pop-R, plastic worm, Texas rig, stickbait. Catfish- lipless crankbait, crankbait, jig and craw, plastic worm, Texas rig, stickbait, spinnerbait. Green sunfish- crankbait, stickbait, Texas rig, jig and craw, plastic worm, spinnerbait. Muskie- crankbait, lipless crankbait, jig and craw, Texas rig, Zara Spook. Warmouth- bladed jig, crankbait, jig and craw, Texas rig, plastic worm, Zara Spook, tube.

The first thing do is try to look on the internet and see if there are any pics or videos of the lake. Something to help me see what the water looks like, and to get an idea of what the shoreline looks like.

At least you saw it, and you know where it lives.

That 's a big bass,

I'll be heading out real early tomorrow. Around here when the sun hits the water the bite usually dies off when the temps are over 90. I'm taking the UL rig just in case the bass don't cooperate.

Welcome to the forums.

No swivel here.

Green pumpkin, black/blue, junebug, black, and some sort of shad color.

I start off with the eye and knot covered, but after a few fish they become exposed. If I'm getting bites after the eye is exposed I just keep fishing it.

If I can work my bait through it, then it is good grass. If I have to constantly pick it off my bait, then it is a weed.

Lightning, wind, hail, and sleet scare me. Rain by itself does not bother me, no matter how hard it's coming down.

My favorite are catfish and muskie. They hit hard and put up a good fight. My least favorite is getting to be warmouth. They bite hard, and then you set the hook and they come flying out of the water.

I fish with the BPS Stik-o and Yum Dingers. These baits work around here when the bass want them.

I thought the only thing I would be needing this year is replacement hooks for some of my crankbaits. A couple of weeks ago my old President finally wore out, and my Daiwa reel that I have been babying along finally gave it up today. I will be looking at new spinning reels and baitcasters tomorrow.

Nice! That smallie is a chunk.

I would take a few dozen pictures of the bass, the scale, the tape measure, and then release the bass back into the water. If word ever got out that a new state record was caught, the lake and the grounds around it would be destroyed. About 20 years ago someone caught a 12 lb largemouth at one of the conservation areas I fish. This is around 1-3/4 pounds from the state record. The person that caught it had it weighed at a certified scale at the conservation site, and of course they took pics of it. They put a pic up at the concession stand and then took the pic down about a week later because of the ruckus it was causing.

If I start breaking the line when I'm tightening down a knot then I put new line on.

I usually have better luck with watermelon red when the water is on the clearer side.

When you feel a bite don't let them go very long. I try and fish with baits that won't sink down too far into the weeds, so the bass have to come out and get the bait. Sometimes they get wrapped up in the weeds, and as long as you keep a tight line on them they can't swim. When this happens you have to go and get them.

No trebles unless I have a straight shot through the weeds. No long casts. I cast wake style baits so they don't dive too deep. Small jigs. Usually around 1/8 size. If the jig snags in the weeds, I reel down and give the rod a quick snap to get it loose. Most of the time it comes free, but sometimes you still drag in a salad. Split shot rig with a straight worm, or weightless. I work it across the top of the vegetation.

That's milfoil. The end of coontail, looks like a raccoon's tail.

My best skill is probably fishing in vegetation. I love fishing in and around matted and submerged vegetation. My worst skill is only focusing on where I am casting or pitching to. I tend to hit a lot of branches I didn't see until I hit them.

No matter what type of lousy day I've had at work, when I get on this site it makes me feel better.

Try fishing around areas that has ground runoff going into the main body of water.