ClackerBuzz

Small Waters Fishing, Bass Fishing Jersey, Arkansas Fishing, FishDeltaTv, Jeff Little, MajorLeagueFishing, Jay Kumar's BassBlaster and Michiana Outdoors are a few not mentioned.

lotta great info so i'll only add i think of 2lb bass or less as tightening down my knot....and 3lb+ as weakening it. i immediately retie after anything over 3lbs

the biggest markup on jigs is in the skirts. buy skirts from fishingskirts.com the best timber bashing jigs have vertical eyes that are recessed in the lead so they pull through anything. I haven't had to buy them for a few season b/c I stocked up but look at Boss Swim Jigs. I have no doubt @Siebert Outdoors has something similar and would price match. $1.50-1.75 per head and add ur own skirt and you're off to the races. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/BOSS_Swim_Jig_Heads_4pk/descpage-BOSSSJH.html

if you really want a deal buy a pack of Z man Laminate Swimmerz. i'll admit when i first got into swimbaits I bought Keitechs to gain confidence in the technique. but 4" sb are so effective i immediately moved on to try every and any brand. in the end every brand tears so i settled on Z man b/c of the elaztech. the tail has a perfect thump and you can catch 50-100 bass on one bait. honestly i have them broken into two selections according to the jig hooks: standard vs extra stout. the standard hooks are for bank fishing b/c i can usually bend them out when snagged and not lose my Z man. the extra stout hooks are for kayak/boat bc i can troll over and use my lure retriever if snagged. a girl once told me once you go elastech you never go back.

I used to really love reading threads about seasonal movements, lunar charts, water/air temps, maps, structure routes etc. but as the seasons rolled on I found all the info was useless when I was stuck 4 hours into a fishing trip, without a single bite, scratching my head asking "what in the world should I do now?" I'll break it down into 2 kinds of fishing: with sonar and without. This is trying to condense a lot of what I learned the last 5 years so excuse me if I lose my mind here and there (i don't think it was all there to begin with). Fishing without sonar: The goal is simple: become an expert at finding bass, that are relating to visible cover, in less than 10 ft of water. The hardest thing about this process is NOT fishing. It feels like moving mountains to stop casting. It's critical to stop blindly forward all day wasting time and hundreds/thousands of casts. Put down the rods, put on ur polarized sunglasses and troll 50-100 yards forward. Pick out 5-10 high percentage spots and turn back to only fish them. This one tactic alone will change ur game. Repeat every 100 yards. I'm not a deer hunter but if I was I would kill it. I love to hike and I always spook deer while exploring woods. Instead of sitting for hours in a tree stand (like some of my buddies) I would hike for a few days beforehand and trample through every valley, ridge, pine/cedar patch, brush thickets trying to spook them. I'd run them out of every nook and cranny of the forest. Then I'd go back a week later and set up a tree stand where I know they are going to come out at dusk. You're basically doing the same with bass. Feel free to put the boat right on top of their heads b/c these aren't deer. Take confidence knowing that even if alarmed a bass will be relaxed and catchable within 20 mins. Troll all around the shoreline getting up close and personal with underwater stumps, brush piles, weedlines, docks, lily pads, laydowns to purposefully spook bass and find out what/how they are relating to. This sounds easy and like common sense but trust me it's hard enough to put down the rods let alone mastering how to identify and cast high percentage areas. You could spend an entire season just mastering laydowns. When a tree is lying horizontally on the bottom it still goes from trunk to tip top. Troll all around it and find out which direction it's laying. It's very important to make a mental note b/c when you come back you want to cast at the trunk and retrieve toward the top. You'll be able to effectively bounce a lure through the entire tree without getting hung up b/c you are reeling with the V's of branches. As opposed to constantly getting snagged if you retrieve crosswise or from tip top toward truck. Also think of a tree laydown like an iceberg: the branches showing above the surface only represent 10% of its mass; the other 90% is below the water. Most guys see the branch tips above the water and immediately troll close enough to cast them. After awhile you learn to first cast the 90% underwater. And after more time you learn there are even bass holding 25-50 ft on the perimeter of the tree. These are some of the most untouched bass b/c 99% of guys troll right on top of them to cast the tree top underwater or branches above the surface. On your home lake you should know the orientation of every laydown and which direction to cast. Sidenote: learn how to effectively use marker buoys. After you inspect a laydown back off with the trolling motor dropping a marker buoy where ur 100 ft from the top from the tree. park the boat on the buoy and your initial cast will be on the outer perimeter of the tree. work the front and both sides. Everyone in the area can see orange buoys which can attract too much attention so wrap them 90% with black electrical tape. They are harder to see for the untrained eyes you want to keep off ur trail. These are just a few tips for laydowns but you can see how you can go into incredible depth learning how to master fishing visible cover. Put down the rods, get on the trolling motor, use polarized sunglasses and learn how to identify/inspect visible cover, spooking as many bass as possible, and effectively casting it. It's like being a blind man learning how to see for the first time. I gotta get some work done but I'll post some sonar tips later.

I couldn't agree with this more. Just search youtube to watch horrifying boating accidents caused by oblivious or intoxicated recreational boaters. i feel like a lamb going to slaughter whenever I have to cross boater lanes. I'm calling them that b/c in my head I should not be in them as a kayaker. and if i have to they are only for transportation and not to stop and fish. it's not glamorous but I recommend staying within 300 ft of the shoreline. my observation is the hard jagged rocky tree lined shoreline keeps idiot boaters honest i.e. attentive. i don't get upset about it b/c there is enough shoreline fishing to last me a long healthy lifetime. i've had lots of close calls with boaters but they were all in open water/boat lanes. whereas i've never had a close call near the shoreline. if you become desperate to fish deep water structure do ur family a favor and at least pick up a $1,000 14ft jon boat. btw A-Jay what do you type to reference @Fishing Rhino name like that?

I haven't pushed them to their limits yet (yanking on a snagged lure with braid mainline like an idiot; too much drag set with braid etc) but i'm pretty sure ww2farmer middle name is torture test so I'm confident they will fair well.

I can't thank you enough for pointing me to Daiwa Aird X rods. I had a enough of 'quality rod companies' last year. Dobyns refused to back a Champion rod that broke during a forward cast and made me pay $90 replacement (on top of $30 to ship the rod to them for 'inspection'). I was responsible for breaking a Powell endurance and had it replaced with a 3D Max that was horribly unbalanced. I requested an exchange and the owner of the company got so offended which ended in the most disrespectful email I've ever received. I was fed up with these companies and knew there was something better. A week later I came across a post of yours praising the Aird X. $55? I'll give them a try. these rods are a-m-a-z-i-n-g. they are light as a feather and as balanced as a St croix LTB or Champion Extreme....at only a fraction of the cost. I agree the gap is closing and nothing could make me happier. I'm done with the primadonna niche brands. fyi: Daiwa Aird has a 1 yr warranty. For a few dollars more you can get a 5 yr warranty with the Tatula XT and S Casting.

I've been cleaning my own reels for the last 5 season and this winter I finally treated myself to a cleaning by Mike@DVT. I wish i had done it years ago. my BPS pro qualifiers cast like $200 reels. no matter what road you choose i'd recommend a periodic professional cleaning and/or polishing like papajoe222 said. it opens your eyes to the untapped performance within stock reels.

I'll give you something else to thing about: finesse carolina rig. I love drop shotting and always have one rigged up. however lately i've been using it as a target technique b/c i'm also always in 15 ft or less of water. the drop shot was designed for deeper water with a vertical presentation but since i don't have those conditions i use it as a finesse pitching tactic on/around targets. in shallow water it doesn't have a natural presentation while fishing horizontal like a C rig does. i always hated the C rig b/c it's a pain to cast especially on a baitcaster. i switched to a spinning rod and love the technique. i can downsize to a 2" crappie plastic, 1/4 oz weight, 10lb braid w/ 6-8lb leader (mono or fluoro) and cast it a mile. even upsize the weight to 3/8-1/2 oz and the plastic flows freely 3 ft behind the weight. that's what i call a finesse tactic. i use it mainly for dragging around open water points, ledges, humps, creek channels etc. when i'm having a hard time catching fish i usually just need to do two things: slow down and put a lot of distance between us. a finesse C rig does both. when i start catching fish I upsize the plastic 3-4-5" worm, lizard, brush hog, crawls etc.

you must be differentiating them somehow. the jig represents a crawl profile and T rig generally a worm? and separate them more by always having different weights/rate of fall and colors?

Catt I see you reference both rods often. T-rig and Jigs are similar so I'm wondering why you separate them? b/c the jig is a single lure for pitching and bashing thru timber whereas the T rig is unpegged and generally for dragging?

deja vu... that der automobile is going to be the end society--no more taking time to stop and talk to ur neighbor on horseback or wagon....just zooming by each other too fast to say hello! that der radio is going to end civilization. no more talking face to face for news or going to sporting events. just alone in ur house listing to a box! that der telephone contraption is going to be the end of us. why would two people sit in a room alone talking over a electronic line when they only live 10 blocks away! that der television set is witchcraft. families sitting home alone watching 12" tall people have fun instead of getting together for games, dances, picnics etc. they'll just watch picnics on the box instead of having one! that der computer is the official end of us. why would you electronically send mail when the pony express has been doing a great job for hundreds of years...

This. I used to fish 'fly fishing only sections' of a river and you needed a trout stamp to be on them. Even if you aren't targeting trout there are stocking windows that require you to have a stamp if ur on that body of water with a rod. You gotta call to find out the specific rules of that lake.

also focus on keeping ur elbows close to ur body while casting. it tremendously helps mechanics and cuts down on injuries. not allowed to post the vid but google: KVD’s Secrets to Power Fishing Spinnerbaits. he casts 3-4 times in the video and his elbows are always tight to his body. Most guys try to use their arms/shoulders/elbows/wrists too much instead of allowing the rod to do its job.

I can really appreciate the time and thought you put into your 2018 season. most of us have been in your exact shoes. I can tell you from experience there are two very different roads to take which leads me to the million dollar question: are you using sonar or not? if not i'll introduce a secondary question: are you fishing from bank, kayak or boat? many will argue that a bass is a bass regardless of these answers. however spend enough time on BR, seminars or out on the water and you'll hear experienced anglers all say the same thing: catching bass is easy, finding them is the hard part. answering your questions and the road you take become extremely focused once you answer the above.

My advice: first learn how to float. A good floater can last as long as the best swimmer. I can swim like a fish but the one time I almost drown was b/c I was fighting river current. I didn't know the river (could have been a dam downstream) and was frantically trying to cross at the wrong place. I gassed hard and started to go under. Finally I rolled over and looked up at the sky thinking "better to float and risk a dam downstream than die here and now". I floated two hundred feet and the current washed me up on the opposing side I was swimming for. Spend time learning to float. As Tom said jump in the pool fully clothed. Learn how to keep ur composure and tread water while you remove your shoes and jeans. Then float for a while until the cavalry comes. That alone can save your life.

unfortunately learning these units requires lots of time, putting the fishing rods down and doing lots of trolling around. when you do pick up a rod i recommend a crappie/baitfish rod with a 1/8oz 2" crappie jig. it's an all around fish magnet that helps you catch whatever is down there.

No experience but I can recommend attaching a safety cable to any camera mounted on the boat. I can't tell you how many youtube videos I've seen with a camera going overboard b/c a suction cup or mount failed.

Those eyes will make any man fall in love. nice Bass!

I can't tell you the quality or quantity of bass I've lost by not setting the hook fast enough. I can however tell you endless stories about losing bass every season b/c I was too fast on setting the hook. Watch enough pro seminars and you'll hear them all tell stories of trying to shake fish off a lure during practice b/c they want to come back and catch them during the tourny. They all are amazing how long a bass will hold on and swim around with a lure in its mouth even while they're trying to shake it off (try it sometime). Greg Hackney went into detail about how his hook up percentage was amazing during practice but went way down on game day. He admitted it was b/c he's so much faster and full of adrenaline during tournaments that bass never has time to fully take/commit to the lure. Compared to being relaxed and consciencience of the fish/specific bite during practice. He slowed way down during tournaments and his percentages went back up. I've since become more aware of different types of bites, which seem to change daily. For me not setting the hook fast enough is rarely a problem vs setting it too fast usually is.

Rig some kind of portable/hotel door/trip wire alarm on the inside of ur lockers? leave enough slack to get ur hand in/out to arm/disarm but it will still set off if someone opens all them more than 50%. https://www.amazon.com/Doberman-Security-Portable-Alarm-alarms/dp/B0061YFFI6 I fished some really shady places over the years and could count the problems on one hand. now I just avoid them b/c it's not worth it. i'd rather be on peaceful/safe water with bad fishing than the wrong part of town with good fishing.

BR latest sale thread has saved me far more money....and cost me far more money...than the TW X mas sale ever did I don't know whether to thank you or curse you IndianaFinesse.

I fished shallow creeks for years and lost many a Mepps. A single treble hook simply snags too easily. as I got more into lake fishing I learned the benefit of double bladed spinnerbaits from shore: a single hook is bent upward so you can bounce off the bottom/cover without getting snagged. i applied that to creeks by switching to a small 1/16-1/8 oz crappie jig with a 2" crappie plastic like a bobby garland 2.25" Baby Shad Swim'R. the rig is equally as effective on trout, bass, panfish etc and is virtually snag free compared to an exposed treble hook. jump on flea bay and buy a few jigs and generic crappie swimmers. you won't be sorry. Edit: basspro has free shipping now with no minimum. don't let the color selection overwhelm you. For trout grab something with pink. Smallmouth/panfish= chartreuse. Largemouth=white and/or green. http://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bobby-garland-itty-bit-swimr http://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bobby-garland-strollr if you really feel like you need the flash of a blade try a roadrunner. the same upward single hook principle applies. http://www.basspro.com/shop/en/road-runner-crappie-thunder

that's a nice pickerel. one in that range broke me off and was the final push to buying a Boca grip.