Felix77

Let me tell you ... Drop shotting got me fish when nothing else would this past week. They weren't all keepers but hell if I cared. At least it gave me a fighting chance to catch some bass. I am so in love with the drop shot now!

I am a co-angler in a club with a very similar format. We do however allow the extra boaters to fish alone. At one point they did have the boater/boater pairing rule and over time the club ruled against it because boaters want to fish with their boats. Period. We know that those going out have a distinct advantage over someone who is sharing fish with the co-angler but it seems to work for us.

I'm with C&G ... get out there and fish. If the bite is tough then finesse your way through them.

Agree with this.

Congrats! Just continue to be safe and listen to your body! Go kick that 2k goal in the "you know what".

Great job! Way to fish in the moment.

Smallmouth on anything finesse. Currently a Mojo Rig, Drop Shot, Weightless senko, Wacky Rig, finesse swim bait. So much fun!

I have been trying to focus on the drop shot a lot this year. Up north I find myself using no less than a 1/4 oz more often. I found that a tight connection between the weight and your rod tip was paramount to drop shot success and this seems to work best for me. As for my setup - 6'10 M XF Spinning, 15lb Smackdown braid with a 8lb leader. #1 VMC Spinshot, 1 foot lead to the weight. Techniques 1 - Cast it out. Let it hit bottom. Begin a slow consistent drag back to the boat. 2 - Same as #1. When I hit a rock or something very apparent. I stop and jiggle the worm, keeping the weight @ the bottom. 3 - Same as #1 with hops to get the worm dancing up and down. 4 - Dead stick. Cast. Let it drop. tighten up the line and just leave it tight. Maybe the occasional little (and I mean little) twitch. Good luck.

I think the fish read this forum and just try to do the exact opposite at times. LOL Seriously ... What lacks in a lot of articles or videos is the specific conditions which they are actually fishing in. For example ... I cannot interpret summertime fishing up north the same as someone down south can. My waters are lucky to hit 80 let alone 90 or 100 degrees. With that said those deep water techniques don't apply exactly the same. Right now I am finding fish deeper in those reservior like bodies of water. Deeper means more than 6 FOW and up to 12 at most. When it cools off they quiet down and then end up shallower for a while and then regress back to the 6-12 FOW again.

Nice addition. Another thing you need to consider is a smaller version of your MegaTube. A 3 - 3.5 finesse style tube.

I treated myself to a fishing yak after achieving some diet goals as well. This was a way to transform my habits to be more active. You won't regret the choice no matter what you get. With that said I did a bunch of research and for me it ended up with the Ride 115x. It is extremely stable and the fishfinder console works great for me. Go to a kayak shop and at the very least sit in them to get a sense for what they are going to be like when riding it. If you can actually get them wet then take advantage of it. Good luck!

Maybe a Ram Mount transducer arm and a portable cased fishfinder? Easy enough to remove when you want to go without it.

You can try wrapping electrical tape around the backing. Tie your FC over the tape. Eliminates the knot completely.

Medical supply stores. If you look in Home Depot, Lowes they sell tubing there as well that should work. Tubing? It's the smallest they sell. Not sure what size. If you are talking about the spinnerbait (which I doubt) it's a 1/2 oz. Megastrike Strikeback spinnerbait.

Already been mentioned. The lack of current is the key. Without the current the bass are free to roam. Cover as much water as you can and change your presentations/colors more often. Worst case go finesse.

This is a new one for me. When fishing spinnerbaits using a leader for Pike I do something a little different. I use medical tubing and slip it over the front where you would tie it. That way it keeps the snap in place.

The latest way for me ... take one with me on every tournament day and have it for a quick lunch. Dee... lish!

10 - 12lb InvizX for me. All cranking.

x2 on this ... I would add hiking. I am fortunate to have a very large reservoir near me which I can take 2+mile hikes in ... the cool thing is that I can also fish on the body of water. So ... hike to the spot, fish for a while and hike it back. I do that a few times a week. There are several trails which I can choose from. Finding new ones on occasion keeps things interesting too. Good luck

A lot of co-anglers get into the sport without even considering any of this input. Call it ignorance or whatever but the more we can educate them the better off the sport will be. Nice post.

I fish mostly Fluoro. 8lb leaders on all my spinning gear - Seaguar InvizX, Braid for a main line Baitcasters - range from 12-15lbs - Seaguar InvizX Heavy Cover - 17-20lb Seaguar AbrazX The only rod which I keep mono on is my topwater rod. 12 -15 lb mono.

This article describes the stroking technique nicely ... never tried it with a jig or Red Eye Shad. http://www.bassmaster.com/3-lessons-superdeep-jigging-0

I post on this forum everything I do but in the heat of a tournament when I am competing with my boater for fish I tend to share only a limited amount. For example if my techniques are working and he asks I will tell him what I am doing in general. Shakey Head, wacky senko etc. He can see the color and if he sees me putting some Megastrike or JJ's on it then so be it.

Absolutely ... All my spinning is braid with an 8lb FC leader.