Snakehead Whisperer

Those things are monstrous. Nice pics, thanks for sharing.

x2. I have thrown crankbaits from shore with great success. I also use them pretty frequently while wade fishing for smallmouth. On the other hand, losing a crankbait while bank fishing is real buzzkill. :'( @CC268 Once the water starts to warm up above 60 or so, try throwing a wakebait (Mann's 1-Minus, BPS The Egg, etc.) or a squarebill crankbait. These are crankbaits designed to stay high in the water column (dive maybe 3-12", well above the weeds.) When effective, these baits provide some of the best bass fishing action there is imho. @Fishes in trees I can see how you would feel that way, as crankbaits are expensive to lose and pretty much useless when they have half a pound of salad swimming behind them. To be fair I should say that throwing crankbaits from shore has historically been an early-mid spring ritual for me, and in these parts there is rarely any vegetation to snag that early in the season.

Not sure what the temps are in your neck of the woods right now, but my advice would be to try the above techniques but focus on a really slow retrieve. When fish are active enough to chase a fast moving crankbait you will know it by just looking at the water. Keep throwing the cranks and eventually you'll hook up. Once you get that first fish you'll start to develop your sixth sense for crankbaits and the rest will come naturally, then you will be able to focus more clearly on the nuance of technique. It sounds to me like you're off to a good start.

But seriously, purple on pink is a killer color scheme on crankbaits.

I've actually caught fish slow rolling a buzzbait, but it was more like 3' of water

I've been catching them on smoke/black grubs and other dark baits rigged on slider heads here on the tidal Potomac (similar conditions to what you described.) I'd bring the shakey heads if it were me.

Usually I don't get into this with people I meet on the water unless we exchange some sort of pleasantries first (hey, how's it going... blah, blah.) If they seem cool then I am usually more than happy to disclose what I've been catching fish on. If I'm having a hard day I'm not ashamed to ask them what's working. I can think of lots of times when I have got a bad feeling from people and just kept the conversation cordial without talking shop, however. The thing that I've noticed more often than not is that when people ask me what I'm catching fish on, it's usually because it's a slow bite that day. This usually means I'm throwing a finesse bait of some sort (boring.) When I tell them I'm throwing a slow moving bait, they usually look at me like "Yawn, no thanks. I'll keep fishing my spinnerbait." Even if somebody tells you exactly what the fish are biting and where they are, it takes some patience/dedication for an angler to catch them. This usually weeds out people who aren't serious about it. On the flip side, if I see people doing stuff on the water that's not OK I let them know (poaching, littering, etc.) Be careful engaging people like this. Some folks aren't that friendly when you point it out.

I'm trying to imagine how much weight it would take to keep a hula popper down... I imagine at least a solid ounce if not 2oz. I'm with the others here. I think he's messing with you. Although I'm sure this rig could possibly catch fish under the right conditions if you worked out the technical problems with it's rigging.

Every year I read the Maryland fishing regulations book from front to back (whether it's relevant to my fishing or not.) I'm assuming that this is a Minnesota regulation that you're debating. If so, here's a clip from the reg book. It says that you can have up to 3 hooks on a "single tackle configuration" so long as the entire rig is 9" or less. A "single tackle configuration" is either live, dead, pressed or dead bait. (Walleye crawler harness is considered a "single tackle configuration!!") For artificial lures you can have one extra hook on the line (trailer hook) as long as it's within 3" of the lure. So if you're debating Minnesota regulations then it's not legal to have multiple lures on one line, and the 3 hooks thing isn't applicable to lures at all.

If vegetation is not bad then a round or teardrop shaped weight will work well. The cylinder shaped weights are useful for fishing rocks, heavy grass, tules, etc., but not as useful for fishing open water as they don't maintain contact with bottom as well. Usually I will work a round weight anywhere that I can get away with it. I will opt for a teardrop weight if fishing brush, and a cylinder weight if fishing rocky bottoms (especially in heavy current, e.g. river smallmouth in riffles.) The money invested in buying the right weight for the right application will save you $$ in the end because you will lose much less gear in the long run.

On the Potomac I usually get the biggest fish in the late morning (10-11am) or in the mid afternoon (3-4pm.) My PB Potomac bass was caught about 5:45am, however.

Looking good Christian. Post pics when you catch something.

I throw a drop shot almost anywhere. As for my retrieve, it varies... but the standard fare is to almost dead stick it. I will give it a twitch here and there, then reel in the slack line. Some casts take well over 5 minutes to bring back. This has been my best producing ds technique. Sometimes I fish it faster, but if that's what the fish want I'll usually switch over to a crankbait or something else.

Me too but like I said, the experience has taught me more than anything. A lot of the information that I've read online has lead me astray, and a lot of it has put me on to fish. But if it weren't for me testing it I'd never know. Most of the advice in this thread is sound, like fish being more active before a storm system, etc. If I find any really good articles on this I'll be sure to post links in this thread or PM you with them.

Yes, gravity. It's what causes tides, and all bodies of water are subject to tidal influence (even inland lakes, just not to the anywhere near extent that the ocean is.) This is why solunar tables are used by many. I'm not saying that the solunar table is the gold standard on this, I am just saying that these forces do have an influence on fish and other animals. This is also one of the main reasons that fishing a full moon or new moon are good times. The significance of this effect could be subject to serious debate, but I doubt than many will discount it completely. To me personally fishing is about making the best of the situation at hand. So conditions dictate how I measure a successful fishing trip more than numbers/weight (e.g. if I'm fishing during a cold front I might be happy with less than I would be during ideal conditions.) Another point I should make is that many of these factors dictate where the fish will be and their overall mood, not necessarily whether they are catchable or not. There are always exceptions to everything, and fish are not exempt from that. The fact is that if an angler is not fishing where the fish are holding the chances of catching one are zilch, and that's where understanding weather and these other factors really counts (finding the fish.)

There's no substitute for time on the water. There are so many other variables to consider besides weather that it makes it somewhat of a moot point. Weather obviously affects bass profoundly, but so do many other things (water temp, dissolved oxygen, forage, gravity, water clarity, specific conductance, etc.) Bass are far more attuned to their environment than most humans because they are at it's mercy for 100% of their lives (no A/C, heat, home cooked meals, etc.) This is why I say that there is no substitute for experience. I've spent hundreds of hours reading about weather and fish, but it never made nearly as much of an impact on my success as spending long hours on the water getting skunked. The more I am personally in tune with the world around me, the better fisherman I become. Sorry for the ramble. There are so many articles/discussions on this topic that it would take years to read them all. The place I would start for articles is right here on BR. If you're Googling for articles I'd be specific about the weather conditions you want to read on, as most of the good info is written in articles specific to one weather pattern. It's going to be difficult to find a worthwhile article that just generalizes all possible conditions.

Wind from the north, fisherman does not go forth. Wind from the south blows the bait into the fishes mouth. I've also heard that when turtles are sunbathing, bass will be shallow. @Marty I fish regardless of what direction the wind blows, but from my observations here in the DC area wind from the North usually coincides with a sharp drop in barometric pressure and less than ideal fishing conditions. I agree 100% though, go when you can.

Nice work. That bluegill is awesome.

Great advice for anybody getting into airbrushing. I'd also add that the Iwata Revolution HP-CR is a great choice for starting out. It comes with a .5mm needle, but can easily be converted to .3mm with only a few parts. Even the low end Iwata airbrushes are serious workhorses, so you really can't go wrong. Just be sure to get a gravity fed type for lure painting.

I use Iwata airbrushes exclusively. You really can't go wrong with one.

Awesome work space. Here's a quick cell phone pic of my living room.

Use the regular devcon 2 ton epoxy (not the 5 minute.) It will level much nicer with the added curing time. You can also turn them on a rotisserie/rod drying motor while drying.

This strange cross between a tube and a senko.

Doesn't stop the bluegill from trying though

They all look great. I especially like the ball head ones.