Choporoz

Was it windy on those days? A little wind can really affect how my fish are hooked. A little more bow in the line, a little decreased sensitivity, and things are more challenging. On days when the fish are aggressively feeding, it can mean gut hooking sometimes.

I don't hate dropshotting...I just well...yeah, I guess I do hate it. I have cashed checks doing it...I invested in a nice, dedicated ds rod.....I just don't do it well and don't enjoy it. I understand why....I only use it when I already know the fishing sux, so my head is in wrong place; and I catch typically smaller fish that way...and the bite is so bluegill-ish as to be boring...even from bigger fish. Plus, any wind at all, and I lose confidence in my ability to keep bait on target and/or sense bites well. This for DS. But also for some other lures. It is something I need to assess. There are some lures that I need a very high level of assurance or confidence that there are fish close by. I can drag something across the bottom for hours without a clue whether I am within 500 yards of a fish... but DS, or jerkbait, or larger swimbait, plopper and a few other things....I need to be certain I am on fish or it won't last three casts

Social media has a role here, I'd imagine. We know it is nearly impossible to make it as a pro angler without internet personal marketing. But women must face extraordinarily harder time building a brand online. I only follow serious anglers (except Fat Cat Newton, I suppose). But I'd guess that over half the time my FB feed shows a woman fishing, it's a pic that isn't getting any clicks because of the fish. Couple that perception of females with fish in bikinis along with the unreal vile reception that serious women angler get online, it has to be far harder to create and maintain public online presence....than for a male, I mean.

One theory has been not about athleticism, but some 'nebulous' hunter instinct.

I want to believe this...and maybe I do. But I wonder if female anglers believe it. The risk or perception that it isn't true could be nearly as great a barrier as the real thing

If I were to accept this as true (I do not), then I think it would still badly mis-characterize the pro disparity. Because I believe that ratio for 'serious' bass anglers is no where near 1/3.... or 1/10. And anybody who is less than 'serious' is not even contemplating going pro. My wife, mom, sister, step-daughter and granddaughter fish. It isn't the same thing as me, my Dad, stepbrother, grandfather as anglers.... well, maybe my mom.. But the average intensity of commitment even to fun fishing isn't close between men and women I know, except for a very few exceptions. So, the 1/3 colors the discussion out the gate. As to reasons why....I'm not sure B.A.S.S. and MLF aren't partly to blame. Until maybe 18 months ago, they seemed to largely ignore women. I'd say ask some of the few women around the sport but they don't seem to know... or maybe aren't forthcoming about it. Never heard Pam Martin Wells, Trait Zaldain, Kristine Fischer, Lisa Talmadge, etc. express that they understand why not more. BASS seems to be making a concerted outreach lately. Maybe we'll see a difference in coming years.

As the two preceding posters mentioned, it is impossible to answer until you provide details about the rods that you are using. That could be 100% of the issue.

Funny.... as I was thinking about this question, I was developing the exact opposite answer. If I am in a tournament, I am fishing for five bites. No time is wasted if I make a conscious decision to cast at a place where I think there is likely to be a fish that will be in my bag. I also think it depends a lot on the log. I tend to imagine bass in current move into and out of cover more often than in still water. So fish relating to a log in a river, especially a tidal river may move in (or out) several times an hour, but in my head I don't imagine the log fish changing as frequently in a pond or low/no current lake. What is the surrounding environment of the log? If it is the only wood within 50 yards, but has depth change close, or some other structural feature nearby, I might throw at it for a long, long time. There is a lake log I know that is in the middle of the bass' highway. Bass pass by moving in and out, shallow and out, several times every day in most seasons. That log gets a lot of my attention some days if I feel the conditions are right. Some logs and laydowns have earned a reputation for me of always having good fish in or around them. Right or wrong, I will fish wood that has produced for me in the past a lot longer than logs that never did. 28 just doesn't seem unreasonable to me in a lot of situations.

I think it's the full moon. Every bass I hooked this past weekend was insane. I lost three giants Sunday that each jumped completely out of the water. My hands are a mess. I'm glad I wasn't in a tournament....I quit trying to measure them

We’re saddened… and outraged… and puzzled… But, I find it interesting to contemplate how far in the minority we are. How many of those new homeowners/landowners share your concerns? Not that they’d dispute them – but that they don’t share them. I hate it, but it doesn’t mean I’m more right. When my wife and I were honing in on an area to retire, we visited a county with two 3000+ acre lakes to choose from: First lake has beautiful homes, large boat houses and docks with lifts. Perfect ‘recreational lake’ for many. Second lake shoreline is owned by the power company. Homeowners cannot clear land or build within hundreds of feet of lake. Docks are limited to old pontoon boats stripped to the deck and tied to a couple trees. People routinely bemoan lack of control of their ‘own shoreline’, or inability to build a nice dock. I don’t have to tell you which lake we chose. But, I fully acknowledge that while many might say, ‘gee, this lake is pretty’, or ‘look at all the trees’, few of them might willingly choose to live on our lake, over the other. So, I guess what I’m saying is that while the problem is so obvious to us, we have a huge communication hurdle to convince non ‘outdoorsmen and women’ that there is any sort of problem at all. How do you explain bad lake management to people that are genuinely happy with the way they are managed?

😓 Was a time some 50 years ago when I thought Big Yellow Taxi was for hippies and tree-huggers. I was wrong ... and it is as relevant today as it was then

Six years ago, apparently. I still have them, but never went back to it. I do recall the vid of that bait in action is what sold me

Hold the bait and use the rod and line like a bow and arrow for skipping under docks. Gene Larew marketed some baits and heads a few years ago for shooting docks for bass. I bought a few but never found it any better for me than traditional skipping. With more practice, I did think it had potential but I didn't work at it.

I love everything about catching bass, but I have to admit that the favorite parts are when it is about me. Getting bit on a 'perfect cast'; successful adjustments on the water; or seeing something on sonar or map I hadn't fished and using my experience and knowledge to boat a decent fish from a spot or approach I wasn't previously familiar with, etc.

Third the Helium. There is problem, however. Heliums are like Lay's potato chips....can't have just one

Answering the question from personal experience would be admitting that I made a bad purchase and didn't get enough for the premium I paid. Answering it without personally experiencing the point of diminishing returns, I'd just be regurgitating stuff I read on the interwebs. I tend to recommend reels between 150-200, and rods over 200, but I fully admit that most will experience the exact same rod differently.... and reels, too to some degree

Yeah... she was a good looking fish and strong. But, while some 22 1/4 would bump past 7, I don't think this was much over 6. No scale in the kayak... no bump board on the boat... I may need to figure out why I am like that

Two notable by-catches yesterday. First, only a by-catch because until yesterday, I'd have told you that there aren't any smallmouth in that lake.. Caught maybe two up one of the feeder rivers years ago. But in 14 years, never in the main lake. Other one I wouldn't have believed it wasnt staged if I hadn't hooked it and seen for myself. Hooked cleanly in the mouth...that was one hungry bluegill

No scale...not a lot of belly, but good shoulders. Few fish where I wanted them to be.... deep, relating to points... a number of 3+ all cruising 4-8', and fortunately chowing down in steady rain. Went out at noon in downpour and the bite lasted as long as the rain; about four hours. Slowed until the sun got low around 6:30 before it picked up again

I don't use different rods in my kayak. What advantages do you get from a shorter rod in a kayak? Maybe more manageable around overhanging trees? I don't fish rivers anymore (other than tidal), so the few inches difference around trees doesn't apply very often. Longer rods theoretically give me better leverage for hooksets, which slightly offsets the disadvantages of sitting, awkward angles, and light platform, as opposed to being on a boat. I did use shorter handled rods in a couple of previous kayaks. Molded seats and/or bulky PFD made longer handles a problem for me. But, now, in a raised seat with inflatable PFD, I am not bothered by long handles.

Not me. I have substantial trouble crossing o-rings and putting a hook through..... but I fully acknowledge that my fingers don't really work very well. Lol

I listen to music a lot. Oftentimes, I just let a streaming service push on with their algorithm and I go with it. Often good, sometimes lousy, and frequently great results. Every so often, I feel immediate need to look up who is playing piano on a song..... it turns out to be Nicky Hopkins... like nine out of ten times that I have to know the piano player's name...it is Mr. Hopkins. That dude was something pretty special

My jerkbait box is a lot more boring than it used to be. I don't carry clown, bright purples, and neon perch type stuff anymore. Instead of colors, I focus more on opacity. Clearer and translucent in clean water; opaque in dirty water. Won't claim it is better or smarter than focusing on colors, but I'm sorta over caring about jerkbait colors most of the time. If it looks kinda natural to me, it's good to go

I was here a few years ago. One of my 'home lakes' is murky to muddy 300 days a year and I quit on jerkbaits very early on. Until someone who I mostly trusted at the dock talked about banner days with jerkbaits. I was pretty skeptical. But I am a convert. There are some conditionals, though.... in thick water, I generally only target suspended bass between about five and nine feet deep....and only after I've fairly confidently seen them on downscan or ClearVu. But if they are on flats or points swimming less than ten feet from the surface, a hard jerkbait can be money, even in pretty dirty water

I always have a spinnerbait tied on. But it is rarely the first thing I throw. Wind is almost always a factor in my decision to use one. It is rare for me to use a spinnerbait if it is slick calm. There are rare times when I want to cover calm water fast and there is random stickups, laydowns or submergent grass, and I'll use a spinnerbait as I speed down the bank or flats. Wind factors come from two a couple unrelated vectors. One, I think that light broken by waves makes the shiny blades much more effective. Two, as much as I love bottom contact fishing, it can be much easier to fish a spinnerbait in windy conditions. If my t-rig or jig gets hit when I'm winding back to make another cast, I take it as a strong sign that I need to throw a spinnerbait (and/or crank or chatterbait). Spinnerbaits banging wood are so effective....and come through surprisingly well. A couple/few times every year I am shocked and pleased to get a spinnerbait slammed the exact moment it hits the water....I mean not even time to fall beneath the surface....and somehow, that often happens in six inches of water or less. I rarely target such a spot, but just planning to pull across a nearby log or something....I probably should spend a little more time throwing spinnerbaits very tight to the bank Last week....too windy for plastics. She hit a twin side-by-side that I've really been liking this year