Smokinal

Dottie is my world record. I don't care how she was caught; she's the largest bass on planet earth that humans have seen and weighed. By pounds

I'm sorry to hear about your losses. Good to see you get out though. Stay positive

My usual partner and I play a little game at the end of our day where one of us will ask the other, "ok, if you could win $1m right now to catch a single fish, where would you go and what would you do?" Then that person will drive the boat to "his" picked spot and try to catch a fish. Then the other person gets a chance to pick a spot and catch one fish. We call it "one more, out the door"

Depends on wind and depth. On a calm day, in a lilly field I'll go weightless but in a little breeze or if I want some depth to the bait, I'll use a belly weighted hook.

When fish are actively feeding, or in cleaner water, yes, a natural bait may be the best choice. But when the bite gets tough, they are not actively feeding or in dirty/stained water, there are baits that can make fish bite. This is called a reaction bite. Bass don't do much other than eat and make more bass. They are programmed to eat so when they are alarmed or curious, (and because they don't have fingers to examine a bait) they just eat it. Now, there are tons of vids showing bass hitting a bait, and then spitting it out. This could be because they were curious, ate it, figured it out and a non-food source, then spit it. We don't care about that because we want to set a hook before they spit it out; as long as we can trick them into biting in the first place. This is where scents on baits can be useful too; to make a fish hold a bait just a split second longer so we can set a hook.

I used the Blood for years and years; until I discovered the Alberto And, to me, the FG in FG knot stands for FuGedaboudit

Or uses twice as much oxygen? https://countryrebel.com/image-of-fish-with-two-mouths-goes-viral-on-facebook/?a=MB&var=FishTwoMouths-RELOAD&utm_campaign=fishtwomouths&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=author-mb-posted_by-dk-reload&utm_content=viral-content

Went to Lake B again today and pulled a bunch of good smallies and this 5-6

While I do save a jerk for water under 50, I've had great days when slick, cloudy etc... (poor JB conditions) And I know jerks will work in warmer water, I just have other confidence baits in water over 50

Years ago I thought of starting a bait company and went through the same thing. I never did it so I'll give you my super duper, bait selling, fisherman catching, sounds awesome name for a jig.... The DLG Because fish Don't Let Go And it could turn into your full business name for that matter. DLG Jigs Just send me some jigs when you're famous

Absolutely try different retrieves. The 'ol hop, hop is a typical pattern but often times they like it on a slow crawl; which can be done a couple different ways. One, with the reel handle itself; just reeling very slowly a short distance and pause if you like. Two, the method I prefer, a very slow sweep with the rod, with a pause to reel the slack. These will obviously keep the bait on the bottom more, which they prefer sometimes. A whole other approach is "stroking" the jig. Youtube some vids for a better explanation but it's basically very aggressively ripping the jig off the bottom to initiate a reaction bite. I've had this work well for me before; usually a warmer water tactic when they are a little more aggressive themselves. Keep in mind that all of the above can, and will, work for your worm fishing during the summer as well. If one isn't working, try the other!

Jerkbaits; try different styles and colors lipless cranks; red or gold. Try straight retrieve or "yo-yo" jigs crawled slowly on bottom These^^work for me from ice-out to around 50deg water. When water hits 50, spinnerbaits and crankbaits will start to work too. As well as jigs and lipless baits

I used to fish a SB often, then got away from them for some reason. But, this winter I ordered 6-7 new baits; gonna get back on em here soon. My water is still 43-44 deg

I always think about this too. Years ago, I started carrying a ziplock baggie with baking soda in it. After I get launched, and before I rig rods, I scrub my hands with baking soda and rinse in the lake.

....one lake can produce numbers and another can produce quality. My "home lake" gives me insane numbers. Rarely do I catch less than 25-30 in a 5 hr morning; with days reaching 60-70 in a 6-7 hr day. But most will be 1.5-2.5 lbers, which I'll take all day. But it's nice to get some quality fish now and again, so that's when we head to lake B, which is what we did today. My neighbor with a 5-7 And me with a 5-3 And a good smallie We only boated 6 fish total, but most were better than average fish. And that's how it consistantly is in those 2 lakes. If I want numbers, I go to one; quality, I go to the other. Just odd how it works every time. Oh, and my beer you can stand a spoon up in to finish the day

^^^Yup; I keep a towel on the deck all the time. I don't mind the slime on me but prefer not to get it all over my rods, handles etc... I like to take care of my equipment and keep it clean.

A 7' Med Heavy, fast will throw almost anything. Probably the most universal rod out there. And you can get a decent rod that will get you out there fishing for $60-$90 Sure, $100-$200 will get you a lighter, more sensitive rod but don't "not fish" because you can't afford a $200 rod. Get what your means allow. EDIT: Just saw your reply; you can get a really nice rod for ~$150

All good info above but I'm betting on most of those bites you missed were either small bucks or panfish just grabbing the tail end of the bait. You could try a couple of things in that case. Try a 4" senko on a 2/0 EWG hook; try a 3/0 or even 4/0 in a 5" bait with the hook more in the center of the bait, rather than on the very end (run the bait farther up the hook/line before exiting the bait) And when fish short strike a crankbait or jerkbait, one thing that can tell you is your color may be slightly off; try a different color to make them commit more to the bait. Keep us posted!

Yes^^ and Yes^^ I just had this issue with a Pro Qualifier. Took the anti-reverse bearing out, washed it with brake cleaner, put it together dry (some say dry; some say light oil) and it works perfect now.

Man have I had great luck with Delco Voyagers!

No order: frog ned craw or TRD on a ned head senko spinnerbait jig

GET OUT!! That's incredible! So glad to hear he's that much up and about. Keep passing along our blessings, thoughts and well wishes.

Agree 100%

I've heard this before. I've gotta get one of these and was wondering if this is still the case with these "twisted trebles" they use on them now? Are we not liking those?