sully420

@FryDog62I hear ya topwaters have been tough so far this year there's been really small windows of action here and there. I have a feeling that September will offer some good opportunities for froggen and buzz baits. One thing I've noticed this season is slow walking and patience retrieving has been the deal. Another. helpful tactic has been having a friend on the boat fishing subsurface baits behind me. I know if he's getting bit and I'm not on a topwater I better put it down. In other words just because I'm not getting bit on a topwater doesn't mean the bass aren't there and they're not biting.

@ThatOneBigKid on a tremor head crawling it on the bottom.

Not my pb, I really thought it was going to be.

I couldn't agree with this more. You really have to fish the conditions of the lake and break it down from there. I've been fishing a jig and frog in dirty water and deep cranks and the jerky J in deep water with good grass and some hard bottom edges. I went out today in the wind and fished a main lake point with a dt14 and caught 2 4lbers then tried a jerky j and caught a 5 and a 6.8

What's up guys, Went out this morning and unexpectedly got on the best frog bite I've had all season. I was fishing a bank with laydowns and scattered lilies. All the bites came on a really slow walking retrieve in 1' of water the biggest was 5+ and there was plenty of 3lb fish as well. After that I flipped some arrow head lillies in 4' of water and got bit consistently until noon. My original thought going into the day was going to be a finesse fishing deep edges maybe cranking I started off with that for the first 45 minutes didn't get any bites I saw the bank over there and trusted my instincts and went with the frog. Lesson of the day don't get locked into what you think the fish should be biting sometimes it pays off to take a chance and to trust your instincts.

Hey everybody, Fishing has been really good lately and two techniques have really been standing out for me lately. Crankin deep and punching pads and mats in 4 to 8 feet of water. Finding schooling bass off weed edges and points with a 5xd has been good in lakes with clear water and deep grass. Punching pads and weed mats is working for me in dirty shallower lakes. Docks have been inconsistent for me lately I think this is due to falling water levels. I'd like to wish all the guys fishing the greenhorn this Saturday good luck and I think Minnetonka is going to be a pretty interesting Lake this weekend and whoever wins is going to earn it.

@ThatOneBigKid what lake did you guys fish on Wednesday?

Same here, I'm still learning but graphing is improving my fishing every day.

The bottom of your junction box should have ground inputs at the bottom.

Strike king

@ThatOneBigKid I think you may be trying to replicate exactly what I was doing. Try fishing the deepest weeds you can find with a bait that will go over the top or will get down to the bait on the sonar. Different lakes have different water clarity and weed growth at different depths so whenever you get information about a pattern always think about adapting it to the specific like you're fishing.

@ThatOneBigKid submerged weed clumps off the edge with bait and bass graphed.

@Dubtee I'm pretty sure the bass were feeding on bait above the grass. There was no need to make contact with the grass.

Had a good evening cranking grass in 14' of water. I was marking bait fish mixed in with isolated patches of grass in 14' foot of water, the grass was 4' feet off the bottom. I was fishing a 5xd. I think this bite was very specific to the weather conditions 10 mph wind and overcast skies.

I've really never noticed a problem catching bass in July and August. Actually August has been my best month for size for the past 3 years. The bass are definitely in a summer pattern now.

I just keep to the right if both boats are trolling. If the boat ahead of me is stopped I stop fishing when I get 75 yards away and go around and don't resume fishing until I'm 75 yards away. I don't get fazed by people cutting in front of me or anything like that I just move on and keep fishing.

@misho187 got a chance to try your summer lipless rip'n technique. And it was awesome. I was throwing a 3/4oz red eye shad (natural gll) and ripping it out of grass and caught a bag of 3+lb bass. No giants but a really fun bite and great presentation to get reaction bites. Thanks for the tip!!+

Worm: max scent power worm Craw: Rage craw Grub: menace Swimbait: Keitech 4.8 Creature: Rodent Swim jig, spinnerbaits and chatterbait trailers: Keitech easy shiners

I like to rig plastics with the lightest side down or on the bottom. If you look at baitfish they are lighter on the bottom and darker on top.

Feeding times are overrated. Find feedings areas and discern what time's the most fish are feeding in what areas and what size they are when.

As for trailer style I consider 3. 1. Size what profile am I looking for and do I need extra bulk maby for skipping ease or displacement in dirty water also rate of fall. 2. Action do I need some king of moving action In warm water or to trigger reaction bites. I cold water I'll use trailers with dead action like rodents or beavers. 3. Rig I am using. Different baits have different pros and cons for the hooks and bait style you are using. I feel like the hook up ratio for big trailers like rage draws is better on a jig than a flipping hook because the hook needs to penetrate all that plastic bait. On a jig all you need to overcome is the brush guard. I like a lean bait like a sweet beaver or a menace for flipping hooks JMO. Many people overcome this problem by using ewg hooks for flipping because if rigged correctly the bait slides more easily exposing the hook. Personally I prefer the flipping hook for its strength and hold, also is a bit more seedless than the ewg imo. I still think it is worth trying the ewg, it may just fit one's style better.

A swim jig is really versatile and in the sunny calm conditions I had I started with the swim jig just junk fishing some emergent vegetation ( cattails and a wispy kind of grass) there were some pads and really shallow milfoil about 3' at the boat and 1.5 where the cattails were. So I was just covering water with a swim jig, I could cast it and flipp it. I got bit 3' in to the cattails with the jig and went to a 3/4oz skirted punch rig and it didn't get bit as well as the jig so I went with the jig 70% of the time. I think it was the rate of the fall the jig was 1/2oz, the bass seemed to like it off the bottom. Long story short swim jig is a good versatile search bait when conditions don't favor spinners and blades jigs and you can't fish a treble bait clean.

Went out to coon today from 11am to 5. Caught 10 bass 2 3lb. Caught them on a reed point that had lots of floating degree blown in I was flipping a kvd sexy shad swim jig with a watermelon menace a couple of feet back in the reeds. I love this weather it's right in my wheelhouse puts bass right where I like them.

Got out today from 3 to 7pm today. Fished around for a bit and decided to fish docks, caught a 5 and a 4 on a shad color swimjig kvd sexy shad I think is the color. Also got lots of bites but the bass were taken the bait funny today an missed them. I wanted to fish grass but the grass on the lake I was fishing was garbage ( dead and full of algae). Thanks @misho187 for the lipless tip I know a lake that should set up well for that technique. I think this season is all about reading the lake and finding the best stuff on that body of water, versatility and trying new techniques that allow you to present your bait correctly in the cover you find seems to be the deal.

I'm going out today at 2pm I'll report this evening.