BassAddict'18

Bass Pro Tourney Special Combo in 7 ft. Med. Heavy. All around good rod. However, if you want to do some serious cranking, youre gonna need a Med. Ive lost fish on a Med Heavy using a crankbait when I probably would have gotten a better hookset by using a Med.

Let me just say that in my own personal opinion, a 1/2 ounce or 1/4 ounce red eye shad is the way to go for a lipless crankbait. After a cold front I like to yo yo them. For lethargic bass, they really seem to like it when you jerk the lipless up off the bottom and forward a couple feet and then let it sink to the bottom and repeat. For any other day, if I dont know what they want, ill just vary up my retrieve and kind of go from slow to fast and anywhere in between till i get a bite and then repeat that.

By far I have had the most success by using a KVD 1.5 squarebill in Sexy Shad. I have fished whole tournaments this fall using just this one bait and caught a lot of good fish. that and a shakeyhead off of long points with brush piles on them for the fish that live deep year round.

I finished second place in a college team tournament out of the back of the boat this past September, and the winner was also a co angler. It can be done! There have been a couple times where I have had more success than my boater. Just because you are fishing out of the back of the boat doesn't mean you can't whack em'. In my opinion, its all about using the right bait and strategically casting to spots where there are fish that your angler may not have hit, or using a different bait and presentation than your angler. Just because your boater has a boat doesnt mean he is any better at fishing. He could be using the completely wrong bait for the day, and you could literally cast into the same spot he just did 30 seconds ago and catch a big one. It may also take more than one cast to pull a fish off of cover, and as a co-angler, you have the opportunity to follow up and catch fish that may have needed that second look at a bait.

I have heard that before about always trying to throw something different than the guy in the front of the boat. That's great advice and I will have to keep that in mind when I see what he's going to be doing. Thanks for the advice everyone. Its a very confusing time of the year because as has already been said, they aren't fully doing their fall stuff yet but at the same time they aren't still fully doing their summertime stuff which leaves for a lot of figuring out to be done.

I hadn't thought about using a chatterbait, that is a great idea

North Carolina Piedmont region. The formal announcement has not been made but i am almost positive its going to be Falls Lake.

What are your preferred baits of choice and techniques for late summer and early fall largemouth fishing? Any tips for a co-angler with his first tournament of the fall coming up in mid September? Thanks!

Thank you all for the replies. I called bass pro and they said they'd replace the reel if it happened again. I was pleasantly surprised they'd do that

So I bought a bass pro shops tourney special baitcasting combo and have fished with it pretty much every day since I got it 2 months ago. I've had no problems until tonight when I made a cast and I heard a clicking sound. I noticed that all the line was collecting on the left side of the reel. Well I went home and I turned the level wind pawl until I wasn't having that issue anymore. My question is has anyone else had this problem? Is it as easy of a fix as turning the level wind pawl until the levelwind turns properly or is this most likely going to be an ongoing issue? The last thing I want to have happen is the reel break in the middle of a tournament because what I thought was a minor problem was actually bigger. Thanks!

Learn to think outside of the box and dont be afraid to deviate from your normal lure choices. Pick something those big fish probably havent seen before. My personal best of 8 pounds came out of a shallow pond in a neighborhood with little to no cover on the bottom that a few people fish consistently with soft plastic baits exclusively and no one has ever caught any big bass out there and i was using a fat free guppy crankbait. That same night i caught 5 more fish that were all in the 5-6 pound range on the same lure. They absolutely would not touch a senko, a trick worm, texas rig, shakey head, spinnerbait, lipless crankbait, a topwater, a fluke, a jig, etc. pretty much tried everything in my tacklebox and was about to give up because i honestly didnt think there was anything in that pond. Boy was I wrong. Throw something at them that they haven't seen before. Fish get used to seeing the same old lures again and again and my theory is that big bass are harder to catch because throughout their life they have probably seen a texas rig or a senko or whatever other common bait more than a thousand times and have probably been caught and released quite a few times. Before you showed up at your fishing spot, probably 200 other anglers that week had thrown the same bait you plan on throwing. I've seen big fish go from biting certain baits to not even looking at them by the end of the week. In order to trick those big fish you have to give them something they havent seen before.

I Second that suggestion. College fishing is the best thing you can get into if you are looking for a start in fishing. I already have one of my own small personal sponsors, along with enjoying the benefits of fishing team sponsors. It isnt that hard to achieve certain deals with different companies and people if you are respectful and work hard and keep at it. You just have to start on the small scale and then work your way up from there. There are plenty of small fishing and lure companies trying to get the ball rolling with their business in many small towns. I know there are several in mine. Start meeting and talking to different people and networking. If you fish as many tournaments as you say you do this shouldnt be too hard. Heck, I'm sure that there are a lot of people you probably have met who would be good aids in knowing where to start. The fishing industry is packed with knowledgeable people who would be happy to help you. Also, this is the internet, and people have a tendency to say certain things that may offend you if you are sensitive. Knowing this as well is a good step in moving forward. If you take absolutely everything literally and to heart, well, you will be in for a bad time.... Hope this helped Ryan

If you are in a situation where you either dont want to eat up your line changing lures a lot or you want to quickly change baits on the spot and dont have that many rods at hand then a snap swivel can be a great thing. If you are lucky enough to have 4-5 rods on hand then you shouldnt run into that problem and can just tie your baits straight on with no worries.

Welcome man! I live in NC too and I tournament fish and the best advice I can give you is to go for it. There is nothing like hearing your number called as the sun rises above the lake and then blasting off to a spot and beginning a day of fishing with tons of other guys who share a passion for the sport. I have met so many great people and learned so much from it. You won't regret it. My best advice is its gonna be hard to get into a rhythm and consistently catching fish going from bank fishing out onto the main lake like i did. Just stick with it and dont give up and youll be glad you kept at it. Also, in regards to fishing Norman. It can be a tough lake. I have fished it before and a lot of guys I know have had trouble there along with myself. The lake is mostly spotted bass but the largemouths you catch will help you out big time. I'd start getting ready for a lot of spotted bass fishing. They love those rocks and docks.

I know a guy who almost exclusively fishes dropshots in ponds unless they absolutely will not bite them. I personally dont fish dropshots much at all but Im considering learning how real soon haha

You described that so well I felt like i was actually there with you! haha I have had plenty of fish come off before because of bad knots. Its a shame that I had to learn, after the fact, that my knot tying skills needed work

Feel free to share your stories about those monster bass that you had on your line, felt the excitement and absolute adrenaline rush of reeling in, and then the sickening feeling of the line going slack as the biggest fish you've ever had escapes you.... Mine would probably have been this past weekend at a local fishing tournament. I was working a chatterbait along the brush and grass near the shore and suddenly felt this bass absolutely SLAM the chatterbait. This bass was at least a 10-12+ pound fish. it began to peel line, even though i had the drag tight, i could barely reel because the line was so tight, and then he began to run parallel to the boat. Then he took a rush towards the boat, and as I tried to fast reel, he sped up, and I felt the line go slack, and I almost cried. That fish was most likely the largest fish I had ever had on the end of my line.

Fishing a trick worm on a 1/4 ounce shaky head for me. On days where the DT6 crankbait and lipless crankbaits like the Red Eye Shad wont work (which are my goto) , they are the next thing on my line. They always produce around cover and for those bass that usually wouldn't bite, and when i need a slower more finesse presentation.

For Spotted Bass fishing rocks and docks is the best way to go about it without a doubt. For Largemouth, definitely weeds, brush, logs, docks, anything that will provide them with some good cover. I will usually work those areas for a while until I have confirmed there aren't any there that are going to bite. During the summer and with high temperatures I tend to work those areas slower. During times of the year where they are in aggressive feeding patterns, if i dont get them after the first few casts, i move on to the next area.

Thanks for all the input guys! Lots of great advice so far. I appreciate it, I will definitely be using them more often. My preferred method of fishing for big largemouth is usually a Zoom trick worm on a spot remover 1/4 ounce shaky head, but I am just now getting into Senkos more because of all of the hype they have been getting.

Hey all. I was wondering what everyone's preferred method of fishing a yum dinger/senko/stick bait was. When do you most often use them and where? How do you like to rig it and fish it? Thank you!

Probably FLW The Show. But I am a bit biased because they sponsor college fishing haha. I enjoy old stuff like Bill Dance though, can't beat an oldie but a goodie.

Welcome Sir! Good to see a fellow Georgian. I was born and raised in Gwinnett County.

Yessir! A few of our guys just placed 9th and 15th out of 130+ teams at the B.A.S.S/Carhartt College Regional Tournament this week at Lake Norman. Extremely good placings considering the local competition we were facing.

Just keep at it is all i can say. Some days during the spring have been both my worst and best days of fishing at times. Post fronts and clear water are what absolutely kill me. However, after I give it a few days for the post frontal conditions to move on, and the temperatures to remain warm and steady, i'm right back at it again. The beauty of fishing Spring is that you have fish both in pre-spawn and in spawning patterns. Its just about either targeting those fish that are on beds or finding the feeding prespawners. My best advice is to just keep trying and target both groups and your luck should steadily increase. Good luck!