"hamma"

Typically later in the day is best in Fall, early morning can also be good. Go when you can, is my thought. Its Fall, fishing is gunna be sporadic for awhile. But when you hit it on a good day? It can be the best day of the year. When I was younger I'd fish from just before sun-up, til just after sundown in fall, chasing maines smallies. And its not as diffcult as one would think, as the daylight is getting shorter

I've been using 10 pound test green stren since the 80's for a jerkbait.,..works for me!,..why break it? I will add,..I use big game alot in saltwater,..

I have a caenan and love it, its on a field and stream "tech-spec" telescoping flipping stick and it handles everything I put it through. And believe me,.I cross there eyes on a hookset when flipping and pitching. This combo also casts so well I also will throw a jig and pig way in back, on top of the lily pads and fish it like a frog. Best part? it didnt break the bank I've have had no issues with this set-up, and would recommend it to anyone. Its pretty light, casts fine, has the power one would want, and I've hauled some pigs out of heavy cover with it. Pads, hydrilla, coontail, brush, laydowns, docks with weeds, even skipping. It does it all.

Shimano products are premium in eyes, I know they used to put out a couple 500 series ul reels that were highly regarded. Check out there site and look for whats available now, it should provide weights for each reel offered.,.. I know the stradics are top notch, but a bit pricey for what your looking for. There should be some lesser expensive models in the ul lineup. I dont even look at other manufacturers for a reel anymore. I do have a couple diawa's and abu's that I consider ok,.. But shimano's just outshine them greatly. I actually was pulling out trout gear yesterday, and came across my first trout shimano reel, I think its a "magnumlite" gt 1000,.. that I still use, and it works almost like new, its 35 years old

First hard bait bite? perch patterned floating rapala, at browns pond in my native city of Peabody, I was 16 and hitting small local ponds in the area, via my 77 suzuki gs 400. Funny how I can remember that, but if asked what I was doing Monday. I'd be drawing a blank,...lol, priorities

A bit of irony?,.. I found this post tuesday, and reading it I thought back to first casts with a new lure success, and remember it happening,.. but couldn't remember what lure it was. The irony?,... I finally got to get out and fish yesterday with je1946 off my boat, and not even thinking about this thread, it actually happened. I tied on a brand new kvd deep diving jerkbait, tossed it out there, and halfway back to the boat, it produced the only largemouth of the tough day, just a small one, but one just the same. And then remembered reading this thread Tuesday, and had a good laugh,.. irony?,..or destiny?,... hhmmmmm!

LOL, sorry that i'm mostly long winded in my posts, I try to get my point across efficiently. And I have all day to do so. This sport has so much to offer, and the variables are endless within just about any aspect of it that it kinda forces one to fully explain the why's, where's and how's. I just hope that my long winded "rants" ,..at the least, helps someone catch bigger, better, or even any bass. As,... when I was starting out bass fishing? I only had field and stream, bassmasters, sports afield and fishing facts to read, and neither really refferenced freshwater "bass" fishing here in New England. (95% was trout specific) So, I know how it feels to "try" the techniques offered, only to either fail,(and loose a bankroll of lures,..LOL) or figure out how to customize tips to this region. Adding in there that?,... when you've been "angling" for as long as I have? and been forced to struggle at it? You kinda feel oblidged to help others out that are struggling or starting out as well. For trial and error is a rough, and tough road in this sport. I feel as if this very site is a godsend to anglers like myself, and for those seeking the knowledge anglers like me have obtained, and are willing to offer it. Thank you Glenn, and the mods, for all your efforts

I'd consider it to be a bit stiff for topwaters, unless you plan on using it for tossing frogs on pads. But thats me, I prefer a med action for topwaters

A good way to start is to slowly move along a good looking shoreline and toss a spinnerbait or squarebill "seaching" for a hit. when you've found a area that produced some hits,.. or even follows. start all over again in that same area,.. but, fish it even slower with a jig and craw, or a worm, fishing it more thoroughly this time.

Catt is spot on about negative clues, anything. And I'll repeat ANYTHING thats negative will deter a hit, and that goes whether its clear water or not. I smother my lures with the proper scents, to mask the human scent, I use light green mono line, (although flourocarbon should be used) Im used to the mono's and very rarely do I exceed 12 pound test. The point about cadence is important because that is often what attracts a fish to a lure. If your cadence of twitch, twitch, RIP,.is what attracted the follow, continue it. When the fish gets close, pay close attention to how it reacts to your lure. If you feel a faster movement will entice a strike, as if you think the bass will think the prey is scared, try it. If that works,.. great. If it doesnt work, stick to the original cadence and see what happens then. Its a game of "what do I need to do" The fish's reaction could be of territory, impulse, hunger, or even competition.,.. within all of these, scent, sight, vibration, and sound will be what triggers the initial reaction, if that sense is negatively altered, the fish will swim away,..But If you can produce a positive que to the correct sense, the fish will be more likely to strike. Using the clear water can actually be your friend in this way. So be very attentive to the fish's reaction, in whatever you do, or even use for that matter. A jerkbait offers many different looks and sounds. This may be why it was more effective than other lures that day. If you are returning to the same lake? Id use the same lure that produced before, covered in a scent that matches what the lure looks like. and watch what happens, then mimic what works everytime you see one coming for a follow. Good Luck, I hope this helps some Keep ya line wet

As long as you gave 100% thats all you can do. Experience in such situations will provide you with all the insight you need for future refference. Hind sight after any tourney, will bring up alot of could of/should of's, but, dont let them hinder your thoughts. Instead,.. use them as a learning tool, work on eliminating them, and future tournies will not only go smoother, but with better results as well. You weighed in some fish when others didnt?,... ^5,... at least you didnt come in skunked, or worse, allowed pressure to get in the way resulting in a skunking. Having fun,.. meeting new people, and gaining some experience. Is what I'd call a win anyday, maybe without a paycheck, but can one really put a price on that? Good job Nitro!

The three on the bottom look kinda like manns jelly worms, and the top two? not sure, I dont recall the tails, maybe handpours, but the head design look like they maybe be producto products

If there's bass? there must be forage,... follow the bait. I know some Bowl lakes that are just nothing but a sand pit filled with water no real cover, nothing. The depths become what they relate to in them,..and when you find where the forage is, within that correct depth? the bass are close by.

I let the fish tell me.,..over here the fronts in fall can stack up once they hit the altlantic and create some freaky weather patterns. You can find a heavily varied surface temp from pond to lake etc. Also with those stacked fronts runoff from heavy rains can be cold water being introduced to the waters and produce funky surface temps that are cold readings, but 4 feet under the surface the temps can vary greatly. So in summary ,...I dont pay much attention to the surface temps in fall at all. Around here it can be quite deceiving, and really throw a angler a curveball if you play into it. Its taken me many years to come to this conclusion. In fall I start every trip with a topwater as it "can" produce all day if timing is right, plus,.. its my favorite way to bass fish, so its the first rod I reach for in fall no matter what water Im fishing. Then I will try a jerkbait, or, new to my arsenal last year a squarebill. If conditions are right a spinnerbait will get wet too. Then I will assess whats going on with bait found on my lcr, at what depth, etc. If its working why break it? I'll fish a topwater till ice fills in if possible

Ive been using either berkley crosslock snaps or the rapala knot since the 80's.,.. no "issues" at all

No matter where you ice fish, if your new to it?,....Just be careful out there on the ice please,..Ice fishing can be alot of fun. The guys I used to ice fish with? We had a blast, no shelters, but a gas grill,a coleman stove, a huge cooler with plenty of food and drink were staples. It was like a cookout on the ice with a radio, a frisbee, and so on. Hot off the grill steak tips, chicken wings, burgers, hot dogs, etc, are a welcome fare when its cold out there,..Like I said alot of fun, but that was on "safe" ice, at least 8 to 10 inches of ice. One day I was out fishing alone, on thinner than that Ice, But being alone all i needed was like 4 to 6 inches of ice to be safe, and If I recall it was slightly thicker, and as I headed home I unknowingly walked over the spring, and ended up swimming instead of treading "safe ice"., And yeah, even though Ive been icefishing for years? It was truely a rookie mistake.. Nonetheless,...Ive since given up on ice fishing. So, please ,...be careful out there.

Aww man that bites,...lesson learned ,.never grab the line with a nice one on.

it goes on a jighead, rig it like this,...Half way down the tail, as it curls under insert the jigs hook and push up towards the head, As to leave the swimtail under the jig. I had some of these back in the early 90's but forget what company that made them,.I wanna say arkie, but not sure.. Mine were a very dark brown color and worked well on gravel bottomed flats with slight weeds for smallies

It was a very good video,..best piece of advice in it? I think the part about when you catch one, throw back in there, dont move along, stay put. So many anglers are cruising the shoreline, and will catch one and keep moving along. The fish are there for a reason, there's more likely than not, a few more there. Maybe, a pig at that. If you think about it, the smaller fish are "usually" a bit quicker than the bigger fish. they expel less energy to run down a bait, especially in cooler waters. The first one you catch in a area is most likely the smaller of them. Throw back in there and see if there are bigger fish down there as well, what's it going to hurt by sticking around for a few more casts.

Nice Smallies,. there A-Jay!, will be a few more days til I get out there searching for them myself. Congrats! on another good fall fishing trip, the later in the season we fish? the fatter they will get. Keep it up.

Yeah,..I fish alot of clear waters Trick is to continue any cadence that got their attention to begin with. If you get anxious and "react" to the strike that has yet to come because you see the fish coming. The fish will most likely swim up to it, check it out, and swim away. If you just continue working the lure, as if there's no fish getting ready to attack it ,...it just might. My old fishing buddy used to drive himself nuts with this (what I call) "clear water anxiety" he'd get so amped up, that every fish that showed any interest, he'd freeze waiting for the hit, that never came. It took me so long to break him of this, even though he'd be watching me catching fish, and he wasn't. He would try speeding up the lure, or letting it sit, slight twitches,.. etc. All he really needed to do was to close his eyes for a few seconds (once he saw a fish coming) and just fish the lure the way that drew the fish's attention. And that finally worked. It took me a while to just ignore that a fish is about to hit when I first started fishing all these clear waters as well. And I understand all too well the difficulty of seeing a huge bass about to hit and not hinder my retrieve. Its not easy, its actually a very tense moment, exciting as well. But if you just imagine there is nothing going on, and just continue your retrieve, thinking she's not gunna hit, she might. At the least thats how I've dealt with the clear water anxiety As far as the bait available you mentioned,.. that very well may be the true reason why the bass were just checking your lures out without a hit, they could be keying in on the present baitfish's size, scent, color, and movement. With that being said,...Your retrieves very well may have been right on, doing what is needed in clear water. And you did nothing "wrong" at all,.. But what I call "clear water anxiety" ,....is a real issue with many anglers that aren't used to water you can see thru down to 20 or 30 feet. Watching a 8 or 9 pounder heading for your lure isnt an easy thing to watch, and continue a "consistent" retrieve. It takes some,..ok,.. alot of nerve, and a ton of patience. Even watching a nice 4 lber about to strike can hype up most anglers that aren't used to clear water.

river smallies in the fall?,..yeah pretty much

"Back in the day",...lol,... typically a med action rod should be paired with a treble hooked lure. and a med heavy or heavier for a single hooked lure. This was the rule of thumb years ago before braid took off in the freshwater world, and mono ruled.,.. I (being stubborn) have stuck to this as it works for me. the shorter 5'6" med action baitcaster would probably be good for a topwater/jerkbaits for the moment as the longer handles, and longer rod lengths of todays newer gear "can" get in the way when you apply some of the "topwater" techniques, and 10 pound test is what i use for this The 6' med heavy action Bionic Blade baitcaster Id use for worms and jigs paired with its okuma reel and 12 pound test. The spinning rod Id put some 10 pound test on and use for jigheads and finesse techniques. These May work as a good start for now, and some anglers may disagree, and suggest other ways to set up the gear you have, and thats fine,... but in general, your at the starting gate.,..Get ready!, there's a ton of info regarding the sport of bass fishing. But at the very least you are at the right place to begin with. Bass Resource has it all.

River smallies are different then their lakebound brethern, The bite can turn on in a river when the bite on a lake is dead. Current and its direction/speed seems to rule and you need to be attentive to it. Temps will also dictate their location, beit a deep pool, or eddy on a straight run. This time of year I will locate them with either a small 1/8 oz spinnerbait, or a small crappie type squarebill crankbait on a light action rod. Then pick them apart with a jighead and small plastic. The air temps, and faster moving fronts in Fall will give you a headache, if you try to "figure" whats going on in a river. Best bet is to go, fish, have fun. You could miss the best bite of the year at home, sitting on the couch, thinking the fish are in a slower bite mode. For as far as smallies go? in a river? anything can happen. anytime of year, under any conditions

try a jerkbait