Bass Justice

Regardless you've convinced me. I have pond that I have fished at night from the bank close by that I can throw my kayak into, I see having a great night in my future. I'm going to try and go Tuesday or Wednesday night!

Wow guys thanks a lot!! I was thinking the 19th and 20th as well but I love all the different views you guys offer I'm a little surprised regarding this comment as well. I love bass fishing at night, but I always saw it as a Summertime technique? I thought this as well! Well said!

I have a fun question for everyone. I want to get on the lake and my schedule is wide open for the next 10 days. Below is a snapshot of my weather forecast for the next 10 days. If you could pick any TWO days to fish, which would they be and why? Note: If you're wondering about the weather the past week, it's been pretty consistent with the first Thursday weather forecast. A mix of rain and cold nights, closer to lower 40's at night though. Also i'm in a Yak! Thanks! -Mike

Don't forget that sometimes they purposely tell >1 pounders to bite the lures and baits so the fisherman stay distracted and the lunkers can eat real food in peace. Ever wonder why that bass the size of a fluke attacked your 6 inch swimbait? Now you know

Thanks again guys i'll keep those suggestions in mind for sure! -Mike

Sam that was hilarious thank you for your insight haha. If there was an easy answer to this then bass fishing would probably be a lot easier and then we probably wouldn't be as into it as we are so there is that. Thanks for all the replies guys. I don't mind going out early regardless of the weather, so i'll keep churning out there in the am. I'll look for patterns and learn the bodies of water that I fish. Having only fished these waters a max of 4-5 times I am still very green to them and fishing on a boat as well (just bought my first pic kayak last month), so I have a lot to learn. I'm already excited to get back out there and figure these fish out! -Mike

I was wondering your guys' input on these weird cold Spring mornings we have with warmer afternoons? For instance the morning calls for 40 degrees, but by 12pm it will be 70 degrees. I know that water temperature rules all, but when I went out yesterday in similar conditions at 7am, the bite did not seem to turn on until 12pm when it warmed up (and consequentially warmed the water by 3 degrees as well). 7am- 61 degree water temp, 45 degree air= no bite 12pm- 64 degree water temp, 68 degree air= 6 bites within an hour and a half I know there are a multitude of factors going into the bite, but I was just wondering how you guys have been doing, and also wondering if next outing I should just wait until noon. Thanks -Mike

Thanks for the reply godfather. Yeah it was only about a foot of visibility so still pretty muddy. But like I said they were hitting the Rat-L-Trap pretty good in blue/ chrome, but probably because of the noise more than the sight. I haven't been to Macintosh on the weekends in awhile so I can't really comment on the pressure, but Horton is pretty full on weekends and the last two outings I had there were not good. I haven't tried the dam at McIntosh, but like I replied to buzz bait, I think my next outing i'll start at the Shoal Creek entrance and work my way down and around to the dam for sure. I hope the water starts to clear up by then. Yeah now that I see your video it was definitely two pickerel I caught. REALLY slimy haha. I made an effort to not lip them because I know about the teeth but was shocked when I felt their bodies lol. I read about Gar having really tough scales so I assume they feel rougher than a bass and will probably recognize one when I see one. I did fish Lake West Point last Summer and had a HUGE fish follow my buzzbait all the way back to the boat. I'm almost definitely sure that was a Gar by its appearance. I talked you into Macintosh, and now you talked me into Stars Mill pond! Haha. I am definitely going to go there this weekend now that you mentioned it. I went to Kedron to fish pre spawn about a month ago, it was my first time on a kayak, and first time really fishing a boat in full control. Water is nice and clear and I caught two keepers throughout the day so i'll have to go back soon. I talked to a local that was there when I went that fishes Kedron every week (for Crappie) and he told me that Kedron used to be Lunkerville until they drained it years back. He told me his buddy caught two 8 pounders in one week there, but it hasn't been the same since the refill. But numbers can definitely be a blast for sure.

Thanks again buzzed bait I really appreciate the advice! Yeah i've only been kayaking for a month now and it is a CHALLENGE, but it beats bank fishing any day. One thing I'm grateful for (and surprised about) is how comfortable my seat is when I literally fished for 10 hours today, although I usually only sit to go to a new area lol

Hey thanks for the reply. Yeah I ended up starting at line creek and worked my way down. I lost my anchor in the rocky bottom of the creek which was a drag, but dead in the center of the red square I came onto some bass around 12pm. I hooked 3 one pounders and one 2lber, along with 2 Gar (or maybe they are pickerel? I can't tell the difference lol). All bites, including the Gar/ Pickerel, came on a blueback/chrome Rat-L-Trap, all within two hours. I was surprised to find that the northern most end (where line creek feeds in) was 3 degrees LOWER than the main body of water. The creek area was 61 while the lake was 64 at 8am. I thought about working the courses rip rap but I was beat down by 4pm since I got there at 7am. I will definitely try the shoal creek feeder next time as well. It was pretty windy so I was getting my butt kicked in my kayak all day. For what it's worth I saw tons of life on my fish finder. About 5-6 schools of baitfish and countless fish holding between 10 and 25 feet. And that was just me mapping basically a straight path from the dock to line creek.. The bottom composition seems to be clay and lots of brush piles so it looks like a good healthy little reservoir. All the bass I pulled out were beautiful and healthy as well. And like I said in my OP there was ONE other boat there today, of course it was also a weekday but I still feel like pressure is low at this reservoir you should check it out next time you're down here.

(I changed the topic of this in another thread because I posted in the wrong forum). Hey guys, I have a general question about a reservoir i'm going to tomorrow morning. It's called Lake Mcintosh, in Peachtree City, Georgia. I have only bank fished there maybe 4 times and caught a 2lber off a trap one time, but I have seen some asian guys with a stringer of 2lbers that they took home and ate sadly. The reservoir is relatively new, about 2-3 years old and has not been stocked as far as I can tell. I think the average depth is around 10-15ft, and it has a creek called Line Creek feeding it from the northern most point of the lake. It's about 650 acres, electric motor only, and has little fishing pressure that I have noticed. Weather calls for 45 degrees in the morning with a 10mph north wind starting around 12pm. the water temp of Lake Horton(10 miles west) on Saturday was between 64-67, so I assume the water temp will be right at 60-65 degrees with the low being 45 tonight. I imagine these bass are between pre spawn and spawn, so I think i'm going to arrive pre rigged with a senko, trap, spinnerbait, jig, jerk bait, and topwater frog. I have heard about hitting pockets that are protected from north west winds, and hitting backs of creeks. So my main question is how would you guys attack this lake? Topo isn't available as far as I know, so I just have the Satellite view below. Yellow is where i'll be putting in my kayak, blue is a small pond that is cut off from the lake and isn't accessible, although I have bank fished that pond and it is very productive for LMB, and red is where the creek comes in, and at the top of the red square it starts stepping upward so it isn't accessible beyond that point. As far as I know there are crappie, bream, shad, LMB, and (gar?) It might not be gar, it might be another fish. I saw some guys bring one in and was a long fish with a long snout they said they caught with minnows. I would like to fish the main points outside of the pockets, but do I assume that every point in this lake extends beyond the shore since I don't have a topo? I struggle with this on other reservoirs as well without a topo, since sometimes you can't tell by the satellite view if a point extends far out into the lake, or literally just drops off 3 feet from the bank... But how would you guys hit this lake starting at 6:30am? I have pretty much all gear and lures for all techniques for the most part. I would assume stained water after the rains last week. I have a depth finder on the yak as well. Thanks guys! -Mike

I had to change this question but it's because I have an actual question regarding South East bass fishing haha. I'm in mid Georgia (Peachtree City), and within an hour driving distance of Altoona, West Point, Carters etc. My main question is what are the most productive lakes you Georgians have fished from High Falls/ Jackson and above? I use a kayak so preferably nothing I need to travel miles and miles in one go on the water! Thanks guys, -Mike

Trust me I already have a feeling a one bite day might be a good day haha. I was just saying in "perfect" conditions, meaning presenting the bait perfectly, on a perfect day, to perfect fish all day 2-3 would be the max so i definitely understand! Appreciate the advice guys it makes a lot of sense

I agree and I see your point. The appeal of those huge baits will appeal to huge fish, and I also know to expect 2-3 bites MAX on a perfect day throwing it in perfect spots. They just look fun and I want to give them a try one day!

Yeah I know if t wants to eat it, then it will. But i also hear/ read a lot about "matching the hatch" and whatnot. I just didn't know if it applied to big swimbaits as well. I appreciate the feedback!

I want to purchase 2-3 HUGE swimbaits I can chuck around one day, and I am wondering about matching the forage to the reservoir/ lake/ pond I am fishing. This seems like it's cut and dry but what if my lake only has shad/ bluegill/ bream/ crappie? Do i buy one of those weird sunfish or gizzard shad swimbaits? I'm not doubting their effectiveness, I just have never seen pros use them, they usually use trout style Huddleston type baits. Would a Hud catch a bass on a lake with no trout in it? Or should I match the swimbait style to the forage exactly? If anyone has used these big bluegill/ crappie mimicking huge swimsuits let me know. I could easily match the hatch with small swimbait but i'm talking about large ones like 6"+ Thanks guys -Mike I am on a small reservoir called Lake Horton in Georgia for now, but will be going over to Lake Westpoint, Allatoona, Carters, Oconee etc.at some point. These are the alternatives i'm referring to

Yeah I agree. Definitely interesting to think about. I was imagining that same heron stepped into a clutch of panfish eggs in addition to bass eggs, so you would have a number of bass and panfish all growing together, in which the panfish would grow to be the bass' food supply, hopefully after they reproduced.

Doesn't this statistic take into account predatory fish? In theory if a heron stepped into multiple nests throughout spring and summer of bass and panfish then they would all grow together and create their own eco system. Since a clutch can contain 40,000 eggs I can see this happening actually. Really you only need it to happen once

Thanks again for the replies guys!

Yes after some light research it looks like they are Threadfin Shad

Yeah i'm going to try and go back out this Saturday and will hit that spot again to see if there are active fish again. I should have never left the area, but I was just wondering if you guys literally had a plan and stuck with it.

Great replies guys lots of insight thank you so much! Now I do have a scenario that might be why I am so confused that happened to me two days ago at the lake. I went to the northwest most point of the lake to a small pocket, where a small channel went underneath a highway to another part of the lake. This other part of the lake is private and not accessible by boat or yak, but I stayed and fished this pocket. Part of my inexperience is definitely noticeable when I try to figure out the forage, as I had trouble identifying a huge school of fish that were getting fed upon right in front of this ditch/ channel. As I got closer they appeared to be silver with a black stripe on their back which I thought were Shad, so I started throwing a shad colored Popper PopR bait. But again I have no idea what forage is typical of this lake (or any lake) or how to identify them. After about an hour finally a 2 pounder grabbed my PopR and I thought to myself that took way too long since they are actively feeding right here so I switched to a spinnerbait. Again, after about 45 minutes of running this spinner bait through this area, I got bit by a 1 1/2 pounder. After 45 more minutes of no bites with the spinnerbait I switched to a shallow running Shad colored crank and got bit after about 15 minutes, but then went cold again for another hour. So stupidly I left the area and had zero success for the next two hours when I should've stayed. But the long periods between bites were throwing me off. All three times the bass hit those various lures they INHALED it so I figured I had something good going, but maybe I should've switched to a small jerk bait and suspended it right in front of their noses. I know I should have not left the fish but those long periods of no bites were getting to me. Every 10 minutes or so these baitfish would freak out and fly out of the water so I know bass were probably feeding. I didn't notice any Crappie in the area, but I did see some small bass (1/2 pounders?) on the rip rap along the bank running perpendicular to the channel/ditch so maybe it was tiny bass feeding on them. But the 3 bass I caught were all keepers so I wanted to stay. My inexperience kills me! Haha

Hey guys, I just wanted to get some insight on your guys' game-plans when you go out, whether it be by boat or bank. I just bought a Kayak a month ago and have been out about 4 times at a local Reservoir here in Fayette County, Georgia called Lake Horton. I have read various articles and seen some videos buy Glenn talking about having a plan and sticking to it. I just started bass fishing two years ago, and have already accumulated an overpacked tackle box and 6 rods each with a purpose. And yes I pack all six on my Kayak (laughs). I find that I overwhelm myself on the lake with all of my gear. Now I certainly don't have 30 laid out rods like tourney anglers do, but I usually have a gear assortment of something like this: Drop shot, deep crank, rattletrap, spinnerbait, flipping jig, topwater frog(or umbrella rig) That's usually what I have tied on when I get on the water, and I find myself constantly switching. I know anglers need to find a "pattern" and stick to it, but my question is this: Do you guys pick a presentation and stick with it? Like should I decide i'm going to crank next outing, and tie on a trap, a deep diver, a medium diver, a square bill and a shallow runner and just stay with it all day? Or tie on 3 different spinnerbaits and leave the other rods at home? Or tie on 4 kinds of swimbaits big and small? Or tie on 4 jigs and flip and cast all day? Luckily my rod assortment does give me the ability to be versatile with a lot of different lures. I just want to know what you guys typically do. Now I do know certain baits aren't going to be used in certain settings like jerk baits in the summer or shaky heads when you haven't located fish etc. But I have heard about "finding the pattern" and didn't know if this was meant as in: 1. Finding the pattern of a type of lure such as using a spinnerbait all day, but simply changing the way you retrieve it. Finding the pattern of the LURE itself or 2. Finding the pattern as in finding what LURE they want altogether, such as starting with a spinnerbait, but then switching to a different lure when you don't have success as opposed to #1 where I just switch the technique WITH that lure. I hope that makes sense. I'm still learning the lake, and learning to kayak so i'm not very effective at the moment. I've pulled out 6 fish over the course of about 30 hours of fishing with a limit of about 12 pounds which isn't great, but I feel like I lose a lot of time switching lures. Thanks for any input! -Mike

Thanks guys I figured. I just looked in my email confirmation and it was Sufix Siege 17b Monofilament line. Just didn't notice it was black when I ordered but nonetheless I won't worry about it. It's not like i'll need to line watch with the lures I plan on using with it anyways. I appreciate it guys!

Hey guys, I had a question regarding line I bought from BPS Online. I didn't realize it at the time, but it is black, almost a rainbow-ish color. It's 17b monofilament on a 7'0 Medium Heavy Fast Action Bait-casting setup that I plan to use for Lipless Cranks, Spinnerbaits, Chatter/ Rage baits, and topwater's like spooks and buzz baits. I know the topwater lures shouldn't be affected by line color, but what about the others? I have never seen black line before, or have ever seen anyone use it. I know once lures get a certain depth line pretty much turns black or disappears anyways but is this going to be an issue? I am planning on fishing Reservoirs, small lakes, and big lakes. Maybe some ponds. Thanks -Mike