BankBassing

This is the Ohio River. What does "turning over" mean? I'm relatively new to bass fishing, and have heard this term a few times, but never heard it explained.

Ok, thanks!

The strange thing is, I've been doing what everyone is suggesting. Fishing moving baits (spinners, cranks) just off shore, and I am getting NOTHING. Spinnerbait was irresistable to them before I started seeing these shad, and as soon as I started seeing them, it's like the bite has turned off. Granted it coincides with a major temperature drop, but still weird. Here are the baitfish I am used to seeing until recently: When these were abundant, the bite was great.

Definitely similar to that. I'm looking at some pics of American Shad and they resemble those as well. Not sure which yet.

Doing a little research tonight, I think it might be an "American Shad." I've seen some of these about the size of your hand.

I tried to get a better pic but just wasn't able to today. Maybe next time. These fish are extremely shiny, almost like a mirror on the sides, and their body almost looks like a little shark swimming around. There is no spot on the side or anything.

I have been seeing a lot of these baitfish around lately, and many of them are pretty good sized. Seems like the fishing has been tough since these large meals are easy to come by right now. What kind of fish are these? Does seeing less of our typical shad and more of these indicate anything important?

Since you are a fellow West Virginian, let me share the Walleye I caught in New Martinsville at the Hannibal Locks and Dam on November 3rd. Caught him on a Maroon Crawfish "Grave Digger" deep diving crankbait from Cabela's with an orange belly. Hardest fighting fish I've ever caught.

I caught 2 today fishing the Ned Rig for the first time. One tiny smallie, and I believe a rock bass? Can anyone verify that it is indeed a rock bass? Never caught one before.

I haven't had any luck with my 90 yet, but has anyone else noticed that it lays over to your right as you're retrieving it? I wonder if this is by design to simulate a struggling fish laying on it's side, or mine isn't tracking correctly.

Stay away from the silent ones? Do they make two kinds? I purchased a 90, which is silent. Didn't see anything else.

Well, I stood in Cabelas agonizing over which one to get today. I had a full selection of 130s to choose from and only one 90 in Crystal Minnow. I really thought about getting the 130, but considering this Cabelas is only about an hour north of me, and these people fish the same river I do, them being out of 90s on two trips has to mean something, considering they have equal shelfspace to the 130s. I bought to 90 in Crystal Minnow. We'll see what happens. Thanks for all the feedback everyone!

Then feel free to ignore the post. No need to be a jerk about it.

my mistake. Sorry. LOL

Cherrywood HD 7ft Medium Heavy, Abu Garcia Silver Max, various baits. My backlashes are totally my fault, not the equipment. I get greedy and try to cast too far, and when I do I really sling it and cause one. Sometimes, I'm backing off on my tension or brakes in an attempt to cast farther, and get just past proper adjustment. The fishing where I am is extremely tough right now, so once I've exhausted all the shallow area, I'm trying to get as far out into the river as I can from the bank/dock.

Spent the past couple months learning to cast a baitcaster. Thanks to recently learning to better adjust my brakes and tension, my number of backlashes has gone down. Still, I probably get a backlash once every 15 casts if I had to guess. I'm curious how often it happens to more experienced anglers. So fess up! If you had to guess, what is your ratio of backlashes to casts. Also, is there something that helped you most to reduce this number?

I was thinking 90 just because I mostly fish for smallmouth.

I have been thinking of purchasing a whopper plopper 90. I was at Cabelas, and they had a few, but none in the Terminator coloring I really had my mind set on. I didn't purchase one, but in watching these things fished, it seems to me they are getting strikes based on the commotion they make and it's hard to imagine the fish really takes much of a look at the color. What do you think? Does color on these things really matter that much???

For me, I learned one today. Still learning with the baitcaster. I've gotten a lot better, but I couldn't figure out why sometimes I would backlash time and again after doing so well for a long time. Today, it happened, and I got frustrated enough that I unspooled about 90% of my braid and respooled it while holding some tension on it. Suddenly it was like I became a much better caster. Before today, I'd just unspool a few rounds after getting the tangles out. Here half of my backlashes were because of the tension problems caused further down in my line by a previous one. This made my day so much better. What is one thing that nobody told you that could have saved you a lot of frustration bass fishing?

When I say 12 lb test I'm talking about my spinning rod w/ 12 lb Trilene on it. The smaller crankbaits I have are Rapalas as well. Probably the same weight you're speaking of.

Anybody here spend significant time fishing the Ohio River? Especially the portion between Ohio and West Virginia?? I haven't come into contact with many people fishing for bass around here, and even the bass fishermen I've met usually fish lakes, ponds, or creeks, rather than the main river. I'd love to learn to be able to pull some decent fish out of there that I know just HAVE to be there. Personally I'm stuck bank or dock fishing, but I'd be interested in any Ohio River fishing tips. P.S. Is West Virginia really considered the Southeast as this forum is titled? Never considered us as being from the southeast.

Welcome from yet another West Virginian! Whereabouts are y'all from? (<---proof I'm from WV) Paden City, WV here. (halfway between Wheleing and Parkersburg on the Ohio River.)

You are right about the barge bite. They go crazy here when one passes. I'be caught a couple on spinners, but really would like to use other baits. Gets boring throwing a spinner and only a spinner day after day.

I have been struggling to find the right size lure for a nearby fishing spot. It is a marina on the river. There is always a decent amount of current (sometimes heavy) and the water, at its clearest, doesn't have great visibility. Because it is a large river and the water has low visibility I feel like I need to use a larger profile bait to have any chance of a fish actually seeing it. However, I feel like if I go larger I discourage the smallmouth from eating it. What would you suggest???

My quickest/easiest place to go fishing, the place I can go almost any day, is the local dam. There are plenty of fish there, but there is also a lot of swirling current that drags your lures down into broken up jagged rock. It is rare to go there without breaking off at least once or twice. Yesterday I had just a stellar day where I not only got skunked, but I lost a chatterbait, spinnerbait, and my last tube jig head. What was your most costly day on the water?