FishDewd

I don't know about the rest of you, but I always check behind me and beside me before I cast. Sometimes, especially from the bank, an unexpected onlooker or spot bomber will sneak up on you without warning. I'd hate to hook the wrong cheek! So I always check to make sure no one else is in the danger zone. Then I make sure I'm not too close to any trees, cause I catch more trees than I probably do fish! Then I consider wind and how it will affect my cast and retrieve. Make sure the spot I'm tossing at has a fair chance of having fish based on whatever criteria I've decided. Most importantly, I make sure I'm enjoying the experience. Then let it rip! Yeah, I'm simple. I like simple. If I wanted to do a ton of thinking, then I'd probably be playing video games, working... anything but fishing!

I too have had a lot of success with the senkos... caught my first ever bass on one that was texas rigged. I still have the same bag I first bought too, although they are definitely a harder material and not as durable as other brands, like a yum dinger. I am yet to try the stickos. Baits like that only seem to work during certain times of the year here. Rest of the time the fish seem to like something that make a little more disturbance. I picked up a pack of airtail rattlers today from Grandebass cause someone recommended them to me to use at some local spots. I've had luck on ring fries so it made perfect sense to me anyway. Fish what works... as long as you can figure out how to make them last a while!

Stop the facebook vid at 1:21 where he tosses it onto the pool deck. It looks like they're basically tied into a daisy chain. Also, this: https://clinchknotfishing.com/minnow-swarm/

Maybe sooner than expected! I just found two bags of flukes I didn't even know I had! When you find lures you didn't know you owned,

Some I can think of though I am sure there are lots more that I'm not even aware of! - Whopper Plopper - Flipping and pitching to any degree, never done them while fishing cause I'm not good at those casting techniques - A-rig/umbrella rig - Flukes (this one I will try soon) - I have frogs but I haven't really seriously tried them cause the conditions are never right to use them - Swim baits of any sort - Dropper rig with more than one hook - I have a popper I've never used - Punching

Hey, man... a fish is a fish! Be happy cause I've been skunked the last 3 times out lol. Except for catfish. I can't keep those away if I tried! Bass is a different story entirely! My location is also very windy, especially this time of year. I'd love a calm pond since I still consider myself to be learning how to catch bass, but I don't get that luxury. I do the same you do: try different things until I can't stand it anymore and leave. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes not! But I watch people all the time that show up to a pond, throw the same lures for maybe 30 minutes before packing up and leaving, and think "they'll never catch anything that way". So whether it was luck or technique... hey, you caught one! Perseverance usually is the trait that pays. I'll take a 1.5 lber any day of the week.

Probably a tree pounder!

Yep, I do. It's generated from Navionics, has depth, obstructions, hotspots, the whole nine yards. For some reason I can't get it to upload. Guess I"ll try again if you want it.

That's a good idea. Aside from a few bad spots most of this pond seems to work for most crankbaits. They always pick up some moss though, especially at about 10' and in. I was thinking about maybe putting some larger red hooks on there. Maybe the fish will think it's bleeding and injured?

Ive been fishing there a few times in the past but not for a while now. I should have a topographic map of that lake at home. I'll upload it for you later if I do.

@Angry John ah gotcha that makes sense with the hooks being pointed in. Yeah the ones that came with it are pretty straight up if not pointed out a bit. I will definitely look into that! The way you describe jacking them is pretty much what I do usually. Set it and start reeling. Maybe I was too late or too early... but I definitely set with the intent of ripping it's face off since it was sort of an odd angle. I use a medium-fast rod btw. I have a hard time throwing these cranks with a medium-heavy, I pretty much only use a side or side-roll cast since my overhead sucks, so a medium-heavy doesn't set well. @Koz I've been trying the square bills too. I have a hard time getting them to dive down enough. The fish here seem to want a slower approach, and the squares just don't get down very well when slow rolling. Still working on how to solve that one, but I have a few squares that should get the job done in the right spot. One I have gotten a bite on is a 12' diving Strike Pro that is basically tiger stripes. That one does slow roll very well, but it's a round bill and can get caught up easier. Another problem is that it's a narrower bait and doesn't have the thump of a broader body bait.

Yep, it was right as I was starting to raise the rod to bring it over some debris that I knew was there... not sure I could've avoided it given the seaweed muck that was there. I don't think it was hooked very well either, think I just got it by the roof of the mouth. What do you meant by "jack them"? And what hooks would you recommend upgrading to? I will sometimes put stinger XLs on lures if I don't like the stickiness or size, but these hooks seemed to be okay for what I would typically deal with. However, I know for a fact this pond has up to 14" (or bigger) largemouth in it cause I have seen a recent pic from a guy I fished with once, so maybe I should change up a tad. Also, water here is always murky... few inches visibility. I have a red eyed that is red with black stripes, but it's a 1/4 oz and smaller. No luck with that one yet. This one I was using was a 1/2 oz and I think it was the larger profile that attracted the bass that attacked it. I've kind of learned in this water you either need extremely vibrant/colorful, or dark. Either way, seems like larger seems to be better.

Just got back from a fishing trip. Had a good time, it wasn't even too windy or anything. I was focusing primarily on crankbaits today, and I darn near had some luck on one (finally)! I was running a lipless red eye crank that was colored somewhat like a bluegill, I actually just got it a few days ago from the BPS sale. I kept having fish interested in it in this one little area. I kept feeling bumps but it was them spitting it and I just couldn't set one. So I changed tactics a little, tossing it more to the side rather than in front of me and kept working it, carefully watching the line and keeping it tight. Finally I saw the line twitch a bit almost like a guitar string. I raised the pole as quick as I could, and hooked it! It felt nicer than all the ones I've had previously, but hard to say what weight it was. Probably not much, like 1-2 lbs at most. I got it to within 10 feet of the shore... and it happened. The fish did some olympian moves, and with a flop and a pirouette, my line went slack. The only glimpse I got of my fish was its tail as it flapped off my line (laughing at me). Oh well, at least I know two things now: 1.) I finally found the right crankbait for this area after much trial, error, and research. 2.) I've gotten better at working crankbaits. Maybe next time I can avenge my loss cause there will certainly be a next time!

Just to throw this out there, if you can afford to spend another $30... I use a medium-lite carbonlite 2.0 for light applications like this. I've been really impressed with the rod. Turn in an old rod or reel to bass pro shop right now and you can get one for about $100. Best yet, it's a baitcasting rod. You don't see them made like that too often, with both a light tip, yet a sturdy spine.

Well so much for that... lake is totally closed! It wasn't last year... I assume it's related to the closure of Brazos Bend National Park. I had no idea it was owned by the same people... so yeah, there is officially no lakes in my area that are open lol. Well, it was a nice 35-40 minute scenic drive through rural texas at least...

I've been attaching mine with a snap tied to my line... seems to work okay so far. I only do this cause I have one pole that I like to switch between larger cranks, jigs, chatterbaits, etc, and the snap makes it a lot easier.

This lake has always been a bit of nemesis for me since it is so large, but it's a nice place and I'm gonna give it a go:

Great replies all! Lot of good info there. I think I'll continue using it. Might as well as it can't hurt since the fish around here have been finicky lately. Anything that might help them find the lure and hold on for another few seconds in this murky water I fish can't be a bad thing. I'm gonna fish a lake I haven't been to in a while here later... I think later in the day is better here since the days are already getting warm and the water temp is already approaching 80* in some areas. Gonna start with bass, and it that fails, switch to catfishing.

Not sure when this is due (if it hasn't been completed already), but I'll take a shot at these. 1. Do you find value in being able to fish a variety of water? Yes, although here there is basically either freshwater or salt water. The freshwater tends to be either cold and semi-clear up farther north where I don't go a lot, or very murky, dirty, and warm like it is where I live along the gulf coast. Different waters definitely offer different opportunities to catch different species of fish. For example, river/brown and rainbow trout up north, whereas down where I am we have flounder, snook, red fish, black drum, crappie, and several species of bass, including striped. 2. Would you pay money to fish private ponds that are more convenient and/or offer better fishing than what you currently fish? Possibly... but I'd want some kind of guide service or boat access (rental or whatever) that came with it if it was a larger body of water. I'm not really familiar with this concept though, most people here would allow you to fish their ponds without any kind of fee cause that's how we country Texas people typically are. The one stipulation there would be to require some sort of imposed size limits on keepers. For example, in my own catfish/perch pond there is a certain size of female I will not take for eating because they are my mother fish and I want them to continue to spawn for the next years. 3. If so, how much would you be willing to pay per day, week, or season to fish this water? Again, I've never actually done this so I am not sure what's fair. But let's say it's a lake that includes a guide and/or boat access for the trip. I could see $100-125 / year for something like that. Think there is actually a lake near me that does offer such services for around that price. Personally, I cannot budget something like that but a lot of people do. 4. Would you use this website/app? Why or why not? The idea is intriguing, but there are a lot of sites already out there for similar reasons. My one thought of that is that the site would need to fresh, laid out cleanly, and have frequent updates to make it worthwhile. For instance, Fishify is an app used by a lot of people, but it's rarely updated in my area. The fish reports are few and far between and not very recent, dating back to a year or more.

I have a project Z... never seen any other ones available in store aside from the weedless or finesse one. The Jack Hammer (looking online) looks like the project Z one to me, just with a nicer head, color scheme, and snap on it. What's the difference in design?

Gama WG finesse, #1.

I got a bite today on a white rage blade in very murky water (always is here), but due to the wind (that never stops) by the time I realized I had a bite I was too late to set it. Hard to watch line when it's getting blown all over the place lol. I need to find something that works with wind.

I have some soft frogs, a small torpedo, and a small popper. Until I get something to bite on those, I don't see the point of adding another topwater bait that I either don't know how to use properly, or doesn't work for my area. Whichever it may be. Me, most likely.

Just keep pressure on the spool as it winds, so that you sort of press the line into it nice and tightly. Always worked fine for me.

I can squeeze a bait and the point starts to poke through so I assumed that was a fair assumption to make. Doesn't take much to make it come through. Fair enough, but we don't have bass that large here, at least not where I fish from banks. I'm lucky to find one that's a pound.