Hook2Jaw

I mainly use ⁵/¹⁶ for bodies of water for smaller fish and ½ for bodies of water with larger fish. I've found when fishing in muck and grass that dragging the jig or hopping the jig with vertical rod movement keeps the crud off my jigs better. I also toss these things in the heaviest cover available, so 9 times out of 10 I'm casting or pitching them on a heavy rod.

Man, it's a tough time of year. Most of my water is in the low 70s, but it's dropping quickly. I imagine it'll be in the 60s and high 50s next month. Once it gets below 50, if it does, I may be forced to hang it up. Goodbye frog. Goodbye spook. Goodbye buzzbait, goodbye plopper. Farewell, popper. Till we meet again in the prespawn.

I'm about an hour west of it.

@BrianMDTX, I would steer away from billed crankbaits in a mucky pond. They will bring back all the gunk as soon as they touch bottom. I would also steer clear of the jerkbait in such dirty water, but as mentioned above I would throw a lipless crank. I'd tie on a ⅜ for bottom hopping in a shallow pond because it won't bury itself in the mud as quickly, and a half ounce for burning and covering water. With the clarity you described, I'd opt for a bold color. I like white to imitate shad in low conditions and chartreuse black back for gill.

My general way of going about it of late is to sidescan myself some structure or cover, downscan and 2d over said discovered structure or cover, and then marker buoy it. Then I fish it. I haven't had much success fishing offshore but I'm hoping to change that soon.

I started with the Ned rig fishing like the YouTube legions, on the bottom like a shakyhead, jig, or worm. Doing so produced terribly for me and I decided the Ned rig was all hype. For me, I was fishing it incorrectly. Now I primarily swim and glide it in deeper water and swim it in shallower water. It's produced well.

Good to know! I'll tie mine on and give it a go.

Hell yeah! I had to hang up my jon boat as soon as I was in a kayak. I'm headed to Wildwood Park on Clark's Hill this weekend. I'm planning to beat that creek arm down.

The one I bought had more lead on one side of the head than the other, and I immediately wrote them off. I still chuck and wind the Booyah Blades like a mad man. I think they had a bad batch of the Covert series, because shortly after I got a blem they went on sale at academy. I'll probably start buying War Eagles soon, anyway.

Oh yeah! Glad to see you're back. Nah, just aware that for the most part alligators aren't aggressive barring babies and mating season. I would rather know if they're gonna stand their ground or leave.

I pretty well stepped on about a 7 footer two years ago at work, I'm over here in the Savannah, Georgia low country. I remember when that poor woman got killed while walking her dog in Hilton Head.

Awh lord, I live in South Georgia. Our water doesn't even touch the 40s. That probably wouldn't stop me from trying a squarebill.

Stumps make me wanna throw a squarebill. I'm glad you've found a method that works for y'all, I've never fished a float-n-fly!

@Koz, sorry to hear that and I can understand that some alligators can be aggressive. About 10 years ago, I was fishing an oxbow on the Altamaha River in late summer. I had some 10" lizards in the Oxbow near me, and shortly after I had what I'm assuming was momma making a beeline for my 10' Pelican kayak. I paddled right out of there right quick. A few weeks ago, I was fishing 17' of water in McGowan Lake, again off the Altamaha River. Suddenly, my sonar read 2', and I'm fairly certain a big one came up under me to inspect what had invaded their territory. I pedaled to the other side of the lake. Now, I'll tell you why I haven't bothered to drop the coin on a Hi-Point or something to not care about in the kayak. As I fished the other side of that lake, I watched two smaller gators face off. Suddenly, one of them decided to make his or her move and from a dead stop every bit of that animal cleared the water. Jumped right out the water from a standstill. This spooked the other gator and showed me the awesome power of these animals. I'm pretty strong, and I'm pretty fast, but if a grown one decides they want me off my kayak I'm fairly certain not even Quickdraw McGraw could get some lead in one. It actually makes me feel a bit better to get aggressive with them and put them in the mindstate of, "I think this human is hunting me. This human is not food," and that's why I routinely beeline at alligators from my kayak. I never throw a frog i don't want torn up near a little one, I've noticed the big ones around here don't care to chase such a little meal or know it's not an honest sandwich.

I routinely chase gators in my kayak in South Georgia. They're great big sissy babies.

I remember my first glass rod. ? I got it this year. I wish I had the amount of experience a lot of you have.

I'd like to compare this reel to my Lexa 300-WN. I'm a huge fan of my reel and wonder if it's an improvement.

I put 8 in my hands today from the bank during my lunch break, so I've finally left Slump city. FREEEEDOM! ! !

As a proponent of cheap baits, and I throw a lot; YUM, H2O Xpress, BOSS Jigs, I've come to realize tiny differences to us are regular differences to bass. Their living world is on a much smaller scale than our own, and proven actions are starting to become more and more important to me. As a result, I've started to phase some of my still unproven H2O Xpress offerings for lures from different manufacturers. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if the ZOOM Zlinky shines in situations the Yamamoto Senko does not depending on it's characteristics. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if it falls way short. The exaggerated writhing action of the Yamamoto Senko is easily identified by our human eyes, I imagine the action from stick worm to stick worm is even more discernable to a fish. For some reason, the bass like it, seemingly, like none other. I'll stick with Dingers for a bit longer, however, they're still a major confidence bait for me and they're a proven performer as well.

I would like to nominate Mr. Bill Lowen as king of the slump. May his reign be short.

Hang in there, my downtrodden friends. I am going to a certified good fish hole on Saturday and if they won't eat there, I'll load the kayak up and move to a numbers hole. Best of luck to all of you, anyone got any skunk repellant?

I think you'll be pleased with the Crescent.

My river is up way too high, my pond temperatures are dropping, and I basically feel I should have a goose egg. We'll make it through.

I've caught four bass in the last three trips, spanning three weeks. I'm still planning to compete in the Southeast Kayak Bass Fishing trail next year, and I am at a low point. I'm supposed to be getting better at this, not worse. I've thrown dropshot, Neko, shakyhead, weightless sticks and flukes. I've thrown spinnerbaits, swimjigs, squarebills and paddletails. I've drug worms, creatures, craws and jigs on the bottom. I've even tried an Alabama rig. I've thrown frogs and spooks. Fish evade me. Four fish in over twenty hours of fishing has me entirely too down, and I'm second guessing all my rods, line, and lures. I should change my name to Hook2Naw. Anyone at the bottom with me?

I fish from an Old Town Predator PDL 2020, and previously from a 2017 Hobie PA14...before that, a 2010 Hobie Outback. My little brother wanted to get into fishing and he's been loving his Feelfree Moken 12.5 V2. His friend also bought one and I am highly impressed with both their boats. They paddle well, track beautifully, and are pretty stable. Both of them can stand to fish. If you want another good boat under a g, take a look at thd Crescent Litetackle. It won't be as fast as the Moken, but it will be a bit more stable.