Sphynx

I am bank bound, and while I rarely see days that I get skunked (not counting days where a local will take pity and tell me early that I'm fishing in a pond without fish in it lol) it is almost always an adventure getting to any decent spots, for me that is half the fun, putting in the work to leg out a trip that most other people will never consider...the result is usually extremely gratifying. I may be mistaken, but it is very unlikely that there are not any big fish at all in the waters your fishing...they are just not going to be something you can take for granted any more, and might require some extra effort or thinking outside the box to find. I fish ponds and lakes all over the country as a trucker and am rarely able to fish the same body of water twice in a season...I really enjoy the crapshoot though, me vs. fish and they hold all the cards basically...I like to tell myself when I manage a good day, usually 5+ fish, on water I don't know at all and usually with extremely limited access that it's making me a better angler, I have to go back to basics and read the water, weather, and whatever other clues I can find to have a chance at a good day.

I caught my first rainbow trout at probably 4 years old at a fish farm with my maternal grandfather, mom and dad have a picture of it somewhere but I don't really recall the event, pretty sure grand dad was having a ball though and was sinfully proud of my cousin and I that day. Most of my childhood was spent fishing for trout either with salmon eggs or powerbait dough on spinning tackle as we backpacked all over the Pacific Northwest either with the family or the Scouting program. I never fished for bass until I was 19, and a PFC at Ft. Hood, a buddy I met and formed a fast friendship with from Alabama had an old Ford 500, and we went down with our first paychecks to Walmart and bought a Daiwa reel which I still have at home, it was on sale, and a cheap spinning rod each, and some hooks/bullet weights and trick worm style plastics. Our first few outings weren't terribly productive, mostly bluegill, and a few catfish on some worms we dug up, but it wasn't too long before he figured out the lakes we used to camp at and we'd spend more weekends out camping and fishing than not, bass all day, then right about supper time we'd snag a few cats and eat them for chow. Since then I have fished when and where opportunities allowed, careers have often gotten in the way of a lot of it, but the last few years haven't been so bad. Hoping to get down to go fishing with my old buddy this year in October or so in 'Bama and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thrilled to bits for it.

How much cloud cover/wind, if any? Time of day? Early am, I'd say go shallow with a top water bait, frogs and buzz baits are personal favorites but it depends on the body of water. After they quit hitting topwaters I'd say either go big, or go small, and if it's 85+, no clouds, and no wind, I'd probably take a pass on a spinnerbait, they'll either be out in deeper water or under whatever shade they can find mostly, jigs, 10 or 12 inch curly tail worms on a t rig, if they aren't going after the big stuff, toss a ned rig or a drop shot or a finesse presentation of your choice at them. Later on as it starts cooling off you can probably go back to a moving bait, or a top water option. Bank beating in summer and winter are tough since we can't really get to the deep water, but I have found early AM and evenings right up til and even after dark are the best times to catch them shallow.

Caught a ton on a Ned rig, but unless I'm misreading your post are you adding an extra weight T-rig style above the jighead? If so that could be your problem...the mushroom style jighead alone paired with the TRD will sit naturally in a mostly vertical position, twitch your rod tip and it looks like a little baitfish feeding on the bottom, never having added weight in addition I don't know for sure how it affects the action, but I've never found it necessary to add any myself...might try it without and see if you have any better luck.

Original fishing partners were my grandfather and my cousin, but we fished for trout, not bass, I never knew a thing about bass fishing until I was at Ft Hood, a very good friend from Alabama taught me most of what I know. As a young private there wasn't money for technique specific equipment, and we pooled a lot of gear, I think we had a couple of spinning set ups, one baitcasting set up, I understand a lot of guys that get annoyed with that, but it's all we could afford and we had an absolute blast doing it (and caught a lot of fish with the "wrong" gear for a given techniqu), we don't get to fish hardly ever anymore, life happens and all, but I am looking forward to my nieces and nephews getting old enough to go, and my old lady told me to buy her a fishing rod last year, slow on the uptake but we've gone a few times and I'm hoping she ends up infected with fishing fever just like me lol.

6th Sense Divine Hybrid Jig in the peanut butter and smoke color paired with a Netbait Paca Chunk trailer in the bronze color, second best producer for me has been a Ned Rig, doubt that's shocking anyone though.

Jogs are my #1 "confidence bait" and I love fishing them, I have managed to hook into more fish with a jig than any other bait. Glad to hear there's another member in the jig enthusiast corner!

Picked up one of those Cabela's Advanced Angler 2 backpacks and a couple of extra 3600 boxes, this thing is working out great, it carries 5 3600 footprint boxes, tons of soft plastics, raincoat, and a good bit of other stuff, I have found 5 3600's works just about bang on for me, terminal box, top water box, bottom box, middle water box, and a box for panfish/trout/other species.

Lessee...bought some power bait dough, salmon eggs, split shot, and #8 bait holder hooks for trout...then because I have all the fly fishing stuff I picked up for my hopeful trip with a guide, then just because I have absolutely no control at all I bought a 2 packs of 7" curly tail worms, green pumpkin/black and blue, wanted 10" or 12" but this Cabelas didn't carry any, and I picked up a big Heddon Spook in bone color, 2 project z weedless chatterbaits...and I think it's going to absolutely pour here this weekend and I might not get a chance to fish...grrrr.

I ended up getting caught without my license on me in TX when I was stationed at Ft. Hood, I had a license, but it was not on me, it had somehow not made it back into my tackle box after I organized it, I was cited but upon presenting my license it was dismissed and cost me an afternoon of fishing and a smirk from the judge telling me that this sort of thing happened all the time, that I wasn't a criminal, and that he had no interest in throwing the book at a fella who had made an honest mistake, the only other time I can recall any interaction with a Game Warden about fishing was fishing for Redfish near Port Arthur on the Louisiana coast, and he was no bother to me as he was checking to verify fish that were being kept were proper size, and we were not keeping what we caught.

Won't be home off the truck for a couple of months yet in all probability, though I do plan on placing an interwebz order at some point

That of course is the colour that is unavailable presently where I can find fishing lures lol

Well played sir, well played

So, our thread about what we've never done thread got me thinking, if you had to pick one lure for each of the following species, for summer and fall, what would they be, I'll be fishing in the MN/WI area these two seasons. 1) Smallmouth Bass 2) Walleye 3) Muskie 4) Pike Rivers, lakes, ponds, all are open to being fished if it influences the choice in lures at all, looking forward to the selections!

Get about 10 lb of slop wrapped around him on the way in, that'll learn him not to jump! On a serious note I don't think it's possible to always prevent a fish jumping, just part of it and if nothing else it's quite a show.

Never caught a smallmouth, walleye, pike or musky, hoping to change that this summer...also never caught anything on a fly rod, also something I thoroughly intend on rectifying this summer with a day trip with a guide, hard part for the other 4 is figuring out how to fish for them, every time I wet a line I end up with a largemouth on the line lol

Sounds like the lure selection is covering the water column, what time of day are you fishing these various lures? In my experience daybreak/sunset has been the time to use active baits and topwater, and as the temperature rises fishing cooler water (shade, deeper water, thick grass, anything that will cool down the water a bit and or help it hold oxygen better) with things like jigs and t-rigged curly tail worms has been productive. In my mind it works out like a fish who is miserable with the low oxygen content of really hot water still has to eat, and if s/he can grab a fat meal with little effort they are going to grab that long before expending the energy to chase anything moving faster...I also tend to find that in summer being especially mindful of the sun can help dissect a body of water pretty easily, fishing the areas where the shade and uncovered water meet is often productive, not nearly as helpful on overcast/cloudy days, but there are usually comparably few areas on a lake that get a ton of shade, and those are prime spots for fish to hang out in...doesn't have to be a huge area either, something as simple as a tree overhanging the water can (and has) be all it takes...if you can get a t-rigged worm in there you'll probably find a fish.

If it really sucks out, curly tailed magnum worm, or other large slow moving bait, fish it either in the weeds, or if you can get to it some deeper water, best thing though is remember to stay hydrated and not give up, summer fishing isn't for the faint of heart, but nothing is better than baking your butt off and thinking it's never going to happen and then feeling a fish nab that worm/jig/craw...makes the work worth it...mostly lol

Managed to whack a pair of small largemouth today, they were biting a 6th Sense Divine Hybrid jig and a Paca chunk trailer and were having nothing to do with anything else I tossed at them. Mostly in the slop (absolutely no shortage of this) or under shade on cover, right where they should be. Would have stayed longer but a 5 mile hike plus fishing had me tuckered out after working all week, tight lines gang.

The vast majority of the bodies of water near me offer very, very little public access fishing. Even the areas that are available (always at a cost with the exception of one small spot on the river) are extremely small. Covering the water column, trying to upsize and downsize baits, trying different colors are all on the menu, simply because if you don't catch them in the couple hundred yards (inclusive of all 4 spots) of access you have, you simply won't be catching anything at all. If I lived in a place with much greater access, I would probably move a lot more. Selecting the lure that I thought best worked for the conditions on a baitcaster and a spinning setup and then moved along. Tossing either or as the specific spot I was fishing seemed appropriate, then move back through afterwards with something different that gave me a chance to pick up the fish who were not interested the first time around.

Well, no boat for this kid. With all the skeeters and noseeums and whatever other sorts of beastly things they are, I've a fair chance at trying my hand at fishing while they float me around the lake. I suppose it's the least they can do for the feast I give them all year long.

Bass are for fun, crappie, catfish and trout when available are definitely on the menu however.

Yeah, going to spend the rest of the week hearing those fish laughing lol

I guess the more I think about it, listen to the conditions...they'll tell you your high percentage baits, I love fishing some things, spinnerbaits and soft plastic T-rigged craws make that list, but really at the end of the day, I like catching fish, little ones, big ones, and everything in between. Adjust your plan to what Mother Nature is doing and you can't be far off the mark. I'll fish jerkbaits (I detest them) if it's what the fish are biting...no expert opinion, but I've got fish a few times this year and feel like I'm as dialed in as any bank bound fella can be.

Fluke is a bait that I plan on working hard to "get" this year, so tired of hearing everybody else succeeding on a bait I can't get right, paddletails are on that list too this year