TriStateBassin106

I went out today to a few ponds and caught nothing, but we had a warm spell in NJ that was quickly killed by the gusting winds, In the time I had to fish the open water I threw around a slow rolled megabass sv-3 spinnerbait, a 3inch keitech easy shiner and a finesse trd. no bites again but that's usually what I start out with, fished deep until the wind was too much.

Imo it's a bit of both, I've caught giants on ned rigs and dinks on glidebaits. I do feel that big baits will usually get you bigger fish.

I live in Northern New Jersey so this could be anywhere from when the ice is out at 40 degrees to the verge of prespawn around 50 degrees water temps. Last year I didn't catch my first bass until April 3rd and the year before it was in the beginning of march, it honestly just depends when the weather is right and the fish come alive again sorta Please share and details about your pattern, I always struggle with water temps in the 40s

can't go wrong with a weedless senko or a pegged texas rigged creature bait, what kind of grass are we talking about?

Spring and it's not even close. Mid april to mid may is probably my favorite time, up here the bass are all up shallow, big and extremely predictable. Fall binge would be my second.

Been bass fishing for 6 years and been fishing in general since 05, guess i'm an amateur lol

Yeah I junk fish a lot, especially when i'm on the bank like at ponds. I usually start off with a reaction bait, walk around the pond, then after no bites i'll switch to a slower presentation. On the boat however. This seems to be thrown out the window, I find myself picking up the slower presentations first in an area I know has fish. This past weekend was a prime example, I rolled up into a cove with a feeder creek in the middle. I casted my jerkbait a couple times into the current with no bites. switched over to throwing a big TRD on a ned rig and caught 3.

I kinda worded that wrong. I meant to say that I was fishing the shoreline with a spinnerbait looking for a reaction bite, but turned around and re-fished it again with a slower presentation because I believed there was fish there.

When ever i'm fishing a big body of water on my boat I seem to find myself throwing slower baits for maxium catchability. Let's say for example you're on the boat fishing a set of docks or laydowns with a reaction bait. will you continue down the shoreline with the reaction bait covering water or will you stop and pick apart the area you just fished with something more finesse if you think the fish are there? Genuinely curious if anyone else gives up easily on covering water and picks apart the shoreline off the boat. I had this exact scenario this weekend on the water and found myself slowly working all the docks and laydowns I fished a spinnerbait with before to no avail.

Some pictures of the same lake I posted about last but the water is much clearer with that same greenish tint. Any advice on lure colors with it being like this now?

My bed fishing strategy is simple. If they're willing to eat it i'll try to catch them. If they put their nose to it or spook off that's a sign they've already been caught before and it's not worth to stress the fish out even further. If all the bedding fish are like that, i'll fish for out of sight cruisers or other bass that may still be in the pre spawn. The nice thing about the spawn as a whole is the bass aren't doing one thing at the same time. You could have post spawn and pre spawn fish on the same lake at the same time. My thoughts exactly man, couldn't have said it any better.

Inline spinners can be great for almost any fish but do you guys find yourselves throwing them a lot for bass? Trout season opens in my state and I've purchased a few to use for that but by accident I purchased a few larger ones, 1/6oz white and chartreuse rooster tails to be specific. Will probably use them for maybe smallies or finicky bass.

It has to get worst before it can get better..

We have cormorants here in New Jersey and they're extremely annoying when trying to fish bass lakes that get stocked with rainbow trout in the spring. Any lake with stocking gets closed on March 18th and I've already seen a few birds at my spots looking for fish. I've never seen them eat a bass in person but plenty of trout, perch, shad and bullhead catfish. A friend of mine who works for the state hatcheries says the birds will follow the stocking trucks to their locations. They will fly in a formation about 200 feet in the air while the trucks are on the road. It's better off if they get the dodo treatment.

Figured that, anyone know of any good 12v lithium chargers around the 100 dollar price range?

This is my charger, bought in 2021 mk 110 portable

Yes, I started fishing as a kid back in 2006 but for seven years I wasn't fishing at all, from 2011 to 2018 I was in middle school and high school and at that time I'd rather do teenager things instead of fishing. i finally got back into fishing after graduating and haven't stopped since. to a certain sense though bass fishing saved me from myself. I was able to meet people through it and made connections which helped me with my current education level and job. plus it's a great cure for depression or other stresses in life. I am thankful for bass fishing.

This year i'm purchasing a new lithium battery for my 55lb minn kota to replace my old lead acid battery, with this new purchase do I have to also buy a new charger? I'm currently using the minn kota portable charger to charge all my current batteries. will that also work with the lithium? I'm new to lithium batteries so I personally have no idea. thanks!

BASS and MLF would be fun to watch again IMO if they had no livescope/FFS tournaments. Livescope is here to stay and won't be going away anytime soon and some people need to accept that. but the option to watch people fish without it would be entertaining.

I've only been a member here since 2019 but I have noticed a decline in posting from the "old timers". It's life man stuff happens haha, this is my first time here in 2024. Hopefully to those who are still with us but not active I hope are doing well. I haven't been active since the fall but the fishing itch is beginning to come alive again....

Yes. A friend of mine who also owns a bass raider mounted it on the front by using the lock in bracket mounted to a piece of metal that connects to the trolling motor mount on the front of the boat. But he has a motorguide but it's the same setup basically. I would get the edge or some other model from minn kota but the powerdrive is the closest I can afford and would work with my boat. I appreciate all the feedback though. 🙏

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/minn-kota-powerdrive-bow-mount-bluetooth-enabled-trolling-motor?hvarAID=shopping_googleproductextensions&ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=BPS|Shopping|PMax|Boating|General|NAud|NVol|NMT&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8rfx8aukggMVrU5HAR3TFgWIEA0YASABEgKTUfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds I'm totally new to all this, so does this mean it comes with i pilot it says bluetooth enabled

So i'm buying a new minn kota powerdrive 45lb for my 10ft plastic bass raider next year to put up front, I currently have a 55lb endura max in the back but I would like more control up front, anyways the current price is listed at 699 on bass pro, does anybody know if this comes with the I pilot bluetooth compatibility? There's some motors listed over 1k $ with the i pilot remote but if I was to buy the one I mentioned and a seperate i pilot remote would it work? I heard something along the lines that all powerdrive models made after 2017 are compatible but I just wanted to be sure, thanks.

@casts_by_fly took some pics of the shoreline to see what i'm talking about better. It's shallow and then drops off right where those reeds end, the entire steep side is like this. What should I throw around it and what color lures to match with the dirty green water, first pic is the regrowing hydrilla in the shallows but you can still see the algae bloom in the water. @casts_by_fly

During the spring I had luck with there with the white python megabass sv-3 spinnerbait but the water was much clearer, with fall being a good spinnerbait time and this water being dirty would a double willow like that still work or should I be getting a colorado style in bright colors? Same with jerkbaits and cranks