TriStateBassin106

Anyone else had trouble getting on the forums today? For the longest time I kept getting this error message? Is everything alright with the website?

Preferred size is 3.8. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Keitech_Swing_Impact_FAT_Swimbait/descpage-KSIF.html?from=gshop&gclid=CjwKCAjw3pWDBhB3EiwAV1c5rJgX7hfbFGn5dyjnFB25uAneGPXK1walXbCMtjGhGXw7b_38MKW7vRoCXOYQAvD_BwE https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Owner_Flashy_Swimmer_with_CPS_2pk/descpage-OFSCP.html?from=gshop&gclid=CjwKCAjw3pWDBhB3EiwAV1c5rODdlZASmG9qWuv5sKvDO12_0_bT7GmCL8bj5tWq_O4X8nMyuQIjxBoC4YoQAvD_BwE

Northern Water snakes are honestly not that big of a deal, I just get creeped out a bit knowing they can hide right under your feet and swim below you.

In my state of New Jersey we don't have alligators but we have the Northern Water snake which isn't venomous but can still be a pain in the ass and will attack you if you bother it enough. During the summer time on my lake they will sometimes coil up on our dock ladder and one time I almost stepped on a pretty big one before it quickly swam off into the lake. I've also had these guys swim by me in the lake but thankfully they're afriad of humans.

Went out in the rain today, and wasn't disappointed with two nice ones on the 3DB jerkbait in Table Rock Shad, water temps are finally at the 55 degree mark and the fish are up shallow.

What are some good finesse style swimbaits and jigheads I could throw on my medium light for smallies? Maybe baby keitechs or those Zman swimbaits?

This is pretty much the answer I was gonna give, one lake I fish from the bank has an overdose of the type of cover you mentioned, there's plenty of downed limbs and bushes all over the place. I actually find it pretty difficult to fish in those situations because you don't know what to target.

My reel is still holding up with perfect drag after my experiment, no noise or anything.

Might need some oil and grease, one of my reels had the same drag problem after a full season, I put in some shimano bantum oil and it fixed everything up nicely, also make sure you clean the reel good before applying

What's everyones favorite jig retrieve after casting it out in these water conditions? I usually just do the traditional hop and pause retrieve and change the speed up based on the season, with fishing these water conditions I always make sure my trailer has a bunch of flapping action, I usually love throwing a rage menace or rage craw on the back. In water clarity below a foot dragging jigs simply doesn't work for me. I've always had luck on hopping for some reason.

Year two of trying to find this boat, anyone know where I can pick one up? All my bass pros are sold out and they don't know when a restock is coming.

My water is heavily stained and I got one yesterday on a yozuri 3DB in Table Rock Shad, that myth is busted and I don't understand how people continue to believe it.

As the water continues to warm during pre-spawn what techniques do you guys use for jerkbaits? Do you twitch them more aggressively or put them away? Only asking because I caught my first JB fish of 2021 yesterday doing a agressive 3-1 twitch with 5 second pauses, the slow twitching I usually use wasn't working.

First jerkbait fish of 2021! Yozuri 3DB in Table Rock Shad! Agressive twitching near baitfish did the trick!

I'm creek fishing for trout and smallmouth starting next month and I'm also debating if I should get a pair of waders, cabelas and Bass Pro have a few pairs I've been looking at for the 120 dollar range.

You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment....first official bass of 2021, deadsticking a 1/4oz PB&J jig on shallow riprap, I thought I was snagged until my line started to zigzag lol, feels good to be back on the saddle again after 7 months of few fishing sessions and a brutal winter. 2021 will be a good year!

We don't have Academy up here..

Does anyone know where I can find these things? Both my bass pros are out of stock and I can't order any online...after calling 4 bass pros near me I couldn't find anyone who had them or knew when they would be in stock.....

The more disturbing thing is the fact that you have a confirmed otter. Those things should not be in ponds and will eventually cause the fish population to decline, get help on that issue immediately.

I pair a 6th sense swim jig with a vertical rage menace on it and the Alabama shake gets all my hooks up lol I don't think I ever caught a fish doing a straight retrieve on a swimjig.

I really want to get better at fishing lipless cranks. So far the only retrieve that seems to get the job done for me is the classic yo-yo retrieve. What are some of your favorite retrieves with lipless cranks?

Time will tell man, just gotta keep going at it until they bite. I usually don't catch one until April.

It's not even a huge binge I want, I just want to consistently catch bass again like I did in the fall, up here the bite always dies off mid november but usually picks back up in April! I don't understand the march hype train with bass to be honest. It must be a southern thing where it warms up quicker. 59 degree water temps but no fish. Water still feels very cold and it's probably even worse at some of the lakes I fish.

Went fishing today here in NJ, the pond was pretty lively with tons of bluegill and smaller mimnows swimming around the warmest side, water temps on the shallowest shoreline peaked 59.2 degrees but it's still cold in the 3 feet or deeper section (53.5 degrees) when I took the temps in the deepest part I could (Max depth here is 7 feet) Tried throwing around a chrome blue back lipless crank but after 45 minutes I had no takers, threw a PB&J jig around some riprap and fan casted the bank. I did have a bite on the intial fall after awhile but what ever it was very small. Also threw a ned rig to no avail. Before I left I did throw around my panfish setup and caught some shiners bluegil and a very tiny bass, definitely no bigger than six inches. Hopefully the bass really start to bite soon. I have no idea why the bluegill are up shallow and the bass aren't, it's probably still early up here but I'm glad I'm starting to see more baitfish activity the bass are probably right behind them getting ready to binge feed. Should I keep fishing the shallower side or try to find the fish that are still in winter mode on the deeper side?

KVD 1.5 shallow is the only squarebill crank I use for my ponds which are no deeper than 7 feet. Many people don't want to admit it but squarebills are at heart a boat technique. Lipless cranks work well in ponds though, maybe even better than squarebills.