TriStateBassin106

Believe it or not I am a hardcore chatterbait fisherman, I only got into real bass fishing last year and the zman original and elite series of chatterbaits is a killer up here in NJ when the fish are biting. Also love the texas rig, it's probably the most effective year round. Growing up I loved whacky rigging senkos but they just don't catch fish for me as much as the baits I mentioned.

Hey all, Recently due to work I have only been able to fish my local ponds/lakes within the 3 PM to 6PM time slot and the bite has been really slow, (1 fish per outings) I have been catching them on Chatterbaits mostly but I have tried heavy finesse fishing from the bank and haven't had any luck on them for awhile now. I fish in North Jersey and Pennslyvania, most of the waters I fish are also pressured. How do I catch them in the afternoon from the bank?

I know this feeling well, many of my spots which are usually producers in the fall and spring/early summer get infested with weeds. Very hard to fish it with typical summer baits.

How's the bite been for you guys around the country/world? Has the fall transition switched into full throttle or has it just started? I haven't been able to fish much since a week ago but here in NJ/NY/PA it's been tough but fair since mid August. Hopefully the fall switch kicks in soon! What about you guys? How's the bite?

Snagging a lure after catching a fish on it will result in a terrible day of fishing. Happened twice this season. Lost two good cranks after pulling in a decent bass and the bite shutdown right after on both trips. Welcome to my world hahahahaha amen brother that first cast curse is real!

Haven't fished since sunday here in NJ, but I would imagine that the switch is in effect here sooner or later. Bite shutdown for most of us here once mid August came around.

I started to get into heavy drop shot fishing since fall is around the corner and the fish are being tough to catch, only problem is I got these big gama octopus hooks by accident at walmart and I don't think they are gonna work. (I looked for any finesse hooks) Can someone send me any links to the actual type of hooks I should be using for this application? For Drop shot plastics I only really use worms like the zoom finesse or maybe a paddletail swimbait.

Thanks james! As a bank angler I hope I can use some of this advice since I fish smaller ponds. Have any other recommendations like jigs or soft plastics?

I can relate to this. A few weeks ago I was fishing with a texas rigged senko at a local park pond and managed to hook a bass in it's right gill. I tried to use my tools to work the hook out but the blood and the fact that I had like 5 kids watching me work the hook out of the fish was extremely unsettling so I cut the line and released it gently. I almost felt like crying, that's how much those fish mean to me. Everytime I catch one now I give it a Jimmy Houston and kiss it on the nose hahahaha. The fish don't know it but when they smoke my lures it makes me feel special inside

Hey all. This is my first year going into serious bass fishing, and I never really fished for bass during the fall and transition since I was a Multi species angler. Anyway this summer has been great for me catching bass. So far this year since May I have been able to land around 39 bass in different locations around PA/NJ. But I noticed that my summer tactics such as using topwater, chatterbaits and T rigs is starting to slow down and the bite has been getting tough. Can anyone throw me some tips and advice on what lures I should be getting for sucess in the fall? I know bass start feeding heavily again on shad and baitfish so I was thinking maybe bring out jerkbaits and cranks. Tight lines.

It doesn't get any better than that! Literally me everytime I'm in a wallmart or other store shopping for stuff hahahaha I always check the fishing department first Fair point. We could also add the guys who almost break their backs and arms trying to catch Goliath Grouper.

I understand the struggle right now brother. Been having a tough bite for the pass two weeks, had a decent bite last friday but it's been slow. I fish in the evening mostly. Hopefully it's just the summer dog days doing it's thing again.

Hey all. Recently I had this question asked by a father taking his son out fishing and I was bank fishing next to them. "How is your style of fishing different than the average joe going for bluegill/anything" I think it comes down to our level of devotion and pure passion compared to fishing for other species. Anyone can go to wallmart and get some nightcrawlers and a 15 dollar combo. But to bring out different techniques for different scenarios and knowledge on how the target fish (Bass) behave at certain times. That's passion and determination. What do you guys think? How is Bass Fishing different than going after other species/anything?

Thanks smalljaw! Do you have any links to these spinnerbaits? Tacklewarehouse maybe? Please PM me if you can get a hold of the links. Tight lines.

I'm new to fishing with the bigger spinnerbaits, (use rooster tails occasionally) but I need help with deciding blade types. And colors for the skirts and blades. Maybe even jig weight sizes? I mainly fish stained or dirty water here in Northern NJ and PA/NY. Can anybody offer assistance? I bought a few Booyah white shad style spinnerbaits this weekend but I feel like they're probably not gonna work in my local water conditions since it's pretty stained/dirty from algae.

Got a couple packs today of the zoom finesse worms in green pumpkin/black for shakyhead fishing. Want to fish them shakyhead, what would be a good jig and jig head size for this application?

Don't cast far into the middle of the pond/lake or where ever you're fishing. The fish are going to be near the bank most of the time. Cast left and right into shoreline almost and you'll get bites. Also look for giveaways like bluegill activity and blowups near bushes and trees hanging over the water. If the bite gets tough get a pack of ZOOM trick worms and shakeyhead jigs. You're gonna have off days, we call it the "skunk" or getting skunked. Try to fish at mornings or evenings.

The fishing gods like you then.

Same brother always rock me some HUK headware out there especially on those windy spinnerbait days

The first cast catch curse is real. I don't care what anyone says. I never have a good outing when that happens. Had it happen 5 times this season alone. Sometimes I'll make a cast into land just to prevent the curse from happening.

Thanks man, i'll probably just get my already specific colors, besides it's only the skirt, the trailers is what really matters

Hey all. Gonna be buying some dirty jigs football heads in the next couple of days but I'm really confused on what type or colors I should get for the skirts. (There's so many different variations) I've seen colors that imitate bluegills and crawdads, but I've always kept it simple towards color selection on my soft plastics. -Watermelon/Green pumpkin for clear water. -Green Pumpkin/Junebug/Black and Blue for those 50/50 clarity waters. -Junebug/Black&Blue for heavy stained and dirty water. (I've had a lot of sucess on all these colors this year) Should I still keep this setup for my future jig arsenal? Or should I try to get colors that imitate bluegills and craws more?

Worst advice: Switch up lures every 15 minutes, only fish mornings and evenings. Trust Lunar calendars. Best advice: Fish right after rain showers, hop jigs like texas rigs, set the hook the second you feel something tap your line.

This is 1000.000% truth, i'd rather catch 15 smaller bass within 4 hours than 2 bigger ones. Catching bass in numbers means you're doing something right.

Real shame, over here in NJ we have many NJDEP wardens that stop by our local ponds, people are constantly getting fined and arrested for having too much.