The Baron

Here’s a largemouth I caught Saturday on a swimbait. He wallowed once, but if he’d jumped and head shook I bet he’d have been gone too because he was barely hooked even though he really sucked the bait in. Maybe just not enough hook gap is the problem, but I watch guys fishing the same type baits on YouTube and feel like I’m the only guy having this problem so consistently. @bulldog1935 I’ve started trying to plunge my rod tip into the water when I see my line coming up fast with a smallie headed to jump. Looks cool, but I’m still not getting any good fish pics. ?

I’ve been struggling last few outings. Fished Saturday and Sunday, including a 4am alarm to launch at first light for almost nothing - even the early morning bite was poor. ? Caught a couple on a white swimbait Saturday but one was a good smallie and he was gone on the first jump. Sunday was dead slow for hours so I decided to (finally) learn how to flip. Caught a 3# doing that yesterday - he sucked the Bandito Bug in on the fall and when I set the hook he took off like a rocket through the weeds past the bow of the boat for about 20ft. I thought I’d hooked a tank before I really leaned on him with the heavy rod and 50# braid to get him turned. That one fish made my day. More would have been nicer but everything on the “new” little bass boat is working 100% and I’ve got my health so I can’t complain about the slow days (writing that so I can reread it myself. lol).

I enjoy throwing Keitech (and similar) swim baits but have really been struggling to keep smallmouth pinned. It’s a heartbreaker to lose a good fish on the first jump, but that’s been my story more often than not. I thought maybe I wasn’t getting a good hookset with a 7’ medium/fast spinning rod so I bought a 7’4” medium/extra fast and results are the same. Using 15# braid to about 4-5ft. of 10# fluro leader. Typically using 1/4-3/8oz. heads on a 3-4” bait. I was actually wondering if I went the wrong way and need more stretch in my system - go medium/light rod or even use mono? Getting 1-3 good bites in a morning and losing them all is really sucking. Any help or suggestions are welcome.

A cold water spring is a very interesting possibility. Never thought of that. The lake is basically a big bowl in an area of limestone bedrock hills, so that’s entirely feasible.

Yes. The water is quite clear - I’d estimate visibility at 8-10ft. Weeds seem to run out most places at a max. bottom depth of 15-20ft.

I can’t figure out what it is I’m seeing on my sonar. It’s not the thermocline, because it doesn’t show up in deeper parts of the lake and I marked the same thing in this area in May. It only shows up for about a 50 yard stretch, in a spot only about 25 yards off the bank. And it’s not weeds - I’ve dropped a bait down there and it came up clean.??‍♂️ Unit is an Echomap and I’m moving at low trolling motor speed.

I have used (and still do use) the double uni, and it’s worked well for me. I’m somewhat comfortable with the FG knot now, so only use the double uni to retie on the water because I take so long to tie an FG. Yes the uni knot is bigger, but on 15-20# braid and 8-10# fluro leader it’s not bad and I trust it. I can see how it would be way too big on heavier lines though. I struggled with the FG knot with an 8# fluro leader, but seem to do better with 10#. Once I have a good looking FG tied, I tighten it down hard by wrapping the line around a couple pieces of 1” dowel and watching the knot really sink in.

@J._Bricker Good decision! Certainly possible guys just zipped by and never fished that patch. But I read somewhere about boat traffic actually adding oxygen, so I wonder if that might be a factor in why a mat right by the boat channel fished so good. ?

Bought myself a big stick today, with plans of using it to throw 5-6” flutter spoons on a couple lakes I fish that have Cisco (aka blueback herring). I’ve been wanting to try this technique and had no rods rated for more than 1 1/2oz. - and those are both H/fast action rods, so I wanted something with a little more tip for treble hooks. Hoping this 7’11” heavy / moderate-fast rod will serve well, and I’ll double duty it for throwing larger baits for pike in the spring. They call it a flipping rod, but not sure I’d ever use it for that. Just curious if anyone else has this rod, and how’s it working for you?

That’s a downer, for sure. Enjoy it while you still can, then approach the new owners and see if you can keep the same arrangement. Use the previous owner as a reference and offer some help with maintenance, perhaps. If you have access to a young child… maybe a girl of 4-5 years of age, bring her with you when you ask the new owners. Tell her if the new owner says no, she’s to cry inconsolably until that changes. Payment for the acting will be in ice cream.???

I've come to really like 12# Suffix Advance line for all my topwater. Easy to manage, casts well, floats and inexpensive. Only time I've ever seen a spook dive is when I reel in very quickly for a new cast. If your spook does dive, it should always just float back up if you stop so not sure what's causing your problem. I use a snap (not a snap swivel) and have had no trouble, but it's even better to tie direct with a loop knot.

I bought a couple of the automatic PFDs this year (lower end Bass Pro model), which are infinitely more comfortable than the old style life vests. The problem I’m having is I’ve had ours go off twice now due to humidity dissolving the little water soluble bobbin/trigger. Both times while stored under the seat of our boat - first time I didn’t know better, second time I forgot to take it out. At $40 for a recharging kit I’m hoping to avoid this. So my Q is… is this typical for these types of vests? Or, is there another style or brand that is less prone to going off from high humidity?

This is awesome. God bless you!

I checked off a “to do” list item yesterday and got a friends two young sons out fishing (10 and 11yo). My friends (husband and wife team) are farmers and they do more before breakfast than the average person does in a day… and they go all day at that pace. Their farm is immaculate and they are two of the nicest and most interesting people you could ever ask about anything farming related. Plus, they have 4 kids! I’ve hunted geese and turkeys on their farm for years (which is how we met and became friends) and I’m always asking how I can help. I’ve split a little wood and helped cover silage bunks, but when it comes to farm work I’m highly unskilled labour and Bob usually declines my offers with a smile. lol. But, they know I like fishing and one day last year when I asked Bob if I could help, he said take the two middle boys fishing - they’re very keen and I just don’t have time to take them. That’s the long winded introduction for how I ended up with these two avid young fishermen on my boat. I took them to a small lake close to their home, one that I’ve started fishing regularly so I’m getting to know it a bit. The boys had their own typical hardware store gear and things started out very slow with them using wire leaders and an assortment of items from their plastic tackle boxes. They were having a hard time casting very far and the wind was not helping. After trying a few ideas, I found a hump just off the windward shore and anchored upwind of it, so I could cast straight downwind to it from the back of the boat. I pulled out a dropshot setup and after a couple casts I found the spot and pulled in a 1.5# largemouth. Having only caught sunfish and a few small bass, they thought that was a big bass and one of them proudly netted it for me (not that I needed it, but the oldest was on the net like a pro when he saw the fish. lol). I said OK, who wants to fish with this rod but, much to my surprise, they both passed to keep using their own gear. Two casts later I got a 2# largemouth and that was enough to convince one of them to try my dropshot rod. We settled into a great 30-45minutes of me casting out and then handing them the rod. After some lessons, they got onto the technique and caught a few. Some were lost on slack line until they learned how to retrieve the fish, then we’d rotate between kids. The designated fisherman would sit on the rear seat and I’d cast, then hand them the rod. They’d catch one and then switch. It didn’t take long until the younger boy hooked a 3# and there was much excitement. I turned to get the net but the older boy was fast on it again, so I stood back and watched him net the biggest bass he and his brother had ever caught. That was a very satisfying moment for me and the boys were very excited (I blurred the photo for privacy, but rest assured we all had huge smiles!). They caught a few smaller fish after that, then I realized we were drifting as the wind gusts got so stiff the anchor had slipped. I could not get back on the exact spot (or perhaps the fish had just turned off anyway) so we moved on. Caught a few random smaller ones after that, but the highlight of the trip was over. Those boys were keeners and it was 5 hours (with the last 3 nearly fishless) before they were ready to call it a day. I took those two happy boys home and cleaned their 4 keepers for mom while the boys recounted the day to her (when I asked mom and dad in the morning if they wanted any fish kept to eat, they gave an emphatic yes). Mom thanked me very much, said the boys are so keen but she and Bob don’t know much about fishing. Dad was of course farming but texted me after his typical 14 hour day ended to thank me very much, saying the boys were still on cloud 9. I had a great time with the boys and will definitely take them again. I learned lots today, about how precise spots can be and a few things on how to use my fish finder (which is all new to me this year). I also learned that helping out a farmer does not always mean doing farm work.? Did I mention how much I love our “new” little Bass Tracker 165? I couldn’t be any happier with it (although if I had a 19ft… ?? )

That'll put you to bed with a smile on your face! ?

I'd never heard of these buzzbaits, so just checked out their website. It shows black are available for purchase... US orders only. ☹️

My trick is to do half days. Fish the early morning until it gets hot/the bite slows down - say 5am-11am or so. Then home for a shower and a glorious nap. Family time in the late afternoon/early evening, then to bed early and do it again. I can't do two marathon days back to back either and figure two 6-hour shifts at prime fishing time is better than a 12 hr. grind and missing the best part the next day.

Ouch! lol

Are there any baitcasting reels out there with an audible drag system? I’m finding that’s one thing I enjoy about spinning reels and am not sure why baitcasters don’t have it.

If fishing history was useless, God would not have invented way points. lol In all seriousness, I fish history every time I go out. The trick is to know when to reel up and go find new history.

If they're hitting you on the fall, it's very difficult to get a good hookset unless you're very carefully letting it fall on semi-slack and watching your line like a hawk. I had that problem with tubes, before I learned I'll get so many bites on the fall. I also started using a bit more drag for hooksets (which is just an up sweep to put a good bend in the rod for the first couple head shakes to bury the hook), then backing off so the fish can pull drag when they're making those hard digging runs near the boat. If the fish are just skin hooked, it doesn't take much pressure for the hook to pull out.

Welcome. It sounds like you’re on a similar path as myself, just a few years behind (and likely younger. lol). I was an avid young fisherman, but took almost three decades off (?) to hunt and be a gun lover. Then taking my own young kids fishing got me hooked again. After 3 years of shore and canoe fishing, I’d saved enough to buy a small bass boat this year and am loving it. ? Midsummer can be a tough time, especially for fickle smallies. What lures to use will depend on how your lake sets up, but throwing a popper around structure/cover in the early morning/late evening can be very productive. If there’s any wind and/or if you can spot any schooling fish surfacing on bait, I’ve had some fun days with a spook. Through the majority of the day, smallies in the lakes I fish tend to slide back out to deeper structure and I usually have my best luck dropshotting humps and ledges. I’ve had good luck throwing a tube jig or a Keitech 2.8” or 3.3” in clear water as well, but those haven’t worked as well for me as dropshotting in more stained lakes. There are lots more ways to fish them, but that’s the short list that has been pretty consistent for me.

A buddy and I launched in the dark this morning, anticipating a great smallie topwater bite… that turned out to be about an hour of nothing. ? So we switched gears and hit a couple weed edges in 9-10ft. of water. My buddy landed about 1/2 dozen on a 7” Power Worm in what seemed to be a brief 15-20 minute bite window before we got a rain shower. That bite ended and we moved to a larger weedbed of similar characteristics. My buddy was 3 fish in again and I was feeling a bit left out with a skunk so far, but had confidence in my 10” Power Worm. Finally I’d just given my worm the first drag off the weed wall when my line started coming toward me. I caught up, confirmed he was there and then did an on the tiptoes half turn, bowed rod hookset that I wish we’d filmed because I know I looked like a pro. lol. Turned out my first was big fish of the day at 3.83. We then enjoyed another 15 minute bite window and landed another 8-10 between us. My takeaway for the day was to be amazed at how fish can turn on and off so quickly. We ended the day back at our smallie spot for a last try. Great news is I found a sweet 10ft. hump in 25ft. of water, marked what I assumed to be a good fish on it and flipped a dropshot Roboworm down there. A few casts later and I set the hook into what I hoped was a solid smallie, but turned out to be a 5-6# pike. Seeing that fish on my new electronics and then catching it was a very satisfying way to end the morning.?

@Pat Brown That’s one heck of a frog fish!??? @Jmurphy87 You did the right thing not releasing that fish and pretending it’ll be ok. Our favourite way to eat bass is fish tacos. Cook the fillets anyway you like (pan fried or baked) with some breading for a little crunch, then flake the meat. Put it on warmed taco shells with some homemade cilantro/tomato/black bean salsa, a bit of shredded coleslaw and a sauce made of mayo, lime juice and Mexican seasoning to taste. I love ‘em.?

After much practice, I've just recently become comfortable with the FG knot - finally finding that the "bow" method of keeping tension on the main line while tying helped me a lot. After finishing the knot with a 1/2 doz. half hitches of the braid over both itself (i.e. the main line) and leader tag end, I trim the tag end very close and tie a few more half hitches of the braid mainline just over itself. I would think those add some protection and essentially cover up the tag end of the fluoro so it doesn't contact the guides on casting. As long as your guides are smooth (i.e. no burrs or nicks) I cannot see how the main knot could wear from casting. That said, I replace my leader every few trips just to make sure there are no unseen nicks or wear on the leader that may cost me a fish.