BrianMDTX

Ok, not great but not bad. Went out this morning and caught six. All were 1 to 1-1/2 lbs. Did have something occur I’ve always wondered about and it finally happened. I was working a weightless Senko TR and was casting under the low limbs of a hemlock that juts out over the water. One cast was a bit high and the line went over a limb and the Senko dropped down into the water. As I started to reel it in slowly to see it I could ease it over the limb without snagging, a bass took the bait. So it was fish on! and the line was over a limb. To make matters worse, the branch was covered in someone’s old line. What a mess! I had to cut the old line to get my line loose, but in the end, I freed my line, removed the old line…and boated the bass! Thank God it wasn’t a 5 lb’er or I would have lost it for sure. It’s the bass in the second pic.

It was a good bass. But not THAT good! 😂

Dropped my car off for brake job so only fished the bank for a couple hours. Wasn’t sure what the pond was going to be like after four days of rain that Noah would recognize. Pond was 100% full but no debris. Not that murky either (for a pond lol). Started with a frog followed by a chatterbait. Nothing. Switched to a weightless TR with a Yum Dinger in green pumpkin. Only caught one bass. But it was my best fish of 2024 so far. A solid 4 lbs. Going out in the boat tomorrow.

It’s amazing that some areas got flooded worse than during Harvey. I wasn’t here for that but I know it was bad. It’s what drove us to ensure that we moved to an area that didn’t flood then. The weather the rest of the week looks good. Just not sure what the waters will be like.

All I wanted was a week off and do some fishing at the local pond and lakes. But four days straight of severe thunderstorms and flooding has kinda put the kibosh on that. Not gonna complain as the house is high and dry and others have been flooded out. But it sucks. The pond may be ok in a day or two but the lakes are likely to be very muddy and full of debris (if not outright closed to boating traffic). More storms coming soon. Ugh.

It’s always been a 5” Senko or a Neko Macho. But I recently tried a Rage Craw with a half-moon weight in the tail rigged wacky-style and the hits kept coming.

@MediumMouthBass I have a Sienna and two Revros. I agree that I prefer the Revros a bit, but that Sienna has reeled in some nice bass and is still going strong. It’s on a Daiwa Procyon MXF rod and is great for weightless Senko TR’s.

I guess it depends on what one considers “inexpensive”. That’s relative to the individual. I bought an Abu Garcia Black Max and a Daiwa Aird-X for less than $100.00 (I think it was $90.00 total). I still use it. That reel casts a country mile.

I’d be wary of brake cleaner. I used once. Once! To try and clear grime off my license plate. Grime gone. Paint gone.

@Peacedivision I love my 705CB for crankbaits. Not my favorite for chatterbaits but it’ll do in a pinch. I’ve heard some say they love it for spinnerbaits. I am NOT in that camp. I do not think it’s a good rod for spinnerbaits. But squarebills? Lipless? It shines.

I only have braid on my frog rig. All my other baitcasters have straight mono. Two Fuegos, a Tatula, and two Black Max’s. And while the Daiwas are smoother, have click drags and an easier (and better) brake system, I can cast equal baits farther with the Black Max’s than I can with the Daiwas. They are not bad reels IMO. So maybe try 30 lb. braid and see if that helps. And I agree- ditch the swivel and go braid-to-leader. I use a Lefty Kreh knot (also known as a Seguar knot). Easy to tie and strong, yet still not a big knot.

I truly remember the mantra from my youth. “I before E except after C, unless sounded like A as in neighbor and weigh”. It appears to have some wiggle room.

That’s my MO. I have a wide-mouth Peak iced tea bottle. A little smaller than Gatorade but at this age, it takes a while to fill it up. “Crap before you cast” is the way to go. I don’t chum for bass.

Everybody has their preferences. I decided a while ago that spooling mono on my baitcasters works for me. I was using mostly Big Game but switched to Sunline Shooter Defier. Great line and smaller diameter per equal lb. test. Spinning rigs? Unless something radically new comes along, I’m a braid-to-leader angler from here on out. No twist issues. Leaders last quite a while and the braid lasts a long time.

Coffee. Maybe more coffee.

Glad I watched this. I spooled new line on a BC this morning and tied two new leaders on two spinning rigs. I then reorganized all my tackle in the 3700 boxes I take on my boat, and then saw this video. I had no tubes in those boxes, but did in the large storage tackle box I keep at home. So I stupid rigged a few with 1/8 and 1/4 oz stupid rig jig heads and I will fish them next weekend. I haven’t fished tubes in a while. Looking forward to it.

I have (and am) guilty of that, but lately I’ve been forcing myself to try new things. Or old things that worked but have been neglected at times. It’s an easy trap to fall into. But nothing works great forever.

A Shakespeare spinning reel on a Cabela’s ML graphite rod. On a nightcrawler on an Eagle Claw snelled hook.

I need a drink just reading this.

I used a 1/0 Gamakatsu circle octopus hook. The water is not clear so I could not see what it looked like on the bottom. The bass seemed to like it!

I made a post in Fishing Tackle about seeing on YT (what was new to me) a craw wacky rig. Using a half-moon nail weight, it really is more of a Neko rig, but hey, I didn’t name it lol. I bought some 1/16 oz weights that came Thursday and was anxious to try them. I didn’t start off with it, as I wanted to see if the bass were hitting anything else. Started with a Pop Max, then a chatterbait, a Texas Rig with a Zoom Trick, a weightless TR with a Yum Dinger and a wacky rig with a Zoom Trick and/or a 5” Senko. I caught one bass on the Dinger. Didn’t get a bite on anything else. I broke out a Rage Craw and inserted the weight in the tail. I thought I had large enough o-rings but alas, they were not big enough to fit the craw, so I simply rigged the hook through the body (parallel to the body with the point facing forward). Wow. In five minutes I hooked 6 bass and boated 5. Two whacked it as soon as it went below the surface and the others took it as I skittered it along the bottom. Then it got very breezy and the bite just died. All-in-all, I’m impressed. All the bass were 1.5 lbs. or so. It’s likely no one has ever fished that presentation so it was something new they’ve never seen. Next time I’m trying Adrenaline Craws and bringing my larger o-rings as well.

No pics but, I picked up some Yum Dingers and 5” Senkos, X-Zone Adrenaline Craws, an H2OX popper, mushroom nail weights, standard nail weights, wacky rig hooks, and a Spro frog.

Lefty Kreh knot.

I found a Whopper Plopper right by the bank when I took my boat out of the water Saturday. Two young guys were fishing nearby and asked me how I did. I gave it to them. They looked like they needed it more than I did.