Eric Matechak

makes sense. when the fishing gets tough, few things compete with live bait. for some reason, I have caught very few LM bass on earthworms. They demolish plastics because they resemble fish and such dangling on the bottom. I'd bet in my lifetime, I've caught less than 10 bass (all small) on earthworms...and I grew up fishing panfish with garden worms the trick is you need to be aggressor. Grab his jaw harder than he can clamp on your hand. if you don't, your hand is about to feel a ton of pressure

some solid advice in this thread. If you want to work with fish, get into the fisheries management field. You'll meet great people and do very rewarding work. The pay sucks even as a biologist but you either work for the money or you work for the passion.

o ok nice

do you catch mosquito fish on a hook? with insect larval flies?

agreed. but largemouth bass are not native to California so both species are introduced species in a way

that's fantastic. try smearing the crappie nibble along the length of the minnow. I like doing that for added scent.

we've had channel cats in there for about 15 years. some of them are mid-20's (inches). They have pretty small mouths so even a 4" bluegill is a serious challenge for them I imagine. If I flatheads in there, that would be another story entirely haha

I never tried live bait on a dropshot rig. Interesting stuff. I bet that would be killer with a small shiner as well

I def need to add sand and/or gravel to the pond for next year. I think the most effective way to do it is wait until it ices over and pour a layer of sand/gravel about a couple inches thick over a few areas on the ice and let the melt drop it straight down. Def adding some wooden pallets (un-treated wood) in now for fathead minnow spawning and shelter

We own a 1/4 acre small farm pond in PA with some bass, yellow perch, bluegill, shellcrackers, channel catfish, bullheads, and koi in it. I know fathead minnows like to stick their eggs up under vegetation of sunken wood pallets. I know some species of fish prefer to bed on sand or gravel. Do you know what substrate yellow perch, LM bass, bluegill, and golden shiners need?

if you think about it, common carp are just as naturalized to American waters as largemouth bass are to the western US. neither would be there if not for man's actions. I love carp fishing so I will defend my carp interesting information. I have seen carp feeding on dead or dying shad floating on the surface. In fact, they completely ignored any tried and true carp bait I offered them when they were in shad mood. It must be a rare delicacy for them when they can gorge on small dying shad

chain pickerel are my absolute favorite fish to target for ice fishing but I rarely fish for them in summer. They do love frogs and shiners so a topwater frog you don't mind getting destroyed by teeth is a good option. or simply a 5" golden shiner cast up along weed edges

there may be some truth to this. Catfish and Carp Youtube channel did a special on fishing for carp in the Susquehanna river with glass clear water and carp swarm all around them. I don't think he caught a single carp all day. my go to carp rig is a fake sweet corn on a hair rig and a method feeder packed with a pack bait of Jello mix, panko bread crumbs, and sweet corn. That is 100% my favorite. a less messy but less effective option is using Mexican masa balls. I like to mix Koolaid into the water as well as sweet corn kernels. The doughy balls last longer than the panko pack baits listed above but I find they catch less fish overall. They are a lot cleaner on your hands and your rod than the panko jello mix

are you catching mostly channels or flatheads too?

if live bait isn't an option (worms or fathead minnows), then I like using Gulp minnows. They are pretty lifelike and have a strong scent to them. I catch nice bluegill and crappie on these, especially when paired with a small jighead

you never know the validity of the author or of the material but there is an article I found that does support the idea that naturally occurring meanmouths are pretty rare but lab bred strains can be stocked in numbers and they are unusually aggressive. that is a good looking photo. Personal preferences I suppose. For example, I think smallmouth bass look better when they are more solid coloration rather than distinctly marked up. That is just my personal preference and likely why I don't care for the look of meanmouths.

if trout are there, fish with trout patterns for big bass

scent hasn't made much of a difference for me with lures for active predators like walleye, pike, and bass. it does help a little for carp though

2.8 and 3.3 keitechs on 1/0 guppy heads. My go-to colors are blue chartreuse and pro blue red pearl. sexy shad is pretty effective too

from what I read, they are no longer stocked because they are more aggressive than LM and SM and bully them off nests. They are jerks. They have been responsible for LM and SM declines in many waterways. I'd say if you catch one, don't let it go unless it is undersized. I think they are kind of ugly tbh. They look like a caricature of a smallmouth bass in coloration.

if it is a steady downpour, go with something that puts out some noise or water displacement. The rain will put white noise into the water (my theory) so you will want a bait that was break through that rain noise to draw in bass. I like a popper or a whopper plopper

My absolute favorite is the Jackall Rerange handsdown. Puts off so much flash on sunny days. Startles bass and stripers into striking. Megabass 110 is good too

both are great in-person stores. the best online selection IMO is Tackle Warehouse and it isn't even close

it works excellent in muddy water (especially blue). Black works well at night. If the water is even remotely see-through, I will with watermelon or pumpkin colors all day long. Those natural craw colors kill it for me

they are great for travel but telescopic rods are tough to manage because they come undone during the worst times (middle of a fight for example) and the rod loses a lot of action as opposed to a 1 piece flipping stick.