DinkDreams

I would love to, but haven’t been able to yet. Unsurprising, considering SW Ohio isn’t exactly a bass fishing Mecca (most people who fish here tend to target Catfish or Crappie). That, combined with the relative difficulty of finding truly great bass fishing water (people tend to be very protective of their areas, as there aren’t many around here with great quality bass) has made me believe it will probably never happen unless I travel.

I can cast a 1/2 oz Booyah Tandem Spinnerbait in a spot roughly the size of a softball every single time. once we get away from that, your guess is as good as mine LOL

The front pocket of my tackle backpack is my designated trash pocket. Anything I use get put in that pocket until I leave the bank and I either empty in a nearby trash can or take it home to dump it out. Recently, there’s been a lot of construction debris in the ponds I fish (styrofoam for some reason, weather cover tarps for houses being built, concrete bags etc) and I ended up “harassing” the building company so much they finally got someone to get it out and plan to clean it up better in the future. I’m talking 15-20 bags of concrete and 8x10 foot sections of tarp just sitting in the water.

Kent Craw has been my number one producer this year. Incredible color. I can’t recommend the Fogy enough. I’ve been shouting it from the rooftops. 1/3 price of a Jackhammer and it outfishes the Jackhammer 3-1

I got my father into fishing with a Ned rig. It’s the only thing he fishes. Over 10 years he has never gut hooked a fish on a Ned rig, even when he was first starting and let them hold on a little too long (catfishing background, it’s just a habit to let them munch on the bait for a bit). Has he been lucky? Probably. But he’s probably caught thousands of bass in that time.

The paranoid in me says respool, because if you hook into the big one and it spools you you’re gonna be very upset. No downsides to respooling outside of cost of braid.

I bank fish exclusively, and usually carry 2 casting (a M/F and a MH/F) and a ML spinning rod. MH has braid so I use that for topwaters and bottom contact baits, And use the M with 14lb mono for all my moving baits (chatterbaits, lipless, spinnerbaits, squarebills, swim jigs etc). ML spinning handles all my weightless and finesse stuff. That being said, I don’t fish squarebills often and my M rod has a guide missing, so when I replace it I’ll probably get another MH for my moving baits. I like the castability of the M power but it leaves much to be desired in the “backbone” department especially with spinnerbaits and chatterbaits in the grass infested ponds i fish.

Caught a handful, one on a buzzbait and a couple on a double willow spinnerbait. Also caught this one on a red chrome rat l trap. Temps have dropped the last two days from 90+ to low 80’s, along with clouds and some rain (it rained lightly all day until I got out there……figures) They didn’t seem too interested in a chatterbait so I threw the spinnerbait, retrieving it pretty fast maybe a foot under the surface. One I think would have hit anything, I basically dropped it on his head. Tied on a Rat-l-Trap, because I was fishing a pond where I could actually use it (very little to no grass in this pond, I’m convinced it’s because of the fountain). Picked up the one in pic after letting it hit bottom and steady retrieving back to bank from about 10 ft of water. Have never had much luck on lipless cranks, so it was nice to catch one lol.

Anyone who has paid the subscription for BassU TV, do you think it is worth it? I’d imagine seminars from top pros would be incredibly beneficial for learning, but wanted some opinions from others before I take the plunge. thanks!

Hot as hell, little wind but a pond with a fountain helped I think. Caught 4 on a 3/8 Siebert Fogy.

Little order from @Siebert Outdoors. Never tried their jigs, and got tired of losing $15 jackhammers so I bought the Fogy pack and a handful of other jigs. They look great, quick shipping as well. Can’t wait to get ‘em wet.

If they like a wacky rig normally, a wacky rig drop shot with an 1/8oz dropshot weight would work in deeper water. Light enough to get a good fall but heavy enough you aren’t waiting all day to hit bottom.

It would cost you less to replace the passport and social security card than all that tackle!!

No pictures unfortunately but commenting in case people have recommendations or advice. Ive fished The Pond 3 times this week, and the bite has been awful. First time I caught 3, mainly on the Texas rig. Second time I caught 3 on a wacky rig. Today I went and had a couple hits and hooked up on 3 fish, using a 4.3 Keitech with a flashy swimmer. All 3 came off at the bank. One was because it was wrapped up in some brush, so understandable. The other 2 were on open bank, just came off when I tried to lift them out of the water. The common theme in all of these was that each one was the first fish I caught at that spot, usually about 10 or so casts in. Then the spot just dies. No bites, swipes or anything on anything I throw. I’m used to getting bites and not getting the fish, that happens. But for all 3 to come off at the same time (roughly) is a weird occurrence. On top of all of this, I cannot figure the fish out. I’ve tried hopping, dragging, short stroking worms, craws, grubs and I can’t even get a bite. I’ve tried chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, crank baits and can’t buy a bite. The only thing I can seem to get hit is a wacky rig 4” Senko. Only thing I can think is the fish are locked down cause it’s been very little rain and in the 90s in SW Ohio for a week, then down in the mid to low 80s for a week. Fish may just have a case of lockjaw. Any advice or reccs welcome, I’m going back to that area tomorrow to fish.

I was bank fishing with minnows and worms with some family during a cookout. We had the poles in the water, and got distracted by cooking and socializing. Come back a little bit later and one of the poles is missing. We look around and see a little bobber up near shore, so we run over and pull it out. Sure enough, there was a 5lb bass on the end of the line. What we found out was a bluegill ate the worm, and hooked himself. Then, the bluegill just swam around until it got eaten by the bass.

I use the 4” wacky rigged, as I fish a lot of ponds and they tend to get quite a bit of pressure. The smaller size and profile seems to help get more bites when nothing else is working. Caught everything from .25 pounders to 4 pounders on the 4”. I do not fish a Senko of any size weightless TX rigged, so I can’t comment on that.

True! But learning to pick out a backlash in mono is more similar to picking one out in fluorocarbon.

I use an Abu Garcia Vengeance ML for stuff like that. It works great, casts a mile. Although I will say that it’s more on the Light side than Medium. No trouble casting as light as 1/16 spinners up to 5/16 finesse jigs w/ chunk trailer. I did have trouble setting the hook on the finesse jigs, but the ones I bought were a heavier wire (6th Sense divine) than a typical finesse jig. No trouble with hookset on other finesse jigs or Ned rigs/drop shots/weightless TX rigs

Summer fishing is slow and the heat cooks our brains!

I know you didn’t ask, but if you ever do want to learn baitcasting reels start with mono. I’ve been using baitcasters for about a year and a half and bought a 1400 yard spool of Trilene XT 14lb for like $20. If I get a backlash that’s exceptionally bad, I can just respool and it doesn’t cost much. This is something I did after making the mistake of starting with fluorocarbon. 3 spools of Sunline Sniper later……

I’ve done it both ways, and noticed no difference. If I’m wacky rigging a Senko and I don’t put an o ring on it, it usually doesn’t make it back to me before it breaks apart so I don’t bother. Only time I’ll do it is if I’m fishing an elaztech bait, because I’m usually fishing them weighted regardless and if it loses the salt a little faster it isn’t gonna make much of a difference.

I wasn’t aware of the power difference, so thank you so much for letting me know! I think the 704c will be the move, my Abu Vengeance medium casted really well but I always felt like I had a bit more trouble getting the hook home, and it was noticeable around grass when my chatterbaits would get bogged down I couldn’t really “pop” them out

Hey all, Recently, I lost a guide on my Abu Garcia Vendetta M/F rod so I’m in the market for a new rod and was looking to upgrade. I have my eye on the 703C (MH/F) I plan to use the rod mostly for keel weighted swimbaits, spinnerbaits, a little bit of squarebill fishing (when it isn’t too grassy) and bladed jigs. Basically a power fishing moving bait setup. Would I be better off going with the MF action of the cranking rod or the Fast action of the 703C? Also, any recommendations around that price point are welcome!

Fishing in the dead heat of summer can be tough, but you have the same 2 choices you have every other time of the year. Am I going to make the fish bite even if they aren’t hungry, or am I gonna give them what looks like an easy meal to slurp up? When it’s hot the fish are less likely to chase very far, but if you can get a lure right on the edge of that dock (and even better bump the dock itself with your lure) they will come out to grab it. In intense heat, you have to go to the fish. They don’t want to be in the sun any more than you do. It’s why skipping docks and punching through vegetation are the most productive ways to fish this time of year. We as bass anglers have a unique knack for over complicating things. You know where they are going to be, it just a matter of choosing a lure to give you the best chance to get it in front of the fish’s face.

I’m sure we are all aware of using the Spunk Shad as a bladed jig trailer, but has anyone found other uses for it? I love it as a trailer but has anyone tried throwing them on a weighted or weightless TRig or a weighted hook?