Tatsu Dave

Haven't fished Hebron in some time, we went up to Indian Pond little ways past Greenville the other week. Small boat and high winds with white caps so it was more controlling the boat than catching bass, did catch some SM but not the size we were looking for. If you go in the upper launch and go right to the flooded timber you might get into fish. Usually ned's and grubs/stickbaits will do the trick. Good Fishing

Well Done! its still a good fishery despite the daily pressure. Only some really know how to catch bass................the rest are practicing.

Well don't drink MDew so its a non issue for me to have any onboard..........but if I did I wouldn't pour it in a fishes mouth. OK with that out of the way bleeding fish I come across more than you would expect. We fish where the eagles rule the air, at least two pair on each waterway. Fish hawks that are almost the size of bald eagles also, when they nail a big bass there is quite a bit of excitement when they lift off. The heavier bass are hard to lift off with and the fish are twisting and flipping hard. We watched about a 4-5lber get free and fall back to the water the other day, I catch bass with talon cuts down both sides and sometimes still bleeding. The best thing to do is unhook and weigh fast and get them back into the water. They bleed far less in the water for a fact...not what I've heard but what I've seen. Guess tournament anglers don't want to put them right back and want them in the live well till weigh in. They have a different game plan than I do, we all do it differently and the fish has to try and survive with the differences.

Stickbaits! I use a lot of different lures but none will put fish in the boat as good as a simple weightless and soft stickbait. I use a flipping hook with 28 degree eyelet EWG and black color, you can get mustad hooks from TW in 50 pac's for under $20. Use owner small screwlocs also TW and available. Screw a stickbait on and put the hook thru it so it hangs straight. Take the hook running down the lures back and just catch it under the lures skin and fish. Two suggestions for lures Ocho eight sided w/coffee scent or GY senkos in 5". Colors are up to you but Tequila sunrise-junebug-watermelon w/gold or orange flakes or a crawfish color. The other night my son and I had a competition with a plopper against a ocho, most of the big fish came on the stick. More of the small fish came on the stick as well. Put an important tool in the tackle box, fished near surface or counted down a ways they work.

I actually fish a kinda modified hybrid rig that works real good on hard bottoms. I take a real deal tungsten shakey head and make the hook like a ewg with point running parallel to the plastic for easier hooksets. I cut the back half off a tornado ringed stickbait and thread it on the built in screwloc and hook weedless with hook thru rings. The tails have a rattle chamber that holds air and floats the tail up. It is very effective on the brown fish.

I was hopin' no one would mention that ☹️ Almost beat my PB largemouth this week. I tell most that the water is cold and high....don't mention fish gotta eat too. Suppose to be a drought right now ?

Wish I could send you some! We are overwhelmed with storms every day or so and such high water that its covered a lot of the wood we fish. Water temps have dropped several degrees as well. Go Figure.

I gave up waited for the run-off to stop its been steady every other day or so now for so long the water levels are up and temps down. Acts like spring fishing instead of dogdays. Hope you do well and catch some good ones, never seen a summer like this. Drought last year and rain-outs this year.........

Up here the illegal stocking is rampant and live wells the method of transport. They are dumping Smallmouth and crappie in the cold water fisheries and trout-splake-salmon-and lake trout suffer and slowly go away. We were in one north of us yesterday and the fisherman mostly kill any bass they catch. When I told them I was there to catch SB they wanted to know if I released them or not. Hmmmm I told them no livewell and they seemed satisfied. Only fish I keep are humpbacked perch and crappie, they eat real good ?

I like the evening bite with smallies, since LM and SM live together in both water bodies I fish regular I have yet to alter lure size. Son caught a smallie last night on a 110 whopper plopper and he was 7" long. I can tell right away if its a smallie that hits....they fight like crazy and really move in the water even against the drag. The water temps have dropped with all the rain and 50 degree nights. Evening and night turn things on........

That is a big danger in unknown bodies of water, the water temp concern by toxic is something I watch very closely as well and boat speed if I'm using crankbaits or plastics as search baits. Wow....rocks are not forgiving at all. Some things are worth protecting and a lower priced unit like a garmin clear view will do a basic job with GPS as a bonus.

Our water is the color of ice tea year round (tannin) that said we have runoff now as well with storms every couple days. Went out yesterday afternoon to try to forget the morning we spent 80 miles north catching one 12" SMB. Got to one of our regular spots and son pulled out 2 bags of these orange senkos and threw me a pack. I put one on with mixed feelings but not wanting to offend and the rest of the evening was pretty crazy. Besides some pickerel that were monsters on whopper ploppers (3-4lbs) we caught bass after bass both large and smallmouth including a 3-8 and a 4-10 which are nice fish for up here. Watermelon w/cpr/orang w/red #956. A new favorite to go with a handful of others.

Shakey Head with EWG hook.

Sorry got my reply in the quote, remember if you keep lures simple and inexpensive you won't lose much if you get hung-up. A boat or kayak will make those 30-40 fish days easier. A cheap 12' alum. boat with a battery and trolling motor was how I got my start.

That's the answer. Get confidence with a technique and start to catch bass, stay at it and the bass catching will teach you a lot. T-rig will be weedless and will attract attention from feeding fish. Jig fishing is another one that is going to open up a different style fishing even if its just a leadhead and curly tail. Catch fish so you don't loose interest while your learning. A lot of the videos Glenn has done are pretty straight forward and hands on so you can see it working. Good Fishing

I want to thank all for responding, you gave me what I wanted, info to use. I have done more research and believe the Daiwa Exceler might be my best choice for what I want. Gotta wait a couple days for them to come in but in no real hurry. Thanks again this site is the best! Dave

Heavy weeds by now in our waters, last time out my son stuck with a crankbait the entire trip. I don't fish them where we fish, he caught 4-5 smaller under 2# fish, I only caught 3 fish with my weedless throw it into anything sticks. Difference was a 2 3/4 # and a 3 3/4 # fish. Can't get the crank back into the thick stuff and that's where the bigger fish are at. The pike and pickerel bite too many lures off as well......stickbait screwloc and flippin hook cost about a buck, crankbaits are a tad more.

Our one spot goes total coverage on the entire headwaters for about a mile downstream. Its the farms up at the headwaters, fertilizer runs in when it rains hard.

The reel will come from TW, I buy about everything from them and have for a while. They are way easy to deal with and I don't have to talk to someone who knows nothing about what they sell like some places. The pflueger gets some bad reviews about developing tightness when turning the handle retrieving. Was wondering what members on here had experienced first hand using them. I don't really trust reviews much. Most posts here have been positive which is good. Thanks to everyone for good info and experiences. Dave

My biggest concern is how well graphite rods conduct electricity, watch the lightning and keep the rods down from standing in rodholders. Fishing with lightning around could be fatal. Just rain and I'm fishing, goes back to when I salmon fished, they can go into a feeding mode when the rain hits the water. This week got hammered by two different thunderstorms while fishing the 6 miles back to launch. When I got to the old dirt launch I was amazed two fellas were standing there fishing in the rain soaked just like me. One had caught a decent bass as I rounded the bend to land. Go figure, will try some of A-jays methods and check them out.

For me this is about weight - spool size - and Gear Ratio (#1) The Ardent Bolt and President XT are perfect in this respect. I have a couple Ardents so no need to ask about them. The XT looks like a good choice at this point but that 3 year warranty of Ardents looks good also. Will do it pretty quick either way, I need a reel. Probably no chance of a TW sale before fall : (

Thats the size I want actually, and everything you mention above is what I will be throwin' Thanks

Getting ready to buy one from TW and wondered if they are the way I should go. Budget dictates that this is my price range other suggestions welcome. Thanks

Shakey head jigs rigged weedless w/ 5" curly tail grubs. 5-6" stickbaits Texas rigged w/bare or weighted hooks. Pit Boss or 6" creature bait Texas rigged almost always on weighted hook. What ever color is on the menu that day. Good Fishing....

In two words drop shot.........or stay with present techniques but get some light # test FC and eliminate any terminal tackle possible. Wow Good Luck, where I fish you can't see more than 2-3' down all the time.