RenzokukenFisher

Heres my 2 cents. I've been fishing for 5 years now with about a dozen 5s, some 6s and an 8lb 1oz fish as my PB. Not a DD catcher but I believe Ive tangled with one or two then lost em heres what I found. Zone in on maybe 2 to 3 small lakes or launch areas on a lake and fish them consistently for the next 2 years. This is important because you can see how bass operate based on the seasons. Use conventional gear and just get good at fishing. Get bites, feel bites, fight fish and learn what they are up to. Eventually start identifying "big fish zones" on your body of water. Cant catch whats not there. So look for areas of deeper water with easy access to a shallow flat or shalloe piece of structure with isolated cover. A big brush pile near a drop off into deep water, a rock pile on a flat near deep water. These are prime zones. Big fish are not like your 2 pounders, they are dominant in their areas and are not often aggressive so you will need to often camp out these big fish zones and fish in boring ways for hours before getting a bite. Keep an eye on how you catch and what time you catch a fish 3 or 4 pounds or bigger. This can clue you into the habits of a larger fish. It'll happen just keep fishing. Also a fair warning. Many say the effort and time to catch one of those giants isnt proportional. Think of it, people may spend a decade meticulously trying to get one and end up with one DD. Its sooooooo much work for just one of those fish. Dont let social media ool you, only a handful of men and gals can consistently catch these dang things 🤣 have fun!

Funny I just watched a tactical bassin video on this today. When those guys were on clearlake they said they would night fish in the dead of winter wishing they could go home to the warmth 😂 however it paid off with them catching multiple double digit fish in those times. From the sounds of it bottom crawling a swimbait suuuuuuuuper slow helped them get those bigguns

Just had a rad 3 day stint fishing Friday - Sunday with a different spot each day. Weather cooperated nicely the first two days as a cold front was starting to move in but that third day the fish developed a case of lock jaw only picking up a few on a ned rig. The first spot was a major honey hole of mine with low quantity but high quality. It was the day I hooked into a monster but she bent my spinnerbait hook out, darn! Picked up a nice one before it on a double willow spinnerbait. The following day I went to a higher elevation 40 acre pond with some hard fighting northern strain Largies. I know these fish well so I decided to target bigger fish with glidebaits and wake baits. Got some decent ones on both with an 5lb 5oz kicker to top it off caught on the rat! Hooked into another 5 or 6 or so on the Swaver but she leveraged the bait on standing timber on the way back to the kayak. Slowly learning these bigger ones. The last day I launched at an even higher elevation lake looking to get into some smallies and ended up catching largies and green sunfish instead hahaha. The bite was veryyyy slow but I managed to find them on the rip rap dam using a ned rig. Some big green sunfish hammered it and got a few quality largemouth. I really want to see this place in spring since around summer time its drawn down 30 or 40 feet making it tricky to locate fish w/o electronics I believe. Glad to have had such a dope few outings and learned something each trip. Crazy how these greenback and bronze critters can both make you feel ontop of the world and also humble you like no other in the same day. Good fishing y'all

That sounds like that way to do it brotha. Also wow a fish pulling off from a swim jig hook is insane thise things are no joke!

Yeah I was honestly just grateful to hook up with her! Havent felt a fish surge like that in like 3 years it was great. Totally knew she would be where I hooked her too which felt great having the puzzle pieces come together. But thank you 5lbs makes sense. I dont find myself using less than 12lb line on my baitcasters so that gives good wiggle room. Gonna move away from locking my drag down, works with the 4 and 5lbers but I think those really big ones especially in the summer just pull too d**n hard Managed to get this nice 3.5 before the big one though which was nice!

So I totally fumbled another giant this evening. This time I lost a monster on my baitcast gear. It was a combination of factors, was travelling light so used my 7' MH fast rod with a 1/2 oz spinnerbait, normally wouldve had it on my mod action. Hooked up into her and the rod just folded and she was moving quick! She darted one direction and then another towards some branches so I pulled back on the rod trying to stop her and she came unbuttoned. Reeled back in and the hook was a little bent out on the spinnerbait. I think I tried to horse her and my drag was locked down. Too much pressure. However all these swimbait guys and others say to lock it down and horse them in. Am I missing the picture it didnt seem possible to to horse that fish in. Would love to know what y'all recommend for drag settings on baitcast. Keeping in mind this lake is gnarly in cover, sticks, weeds and only about 6ft - 8ft deep so these fish dig straight into cover.

Its already been said a few times on here but San Diego Jam knot all the way! It is rated as one of the strongest bass fishing knots and it is super easy to tie. Great for bigger baits when a Palomar would be tedious. Just remember dont tighten the knot all the way when cinching it down. Get a light cinch, then wet it and pull it tight with the mainline. Thennnnn tighten the tag end. Only time I ever broke it off was because I was snugging it wayyy to tight with the tag end rather than cinching it with the mainline first. Cheers!

Ah thats looking like its gonna be a relaxing yet exciting weekend. It looks pristine out there. Enjoy the trip and stay safe! Hoping for some fish to come sniffing whatever you decide to throw

Dang I gotta make sure to check whats already been written before posting these things And also Thank You @Catt!

Normally I am in small lakes or ponds in my yak and can do pretty well, but what about a deep reservoir? Usually I cast generally around a point and can can pick up a few bass but I'd like to learn how to really target a point. Specifically if anyone is familiar I am planning a trip to lake Berryessa, a deep mountainous type lake. For example, lets say Im fishing a east (shore) to west point, with wind blowing over it from south to north, where do I position and where should I cast? Do I drag a jig for example down the length of the point? Or do I cast over the point and work it up and over south to north? Maybe a little bit of everything!! 😂

You know sometimes I forget spinning gear isnt all 8# line drop shot and ned rigs. Thinking I'll mess around with some heavier lines and put this gear to the test. Shied away from spinning gear for the longest time but have been having a blast with it and all the techniques. Still a flipping stick guy at heart but this spinning gear is growing on me. Tight lines! Gotta love the mind games bycatch can play 😂 I'd be lying if there werent a time I thought I'd finally hooked that DD only to reel in a foul hooked carp

Thanks A-Jay I'm hopeful and yeahhh I was kinda playing with fire using a medium spinning around those brush piles. Nursing an injury at the moment so I'm limited to spinning gear. Sometimes I still go baitcaster mode pumping them like I'm frogging them outta some weeds but then I remember I gotta slow down and let the drag work lol

Had quite the heart breaker yesterday fishing a quiet calm fishery I retreat to to enjoy a 20 acre lake all to myself. This spot is mostly a numbers spot with aggressive bass that will tear up a jig and annihilate top water, my favorite things. But yesterday I went out looking for the big girls and I found one, just never even got the chance to see her Lately I've been using spinning gear, which is about 2 months new to me, and I was chucking around a wacky rig black n blue Senko on 8lb test. There's a nice point with a submerged roadbed and nearby brush piles and weed beds which I've eyeballed on satellite imaging for awhile but finally gave it a whirl. I don't have electronics so I was blind casting my wacky rig in the areas I was looking at on satellite and finally felt it dropping into the branches of a brush pile. Bingo! Wiggled the Senko out let it flutter and sit for about 10sec. Lifted up and felt dead weight. Not quite grass, not quite hung up in a branch, just felt like I was snagged into a giant gummy bear hahaha. Lifted my medium spinning rod up, reel set and the fight was on!! Sorta... the fish just starting swimming out to deeper water acting like I didn't even hook it, which happens with all the big girls I hook, until I really started giving her some pressure wow she had weight! Then those runs and head shakes started and honestly I lost my composure I think. Haven't hooked into something that big in a while, that wham wham head shakes and strong runs had me fired up but I was so caught up in fascination I almost forgot I was trying to land her. Then after playing with my drag too much I didn't notice her b-line right at me and take a dive next to my kayak. A strong surge downwards and a depressing "pop". Gone. 8lb test broke pretty sure I had a bad knot paired with my rod angled high as she took a dive. My drag was pretty low but the angle wasn't in my favor. It loomed over the rest of the trip but an exciting top water bite in the evening remedied it somewhat. Either way I'm just glad to have gotten the bite and had a solid 10 - 20 sec wrestling with her. May not have seen her but wow those head shakes, seeing the rod bounce a foot with each one sticks in my mind today. Good thing is I can always go back

Hey Y'all! I've finally fished a 37acre pond I've been keeping my eye on and after yesterdays trip I'd like to start hitting this place hard. Only 3 fish but 2 were 3lbs and it is a place known to kick out a few double digits per year ontop of lots of healthy 7 and 8lb fish. The trick is its heavily heavily pressured so bait selection I hear is more limited. Drop shot, weightless worms, small jigs, and spinnerbaits. My fish yesterday were all caught on a 4.5inch roboworm split shot rigged, and a weightless t-rig senko. I could really use help though in finding prime locations on this lake! I have ideas but want to hear your thoughts. I have some pictures of the lake with some rough markings for depth. Its fairly shallow, half is about 0-15ft with 2 creek arms, and the other half is pushing 20-30ft deep with a dam and a point. The yellow markings are aerators, curious if running a spinnerbait through those could produce? Anyone pattern aerators hahaha. Its predominately a weedy fishery with the shallower ends creating small mats this time of year, trip flipping and pitching those to no avail. Theres also plenty of reeds on the lakes edges, which I also failed to pick up fish pitching and flipping weightless senko and small jigs. Maybe they produce under other conditions just not yesterday. The main ticket yesterday was fishing deeper weedlines and small channels that extend from the deeper water into the creek arms. I dont have a depth finder so I just try to wing it. Its been over 110 degrees for a week here in California, I think the fish are deeper. Anyways at this point I'm ranting. Any heads ups? Open to any questions here to learn! Water clarity: 2 - 4 ft. Red shallow 0 - 15ft blue "deep" 15 - 30ft yellow aerators

I was born in 2000 but man after hearing all the stories and seeing when most giants were being caught it mustve been wild fishing those 90s and early 2000s years. Also that action without rod movement is something I have alot of faith in with jigs. The way that skirt unfurls and moves in the water is too good