softwateronly

Got out on the big lake for a couple hours this morning. First cast jinx, but probably my pb smallie. Good enough. scott

I have a curado dc and a curado 70 mgl. I prefer the mgl overall and definitely for the lighter stuff. My favorite light throwing jdm reel is the alphas 800s, though I'm not sure how much more money it costs. scott

The monkey is speaking to me.... https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Gambler_Fat_Ace_Stick_Worm_5pk/descpage-GFA.html And your mexican bass can certainly entertain a 10" stick bait... https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/MAGNUM_Baits_MagStick_Worm_5pk/descpage-MSK.html What I miss is the Sebile magic swimmer soft bait. The 5" and 7" were magic post spawn baits on my water. scott

@RHuff I recently had three mornings of catching on every other cast, roughly 90-100 bass in 9-10 hrs. But I also put in another 9-10 hrs in the afternoon and only boated 6 or 7 over 2 of the days. Like @A-Jaysaid timing can be everything for me this time of year. I also needed to change tactics between mornings 2 and 3. Moved from slow rolling 6-8 feet above their heads w/ an underspin to reel ripping a scrounger and spoon from the bottom w/ speed and pace mixed in with pauses. I know this isn't directly helpful, but hopefully you can keep at it till you discover when and what they want. scott

@1984isNOW with actual instruments? No. But based on the last time I asked another fisherman with electronics and water to air temp difference by feel, I think we're around 52-54. The air temps were stable for the first 2 days, highs around 60 and night time lows at 46-48; then the night before the third morning we got down to 42 and rain. It rained lightly for at least 3 hrs prior to sunrise. So the colder it got, the deeper the shad were and the more erratic and fast were what the bass wanted. And on a side note, that is a tank of a pb. Congrats! I know you're unhappy without actually knowing, but I'm in the same boat and have actually come to embrace it. A good fish is a good fish, regardless. Somewhere in those pics I posted, I think there's a high 6 in there. No one will think so based on the pics, but I know it's a probable "lake pb" for me. scott May the God of Bog Bass bless you with free tows around the lake from tanks! scott

https://www.little-jack-lure.com/?page_id=3002 https://www.little-jack-lure.com/?page_id=2920 https://www.little-jack-lure.com/?page_id=3182 These are the 3 that have been best for me. Type zero is the one doing the damage now, great action on the straight retrieve and holds depth at the "right" speeds. Really happy I gave them a shot this year. scott

Maybe. And also maybe if I type it, I'll remember it myself. scott

Fortunate to have the time and lake, had 3 epic mornings in a row. Almost like @Swamp Girl's legendary Maine bog bass mornings, like 35-40 bass in 3 hrs with bigguns mixed in. My bass have fully embraced a shad diet this week, and they are set up to massacre them every morning as they exit a narrow channel/choke point to a large 25' deep flat. It was interesting to see the bite evolve, days 1 & 2 a small under spin or scrounger counted down and slow rolled 8-10' off the bottom got the bites, day 3 the bait needed to reach the bottom, followed by a few fast reel turns ripped from the bottom to medium speed retrieve. Got hammered with lots of slashing at the baits that required reel rips and kills to actually hook up. So much fun! Scrounger and a little salt spoon did the work. Here's too many pics, without enough visual context, but it was 9-10 hours of fishing that's absolutely perfect and I need to return to the buffet asap. scott

I'm Varivas8 PE 1 to 10lb sniper for my 2 bfs adjacent rigs. Been very happy with it; landed a large king (10lb ish) on the rocks last week and bent out a finesse clip on a large Northern early this week. Line and knots did their job. My problem is I grabbed my main line when I last purchased a reel from digitaka, dangerous bait monkey games are brewing.... scott

That gets me too and the bigger the bass the more subtle that change is. My pb came out from under a TX dock and did it to me twice, only really noticed my line moving on angle back to the dock. So I've started consciously reel setting a lot more in these situations and my hook up has gone way up. Feel that subtle nothing? Reel twice as fast and be ready to sweep if your rod starts to load up, if nothing, kill it for a second or two then resume retrieve. So many times this will trigger another bite and your back to fish on. One little bit, don't point your rod at your lure, it needs to be offset a few degrees. scott

@Mobasser good topic; northern pike are a confounding fish for me. They have always been bycatch on my home lake, and for some reason, all the big ones I actually hook seem to come on jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, and spoons. So fighting them seems to be a 50/50 proposition that I'm hooked up with a large and powerful fish on M to ML power bass tackle and they fight hard, especially in cooler water. Had an almost A-jay class bend me out under the boat on a bfs rig after a 3-4 minute battle just the other day. Makes me mad at myself for leaving her with a face full of spoon, and for now not having it tied on to the end of my line. Which brings me to my other point; those fish owe me money. I'd safely say that on average I lose a dozen grass jigs and a half dozen swim jigs and a few jerkbaits a year to those teeth. There's even certain places and times where I start a location off with a spinnerbait or a 8" spoon to kinda clear the way. Too many times I've lost 2 jigs in one stop working the same weed line. Here's my most recent, decent one that got a pic. scott

@woolleyfooley this thread is over 18 years old, the poster George Welcome has last logged in under that name in 2017. From what I understand, you should have pure florida strain bass in your location. To be absolutely certain, check with who manages your water or pay for a test. Here's a recent discussion from the summer that will have respondents.... scott

@Koz I've had good hook up luck by just reeling faster into the drag while slowly lifting the rod. If I pulled it out of her mouth, the extra speed, rise in the water column, and then deceleration as I go back to my tempo often gets them right back on it. Congrats on the rod, hope you get to break it in with a biggun soon. scott

In my short time posting here, this is the record! scott

@Justbass11 that's tough because every manufacturer is different. I'd say a loomis mbr 904, a 5 power dobyns, a phenix feather 7'7XH, and an expride 7'7H could all do jigs to small swimbaits. All of these have enough tip to blur the MH/H line and the backbone to not get beat up by a bass. And if you want a way out there rec, the cheapest rod in cost but most crazy versatile long rod I own, it's this Major Craft salt rod that I've thrown 3/8oz jigs to a-rigs to magdrafts to deep cranks all while being plenty of sensitive. Legit 1/4-2oz doable with the right reel. $159 to your door. https://shimreels.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=40461 scott

I'm mostly throwing in clear water and almost always prefer silent over loud when presented a choice in hard baits. Jerkbaits are difficult because the magnetic transfer is also very helpful getting distance, another clear water necessity, and most transfers end up being rattles on the retrieve. @A-Jay has me frantically looking up to see if there's a deep diving MB LBO . Basically, I think your YT guy might have a point on certain days, but it wouldn't stop me from throwing jerkbaits. If I think I need silent, fluke time. scott

Or I change everything that doesn't catch on the second cast. scott

I'm blind down there, but the only bellies with mud on them that I catch come from blade baits and jigs in the winter. In your case I would have liked to have tried a damiki rig hung over their heads, lifted a blade bait, crawled an underspin, hopped/ripped both small and large spoons, and a floating minnow/worm on a free rig that I could float up and pull back down in place. Sometimes it might be easier on the soul to not have electronics . scott

I don't know man, sounds like you really can't go wrong. I've only done one of these recently, I had 4.5 days on lake murval TX in Feb of 21 and needed every one of them to make it happen. I got my pb twice, so it worked out, but I also got skunked 2 of those days. Maybe this is helpful. scott

unpossible

Same boat and I'm no expert, but I am a couple years into trying to figure out my open water. Putting together topwater bites that migrated away from any known structure, surface busting and bird activity over the abyss, and the realization that my shad move through choke points daily has opened up a semi successful world for me out there that isn't dependent on electronics. But I am fishing 300 acres of natural lakes, so my fish have less room to hide. That said, it's what I'll still be working on this winter and probably many more. scott

So true. For me even with that perfect stick, if you find a new jerkbait thats an outlier in size, profile, weight, or design you should always try it on other sticks before you give up on the new jerkbait. I'm now happy with 4 different sticks, only need two to cover everything, and one of them only throws one specific jerkbait. scott pe 1.5 to 10lb sniper for me. I do have one rig thats 30lb braid to tieable steel leader so I can keep my fancy nishine md from being bit off. scott

@Ohioguy25You should try your jerkbaits on your spinning setups, I believe a mb 110 was intentionally designed to be fished on 8lb line. I did good on jerkbaits before I ever threw a casting combo once. scott

I caught a large King (chinook) shaking a 4" jighead minnow yesterday morning. In the past, rattle traps, jerk baits, and dragging drop shot worms have gotten me steelhead and browns. These have all been great lakes salmon. scott

@TOXIC is right; there are no secret spots on a 250 acre lake, but @Catt is also right; lots of fisherman on my water park on the bass and cast toward the shore. I will gladly fish behind boats if I think I have a pattern for that spot, or more likely the deep water holding area adjacent to the spot. scott