softwateronly

@Junk Fisherman my limited time in basically one spot on lake michigan has opened my eyes to dragging the little 2.5" tube. You have to add it in or back in, it was just too effective for me this year. scott

@MickD I have alphas 800s, alphas air, and a zillion w/ roro x27 spool all capable of casting 4g with the modified zillion and air definitely able to go lighter/throw further. I think jdm alphas/zillion with an extra lightweight spool (usually $80 ish) can you give you the most flexibility if you end up moving away from bfs, use it seasonly, or remake combos for specific trips. Alphas w/ 2 spools would be $240, Zillion w/ 2 spools $300. The Tat 70 might fit into this category too, I just haven't kept up with the all the iterations of the tatula. All the previous posters helped me previously, back then I wasn't ever considering spool swaps. scott

Slow-ish horizontally, but quick and erratic vertically is my coldest water success plan. Still hunting the reaction bite but giving them the time to meander over to it. Yo-yoing Blade bait(lipless), jerk bait, & spoons have done really well for me. Cranking a deep-diver with many starts/stops, straight copying Matt Allen, has also given me surprising frozen finger success. I still will drag a jig or underspin too after I worked an area quicker. Hoping shaking a minnow this winter will add to this list. The hardest part for me is finding them...I'm not set up to locate bait electronically, so on my lake any green veggies 15'+ is a definite key for me and then I like the areas that have deep water, sharp breaks, and soft/subtle breaks near any ledges/flats in the 5-10' range all within 20-25yds of each other. This way I can figure out which type they're on early and push that location to less optimal areas. scott

I bought a used Steez ags from ALF back in january of 22. If you don't find one now, keep refreshing their used lots post holidays. I assume they shuffle available inventory to even out the highs and lows. *** was also somewhere I have purchased used gear without issue. scott

Got mine a few days ago, great looking jig @WRB and @Siebert Outdoors. Well done gents!! Looking forward to getting some time with it before the ice, but downright ecstatic for the prespawn. scott

@Fried Lemons very true for me as well and forgot to include it. This summer the blow ups in open water almost never really connected on topwater. Instead I found success with spoons, finesse scroungers, spybaits, and the rocket shad. I also tried to understand the br fish and didn't really get it until this fall. When the surface action slowed down, I'd also find success shaking a minnow in the areas that produced earlier in the day. My electronic game is an old school flasher, and I'm not great at interpreting yet, but I find subsurface is a much better approach in these circumstances. It seems that my fish are sitting 15-25' down and chase shad that are 5-10' above them and that's where my bait needs to be. Profile size, speed, and erraticism is also something that needs to be played with as it seems to change everyday and even throughout the day. Not giving up on topwater just yet, but if this year is my new normal, it's certainly shrinking in importance. scott

Can't argue with that. I'm fishing 4 bodies of water 95% of the time the last 5-10 years and I've found many other baits to be better producers of quality fish and I've learned enough of these lakes where I'm comfortable taking the rare skunk to avoid messing with a technique that I don't enjoy or have any meaningful outsized success with for all the trouble. scott

My best days, quality and quantity, with a lipless have been yo-yoing in cold water (sub 50) and a slow ish retrieve with reel handle pops and kills while trying to maintain within a foot or three off the bottom (sub 60). Admittedly, I don't throw it enough to really know. A blade bait and small underspin and now a jig and minnow are my first goto's for those conditions. I've also had number days burning in the post spawn, but a swim jig/spinnerbait seems to get me close to the same numbers but with bigger fish mixed in. scott

True, I should have said I was throwing easy shiners and 3" armor shads, which are very light plastics. But the guppy head has a thin wire hook and it's less in quality than it used to be imo. You'd have to be careful, I prefer lob casting over over-powering the hook. And a 904mbr is cheating, it can practically do anything. scott

The line ratings might also reflect braid vs plastic usage. I'd lean more into the rec'd lure weights as well. scott

3/4oz guppy head? Where can I get one? I was throwing a lot of underspins DJ mini 3/16-3/8 and the northland 1/2oz smeltinator on a phenix feather ML casting rod this fall and thought it was just about perfect for the wide weight range. If you do have 3/4oz, I'd go up to a MajorCraft Days M/RF casting rod. I'm braid to 10lb sniper on both of those combos. scott

Got out the last 2 mornings and the bites weren't frequent, but there were some certifiable studs mixed in. November is really starting to solidify as my favorite month to fish. Here's a couple from the best two, one on a bayruf and the other on a rapala minnow, one fast, one slow, one high in the column, one right off the bottom. Water was 54. scott

I have and still do. I’m also not that precious about my stuff, though all my cosmetic issues trace back to my handling of them on the boat and car, not storage, imo. I think you’ll be fine with backed off drags and kept dry. scott

I was you....now, not so much. Tread lightly is my advice. scott Did!!

I also gave up stick baits, and under strict guidance from @gimruis haven't touched a drop shot in years. I've been adding more than subtracting, though I feel like the pace of that is significantly slowing. scott

@TnRiver46 helps the fishing that I’ve been severely underemployed the last few months and there’s been plenty of days without picture worthy fish! scott

Water was at 56 and found a willing school 2 mornings in a row on a hard bottom channel that swings by a point that moves from 18-25 fow. Had one smash a 7" armor shad on a scrounger in the predawn, but didn't hook up. Followed up with shaking a crush city minnow just off the bottom and practically caught all my fish this way. There were 3 total well over 5lbs and all them were landed on a BFS ish set up, very addictive. scott

My little 300 acre lake in MI was at 56 on wednesday. There's definitely a couple weeks left of active bass over here looking at the forecast, though mine only wanted slow stuff the last couple days. But there was some bigguns mixed in, which is just fine by me. scott

Ordered...Thanks! scott

Casting for me, and I'm up to 3 rods that cover all my size/weight needs. scott

12 days? That's almost enough time for TW. Jokes aside, my japan orders have never taken longer than a week and are usually in the 3-5 day range. JLS is not one I have ordered from before though. Maybe @bulldog1935 can chime in, he's been importing from Japan for many years. scott

I do now because of you and this site but there was a time when I didn't know and thought this might be part of the lack of lightweight casting on @MediumMouthBass part. scott

@bulldog1935 can you run through what kind of damage that can be done when not properly backing out the zero adjust on the zillion when opening/closing the side plate? scott

Anyone have a pic of a rock bass caught on a spinnerbait? scott

You can catch em in the middle of the skyscrapers too, the river has cleaned up enough in the last 30 years to catch bass, mostly LM. These are not my pics, saw them on reddit. This spot is near my apt and I have a somewhat secret free parking spot nearby; otherwise it's more of a time, money and/or train thing to other areas that I know have fish. Plus, the smallies get chunky and the deep water and current means they don't ever stray too far away. scott