thediscochef

For a number of reasons I believe I am maxed out on rods at the moment, I really should slow up my spending a bit until my back heals completely and I can start working again. We're fishing on nice, easy, flat banks for the time being. I've been able to get a handful of the rods for less than half their original release price. I have like eight or nine of them total. I'm also not 100% certain these are being discontinued it's just...the stock levels and price cuts at D/FW stores would seem to pretty overtly imply that they are on the way out. The stuff I buy doesn't seem to be getting replaced and they're now $80 instead of the $120 they were when released. If they are indeed being discontinued, I hope they retain whoever designed the rods...I'd buy em a beer if I ever met em

So being shorebound really cuts down on how much I can really prep, as there's only so much lake I have available. I generally need about an hour to fully go through the process of mapping, researching, and prepping. Fish like to hang around stuff (as said above) so I just cast at stuff until something bites, usually. All spots I fish are chosen based on topography and usable shore. Sometimes I get lucky and I can actually see baitfish or topwater action and that helps. I use navionics and google maps a ton when scoping out new spots, as it saves me the hassle and lost baits of physically scouting each location. There are places I don't even mess with because I won't be able to use my preferred baits due to shallow depths. Saves some access fees too. I have very rarely been skunked on new water when I follow my basic four steps - Scout Access, Prepare Tackle, Arrive Alive, and Adapt to Survive. The last part just means "never be afraid to try something or to catch unintended species". Crappies, Stripers, and Blue cats are all tons of fun and I have spots for each that I discovered by searching for LMB areas. If I'm catching I'm usually in a good mood. I wrote a really long thing about how I do each of those steps, but that seems like a little much and feels like I'm on Dunning-Krueger's Mount Stupid, in the state of Confidence. That said, I've always had success with those in-depth methods on larger reservoirs or places with widespread shore access. Power plant lakes and places with limited access have caused me problems on the shore.

For real...I want a pond like that pond...

I've already done this exact thing in the last 6 months, it absolutely crossed my mind. The first one was me shaking hydrilla off the lure...lure bounced up into the rod with force and straight up broke a foot off the tip. I told them exactly what happened, and they gave me a new one without any hassle at all. The folks at the local Academy know me pretty well by now, and are pretty good with that sort of thing. It's a rod series that is being discontinued so I'm sure they wouldn't have minded moving the old stock out and I'd absolutely love to have another one. I generally would not have thought twice about making a good size corporation pay for my fishing rod, but I will always remember the white lie I told to good employees to get a second free rod. I go there enough that I would like to have the employees on my side if something really did come defective and I actually needed help. A good employee that likes you is invaluable as a customer of most businesses. I ended up buying a new one through gritted teeth and had a half decent day of fishing afterward so not all bad.

Didn't make it by today...had to stay closer to home for some surprise family stuff. We will have a cold front tonight which will affect things tomorrow, but that's now the plan

I had wondered if there was a way to turn this into a 5'6" mhf lol I may do that, it's a good rod.

That's better. Just shy of 3lbs, crushed a jerkbait, pretty sure it bit again after I released it. two casts later I hooked into a similarly sized fish right where it'd swam off after I let it go. The second one got away. Also got a nice 3.5 blue cat, a couple nice little spots, and a couple little LMB. Lost two baits, stepped on my rod, it was an expensive day but at least I got some catchin done

Yes, it's an old plano 6803. It became mine when my dad passed last year. One of my favorite box designs, it can fit everything I need except rage swimmers in the pack

H2Oxpress tac40, not particularly expensive but it was my favorite rod. I also didn't feel like spending more money on gear I already had but oh well. Ruined my morning tbh, that plus a skunk is furrowing my brow So I had stood it up, but it's so windy that it blew over while I was up the bank and I didn't hear it fall. I had casted up the jetty and was walking slowly backwards to my tackle box. A true accident but it's harder to accept my own mistakes. This probably belongs in the moron moments thread I think that rod was maybe a month old

A new rod is NOT in the budget right now How upsetting

You're welcome, I'll be there probably tomorrow, will let you know what happens

I fish mostly alone, it's probably 80-90%. I have one buddy I fish with on longer days, he's my guitar player and we're pretty close. Neither of us are big talkers so we don't get too socialized out. My other pal, Country Time, likes catfishing and usually has his cousin with him, who is a good dude but three's just a little much for me. But he is traditionally geared better for longer tougher hikes, so he's my exploring buddy. I don't like exploring off-trail alone for a number of reasons. Most of my other friends don't really know up from down with tackle otherwise so when I go fishing with them it tends to be more of me helping them than me fishing. Which I don't mind, I expect this. But I don't do it a ton cause of schedules mostly.

4/16/22 GOOD Water 2-4 feet clarity Warm enough that moving baits are back! Chatterbaits are less used than others here; I see a lot of spinbaits, buzzbaits, and A-rigs, but not a ton of chatterbaits. Oddly enough, that's what I do the best on here when the water is warmer; chatterbaits. The MiniMax is kind of my new favorite as it has the smaller hook yet is still heavy enough to cast with a pretty standard baitcaster setup. Bass seem to be post-spawn, I'm not catching the big girls up shallow like I did in later March. Crappies are in creek beds in the shallows, if you can find a creekbed with shore along each side you'll do well to cast on the deep side of the channel up against the shoreline.

I personally have not fished that lake, though I will likely visit it this week as I have been meaning to. There are a number of access points, most of which should have some bass somewhere. https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/recreational/lakes/grapevine/access.phtml https://webapp.navionics.com/?lang=en#boating@10&key=_klhElavoQ These links should help; the first is the known public access points, the other is a topographic map. Most of the DFW lakes without power plants are like this; bass everywhere. Grapevine holds spotted, smallmouth, and largies but the LMB are the big species there. Other lakes in this area are starting to see success with moving baits; chatterbaits in particular do well as many of the lakes are muddy and have a max visibility of 4-6 feet. Grapevine aligns with this set of conditions, so I would probably slow straight retreive a chatterbait in pearl or chartreuse along grass, rock, and dropoff lines for my own best results. Black/blue/junebug will probably also do well. Jerkbaits or rattling cranks should also do well but cranks will be higher loss risk from the bank, and jerkbaits have been thrown all over DFW this winter. You should be able to catch just fine from the bank, there's a number of decent parks and access points and some trails that will lead you to places. This lake is urban, it is surrounded by municipalities. Some access points may be closed due to flood damage. You will also be within 20 minutes of the Grapevine Bass Pro shop so if you forget something it's not the end of the world. There is also at least one Academy nearby. If you would like a shore fishing buddy with some tackle and wheels I may be in town for some of those days, just shoot me a DM. I have something the first weekend of June but otherwise clear. You'll also be less than two hours from a variety of great shore locations if you feel up to a day trip. Fork is in that range...

My Tatula CT casts better with some play fwiw

If you do anything with plastics I would strongly recommend an OV/N95 respirator unless you're straight up outside. I don't have much experience with these materials in particular but I did spend a good amount of time as a coatings/epoxy retailer; I'd think there's a high degree of crossover with PPE. For lead and such, a well ventilated space is a must but if you produce smoke an OV mask is probably a safe bet. as big of a pain as some of these masks and PPE are...it's $40 plus an inconvenience now, versus possibly six (or more) figures and possibly your life later on. It is ALWAYS worth it to use PPE. Even if it's trace amounts. It doesn't take much and you'll never know when it's your turn.

That's my normal spot when I'm feeling lazy or having back pain like I have been. I like to be up in there when it's a little calmer, slow running a chatterbait just over the rocks.That water never really gets much beyond 3-4ft clarity so on calmer days the bass hug up to the larger gaps in the rocks. Yesterday I hooked four bass and three crappies right there. There's not really a bad bank spot at that lake, just ones that get more challenging with different winds. This one has the most to choose from in all conditions and also where I caught my PB. I've seen photos of bass up to 12lbs caught from that access point so my hope each time is that I'll get one of those .1% of upper end bass to hook on and stay on.

I heard someone ask for an out of focus photo of a dinky bass so here ya go It's chatterbait time again

Any holiday means a crowd and yours truly forgot it's Easter weekend. The state park I usually fish at had a ton of shore anglers, I had to really work to get a spot. Winds S20G30 limits the shore further. I managed this little guy before the combined crowd and wind was just too much for me. I fish to get away from other people most of the time, this holiday stuff is not my scene.

Well, we went back to Lake Whitney. Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating with us, it was a pretty day but we had a cold front buzz through about noon which changed up the bite patterns. I still managed 3 wipers and these two stripers, but it was disappointing considering the prior successes in that spot. I continue to blame weather. I lost two baits, both on casts. One was a weakened leader, the other was a point in the braid giving way. First time I've snapped braid in a while, sufix too. I caught just enough fish to not be upset about it. I also saw a dead gizzard shad on the shore that was easily bigger than either of the three wipers I pulled in. So that lake has monster gizzard in it I guess. Off to Ray Roberts this morning in hopes of catching a big stinky black bass.

We had some last night down here. A big one crossed 35 in Salado, glad it wasn't worse. Yall stay safe

Jerkbaits

Most of the fish that size that I catch have a much darker and continuous set of spots below the lateral line that usually make up a dark stripe. This fish has a bunch of little spots rather than the robust blotches I'm used to seeing

I've just never seen one with such a scattered lateral line Either way that was cool. Stripers are fun, none of mine are big like that, my best was like 7.5lbs and that was years ago. The striper fisheries where I'm at just don't support as many of the bigger fish. But the ones I've been catching are just tons of fun. Hence why we're making a day of it tomorrow

I have been sitting out for a bit with some back trouble. Finally got it worked out, finally back to catching black bass at my normal water. Nothing big today but a couple of nice 1ish lbs spotties, a wiper, and an interesting little guy with some cool markings. I catch fish that size out there all the time but that's the first one with those marks I've seen. Maybe a lmb/spot hybrid? Or maybe just lmb. Idk. You decide. Back to Lake Whitney tomorrow with a buddy for dam fishing. Probably gonna catch a bunch of little stripers like I have been. That said, even little 3-4lb stripers and wipers are tons of fun on lighter gear. We'll keep throwing until they stop biting or until we have to leave.