thediscochef

Always excited unless I'm dead-on-my-feet tired. Never know what's going to happen. You could lose your favorite lures all in a row and then catch your personal best on the last thing you'd think would work. It's why I love it.

I don't have a boat but there is some pressure on the shores I fish sometimes. Also the occasional hostile wildlife. The nice thing is that I am super lucky to have about 6 different bodies of water available to me and a couple of private properties on occasion. Some of the places are I'm never really without choices if there's a crowd where I want to fish, which does happen, especially on weekends right before school starts. Might be catching dinks, but I enjoy catching bass of all sizes. Just as long as I'm reeling em in I'm having fun

Yes indeed happened today This morning I went to the spillway and caught someone's million-frickin-pound braid that was wrapped around a bush near a little ledge. Broke two chatterbaits off on it but kept getting huge strikes there. Made my way across the river and tried to pull them up but they slid off the braid and away they went. In my anger I decided to call it a day as I had stuff to do. At least I got a half pound weight off it. My buddy and I went back this evening and since I had pulled all the braid out of the water I didn't hesitate to cast back to that spot. Second cast hung me on a boulder. I was using my dad's (RIP) old spinning rod and I was hung so hard it snapped the rod. I hadn't brought a second rod but my buddy let me borrow his stock Zebco Roam. Still I kept seeing wake over in that spot. I cast a 1/8oz chatterbait with a white lightning finesse TRD on it (stained from being stored with green pumpkin baits) and pulled out my new PB largemouth on the first cast! I didn't have a scale but based on size we estimate about 5.5lb. (All time PB is still a striper) Made all of the frustration worth it. We thought that little zebco roam was gonna snap lol

I'm not very good or patient with topwater and I have a much higher catch rate with finesse jigs than I do with any kind of spin/buzzbait, popper, or crankbait. Chatterbaits do very well for me, but fished slow and sort of like a ned rig. The waters I fish are higher topwater and live bait pressure though so it makes sense to break from that a bit

I think the condition of the water and the sediments dissolved in it also affects how colors work in soft plastics, as I've noticed my local pond is more brown gray than my local lake which is more green. The blue claw and June bug seem to better in the brown gray water whereas the California craw and coppertreuse seem to do better in the greener water. Not sure what it really means but I have fished these two spots enough to notice

I've been debating ordering some ned ocho red bug but had hesitated cause I have stuff that works fine already. Guess I have to pull the trigger now ?

I was 12, it was a 7.5lbs striper on my dad's friend's boat. 30 now and mostly largemouth fishing on the shore when I have time. Haven't gotten much above 5lbs since.

the one thing I literally can't shut up about right now (seriously half my comments on here) is a skirtless zman chatterbait micro with a finesse TRD on it rigged like a ned rig; as straight as possible. I like this setup because it is compact, yet flashy and super easy to fish if you can cast into structure or cover. I fish it like a noisey and flashy ned rig, though a slow straight retrieve out from around structure works just as well. I just did this out of desperation one day and it's quickly become my favorite and most successful setup for largemouth. Outfishes my ned rigs with much less work in cloudier waters. In very clear water the ned is preferable. As far as colors go...anything red. I like to paint my heads a flashy red glitter and use hot craw and california craw TRDs.

I found my own lure last week, about a week and a half after losing it. I recently use a skirtless chatterbait with a finesse TRD on it (has yet to send me home empty handed) and had lost a larger one on a boulder. On that trip I lost two jigs to rocks and had two decent size fish spit hooks. Sad but it happens. Fast forward to about a week ago, I go out to that same spot which is sort of a cove next to a busy boat ramp. I regularly fish the rock pile inlet to that cove from the ramp side. I went to the opposite side of the inlet than usual. I look down and the lure from the prior week was right next to my foot on the boulder I was standing! Remarkably clean, just laying in a puddle of water. Took it home and repainted it, good as new. Caught a small largemouth on it this evening.

I lived in Medford, OR for a year, I believe you!

Thanks everyone, glad to be here! Just came in from Ray Bobs, 3 largemouth in the hour I could spend. Life is good.

This! EWG neds only for me. You can buy them custom poured from individuals for less than what you spend at Walmart too

I've already gained a lot of insight that's done exactly that, especially with the ned rig and chatter baits. Has me actually catching bass when others around me are pulling up blanks. Granted I'm in higher pressured areas doing shore fishing so my results would be considered frustrating for many here. But I'm routinely pulling up good size bass than those sharing the shore with me, thanks to things I read here. Cheers!

Depending on conditions, Finesse jig Wacky head jig Ned rig skirtless 1/8 chatter using a finesse TRD 1/4 willowvibe head with finesse TRD Sometimes a pad crasher junior And the classic Rapala lipless rat-l-traps, usually the tiny ones.

I hadn't introduced myself. I'm 30, I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth metro and my main water is Ray Roberts. I've also fished in Alaska, Maine, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and the Indian Ocean. Largemouth are my main jam though I enjoy all fishing. I've only been particularly serious this year. I inherited my dad's old equipment in January and have been at the lake multiple times a week since early May. I mostly shore fish with finesse rigs as I don't have access to a boat and I don't like using live bait with regularity. Mostly catch and release only unless I'm on a boat. Anyway. Hi

No lie my only catch on a popper was a larger (3") rebel baby bass that had a sinker on it. That setup pulled up a 16" channel cat on the first day of summer at like 11am. Haven't caught anything with it since. But I've been much more focused on chatter and finesse setups

I'm in Denton, not super close to you but similar conditions. My local ponds are different the last few years, but I think the freeze earlier this year caused a lot of change in the smaller bodies of water too. I don't really know how well Bass handle temps below 0 but I'm guessing fish in DFW aren't used to that and it may have affected the population in the ponds. All the extra rain probably isn't helping either, depending on how much draining your pond does. The only bait I'm getting bit on right now is what I call a 'chatter ned' which is basically just a skirtless micro or mini chatterbait with a TRD rigged as straight as you can get it and then fished like a standard Ned. Chartreuse 1/4oz eyeless head with a coppertreuse TRD has been yielding strikes on nearly every cast at Ray Bobs from the shore over rock piles. Pulled in two largemouths over 4lbs in the last two days on that bait (Catch/Release only). So you might try that, not much else is working for bass where I'm at if you're shore fishing or on a pond. Hope your luck improves

IDK where you are but I shore fish in North Texas at a ton of overfished, high-pressure, and super spotty recreational areas and have had extremely similar results - until this week with my discovery of the Ned Rig. I've not used it in a lot of places just yet, but the last week or so have sold me on the concept. It's the only thing I'm even getting bites on right now, and in some places I'm the only guy catching fish. I usually cast it out next to the edge of cattails, lily pads, the tallest grass you can see. If there's trees hanging over the water, the shade under them sometimes works. Had hard strikes in all those settings. Even a few in open water. Try a 1/16oz ned rig, use a flashy craw or 2.75-3" dinger (I buy the 6" ones and cut em in half) in muddy water, a subtle pumpkin/black etc in clear water. Watch videos on how guys fish it and read some interviews about it with Ned Kehde - it is a finesse rig so small movements and a slower retreive are better. hope this helps