AlabamaSpothunter

I can't get fish to bite them on a steady retrieve, but they become magic on a Yo Yo. Ultimately if you want to learn about them, Matt Allen at Tactical Bassin is about as good of a teacher of all things blade bait as you can find. Lots of content.

Thanks Katie! I fish the Vault two ways, and while I have the 3/8th and 3/4th models, the 1/2oz is the deal for me regardless of depth. 1.) Deep fish in 15-30fow that I find using 2D Sonar, then I back off and make bomb casts with it, let it completely touch the bottom, then Yo Yo it a few feet off the bottom, and repeat. True winter pattern usage. 2.) Shallow fish and fish visually blowing up bait on the surface.... I make my cast to them or where I think they are, and upon touching the water I start a frantic Yo Yo retrieve. That fish above came from less 3fow. If you go fast enough you can Yo Yo a 1/2oz in the skinniest of waters I've found. I read your thread about when to start.......once that water gets 40d I'd give this bait a shot. It keeps you moving and a bit warmer, you're going for a reaction bite with it instead of dragging around something slowly on the bottom so it makes fishing in those cold temps feel a bit more like warm weather fishing.

For the last week, plus last Spring I've been trying to learn how to sight fish......last 5 outings, at least 15-20hrs dedicated to visually looking for fish and beds, and occasionally pitching on them......lots of fish pitched at, every single fish wouldn't even so much as look at my bait. Finally had my breakthrough thanks in part to being stubborn. After pitching and spooking fish after fish it happened, and it was one of the most exciting catches I've ever had. Absolutely mind blowing watching her immediately spin on a dime the moment my bait hit the bottom, suck my bait in, lay the hammer down on her and watch her leap clear out of the water. Managed to repeat it one more time visually, and then caught two in the blind(casted to areas I knew fish were likely spawning at but couldn't see) which were vastly easier to catch then the ones I could see. Has to be one of the most thrilling ways I've caught a Bass. I make a couple of pitches and move on, I'm not a fan of pestering them or "bumping" the fish with baits. Ethically speaking I don't see anything wrong with the practice in terms of catch and immediate release. I'm really glad I got to see what it's all about, Bass fishing is endless and the wonderment is still just as good as it was when I was a little boy. My first sight fish Forgot to post up a 5.14 from two days ago......on the Damiki Vault. I'm just going to start fishing the Vault year round.

Daiwa with an SV spool.....look for a Tatula SV on sale. Shimanos are fantastic, but way less user friendly imho.

That fish is crazy Bob, it has to be almost a year old and still that size. Should have thrown him in your slice of heaven pond 😁 I always look at catches in terms of odds.....obviously a DD is like a lotto ticket win, but catching that fish had some extreme odds as well. Outliers are the most fascinating fish to me.

I can't deny the fact that I owe a huge bit of success I've had over the winter from watching countless hours of FFS footage. Specifically strolling minnows. At the same time I've developed a sub addiction to catching good ones on those pixie wands out in the open water where you can truly appreciate their fight. I have little doubts I'd be addicted to scoping within a week of usage. It suits perfectly for the type of fishing I do, I prefer to fish off the banks, and bait chasers. A GLS10 is Pandora's Box in real life.

I've was so close to fishing the dark side for the first time last week......met up with the friend who has a 4-5k setup never used, installed by a low IQ person and it didn't work. We all have darkness in our hearts 😂

A JDM P5 Destroyer 110 Stick is the best jerkbait rod I've found. It's a very unique rod so it's not for everyone. It's 6'5 so very short, for me this is a huge selling point. You want a fast tip, but right after that you want to get more and more parabolic as you get deeper into the blank. The reason why the 110 Stick is so sublime imho is the fact that it's got a perfect two actions in one rod. The tip section has the ability to perfectly work a jerkbait, but the moment you hookup the rod loads up into the secondary action which is critical for keeping jerkbait fish pinned on finesse trebles.

Rookie, meanwhile I'm trolling an A-Rig with 5 hooks like an absolute boss 🤣

Katie your life and Maine sounds so romantic in my mind, I'd almost never want to visit because I have such a beautiful picture of it after learning it from you. You remind me so much of Mark Twain, just a more regal Maine version 😁

First I learned about those hooks, gonna have to check them out thanks!

I had to look up Bob Beamon and watch his world record setting jump, once again you prove how superior your intellect is Katie. It's no wonder why you're such a great writer. You also made as much or more progress than I have. I knew you were gonna catch more big fish, but you shattered even my expectations. As for Big Fish Pat, if I ever meet the hammer in person I'm rubbing his head until he slaps me.....I'm getting some of that big fish magic one way or another 😆 Pat's fish blow my mind, I have no idea how the man does it. I think he secretly owns a scope and travels to Lake Fork 😂

Katie you are without a doubt the most supportive and positive influence I've ever come across on the internet! Your incredibly thoughtful and kind words of encouragement, praise, and coaching means the world to so many of us in this thread. I'm so excited that you'll get the opportunity to have a true home lake. Nobody is more deserving of their own slice of paradise more than you. You're about to go on a whole new exciting journey of learning every rock in that lake, and every critter who calls it home. I watched you do the same thing you described above about me from your first season to your second season last year. I thought you had banger days when I first joined, but then last year you threw jet fuel on it and especially with the big girls. I have no doubt you'll have an even better year this year, the work you put in on and off the water really translates over to real world results. Thanks for being you Katie, and I'm speaking for the entire thread. Your support and love for your fellow angler is infectious, and something we all should be striving to achieve. You lift people up in this world, and that's becoming rarer and rarer to find.

@MIbassyaker and @Jmilburn76 Congrats on getting the 2024 party kicked off properly! @thediscochef Let's goooooooo buddy! You earned and deserved that slaunch donkey. @Choporoz My home lake is like that 50-75x a year if I had to guess including the last 10-15x I've been out. There is nothing more maddening than watching countless fish blowup bait all around you, and you throw the kitchen sink only to get skunked or some scraps. Going back to my first posts in this thread when I joined, I documented my frustrations over this fact. I feel like if I've got any "experienced" insight into a topic it's this one. Couple quick things I've learned that have enabled me to at least catch fish during these times, some days it's still a fraction of the fish I'm seeing, other days you've cracked the code and it feels like cheating. Not much different than overall Bass fishing if I really think about it. It's a sub skillset among the dozens and dozens in the sport. You're not alone if you google it that's for sure. 1. You have about a 2-3second window to place your bait in the middle of blowup/s, the majority of fish I catch happen when I achieve this window. 2. Within the above 2-3second window you have to make a pinpoint cast on the blowup/s, a foot short, left, right, or more than a few feet past, forget about it the majority of the time. You can flip 1 and 2, and vice versa, they are one in the same. If you can achieve hitting both the time window and precise cast location, you can catch those fish on a ton of different baits for the most part. Strolling a minnow, or a Vision 110/jr jerkbait are the two best baits I've found. In the winter the A-Rig, Underspin, Blade Bait, flatside crank can be as good or better, and in the Fall, Spring and Summer a buzzbait, and popper can be as good or better. Ultimately if the blow ups are too scattered and you can't make that work, I've found the old adage "never leave biting fish" still applies. You might get skunked throwing the kitchen sink at them, but it still presents the best situation to have success on that given day/lake imho. You'll crack the code next time pal

You're too kind Katie, and I'd love to see you do an article about the vintage lure fishing trip. That would be an amazing piece based on the writer and subject matter. The sooner you can be on the water before it's 50d the better I'd think, but after seeing what you do in Maine if somebody told me Mars produces big ones I'd believe them now🤣

Sadly the neighbor who property and boat I use listed her house recently, come buy it please and it will be a happy ending for all! 😁 Thanks Katie, and I can't wait for you be fishing again period! Especially look forward to the reports from your new dream "home lake" 😎

In my own case, time on water is the only thing that works, the more I fish the better I get. The quickest and easiest way to catch more fish, is to simply fish more as stupid, simple that sounds. You'll turn the corner soon, and we all struggle and have slumps. Last Fall was absolutely brutal for me given the level of commitment and time on water I had during it. We or at least I tend to forget how hard it is to catch Bass in comparison to almost every other gamefish in FW, and most in SW as well.

Thanks Pat! I think you could catch a giant on just about anything 😎

The winter/pre spawn season is officially over here, males have finally flooded the bank and I've found a few huge female cruisers one with a mate but she won't lock down, two days in a row. Fascinating watching the whole process with a year under my belt knowing what to look for. It was a great day with 22lbs and a 7.4 big fish on the pixie wand. Drift Fry produced the 7.4. Lastly some have been interested in my dive down the mid strolling a minnow hole, and I found a secondary minnow I really like for slicker or sunnier days and that's the Fish Arrow Flash J 4" Split tail in Pro Blue Silver. Caught a 5.9, 5, and lost a 6-7lb fish over the last cpl. weeks. The Flash J straight tail has worked with some success but results speak and it hasn't produced like the Drift Fry or Split Tail model. Fish Arrow Flash J Split Tail Shad | Tackle Warehouse

Beautiful fish and pics @TNRiver46........thanks for taking one for the team, sucks to post after Pat in this thread 🤣

LET'S GOOOOOOOOO JAKE!!! Hammers don't fall from the hammer tree 😎 Magnificent fish Pat, you are one exceptional angler!

I get it for sure, makes sense. Right now MLF's product can't compete imho, however if they did no FFS derbies, yeah I could see a major split in professional fishing from a fundamental level instead of a league one. That MLF would get a ton of fans, for every person who likes FFS, another hates it.

How can the MLF compete with this product, both last week and this week. Mckinney, Fujita, Milliken....I just can't see how MLF can compete with this. You have to tune in to watch just those three if you really want to follow the bleeding edge of our sport.

Historical derby, and one that captures the true extent of the future for the sport. 5/10 are rookies. A 19yr old is going to win, and a 22yr old is going to come in 3rd. I'd love to see a mix schedule of FFS and non FFS derbies. You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube, but we can't lose not just the old guard of the sport, but the true art of "old school" fishing. Congrats to Trey, the real prodigy, sorry BMP. Shocking derby on a number of levels, but seeing all those beautiful big Texas Bass was just incredible. Again TWP and the people of Texas are the real winners of this derby.