ww2farmer

The live target mouse caught you....which is what they are designed to do.

Like @Catt said BOTH. I caught largemouth in 1 foot of water, and 8 foot of water yesterday, and smallmouth in 22 feet, and 30 feet. 52 degree water. 10 - 20 feet yesterday was a dead zone...except for pike.

That's terrible buddy. Sorry to hear about that. Dollars to donuts it was a junky looking for an expensive item to grab quickly and turn around for a quick buck at a local pawn shop. Check around, maybe it'll turn up. We have had quite a few young people here on our local bass fishing scene end up with their names in the news for drug related charges. It makes me nervous that when our guard is down in the parking lot at a tournament, that guys will return to their boats to find stuff missing. I have taken a policy of asking these people to politely not come anymore for such reasons.

I use the Daiwa Fuego CT in 6.3:1 for spinnerbaits. Paired with a Dobyns Fury 703c it will cast 5/16oz. War Eagle finesse spinnerbaits like a dream, and also pull a big single blade Colorado spinner bait effortlessly with out wearing you out.

Not a fan, for many of the same reasons stated above.

Best in category "cheap" baits IMHO: Soft plastics: Yum Dinger Yum Christie Craws Yum Craw Chunks Hard baits: Cordell Spots lipless Berkley Skinny Cutter 110 Terminal tackle: the entire berkley fusion line.

That bite starts here in about a month.

Swimming a good old fashioned 7" power worm with a light tungsten bullet weight pegged to the nose of it gets bit now as good as it ever has. They'll bite a swimming worm when they won't touch a swim jig, swim bait, or toad on top.

Tournament results since last report. Sunday Aug 11th: Fished my club team tournament solo on Silver, as all my regular partners who are in this club were busy. Tuff bite on Silver that day, the lake didn't fish to it's potential, but I took 2nd and cashed with a 14lb bag. Winning team had 16lbs. Fished the next two Tuesday night 3 hour, 3 fish limit working man team tournaments on Conesus solo 8/13, and 8/20. They were last minute impulses and I didn't line up any partners. Finished smack dab in the middle of the pack both nights with 9.5, and 8.5 lb bags for my best three each night. Friday Aug. 23rd I had event #5 in my weekday solo angler series. This one was on Conesus. Did OK with 16lbs, a couple places out of the money.... Winner had 19lbs, and 17lbs took the 2nd and 3rd place cashing spots. BUT it was a good enough performance to move into 3rd place in our AOY race with 3 events to go. Sunday Aug. 25th: Fished my club team tournament on Almond Dam, was able to get a partner this time, and we took 2nd and cashed with 11lbs. It's a small lake, and not a hog factory....and literally the 4th time I have ever been there, first time in late summer. Winners had 13lbs. Thursday Aug.29th: Final 3 hour, 3 fish limit evening team working man tournament on Silver for 2019, and my partner and I took 2nd and cashed in this as well with 9.60 lbs. Winner had 10.03lbs Sunday Sept. 1st: Another Club team event, this time on Cuba lake. My 2nd time there this year, and it was a disaster trying to fish for largemouth the first tournament. Targeted the much more abundant and willing smallmouth this time and finished 4th with 14.47lbs. Winners had 17lbs, 2nd and 3rd also both had 14lbs and change...we were close..14.51 took the last cashing spot. Today, Sunday Sept. 8th: Another club team event...back on Silver this time. We won quite comfortably with 20.36lbs, 2nd had 11lbs, and third had 10. SO since last report there's been 1 win, and three 2nds in the span of about a month. Bringing the YTD totals to: 22 Tournaments fished 5 wins, and 6 2nd place money finishes. It's been a good year so far.

I was a big fan of the 5xd and 6xd, then I tried the Berkley Dredgers. Better hooks, better paint, pull easier, dive steeper, and catch them just as good for me. The 14.5, 17.5, and 20.5 get the most use for me. I keep color selection simple. Root beer, chartreuse powder blue back, and Gilly. I have tried other colors, but those three get it done for me on the lakes I fish.

Dobyns Fury 704c I like to mix it up a bit and swim or pitch the jig in/around/or through cover. I rarely swim a jig with a swimbait trailer, I tend to always lean on a high action craw style bait. Very versatile for me, I can swim it over grass, next to docks, etc...or pitch it right into the cover and fish it slowly. This rod allows me to do both well.

Your getting too hung up on specific depths. Like J Francho said, fish for fish that are willing to bite. I have won tournaments there with no two fish coming from the same depth....and I have also won there with all five coming from one spot in 10 mins. Food for thought... whenever you go to a tournament on conesus, NONE of the guys that finish in the money ever caught there bags exactly the same way. Go out there, gain some confidence in a few basic things and fish the heck out of them. Running around clueless and listening to dock talk is going to have you chasing your tail.

I have three identical set ups, they are: Dobyns Fury 735 Daiwa Fuego CT 8.1:1(on two) 7.3:1 (on one) 50lb Power Pro original braid (on one) 30lb Power Pro original braid (on one) 17 lb Seaguar Abrasx (on one)

Keep the boat on the trailer and go to Cayuga or Conesus.

I fished three tournaments since my last report. First was my Friday Solo angler series on Conesus, July 26th. 7th place finish for me in the 18 boat field with 15.5 lbs. But it kept me in the top 5 in our AOY standings. Next one was my first ever on Keuka Lake on Sat Aug 3rd....not only my first tournament there, but the first time I have ever been on that lake. We caught lots of fish, but they were all cookie cutter 2-2.5lbers. Even mix of smallmouth and largemouth. At the weigh-in, I saw a lot of bags bigger than ours, so we didn't even bother waiting in line...which IMHO...was doing a dis-service to the fish as this organization didn't have any holding tanks, and 20+ people were standing there with fish in bags. I walked them right back to the water and let them go. I liked what I saw at this lake, and with a little more exp. and practice, I will be back to compete on it again. Then this past Friday 8/9/19, I fished in my solo angler series tournament on Silver. We drew 16 boats, and I won that event with 19.5 lbs. This put me up to 3rd in our AOY standings at the mid point of the season. It's my second straight win on Silver (one in a team event, and this solo event) after having a disastrous mid-July run there. Seems how this is the mid-point of my solo series season, here's a brief run down of my over-all tournament season so far: Solo angler series: Silver Lake Spring MLF: 1st #1 Conesus: 2nd #2 Silver: 7th #3 Conesus: 7th #4 Silver: 1st Team events: Conesus Lake Team MLF: 1st Honeyoe Fathers day tournament: 2nd in father/child division Silver Lake Thursday evening tournament #1 : 2nd Allegheny County Bass Club Cuba Lake: 4th Allegheny County Bass Club Almond Dam: 5th FLO Silver Lake Slam....DNW Silver Lake Thursday evening tournament #2 : 5th CV Bass League Silver Lake Open: 1st CV Bass League Keuka Lake Open: DNW

I have never won a tournament on my home lake with all smallmouth. I have won multiple times with mixed smallmouth and largemouth bags, and plenty with all largemouth bags.

Yes, that's what I'm seeing them called at lureparts....."wide willows". Thanks again.

Thanks, PM sent

Does anyone know what size the Oklahoma blade size is on the War Eagle finesse spinner bait is. I'm starting to make my own spinner baits now, and these blades are very good for me in certain situations. I know I could buy a bunch of different sizes to find a match, but I'd rather ask first. Thanks guys.

That's because the the 735c is the EXACT rod your describing in what you want.

Mods remove this thread NOW!!!!!!!! LMAO

Rags to riches in a weeks time. Stayed OFF Silver early last week due to being spun out from last weekends fiasco. Fished the Thursday evening tournament there this past Thursday and floundered. Still beating my head against the wall trying to force stuff that's not happening yet. Ended up with a middle of the pack finish with a low weight. Saturday, I went out and fished like I had to "figure out" this lake that I have been fishing for 20+ years all over again in the CV Bass League annual Silver Lake Open. Well that worked. We caught a 19lb 2oz bag and WON.

I fill 3700 size boxes with all my favorites, usually have 8-10 boxes full. I keep them in their original packaging either in the back of my truck in a water proof storage box, or in the house until I need to refill the 3700 boxes. If the bite is hot on a particular bait, I'll bring a couple of extra packs of them with me. I like the box system best. No loose bags floating around in the boat, no rummaging through bags looking for the bait I want, and an added bonus, you can leave the box on the deck of the boat in the sun to soften up the baits and oftentimes any baits with bent tails/appendages/etc...will straighten out themselves doing this rather than going through the hassle of dipping them in boiling water.

Several popular trains of thought that through my own personal exp. and time on the water I find to not have any merit for me are: You can't crank effectively with braid....my exp. is the exact opposite, I can not crank effectively with anything but braid. BUT...I fish grass. YMMV in wood/rock/etc... GYCB Senkos are superior to knock offs.....this is a half truth, if your primarily fishing them weightless , then yes, a Senko is the better choice. Add ANY weight to a Senko, and it becomes an expensive, less durable, and no more effective option than any number of other brands of stick baits. And often the salt laden GYCB plastic is the wrong choice in a few applications. You need to snell big straight shank hooks for flipping...I never snell, it is a PITA....and I use big EWG's more times than not when flipping and punching. My hook up rate is fine.

Berkley Products like Powerbait, Gulp, and Max Scent...I add no additional scent to. They already have it. ANY other soft plastics, Yum, GYCB, Zman, etc....get Megastrike. I don't use very many Strike King plastics with their coffee scent, but when I do, I don't add any additional scent. When I dip a plastic in dye, I use Spike-it. #1 reason is it's NOT as potent as JJ's, plus it fades away in short order if spilled, and requires no special handling precautions. It has not had any adverse effects on any brands of plastics I use.