bp_fowler

Got out early this morning for a few hours before I have to man the till at my wife’s yard sale. Went to the gun club for the first time in long time. I had been avoiding it as it usually gets beat to death once the weather gets nice. Managed 4 with mayor. 1st fish caught near the floating dock. Next two were along this bank. Last and biggest fish was caught by an isolated clump of weeds kinda hard to see in the picture but it’s about where the trees’ reflections are in the water.

I use it a lot, mostly because green pumpkin sells out frequently and watermelon red is usually the next best thing. Like others have said it works best form me in clear water, preferably in sunny conditions.

They catch fish and are pretty tough. I also like that they’re easy to skip.

Night Ops at the Crappie Hole. It was pretty muggy out and I sweated through my shirt after the first 10 minutes. Caught 3, all with the Crush City Mayor…not everybody’s idea of a nighttime lure but strangely effective for me recently. First and biggest fish of the night.

Me too, I rely heavily on my 16 y/o to show me these things. 😂

With my phone after I select the photos there an options menu on the lower left that lets me select full size, small, medium, or large. Of course that might depend on the kinda phone you have. Lots of folks on here use photo hosting sites like photbucket too.

Spinnerbait - My most consistent reaction bait 9 months out of the year. Texas Rig - Most versatile, worm, creature, beaver…bottom contact or swim them lots of options. Weightless Soft Plastic - fluke, senko, trick worm. Flat out catches fish for me in various types of shallow cover.

Made it out to my favorite milfoil patch for an hour today before the weather hit. Got 4, 3 on the chatterbait, 1 on the crush city mayor.

Rough one today folks. First time fishing from a kayak. I borrowed it from my brother in law. Spent more time repositioning and orienting than actually fishing. Got two bites, got them both to the boat then promptly lost both at the boat as I fumbled around with my rod and paddle while trying to lip them and not capsize at the same time. Few lessons learned: - Need a larger kayak. I’m not a huge guy but I was super cramped and when you add two rods and an over the shoulder tackle bag I felt like I was flying economy with Southwest. - Net is required equipment. I used to wonder why folks in kayaks/canoes didn’t just lip them. Now I see why. - Strongly considering a peddle drive of some sort. Have to constantly pick up the oar and put down my rod was not the most efficient use of my fishing time.

Yeah the Palomar worked well for me. Also after doing some research I found the uni knot ( which is what I normally use) wasn’t the best braid without some modifications.

Yes, I definitely noticed a difference in sensitivity. The first time I used it I can’t tell you how many times I set the hook because the sensation of running into weeds was so jarring it felt like a bite. As for the rods…I have noticed that I’m having an easier time with my M/F spinning set up. Most of my issues have been with the baitcaster (MH/F) especially moving baits. I do think that rod has something to do with that but also I’m a bit more comfortable with drag adjustments on a spinning reel so there’s that.

I’ve used braid to leader also. Recently went to straight braid. I’ve used straight fluoro and mono on spinning reels before too. When I got wind knots it’s almost always the result of using certain baits that require me to snap, pop, twitch, or otherwise use the rod tip to provide action to it. Especially if I did the above with any slack in the line. It didn’t matter whether I was using braid, mono or fluoro I could still get wind knots or at the minimum some fluff on the reel. I recently experienced a spate of breaking off at the leader on hook sets that made me reevaluate using braid to leader. As it happens it was actually my fault because after I had disassembled, cleaned and lubed my spinning reel I forgot to reset my drag and had it locked down. So of course when I went to set the hook it broke the leader knot easily. Now I’m using strait braid exclusively but that’s not because I think it’s the end all be all but because it makes sense for places I fish. There have been times in the past and there probably will be times in the future when using braid to leader, or straight mono or fluoro will make more sense. In other words…right tool for the right job. If braid to leader isn’t working for you, fine. ***** can it and move on to something that does. Always remember you do not owe any loyalty to anything but that which works best for you and your individual situation.

Hit the crappie hole this morning from 5-7 am. Caught 4 on 6 bites. Unfortunately all smaller than average for this body of water. Trying a new body of water Sunday, from a kayak no less. Hopefully I can report back that I boated some quality fish.

I went out early this morning to give it another shot. Unfortunately I managed to break off at the lure on my first two bites one with a chatterbait another with a Texas rigged worm. As suggested I had my drag backed off and after I changed to a Palomar knot there were no further issues there. I kept a little slack in the line and slowed my hook set down…way down. Much more slow and deliberate. This seemed to do the trick and I managed a half dozen or so dinks with the worm before I called it and most importantly I did not have any come off.

Thanks all! I’ll try out the above suggestions tonight and report back. Thanks again for the help.

Got a gift card for Father’s Day. Used it to pick up some summertime favorites.

I hear you man, the scariest predators around are the ones with two legs.

I’m a recent convert to using straight braid on both my casting and spinning setups. My reasoning for this is that the bodies of water near me that hold larger and more quality fish tend to be very weedy. I’m having issues with fish coming off. Either before or after I’ve landed them. Also a higher number of misses on the hook set than is normal for me. I’m think my hook set maybe the issue. My question is do you change up your hook set when using straight braid? Or is it somehow different than what you would do if you were using Mono/Fluoro or a leader?

Agree, I don’t think I’d bank fish at night anywhere where I wasn’t at the top of the food chain 😂

Well I had to walk through waist high grass to get to the first spot and I spooked a deer that went crashing through the undergrowth and that about made my heart stop. But for a dyed in the wool city boy I think I did alright alone in the woods at night 😂

Congratulations! Nice fish!

Since we’re dealing with higher than normal temperatures this week I decided it would be a good time to try out some night fishing. I went out from 10 pm until about 2:30 am. We had t-storms roll through earlier that evening. Temps were still in the low 70s, sky was clear and the moon was out. I started out throwing the buzz bait but my topwater woes continue as I had 4 blowups or swirls under the bait but no fish got the hook. Switched to the chatterbait and immediately started catching a handful of dinks about the size of the one pictured below. (Sorry for the poor picture quality) As I moved down the bank I casted tight to the shoreline and caught this one which was my best of the night. It was sitting in about 6-8 inches of water about five feet in front of me. That spot seemed to die down after that so I left and stopped at the Crappie Hole on my way home. I decided to the buzz bait another go and got a bite on my first cast but the fish jumped and shook it free. I went down to the other end where the creeks feeds into the pond and began casting across the mouth where I caught my final fish, again dirt shallow and right in front of where I was standing on the bank.

I’m gonna hazard a guess and say it’s above 90%. Probably because the fish I catch are simply not big enough to cause problems. If I do lose fish it is almost always because I goofed in some way shape or form. For example: drag way too tight, poorly tied knot, not re-tying often enough, rather than some sort of equipment failure.

1. Zoom Trick Worm 1/8 Oz shaky head 2. Zoom Trick Worm weightless (floating worm) 3. Zoom UV Speed Worm 1/16-1/8 oz (swimming worm) 4. Zoom Fluke weightless 5. Senko weightless T-Rigged 6. 2-3” paddle tail swim bait on a 1/8-3/16 swim bait or ball head

I really need to get a boat.