bp_fowler

Yes I’m learning if you want to catch big bass, you have to fish where the big bass live. I know that probably sounds very obvious to most but I never claimed to be a very smart individual 😆 Oh yeah the smiling is proportional to the size of the bass caught!

Made it out to the Clouse Lake Wilderness area this morning as planned. There are two manmade lakes here St Joesph and the titular Clouse which was first up. It’s the smaller of the pair and it is also shallow, dirty, and weedy. But, every time I fish it I see large bass jumping tantalizingly out of range. I gave it a go with both the POP-R and the UV Speed Worm neither could tempt any of the bass to bite. I stayed long enough to see the sunrise and then moved on to St Joseph. After parking at the boat ramp I took a dirt road back to the dam. Along the way a there is a clearing that buts up against the bank. In front of that there is a large crescent shaped weed bed. I decided to start there. It didn’t take long for the swimming worm to do its thing and I caught these three hanging around the milfoil. I walked back to the dirt road and continued making my way back to the lower end. I got sidetracked again when I decided to follow a ravine from the road down to the bank. Casting out around the weed line I caught another one. Resuming my journey and made it finally to the dam however there was nothing going on there. I went over to the corner right before it turns into private property and fished there. I noticed some bald spots in the weeds that ended up being blue gill beds. I casted out past them where I could imagine bass were lurking but the only one I caught hit my worm like it owed them money in about 6 inches of water 3 feet in front of me. Not gonna lie it made me jump. By this time the wind had shifted so I headed back to the upper end but not before I stopped at the crescent shaped weed bed and caught a few more. When I got to the upper end I found a spot among some cattails that was solid enough to stand on. Across a channel from me was a pad field. I casted out towards the edge of those pads and swam my worm back. That would yield another 4 dinks to close out the day.

Unexpectedly got a few hours to fish today so I decided to go to the Gun Club since I hadn’t been there in a while. Blue bird skies, with temps nearing 90 degrees with a light breeze out of the SSW. Unfortunately the pond has started to scum over with thick patches extending from the bank from a few feet out as far as 10-15 yards around the entire perimeter. I was not equipped to handle this with my light tackle but I did the best I could but only managed one on a paddle tail. Tomorrow I will be up early and at a nearby state wildlife area for some pre-dawn fishing. Hopefully I’ll have better luck then.

An Academy is opening up near me and today they had a 20% soft opening sale. I decided to go check it out and promised the wife I wouldn’t spend too much. I resupplied my Senkos and Trick Worms, as well as some UV Speed Worms, and more natural colored Rage Swimmers which I’m itching to try out this week. I’m new to cranking this year and the most recommended here at BR was the KVD 1.5, they have performed as advertised. The chartreuse black/blue have been especially good to me. Also I got a chance to handle a Shimano SLX casting rod in person. It’s one of the several rods I’m considering buying soon to replace my old 7’ MH/F multi purpose BC and I’ll tell you what after today it may have moved up to #1 on my list just based on the looks and feel.

@ol'crickety Yes, it’s t-rigged but weightless, or as some folks call it “Texposed”. It doesn’t float but sinks verrrrrry slooowly. I’m throwing it on 10# braid to an 8# f/c leader, w/ a Gamakatsu 2/0 offset hook. I’d imagine on straight braid or mono it’d sink even slower or faster with a bigger hook. My only caveat is that it seems to do better for me in clearer water, YMMV.

It’s been gangbusters for me so far this spring. Especially shines around shallow vegetation.

Made it out to the New Reservoir today. 69 degrees and partly cloudy. Winds from the NNE at 2mph. Started out around the boat ramp today and landed 5 on the floating worm. Here’s the biggest one I caught there…. …and the average size fish below My worm and I wore out or welcome there so I took a deer trail through the woods to get to the lower end and the dam. Along the way I stopped at a few spots where I could access the bank and landed a couple more. Added 4 more around the lower end and the dam, this time with the weightless senko. Typical size shown below.

Work and weather had kept me away from angling pursuits. So when I got the chance today I went to the neighboring village’s municipal park to wet a line. Even though I knew it would probably be a dink fest I just wanted to get my rod bent. When I arrived it was 66 degrees, dark threatening skies with winds 5 mph from the NNE. Normally I consider casting out into the middle of the body of water I’m a fishing an act of desperation, the angling equivalent to the Hail Mary pass. But today I could see milfoil topping out in the middle of the lake. So I tied on my floating worm, in this case a Xzone Deception Worm in Bass Candy, and began working it around the outside of the weed bed. I was rewarded with catching 5 fish the first one pictured being the largest that I’ve ever caught at this particular pond, and the next being typical of the rest. At that point it started raining so I took shelter in the pavilion and snacked for a while. The deception worm was chewed up pretty bad so I switched it out for a Senko in watermelon red flake. I wanted to see it the more vertical presentation of the faster sinking Senko would have a different result than the more horizontal twitching movement of the floating worm. By then the rain had stopped so I walked to the opposite bank of the pond to fish the other side of the weed bed. It started raining again, so I took shelter under a big oak tree. But then the deluge started, I considered going back but I would end up soaked either way so I decided heck with it I’ll stay and keep fishing. I caught another 5 on the Senko with this fish being representative of the rest. I started to hear thunder in the distance so I called it a day and beat a hasty retreat to my car.

As they say it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. I believe it 100%. Also weird how sometimes two fish, both the same size but from different bodies of water, one will fight harder than the other.

@Pat Brown

Thanks to all that replied. I keep two colors on hand, Green Pumpkin and White Pearl. I’ll give the White Pearl a shot next time I’m fishing a spot with water that’s dingy.

@ol'crickety For sure, and for the record I’m not always able to do it all the time here and I have to resort to the stationary fishing fishing that @gimruis described. Not ideal but I try and make the best of it.

It doesn’t appeal to me either. That’s why I try to be as mobile as possible when I fish from the bank. While I’ll never be able to cover as much water as someone in a boat, the more fish I can potentially get my lure in front of the better my results tend to be. Yes, dams are awesome. They usually hold lots of fish around the rip rap during certain times of the year. Also they are almost always maintained by a local or state agency which means easy access.

I love to fish flukes. I have lots of success with them. I have always treated the same as hard jerkbaits, by that I mean that I almost exclusively fish them in water with good visibility. However, I wanted to know if anyone has ever tried them in more off colored or stained water. If you have what was your experience? Did you use a more contrasting color?

I have a Medium Light powered Fast action rod that I use for bass. Originally it was my crappie/pan fish rod but after my M/F spinning rod broke I pressed it into service for Rapala Floating Originals, Zoom Flukes and Floating worms. It worked fine for me. Granted it’s not like I was catching giants and I was staying away from the thicker vegetation. I think if you keep the limitations in mind, and pay attention to your drag as was mentioned, you’ll be okay.

@TnRiver46 Thanks! I suspected that’s what it was, that makes it my first smallie. Wouldn’t have expected to catch that there.

Went back to the Crappie Hole today. After thinking about it last night I realized that every fish I’ve caught over 2 pounds I’ve caught there with one exception. Overcast skies, 64 degrees and winds 3mph from the NE. Overnight showers had the water up about 18-24”. The overhanging bushes where I caught 2 pounder yesterday were now flooded and the water which was already pretty murky was now chocolate milk. I started fishing the same spot I had caught the 2 pounder yesterday Interestingly enough on my second cast I caught this fish which turned out to be 3.8 pounds. Unfortunately I couldn’t get anything going after that and moved on to a different body of water. I caught another three fish. One of which (last fish pictured) looked a little different to me I’m not sure what it is if anyone can help me out it'd be appreciated.

Quick trip out to the Crappie Hole today. We had some T-storms roll through last night so there were bluebird skies, 80 degrees and 8 mph west winds. Only caught two. One dink with a paddle tail on a swim bait head. The other fish I caught with a square bill. I weighted it at 2.14 pounds making it my biggest fish that I’ve caught cranking. So far I’m pretty hit or miss with the technique but catching this fish definitely motivates me to keep trying.

Went out today to run the circuit, Gun Club, Old Reservoir and New Reservoir since they’re all within 5 minutes of each other. New Reservoir was a skunk, but I didn’t really stay long as it was pretty crowded. Caught 15 between Gun Club and Old Reservoir. The fish were relating to submerged weeds lines adjacent to deeper water at the Gun Club. While at the Old Reservoir I fished the upper end and caught them in the gaps, ends and holes of the weed beds. The tips of the milfoil was just barely visible above the surface here. I caught 2 on a square bill at the gun club all the rest were caught with a floating worm. Best 3 An example of the average size Dink award goes to this guy The two Crankbait fish

Dislike: Ned rig. Yes it catches fish, but so does the shakey head, which gets hung up less and I don’t have to buy special Ned sized soft plastics to put on it. Can’t stand using: Pretty much any topwater. I know heresy right? Buzz baits? Nope. Spooks? Forget about it. Frogs? Thanks, but no thanks Kermit. The only exception is the pop-r. It’s the only topwater bait I actually enjoy fishing. It’s also I’ve the only one I’ve ever caught a fish on. Can’t catch a fish with: The drop shop. Believe me I’ve tried. Never ever even had a single bite.

Fishing from the bank it’s often dictated to me by the terrain and vegetation. It can matter because the easier the bank is to walk, the more water you can cover. The more water you can cover the more fish you can put your lure in front of. At a well maintained public lake or pond you maybe able to walk the entire perimeter of the body of water casting as you go, while at the other end of the spectrum something like a strip pit pond deep in the backwoods, you may only be able to fish from a handful of spots which means I’ll usually spend more time there picking apart everything within casting distance. If I’m limited to a few spots then I’ll do the following: When approaching the area I will make a few casts from a distance if I’m able to in order to check the immediate area around where I’ll be standing on the bank. However it can be useful to catch any fish that may possibly be hanging out near that spot. If there is any obvious cover/structure I try and target that first. Next I’ll make casts parallel or as close to parallel to the bank as possible. Specifically targeting bank along my direction of travel. If there is another linear feature such as a weed or shade line I’ll cast along that as well. Lastly I fan cast around an area before departing. Usually this will be approximately 3-5 casts depending on nearby vegetation which may limit where and what direction and/or angle you can cast. Also if I’m carrying a second rod with a follow up bait I’m might use that here. After that I’ll move as stealthily as possible to the next spot, if I can no further down the bank than I had previously presented my lure. Often times I have no clear path along the bank to my next spot. That means I’ll have to repeat the process from the top when I get to where I’m going.

So far this year these have been my big producers: -Slightly further out relating to where the weed line usually is once they top out. -Shallow under overhanging vegetation or around flooded bushes. -A few on riprap banks. This next one is a variation on the first. -Over the top of submerged weed beds in the upper end of the smaller reservoirs and in the middle of some of the smaller ponds.

I deal with weeds a lot in the places I fish. A lot of time as a bank angler weeds are the primary type of cover that fish are relating to that I’m able to reach from shore. If the weeds have topped out I’m thinking swimjig all day. If they are submerged then reaction baits ticking the tops would be my first choice. Chatterbait, Spinnerbait, lipless, underspin, square bill would all be in play. If the fish wont bite these fast moving, more aggressive baits then I would go with weightless soft plastics like floating worm, zoom fluke, texposed senko. Of course make sure to target holes, ends, and irregularities in the weed bed.

I love the original Yamamoto Senko for wacky rigs but when it come to the Neko I prefer the YUM Dinger as it seems to hold up better to multiple fish as well as having the nail weight stay put which has been a problem for me in the past when using Senkos.