CastingClinic

Caught these guys across three outings at three different lakes over the past few weeks. The one in the middle was caught yesterday evening while out exploring a completely new lake to me. I don’t expect much when I’m out for the first time on a new body of water so this was a pleasant surprise. I’ll be back for sure!

Looks like WV just started accepting black crappie records this year which allows for something like this to happen. Very fun, almost like an unexplored frontier. I bet we see a lot of WV crappie fishermen coming out of the woodwork.

Had a few hours early yesterday morning but of course I failed to properly set my alarm and almost didn’t have enough time to make a trip worth while. Yesterday was a beautiful FALL day up here. Cool, dry, and breezy; I wish I had more time. Chatterbait for the win.

I haven't fished anywhere as truly lonesome as you've described but if I wait for cloudy skies and cold winds then I've found myself more than once on reservoirs in the hundreds of acres that were all mine for the day. My fishing buddy and I planned a trip to the Adirondacks back in May that was unfortunately cancelled due to storms and then life has gotten in the way and the trip has been on the back burner. We were headed to a lake 45 min from the nearest town, 9 miles of dirt roads, two miles of portage, and two miles of paddling all to set camp on a tiny island island and fish the next two days. Oh how I wish I could just pick up and go.

Very quick river trip yesterday evening. Lost a bigger largemouth when my spinnerbait arm finally gave out leaving just a single piece of wire and two lonely blades dangling. Well, at least my knot was good.

@TnRiver46 @BrianMDTX

@ol'crickety Ooooooo shiny!! Can never have enough spinnerbaits.

Scored three progressively bigger largemouth yesterday ending with a new personal best (far right). First came on a gold and red spinnerbait during the morning during calm wind and while the sun was still low and the shade lines pronounced. Next two came on a classic silver and white under the bright afternoon sun and with a bit of wind on the surface. On all three catches the spinnerbait was ambushed while I was running it as intimately as possibly along the edges of lilypads. Winter is coming, I can smell it in the morning air and so can the fish!!

A very hot river day but the fish were biting. Add another seven pike and a perch to these guys. All came on a chatterbait.

Couple of river smallies on a spinnerbait and chatterbait. Weather app said it “feels like” 100 when I called it quits and packed up at 10:15am. ☀️

Good day fishing the Passaic river. Got another two small pike on top of the three fish pictured. All came on a spinnerbait while a buddy of mine pitched a wacky rig and waded through about a dozen dinks before landing a solid 3.5lb largemouth.

@ol'crickety I was already thinking about a larger/longer net and I think your post sold me. Won’t solve all my problems but I don’t see how it wouldn’t help. Got out yesterday for only an hour and a half on a rare evening trip. Headed out with a spinnerbait to redeem myself and caught these two with no issues (still wanting a longer net). They aren’t the fish I missed out two days ago but they sure put me back into good spirits. In retrospect I’d have to agree. Sure sucks in the moment but the biteless days all get forgotten in time.

What could have been my best day ever turned into my worst loss. Went out with high expectations, overcast day with calm to light winds, a light rain while launching and a bit of a heavier rain for a few minutes later in the day. Coolest air and water temps in a while. First bite came like a freight train while running a spinnerbait along a deep weed line. Set the hook and bent the rod almost in half then felt a good shake. He was off and I was dogging an incoming spinnerbait. Ok lesson learned and on went the trailer hook. Second bite came while pitching a different spinnerbait under cover on a steep but weedy shoreline and burning it over the top. Another freight train bite, this time it stuck and I was able to fight him boat side. Easily a top five fish for me but I could see the entire spinnerbait out of his mouth and the trailer barely hooking the lip. As I went to net him he caught a pinch of air and unbuttoned. On top of it all I lost the blade on that spinnerbait as well. Third bite came not long after number two. I was fan casting the third spinnerbait of the day over a weedy flat and again burning over the top. Another freight train came screaming by and the fight was on. This was no doubt the biggest fish and as I got him boat side some terrible deja vu set in. Once again the spinnerbait was out of the mouth and the trailer was barely hooked on the lip. The spinnerbait was worse for wear at this point and clearly bent out adding the my mounting fears. This fish was easily a potential personal best and my adrenaline shot through the roof. I got him boat side, went to net, and just like the time before he gave a final solid shake and was gone. My frustration could be heard for miles. Fished for a bit after that with no luck. I’ve lost fish before and skunked plenty but I’ve never left the water feeling the way I did yesterday. I definitely need to work on my landing skills but I’m not sure if there was anything else I could’ve been doing to get them pinned better. Using all the same gear I’ve always used, rod is medium heavy with a bit of a softer tip and line is 12lb hybrid. Caught my personal best and a handful of really quality fish earlier this year with no issues. Yesterday is a day that I’ll remember for a long time. I took no photos yesterday but included a couple from a previous outting where I also skunked. However that day I got no bites at all and left with much fonder memories.

When it comes to plastics I think more about action (a lot, a little or something in between), and profile (compact and chunky vs long and slender, etc.). When it comes specifically to texas rigs, lizards, craws, beavers, and ribbon tail worms seem to find themselves behind a weight while most straight worms are rigged weightless. As for color, in my opinion, there are only four. Dark (black, junebug, etc), Natural (green pumpkin, watermelon, etc), Bright (chartreuse, bubblegum, etc), and White.

The first two came from a sweaty trip this past Thursday to a regular spot. Then I drove through rain on Friday down to Virginia where I met up with a good friend who drove up from North Carolina and we had an even HOTTER day fishing a Virginia lake all day Saturday. I caught four and my buddy caught four. Nothing big enough to brag about but I was happy we were catching in water that topped out at 92.5 degrees.

Another quick but slow morning trip. Chased the skunk off with this guy caught pitching a Texas rig into some slop.

Quick morning trip. This guy stole a blade off my spinnerbait and I didn’t have much luck after that.

Two and a half pounder choked down a Texas rig on an otherwise slow and windy day. Also added a collection of BASS from a river trip last week. I wasn’t going to post them because I had mistaken them for panfish 🙄 Lastly I snapped my Lews Mach 2 while caught in some rocks. Pretty unbelievable, a situation I’d been in 1000 times and somehow, with 12lb test and drag set properly, the rod snapped more than 50% down just above the first eyelet. Two years old almost to the day. Happy it didn’t happen while fighting a fish. Pretty wack.

I've seen them pop up on my radar before, I'm going to have to bite the bullet one of these days. Should point out that that warranty is actually a lifetime guarantee covering damage of any kind/cause. Apparently they're very good at honoring this and plenty of people who report having no issue consistently exchanging their old pair for new.

Dislike: Treble hooks. I fish with them, I catch with them, I am under no obligation to "like" them. Can't Stand: Diving crankbaits. No confidence in them at all. I can never tell if they are running true or at the right depth and just when I feel like I'm getting the hang of it I snag bottom and lose the lure. Plus treble hooks. Can't catch "any fish at all": Lipless crankbait. Unlike the diving crank I actually feel like I can work a lipless proficiently. Depth, retrieval speed, bang'em off cover and rip'em through weeds and somehow have never lost one. Also have never caught a single fish on one but I keep trying. Also, treble hooks.

It ain't bass fishing without a few slime darts to spice things up but leave it to @ol'crickety to find one that looks like a pike. Solid day as usual.

Guy on the left came from a spinnerbait during a quick trip last Saturday. Guy on the right was on a Texas rigged lizard after a pretty tough day today.

Quick morning trip on the Passaic river. Caught this two and a half pound smallie on an audacious chartreuse/white chatterbait with a white craw trailer.

Very windy day with rain over night to the early morning. Scored this pair of two and a half pounders. Spinnerbaits