Probably Won't Do That Again ~

[ironbjorn]

Having pretty much only used a spinning setup for the Ned Rig the past couple seasons, I'm looking into BFS and will likely not pick up a spinning setup again.

[BayouSlide]

1 hour ago, ironbjorn said:

I'm looking into BFS and will likely not pick up a spinning setup again.

With years of working on a computer, my right index finger (mousing on computer/line control on spinning reel) gets downright painful after using one of my favorite spinning rods for a short time. I've solved the problem of what to use for lighter baits with two BFS setups (w/Curado BFS) and two medium action rods (w/Curado 70 MGLs). Ain't looking back, but gazing on a rack full of spinning rigs that will get hardly any use in the future.

 

Me, I'm trying to give up buying more crankbaits since I already hoard an inventory that would stock a medium to large size tackle store.

[king fisher]

1.  I'm not going to forget my camera, scale, or tape measure on the day I catch my PB.

2.  I'm not going to leave lures on the bottom of the lake or in trees.  No need to replace lost lures if I stop loosing them.

3.  I'm not going to let work get in the way of my bass fishing.

4. I'm not going to miss any more top water strikes.

5.  I'm not going to get skunked.

 

I am going to win the lotto twice.

 

[A-Jay]

15 minutes ago, king fisher said:

1.  I'm not going to forget my camera, scale, or tape measure on the day I catch my PB.

2.  I'm not going to leave lures on the bottom of the lake or in trees.  No need to replace lost lures if I stop loosing them.

3.  I'm not going to let work get in the way of my bass fishing.

4. I'm not going to miss any more top water strikes.

5.  I'm not going to get skunked.

 

I am going to win the lotto twice.

 

I'll have what he's having ~

A-Jay

[Log Catcher]

19 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Yup ~

They are a search tool for me now too.

Because if you look for one in my rig . . . 

you'll be searching !

A-Jay

Maybe you need to pack them in your tackle for your trips to Mexico and try them down there. They might work better for green bass than brown bass.

[A-Jay]

6 hours ago, Log Catcher said:

Maybe you need to pack them in your tackle for your trips to Mexico and try them down there. They might work better for green bass than brown bass.

Thanks but Big Fish Jeff who does fancy himself a bit of a glide bait aficionado has throw them a few times there.  Caught a few but no real mutants.  Admittely, most times the fish we were targeting were holding what I would guess is just a bit deeper than he would have liked.  Either  way, if that guy isn't getting giants on it, I stand no chance.

#prognosisnegative

A-Jay

[Bankbeater]

Last spring I fished a couple of lakes that are murky to the point of being muddy, and I did pretty good.  Last summer I fished the same water and didn't do squat.  Back in the fall I started catching on them again.

This year during the warmer months I'm sticking to fishing clear water with vegetation.

[T-Billy]

43 minutes ago, Bankbeater said:

Last spring I fished a couple of lakes that are murky to the point of being muddy, and I did pretty good.  Last summer I fished the same water and didn't do squat.  Back in the fall I started catching on them again.

This year during the warmer months I'm sticking to fishing clear water with vegetation.

I don't know what the fishing pressure is like in your area, but if your lakes are highly pressured you might consider putting in the time to figure them out on those muddy lakes in the summer.

 The handful of small lakes (1k -2k acres) in my neck of the woods are HIGHLY pressured. One of them is awesome in the spring and good in the fall, but I and most others struggled there in the summer. Over the past couple summers I forced myself to spend time there learning it. The effort is paying off. I consistently catch good numbers of quality fish there in the summer now, and I have plenty of elbow room. It's by far the least pressured water around after the spawn because most struggle there, and is now the only lake I fish on Sat and Sun unless I'm night fishing.

[Junk Fisherman]

On 1/1/2022 at 5:10 PM, MickD said:

I notice most if not all who are not doing well with finesse are largemouth fishermen.  Those of us who concentrate on smallmouth know that finesse is not a "dink" technique.  My third best smallmouth, over 6 pounds , was taken on a Ned.

 

If you largmouth fishermen have not tried tubes, you probably should.  Up here in MI largemouths love them.  

 

100% agreed.  I think my success with finesse on smallmouth has actually reduced the number of big largemouths I have caught the last few years.  I do so well with the smallmouth using Neds, finesse swimbaits, and dropshots that I end up using those baits for largemouth.  While I catch more largemouth than ever, I don't catch nearly as many big largemouth as I do big smallmouth.  Granted, I fish a lot of highly-pressured largemouth waters so maybe I should just be content with my results.  

[throttleplate]

18 hours ago, Hammer 4 said:

I give up on lipless crankbaits. I've tried every which way, more colors than I care to mention, and wasted a whole lotta time. Giving all of them to my Grandson, maybe he will have better luck with them.

thanks for the reminder, i need to take all 5 out of my box and store them as they dont work for me.

[Bluebasser86]

I can't say that I won't, because I know I will, but spybaits are skating on real thin ice with me. I want them to work, and I know they do, but other than one night of catching white bass one after the other, I'm usually just disappointed with the results, sometimes more than others.

[CrashVector]

On 1/1/2022 at 5:10 PM, MickD said:

I notice most if not all who are not doing well with finesse are largemouth fishermen.  Those of us who concentrate on smallmouth know that finesse is not a "dink" technique.  My third best smallmouth, over 6 pounds , was taken on a Ned.

 

If you largmouth fishermen have not tried tubes, you probably should.  Up here in MI largemouths love them.  

 

I'm a finesse fisherman 99% of the time, and I catch 5+lb largemouths with regularity.  My pb of 11lbs 3oz was on a modified Ned rig.

 

 

[Holetail]

I am almost done with crank baits and any treble hook baits in general. Haven’t caught enough fish on them to justify cleaning the muck off them every cast. Also, as much as I want a regular jig to work, the weedy / grassy bottom I usually fish is not conducive to fishing them. Will hold onto them though since there are some hard bottom lakes within driving distance where they can be used. Basically wanting to simplify after experimenting with a lot of things last year. I found some things that work so I want to focus on getting better with those techniques. Bait monkey will not be pleased!

[Zcoker]

I agree with a lotta things said here, things like missing those fish on topwater lures, especially those fish that jump and they are about the biggest bass ever seen! Oh, my, how that hurts. I'm liken more and more topwater fishing and I find myself doin it just about all day long. I used to flip worms, etc. Was thinking the other day that nature, in all her glory, designed largemouth bass to feed mostly topwater. Their eyes are practically on the top of their big heads and that big mouth is designed like a big vacuum cleaner lol. Been using frogs more and more, which hook them and hold them and get them in with hardly any injury issues. Plus the hits are totally insane! We're shallow down here anyway with a lotta weed, so frogs play in very well. Spinnerbaits are scary only because I have lost some monsters on them, even with trailers. They can shake them quite fast. Oh, and always mind how those trailer hooks are held in place! Chatterbaits have, well, they have a lotta "chatter" lol  Never go light when bank fishing! Go big, or go home, especially down south here in the Everglades. I learned that very fast. Think big bass and will catch big bass. I use heavy braid, wire leader, big stout 8ft surf spinning rods with Stella saltwater reels for these Everglades monsters....yes, they are that bad, totally and brutally insane! The sharks of freshwater lol The light stuff that I started out with I either broke in half or lost a bunch of big fish on.  And I am beginning to hate these bait-casters! lol  Funny how the personality of a bass can be defined by its location.....Live and learn, how its done!

[billmac]

I'm not going to switch fishing locations without telling someone where I'm going.

I'm going to try not to tear off my lower unit, especially when I haven't told anyone where I'm going.

[cheezyridr]

wow, am i glad i read this thread! 

for a couple years now, i have tried like hell to catch a fish on a glide bait, and it's not working out. the ganterel jr i have looks to my eye like a live sunny. apparently, the bass here disagree. i haven't had a single bite on it yet. 

 the whopper plopper.  everyone and their brother throws them around here and claim they are the best thing ever.  i get lots of strikes, haven't hooked a single bass on one.

i do real well with a buzzbait though.

 

one thing different for me is the chatterbait. i really like them.  i throw mostly spinnerbaits anyhow, so that may have something to do with it. i find that if i don't put a trailer on them, they don't produce for me.  but if i put a craw or a bandito bug on one, i know i'm gonna catch something.  oddly enough, spinnerbaits work the opposite way for me.

[Cgolf]

Only thing I can think of is to not stick with 1 lure or another for a long time thinking the bite will eventually pick up. In my head I always think just one more cast and they will eat it and 30 casts later...

 

I have plenty of confidence techniques and I always delay switching up when the bite is slow thinking I will miss a fish when the reality of switching up is I may get more bites. Amazing how easily ignored that last sentence is when you are on the water.

[cheezyridr]

one of the things that seems to get ignored alot is, people don't all have the same goals when they go out fishing.

 

i don't catch as many fish as i could, but that's deliberate.  i could easily catch more bass than i do. but i don't want more bass.  i want big ones.  i want the biggest ones in the water i'm fishing.  if i don't catch anything at all, i'm ok with that.   i'm not interested in being the master of medium sized bass.  where i mainly fish, big ones are rare.  but sometimes, the gods of fishing smile on me,  and i catch them.

[thediscochef]

1. I will not choose a new bait by its looks but rather by what characteristics set it apart from my usual bait in a meaningful way. As in; what important thing can this new bait do that my usual can't? 

2. I will not overthink color. Visibility in mud, camouflage in clear.

3. I will not stop trying to find things that I am confident in.

4. I will not forget my scales or grips, and if I do I will turn around and go get them.

5. I will not take more jobs that keep me off the bank for weeks at a time. ...unless they pay enough to buy me a fishing trip somewhere fancy. You know. Some place with candles.

[Junk Fisherman]

As I have been going through my tackle, wobble head jigs and scroungers take up a lot of space in a tray and getting virtually no use.  Taking most of them out except for 1 or 2 of each.  I don't have the feel for the wobble head jigs.  

[A-Jay]

4 minutes ago, Junk Fisherman said:

As I have been going through my tackle, wobble head jigs and scroungers take up a lot of space in a tray and getting virtually no use.  Taking most of them out except for 1 or 2 of each.  I don't have the feel for the wobble head jigs.  

I hear that ~ 

While the Scounger is a player for me south of the border,

I haven't had any in my rig to fish locally in a couple of years now.

But the swingheads get wet, and quite a bit. 

Wrote this one mostly for northwoods brown bass but it might help.

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/211811-brown-bass-tools-~-questions-answers/?do=findComment&comment=2467689

A-Jay

[Junk Fisherman]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

I hear that ~ 

While the Scounger is a player for me south of the border,

I haven't had any in my rig to fish locally in a couple of years now.

But the swingheads get wet, and quite a bit. 

Wrote this one mostly for northwoods brown bass but it might help.

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/211811-brown-bass-tools-~-questions-answers/?do=findComment&comment=2467689

A-Jay

 

Great stuff.  Thanks.  Looks like I should give them another chance this summer when I want to cover deep water looking for brown bass.  

[KP Duty]

On 1/1/2022 at 4:37 PM, the reel ess said:

I know I'll get arguments. But to me downsizing and finesse fishing is just targeting smaller fish. I'm old enough that I don't need to catch a lot of 1 pounders. 

 

@A-JayGlide baits also have not worked for me. 

I thought 4" finesse worms were a numbers bait....never saw a weenie worm win a tournament.  That was until KVD went down to lake Lewisville in Texas and not only won the tournament with a 4" worm, but caught the lake record LMB at over 11lbs in the process.  I guess even the big girls like a small easy-to-catch snack every now and again.

[the reel ess]

14 hours ago, KP Duty said:

I thought 4" finesse worms were a numbers bait....never saw a weenie worm win a tournament.  That was until KVD went down to lake Lewisville in Texas and not only won the tournament with a 4" worm, but caught the lake record LMB at over 11lbs in the process.  I guess even the big girls like a small easy-to-catch snack every now and again.

Yeah, it's an averages thing. My buddy has caught a 9 lb largemouth on a crappie jig, trolling for crappie. But I'll guess the averages lean toward larger baits for larger bass. All I can say is I don't catch big bass with finesse tactics except around the spawn. It seems big bass will attack almost anything you show them as spawn approaches.

[gim]

21 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

My buddy has caught a 9 lb largemouth on a crappie jig, trolling for crappie.

I've never caught one that big here (they don't grow that big), but a couple times in the last decade, my biggest largemouth of the season was on accident while I was crappie fishing.  One time I thought I had the next state record crappie on lol.  Unfortunately, bass season wasn't open yet so I really didn't count it since it wasn't a legal catch anyways.  Then I bass fish for months without catching one that big.  ?  Kinda sucks to be honest but not much you can do about it.