I think more bass need to watch YouTube videos!

[Swamp Girl]

I fished yesterday and I did what I'm told to do.

 

I studied the depth map, marked the dropoffs abutting shallows, and worked laydowns and points. When that worked only marginally, I then applied what worked last week, I.e. working water about 80' from the shoreline. Meh.

 

The very last thing I tried was the summer pattern, i.e. casting tight to shorelines in the shallowest water and that's where they were. The articles and YouTube videos tell me that their holding tight to shoreline structure isn't where they should be, but they were there and by tight, I mean casting to within inches of the shoreline and getting thumped immediately. 

 

Weird, huh?

 

Or maybe not weird.

 

How many of you have caught bass where they're not supposed to be, seasonally? I think more bass need to watch YouTube videos to be where they're supposed to be!

[scbassin]

Seeing your in Maine I am guessing the Water Temperature has not warmed up enough yet for those spots yet.  Knowing that the shallow water will get the warmest first that is where I would start.  Go to the side that the sun has been shinning on the longest cast your bait up on the bank & bring into the water quietly & let it sit a bit don't want to scare your pray (dead sticking). Remember the water temperature is the magic. The bait moves to the magic & the predator will follow.  Tight lines!

[Swamp Girl]

@scbassin: I think you're right that they had moved to the sunny side. It was bait that drew me to them. I don't have any of the new-fangled electronics, but I saw bait on the surface, which is why I moved to the sunny side and thought, "What the heck," and I cast under an overhanging bush, which was the pattern: Bass under bushes. With all the eagles at that bog, if I were a bass, I'd live under a bush too.

 

I have never dead-sticked. Ever. I should. I will! 

[Glenn]

Ironically, I often say in my videos, "The bass don't read the same books we do!"  and I often cite the time I caught bass on buzzbaits on New Year's day in 42 degree water.

 

It happens.  More often than we realize.  The cool thing is that you were able to figure it out!

[Swamp Girl]

2 minutes ago, Glenn said:

Ironically, I often say in my videos, "The bass don't read the same books we do!" 

 

Ha! So true. 

[Skunkmaster-k]

Bass are rascals. They break the rules all the time. 

[Zcoker]

The best video with the best instructions are right before your very eyes when you first launch. 

[Swamp Girl]

I think it was the eagles that explained why the bass I caught were under overhanging bushes on the water's edge rather than warmth.* I was fishing a shallow bog and soon, there will be a mat of weeds for the bass to tuck under. I saw two immature eagles and three mature eagles the day I fished, so that's a lot of bass-eating raptors. Without weeds for shelter, the bass bunkered under bushes. I had to cast under bushes to catch one. 

 

*If it were warmth, I would have caught bass on the sunny shorelines of the last two ponds I fished and I didn't catch one. Of course, I'm just guessing. 

[LrgmouthShad]

I almost pay no attention to so-called “seasonal patterns” anymore. Water conditions, the overall weather, presence of fry, and any bait spawning may inform the angler where bass are located. The spring of the year has good, reliable patterns associated with it. It’s spawning grounds and the paths to get there and then the paths to leave. Everything else…. Fall, summer, winter…. Bass are going to be where they want to be. They do not know that they need to be 25-30ft deep midsummer and that they need to bite a worm. I really think that they just get done spawning, and then they leave looking for greener pastures… or not. Some might stay if the area is fertile. If they leave, they go somewhere they feel safe and comfortable with some food and they will stay there until uncomfortable or until they see somewhere else being more comfortable based on the changing conditions. They might want deep water close by… or maybe not. How much the water level fluctuates plays a role in this, I believe.

[Pat Brown]

I don't know what YouTube's are telling people to do right now and I don't care because most of that stuff is designed to sell tackle not catch me more fish....

 

What the fish are doing on my ponds and lakes is the same thing they've been doing since February which is very very aggressively trying to be as shallow as they can so they can make babies and very very persistently being knocked back by cold fronts but usually only a few feet back...like maybe pull back 10 feet til it's warmer again kinda thing.

 

I wouldn't trust a single YouTube that says that fish are going to be anywhere but trying to spawn in dirt shallow water in the springtime - crazy apocalyptic weather deviations notwithstanding.

 

Remember, we like to tell beginners that the best time to start fishing is in the springtime and to cast tight to the bank and work your bait very very slow.  Because well......yeaaaaaah......that's gonna work 9/10 times.

 

Edit:

 

@ol'crickety bass like warmth but most shallow water is warm enough by now.  They like protection and places to hide even more when they're that vulnerable to attack!

[Swamp Girl]

Going forward, Pat, I think I'm just going to launch, poke around, and follow my hunches. Like you, I'm not fishing big water, so in a three to five-hour trip, I can fish pert near everywhere. Because I change lures so frequently, I'll eventually discover where they are and what they'll hit. 

 

And I'm not going to stay locked onto big fish. I told @thediscocheflast night that I've caught six new PBs in the last year. I went from 5.5 to 6.5 to 6.71 to 6.75 to a likely, unweighed seven-pounder to the unweighed beshemoth I caught last week. That's good enough for me and I frankly think I could fish another ten years and not catch another as big as she was.

 

I don't need to catch an ever bigger bass.* I want to launch my canoe and have a busy, happy boat. In the process of catching many bass, big bass will naturally come aboard, but I don't want to bear the pressure of needing a new PB and another new PB and yet another new PB. Old girls like me still just want to have fun!

 

Here's a photo of her after I lightened it so you can see her massive back:

 

 

[Pat Brown]

@ol'crickety Well good.  The really big ones are probably mostly back out deep anyway 🤣🤣🤣🤣😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 

 

Bass fishing sure is confusing and contradictory ain't it!?!?

 

I am just impressed with myself when I get my shoes tied in the morning.  If I get to the water and find fish, well Hallelujah!

 

All sillyness aside, after March 31st, I'm mostly just messing around when I go fishing.  My ship has *probably* sailed for a PB this year but I ain't losing sleep or getting bummed about it.  It actually gets more fun once I know I'm just looking for beat up stupid 4 lbers and happen to luck into an 8.  December - March is way more serious stuff for me - I do really enjoy it when the pressure is off and spring breaks.  That's when I bring friends fishing and care much less.

[Mike L]

Makes ya wonder how anyone ever learned how to catch a fish before commercially sponsored “experts” on the internet came along. 
 

The best way to learn how to catch a fish in your local waters is to learn your local waters!!

Thats it, there are no short cuts. 

Listening to someone on the internet to tell you when, where and how to catch a fish in a body of water they’ve never been to makes no sense to me and can put someone’s leaning curve back years. 
 

@ol'crickety

After reading your posts since you’ve joined, you seem to be someone who’s got it pretty well figured out already. 
Your posted successes are proof of your expertise. 
 

Everyone who spends time on the water knows there are no exact rules about where a fish will be at any given time. 
 

 

 

 

 

Mike


 

 

 

[Team9nine]

43 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

I think it was the eagles that explained why the bass I caught were under overhanging bushes on the water's edge rather than warmth.* I was fishing a shallow bog and soon, there will be a mat of weeds for the bass to tuck under. I saw two immature eagles and three mature eagles the day I fished, so that's a lot of bass-eating raptors. Without weeds for shelter, the bass bunkered under bushes. I had to cast under bushes to catch one. 

 

*If it were warmth, I would have caught bass on the sunny shorelines of the last two ponds I fished and I didn't catch one. Of course, I'm just guessing. 

Back in IN, our largest reservoir was the site of our first eagle reintroduction program. And while you see a lot of interesting but obviously “photoshopped” pics of birds carrying off bass and other unusual things, the local photographers have posted numerous photos  of our eagles “in action,” and bass seem to make up a surprising number of their catches, so I think you might be on to something there @ol'crickety with your bass location theory. I collected several as I would come across them and post on my FB page to tease all my bass friends about “one less keeper” in some of our tough to begin with fisheries. If you believe big bass go for big easy meals as part of this Optimal Foraging Theory, then it only makes sense that eagles, as part of nature’s web, would, too 😉

 

 

 

 

 

[Pat Brown]

@Team9nine those photos are awesome!

 

I have actually seen a bald eagle and an osprey fighting over a 5 lb bass maybe a thousand feet above where I was fishing and it was pretty spectacular - last fall during the big shad die off!  I saw more big birds last fall killing big fish than I've ever seen in my entire life and it's probably just because of how much I was on the water but boy was it amazing!

[Swamp Girl]

20 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

I do really enjoy it when the pressure is off and spring breaks.

 

Amen, brother. 

 

26 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

I know I'm just looking for beat up stupid 4 lbers and happen to luck into an 8. 

 

^This^ made me laugh. Stupid 4 lbers? I love those four-pounders! 

 

11 minutes ago, Mike L said:

The best way to learn how to catch a fish in your local waters is to learn your local waters!!

 

Yes, Mike! That's what I call my hunches, my earned understanding of where, what, and when I'm fishing. 

 

@Team9nine: YEP, I see the eagles dive on bass when I'm fishing. And I watched a video of an eagle swimming a musky to shore to eat it. The musky was too big for the eagle to take flight, so the eagle swam with its wings.

 

If an eagle can kill a ten-pound musky, it can kill a DD bass, which means bass must be ever alert for eagles, regardless of their size. Thanks for the photos! I sat under an eagle perched in a tree last year and watched it eat its bass. 

 

 

[Pat Brown]

Stupid as in willing to indulge me with a bite on my overpriced chew toy.  Not stupid as in I don't like em.  😉😌

 

I'm ALWAYS after the stupid ones - heck I'm halfway convinced they're the only ones I *ever* catch!  🤣🤣🤣🤣

[A-Jay]

Ignoring season patterns sounds fun.

Especially when fishing bodies of water with a surface area of 15K-20K acres.

When 90% of the fish are in 10% of the lake,

the 'cast hard & hope' method starts to play into the law of averages. 

Good Luck with that.

A-Jay

[Swamp Girl]

14 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

Stupid as in willing to indulge me with a bite on my overpriced chew toy.  Not stupid as in I don't like em.  😉😌

 

Whew! I figure if someone doesn't want to dance with a four-pounder, they've got one foot in the grave. 

 

31 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

I have actually seen a bald eagle and an osprey fighting over a 5 lb bass maybe a thousand feet above where I was fishing and it was pretty spectacular

 

When osprey dive on bass, they're full throttle. They're like Mounties in that they always get their man, er, bass.

 

Pat, for me, I'm most likely to catch a big bass right now because the weeds haven't yet returned. Last summer, I think I hooked bass as big as last week's bass, but I hooked them deep in a bog and they promptly unhooked themselves with weeds. I hooked last week's bass in open water. Plus, she was still too cold to jump. So, I had every advantage. My photos don't convey how many weeds are in the bogs I fish. Sometimes I'm fishing a foot of water atop weeds and there are weeds on the water to the left and right of my lure. 

 

5 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Especially when fishing bodies of water with a surface area of 15K-20K acres.

 

Not my situation. Wednesday's pond is 49 acres. I don't need a 250 hp engine or FFS or even Garmin. I can find them most days. 

 

[Pat Brown]

Totally understand and it just goes to reinforce what most of us are saying - the YouTubes lie to sell us the tackle 😔

 

But it's okay 😁. Tackle is fun.  😉😎

 

YouTube's is fun.

 

But catching bass on YOUR body of water is something you are very very good at from dirt time.  You earned it.  Enjoy them fishes!  👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼🎣🎣🎣😎😎😎 

 

I mean really though, 20k acres!?!?  Can you imagine!?!? @A-Jay has his own very unique challenges to contend with for sure!  As do we all! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Swamp Girl]

7 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

@A-Jay has his own very unique challenges to contend with for sure!  As do we all!

 

Heck, yeah. Pat, you fish ponds that are ringed with concrete sidewalks. I imagine you casting between a popcorn stand and a hot dog cart. @PhishLI has to keep an eye open for gangbangers and he wades in water so chilly that his teeth chatter. @AlabamaSpothunter fishes a lake where mansions loom over every inch of the shoreline. And on and on. 

 

To reach Wednesday's pond, I'll have to drag my canoe up and over a meadow, through the rocky woods, and then launch by stepping into the chilly water. For Friday's bog, I'll launch by a cascade and paddle up a river to reach the water I'll fish. Then I'll paddle another three miles to reach the other end of the bog. In a double digit wind. Then back.

 

So, yeah, we only have so much in common, mainly our love of bass.

 

P. S. - 20K acres would swallow me. Whole. It would be one of your DDs, Pat, and I would be a tasty shad.

[LrgmouthShad]

@A-Jay is there any study that informs us that 10% of the lake holds 90% of the fish? We have tournaments being won by catching fish roaming in open water when they “shouldn’t be.” I am still a structure fisherman, but it is because structure is recognizable and  (usually) offers variation in depth and often a point from which bass can wait to feed on baitfish traveling along a channel or other feature. Hard spots are a little different and I admit to not understanding why bass and other fish use them. 
 

Fish do change with the seasons but seasons drive water conditions which drive fish behavior.

 

All this said, I hope you can teach me something new. 

[Swamp Girl]

4 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

@A-Jay is there any study that informs us that 10% of the lake holds 90% of the fish

 

I would only trust such a study if they studied dozens of bodies of water. I'm guessing that there are bodies of water with largely empty water, but I know that there are bodies of water with bass dispersed throughout them. 

[TnRiver46]

2 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Back in IN, our largest reservoir was the site of our first eagle reintroduction program. And while you see a lot of interesting but obviously “photoshopped” pics of birds carrying off bass and other unusual things, the local photographers have posted numerous photos  of our eagles “in action,” and bass seem to make up a surprising number of their catches, so I think you might be on to something there @ol'crickety with your bass location theory. I collected several as I would come across them and post on my FB page to tease all my bass friends about “one less keeper” in some of our tough to begin with fisheries. If you believe big bass go for big easy meals as part of this Optimal Foraging Theory, then it only makes sense that eagles, as part of nature’s web, would, too 😉

 

 

 

 

 

Great photos! There are people set up with tripods every day taking eagle/osprey photos at Douglas dam. Makes peeing from the boat feel slightly awkward but I imagine they have some similar action shots of the birds with fish 

[thediscochef]

2 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Back in IN, our largest reservoir was the site of our first eagle reintroduction program. And while you see a lot of interesting but obviously “photoshopped” pics of birds carrying off bass and other unusual things, the local photographers have posted numerous photos  of our eagles “in action,” and bass seem to make up a surprising number of their catches, so I think you might be on to something there @ol'crickety with your bass location theory. I collected several as I would come across them and post on my FB page to tease all my bass friends about “one less keeper” in some of our tough to begin with fisheries. If you believe big bass go for big easy meals as part of this Optimal Foraging Theory, then it only makes sense that eagles, as part of nature’s web, would, too 😉