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Keep in mind I am a northern river Smallmouth fisherman. Largemouth Bass are a byproduct catch for me most of the time. I love them but am not always able to get off the bank to effectively target them. My day started with ideal conditions, calm and foggy. http:// I found a shallow to steep drop off that produced some of my target Smallmouth. http:// http:// I was using the Tiny Child Rig, a Z-Man Finesse TRD with a screw in mushroom head 1/8oz weight I got on EBay and a Zoneloc 1/0 hook. I was throwing it on a Lew’s Speed Spin $100 spinning combo I just bought after snapping my Mach II baitcasting rod last trip. It was spooled with 8# Sufix Siege line. I noticed a milk jug floating in the water as somebody’s marker. I cast the TCR towards it and BAM! A hit. I set the hook and when the fight started I thought I had a big Channel Cat as the fish was digging hard, moving my kayak around but no jumps. The water in the river is ultra clear so when I was able to get her close I realized not only was this a Bass but it was going to be my PB! After a few minutes of playing the fish with the drag I was able to net her. http:// http:// She weighed in at 5.26 pounds a new PB Largemouth for me. http:// Something about catching big Bass brings out the kid in us, right?!? After some pics I revived her to let her go. Hopefully to become a 6 pounder.

New PB Largemouth for me. Five and a quarter pounds. On spinning gear and the Tiny Child Rig. http:// http:// http://

My deep cranking rod has a secret compartment in the butt cap filled with ibuprofen.

I am not a dumb Cajon just a old man with fading memories. When you learn to fish reading old topo maps and hunting looking at topo maps the terrain under water looks the same as above. After awhile you see the structure where ever it's located, above the water along the shoreline or over your shoulder off shore. Structure doesn't change underwater. Deep is relative you only need to fish as deep as the bass are located and then depth is everything. Tom

I caught the new PB last Saturday. That got me thinking about trying live bait. So I went back this evening with that in mind. Didn't net any. So I took off with the usual rigs. They were on almost every piece of wood and were chomping the jig. I got this 7.2 lb off a pine laydown that I spooked some ducks out of. I figured the spot was ruined but I pitched into it anyway. It never hit bottom and when I set the hook, for some reason, the bass took off for deeper open water. It's my jig rod so the drag is clamped down. It took some drag anyway. I landed it pretty quickly. Two 7+ hogs in a week ain't too shabby for me.

Summer deep cranking often relies on speed to trigger. I used to do a lot of "speed-trolling" for pike, using Bombers and Hellbenders to hit those 20+ft weedlines. The speed and banging is what caught fish. The Bombers were good bangers, the Hellbenders excelled at "ripping", which meant while the boat threw a decent wake, getting on the rod and "stroking" it, I suppose like pappajoe was doing. We'd often do this upon spotting a good mark on the flasher. Rip, rip, BAM! Spoonplugging, at least in summer, relied on speed too. Lots of ways to take advantage of that speed trigger. Deep-cranking may be the most brutal. Still it's useful for the precision and immediate repeatability you can get. I've been pondering a wrist brace, as that's where I feel it most. I don't want to damage those important tendons and joints. I plan to be cranking, typing, and other such stuff for some time yet.

I had my first live tourney of the year........perfect day. 95 degrees and no clouds...........hahah I managed one for the day and I made it count.

To this dumb Cajun fishing deep or offshore is no different than fishing shallow or near the bank. The issue is getting a mental picture of the "deep" structure. Shallow water we visually see things that clue us in on where the bass should be. The same clues are there deep/offshore ya just gotta picture it in your head. Structure I don't care if it's winter, spring, summer, or fall. I don't care if it's morning, noon, or night. I don't care if it's bank shallow or the creek bottom. Find the structure...fish the available cover ?

Gave up Senkos about 20 years ago Fastest way to lose $8 other than just throwing your money right into the lake. Have replaced them these days with jighead wacky (worms) and caught thousands since. Also haven't thrown a spinnerbait in something like 10 years - any brand. And have only caught 1 Whopper Plopper fish and haven't thrown them since (about 4+ years now). Zman baits, OTOH - Probably 60% of my 1600+ bass YTD have come on either Finesse TRDs, 1/2 ZinkerZ or Finesse WormZ.

Dad set the new record for my boat for walleye Thursday on a jigging spoon in 25' of water. CPR'd

New lead pot, placed a full size jig on top as a size reference. Allen

I know there are some baseball dads and coaches on BR so I thought I would post this. Way back in the day I was a college baseball pitcher and for a number of years I coached rec, travel, All Star, and middle school baseball. I gave it up this past year because I wanted my son to get away from me coaching him and drive his own destiny on the ball field. Plus, he's at a stage where he needs more advanced coaching. That being said this COVID-19 situation has ended competitive baseball for the time being so we've been working out lately. Matt has been primarily a P/SS but routinely plays other positions including catcher so he's experienced at all of them. Long term he profiles as a P/1B/ maybe corner outfielder and not a middle infielder. But he loves to pitch and next year he's hoping to make varsity as a freshman. A lot of baseball academies, all major league teams and most college teams use Rapsodo or something similar to analyze things like pitcher velocity, spin rates, spin axis, vertical movement, horizontal movement, etc. What's great about these systems is that a pitcher can make grip alterations, finger pressure alterations, arm slot changes, and frankly any pitching mechanic changes and see how it changes the shape of the pitch. Unfortunately our local indoor baseball academy does not have one and I'm not about to drop 3 grand on one. But the last month I stumbled upon something called PitchLogic. It's a baseball with built in sensors that tracks most of the same information as Rapsodo and in side by side comparisons the data was close to identical to the Rapsodo numbers. Best of all it's "only" $250. Not cheap, but not three grand either. Diamond Kinetics also has a baseball sensor called Pitchtracker but it has only basic information AND they charge you an annual fee to access the data. PitchLogic has no annual fees and you can export data for any time range and have it emailed to you in CSV format. Anyway, the PitchLogic arrived and we got to use it for a brief 10 pitch session today before the thunderstorms rolled in. My first impressions are "WOW!" I mean when I was a kid we had to go to the library and pick up a book to see what a curveball grip looked like and then when we tried it out on the field we relied on our catcher to try and tell us what the ball was doing. Then if you changed your grip or arm angle or mechanics you had to rely on the observations of your catcher or coach to see if they noticed anything different with the pitch. Now, you throw a pitch and you have a face full of data staring at you and you can quantify the results of any changes.Today Matt only threw four seam fastballs and he wasn't really loose as we raced the oncoming storm. He hadn't thrown in a month and his lower half mechanics were sloppy, but what was pretty neat is on the last two pitches I reminded him of what his lower half should be doing and he gained 3 mph. Since I have no idea what his spin rates were before we're putting together baseline data now. What will really be interesting is tomorrow when he starts throwing his curve and changeup. We'll develop some baseline numbers and then experiment with some changes. One nice thing about the app is not only can you chart and track pitch types but you can also up to 5 track variations of those pitch types. This way you can easily compare the results. Anyway, so far this looks to be a great tool. Once I collect more data I'll post some screen shots. My first impression is that this is a great tool and worth the investment.

to catch fish offshore better.. That’s all their is to it.. When the shallow bite isn’t there.. I’m beat.

You determine the life zone. There is a depth in every lake where the majority of the baitfish and predator fish are at. Bass are acclaimated to a specific depth zone and can suspend at the depth weightless by use of their airbladder. The bass seek a temperature of water with good (DO) dissolved oxygen levels where they are comfortable that offers abundant prey and sanctuary. I use my sonar to locate the depth bass and prey are in. In the summer lakes stratify into layers of themperature zones, the thermocline is the 1st layer below the surface where the water temperature is cooler quickly within a few feet. Thermoclines can be 10' to 40' or anywhere inbetween. Bass and baitfish hold near or just above the thermocline. Deeper water below the thermocline usually has low DO levels and bass usually stay above it, no reason to fish any deeper. You can see the thermocline using your sonar because the cooler water is more dense and shows up a paralell line or fuzzy zone a few feet thick. Baitfish are easy to see on sonar and predator fish like bass with big airbladders are also displayed. I survey the marina area before leaving to determine the life zone, it helps me decide where to fish, how depth and what lures should be effective. Tom

87 Days and a Wake -Up ~ A-Jay

Nahh ? Each fish bites differently...each fish fights differently!

Underspins work great in clear water. Had a lot of luck with them at Table Rock. I use the keel weighted hooks more around cover where I need to protect my hook.

Check out FishTheMoment on youtube. He's not a YT yahoo. His focus is primarily offshore fishing. Lots of data and graphing info.

Just buy a new spinning reel. Nothing like a shiny new toy to get you excited about fishing spinning again. Spinning has its place. I get excited when using it realizing it is the best tool for the job. If it is an application where I could use a baitcaster, like a weightless worm then I will use a baitcaster. Today I caught my PB on spinning gear and I was plenty excited.

When you're chucking a deep-diving plug, the first third of the retrieve is wasted on diving down to the running depth, the last third is wasted on climbing back to the surface, so only the center third of the retrieve is running at optimal depth. Trolling is a wise substitute for deep-cranking, which is not only body-friendly, but the running depth is sustained throughout most of its linear coverage Roger

I'm in the same boat as many of us now. It's been very hot and humid around my area lately. I've been fishing in the evenings, or at sunup on Saturday morning. Yesterday, we finished up work around 1:00 in the afternoon, and, despite the bright sun, zero wind, and sticky conditions, I went fishing anyway, making a bank trip to a small lake near home. I fished for forty minutes, throwing a t rigged Culprit worm with no strikes. In the distance, I saw some large clowds coming in. Once the clouds were over me, blocking out all sun, I caught 4 bass in twenty minutes. The cloud cover brought in a light breeze, which gave a slight chop on the water too. Before I went home, I tied on a 1/4 oz black beetlespin, and caught one more fish also. " Cloud cover and a slight wind, are a form of cover for bass". I read this so long ago, I can't even remember when? I've seen it happen before too. It doesn't need to be dark, threatening storm clouds, just enoupgh cloud cover to block the sun. Hopefully, the clouds bring a light wind too. Sometimes, it's pretty amazing how quickly the cloud cover can put fish on the move, and put the odds in your favor. I've seen this happen a few times before. Has anyone else had your luck change quickly with some clouds that blow in?

Been having a lot of fun with wake baits lately. This was my best this morning. Didn't have my scale so she's as big as I want to call her. lol

a buddy once said to me "truth gets told in a joke, and it's so true. your post was gold! hahaha #6 i experienced recently. a buddy who had been bugging me to take him fishing all winter. we are in my car, it's in reverse, and i am ready to take my foot off the brake and back out of the driveway. his phone rings, and it's his g/f telling him she's lonely and he needs to get over there right now. he looks at me and says "i gotta go". that was the last chance he'll get.

Yup ~ I'm a double digit midget. A-Jay

Water temps here in Virginia are in the high 80s. We found them on the grass edges and they hammered a weightless Senko.

Trying to beat the heat and do a little river wading .

Put moth balls in a open jar under the cover to keep critters out. Tom

I have been using VMC spin shot hooks,1/0 and 2/0 I use cylindrical drop shot weights both tungsten and lead

Trolling is a forgotten skill by today's bass anglers because the "pro's" can't do it and either can the weekend club anglers. Trolling deep cranks is the best method to teach new anglers about deep cranks because it's very effective technique. How you hold the rod is the key to deep cranking, can't palm the reel and need to use the long handle agianst your fore arm for leverage during the retreive. If I can deep crank for hours anyone can. Tom

Yes. Started several months back and apparantly continues. After my last order in April of all in stock items, took 5 weeks to arrive, I successfully utilized other vendors who are capable of much shorter and reasonable order processing / shipping times. Amazon and EBay to name two. A-Jay

I think we all draw the line somewhere. I remember a couple of years back i was fishing an old Daiwa that clicked on the retrieve. The fish were biting good while the anti reverse was on and it was clicky but whenver I turned it off they stopped. It was a good day of fishing but the audible anti reverse was a bit too much for me and so it hasnt been fished since. Id probably also throw trolling and live bait into the category of "things that catch fish but people don't do because they prefer using the equipment over catching fish".

Scrounger jig works at nearly any depth. Tom

If someone grabbed you in the pitch dark you’d fight harder too compared to the broad day light... Not being a smart butt just saying lol

You're welcome Roger. I am a St Croix fan and still use several full length blank sticks. I was surprised when the first couple failed and replaced them under warranty; which St Croix did painlessly. However they all eventually blew up. I traded them all in for LTB sticks, so that was decent. A-Jay

Whopper Ploppers- I used to throw these plenty but without a single bite. Spinnerbaits of any brand- I have thrown these under all kinds of conditions deep and shallow night and day with no luck.

Choices. Look at the last few rods I've bought: all casting rods 5'10" MH/F 6'3"" M+/F 6'1" ML+/XF with solid carbon stinger tip 6'9" ML/R Right now among a couple of others, I am looking for a 6'6" MH/XF and a 6'6" H/XF. I have these in the Daiwa TD-S series but am looking for better. It's easy to buy American if I want yet another 7' to 7'4" MH/F stick. But I already have a couple of those and I'm just not one of those Tournament kind of guys who buys 6 of the same thing. I usually buy 1 or 2 of each specific size and style I want. St. Croix might come close on one or two of those rods, but the truth is I am underwhelmed by the last two SC rods I've bought (LTB) and really don't want to risk paying $500 just to see if I like the very top of the line stuff better. I am looking for rods in the $200-300 range new or used. In short, I want the same choices as I would have as a fisherman in Japan. I want some BFS rods, some L and UL action casting rods, a selection of rods that are 6'-6'10", stinger tips, and XF tips on more than one M action model. If you don't know what I mean, compare what Megabass USA offers here as opposed to what they offer the rest of the world. Check out the rod selection at places online like the 7seas Pro Shop. I understand that they make what sells best here, but I am buying rods for me not everyone else. I'd be happy to see everybody here buying their 7'4" H/F and MH/F made in the US. I'd gladly buy made in the US too, but they are not selling what I'm buying.

I was almost convinced that my displeasure with St Croix blanks was personal. Without getting personal about their non-travel blanks, thanks for your experienced opinion. Roger

I had several M, MH and H St Croix Tidemaster travel casting rods. They all suffered blank failure on hooksets. Replaced them with G Loomis Escape travel rods. They have been great. I also have and use Fenwick Methods travel rods. They have been very good as well. A-Jay

The good news is that you can learn a lot about fishing off shore structure right here at Bassresource. tell us a little about your favorite body of water and your abilities as an angler in general. The more you can divulge, the easier it will be to help you get started.

Thanks for the suggestion WRB, we had a blast at Casitas! Caught a couple largemouth bass, both around 3 lbs, and a crappie. Beautiful lake!

Nice work! Like you, I am fairly new to the hobby but not carpenter type stuff. I always try to challenge myself with the next projects. Sometimes it can be something like size, tool in a new way, technique, etc. My latest was a cherry waterfall table that incorporated some epoxy and butterfly inlays (on bottom of table). I also mill my own lumber with a chainsaw a dry it with a small dehumidifier kiln. It is very rewarding to see the work from full tree to finished item.

Simple as that. This forces you to focus on bottom contour, the same thing that fish focus on. As a welcome bonus, the underwater terrain isn't visible to every drive-by hopeful. Roger

The bass in Florida never tell me anything, so that option is off the table. I agree with @J Francho, predators that live in murky water are vibration-oriented, where thumping is important. Furthermore, where there is no light, there is no flash. Roger

Usually this has fruit in it, but this guy decided it makes a “comfortable” bed. Not much better than a hot cup of coffee and some frogging in the morning!

Spent the morning on a smaller lake by myself today. As much as I enjoy going with my 10 year old, it’s nice to have a peaceful morning to yourself every now and again ?. Caught a bunch of smallmouth on a Rapala Skitter V and a Berkley Maxscent General, a few decent largemouth and a couple pike on a frog and a Berkley Maxscent Creature Hawg.

Caught my biggest fish of the day last week at 12:40PM on a sunny, hot day on a walking topwater bait. Thursday, it was overcast and cooler, I couldn't get them to touch a topwater. Turns out fish can't read.

Beetle spin . I was driving down a gravel road yesterday and made a stop at a culvert in an irrigation ditch . A place I use to fish long ago . Armed with a yellow 1/4 ounce Beetle Spin I caught 12 with the largest being two to three lbs .

Another vote for boat buckles I’ve had them for 5 years and no issues

Boat buckles bolted on and twice a season i spray some Tri Flow lubricant on the ratchet mechanism.