A-Jay

I rarely measure the length of the smallmouth bass I land. My 'size' is always judged by the basses weight and I weigh most every fish I feel is close to or over 4 lbs. My favorite places to fish and the ones I fish the most have a decent gene pool that includes a healthy population of bait & brown bass. Finding & catching them, well - there's the rub. IME the 'ratio's' of 4lb plus fish vs 5lb plus fish vs 6lb plus fish vs anything bigger than that, is pretty darn good here and I never take that for granted. The actual ratio reads like fiction. Which doesn't hurt my feeling any. Unlike @Team9nine who literally catches thousands of bass, I do not. If I make 50 - 60 trips a season, I probably average between 150 - 250 bass a year. Can't say for sure as I usually only 'count' plus size fish. I never have 50 fish days here, ever. Just One of these brown beauties a trip, is an Excellent Day for me. However, my log reports indicate that the ones I usually take pictures of often come in pairs or even bunches. Which means many, many fishless trips. Nature of the beast. Fish Hard A-Jay

Sounds perfect for new and/or dry baits, especially without trailers. Be interested how the plan pans out in the long run for storing used, wet baits with or without trailers. A-Jay

Health is the greatest gift. It can help me keep doing what and be with who I love. So I'll continue working most diligently on that. Be present & content on the water while remembering how lucky I am to be out there. Remain true & faithful to who I am. Read the post and see the pictures here of @Dwight Hottle 8lb smallmouth. A-Jay

Easy. It's just simple math. Like weighing 20 lb bags without a scale. A-Jay

Total Body Day 4. Waited until I could get an extra meal in me and hit the home gym in the afternoon. Wasn't my best performance (I never really feel like it is) but it wasn't my worst either. #borninfiftynine https://youtu.be/09kXdL7jOk0?feature=shared A-Jay

Buy aluminum, several in fact. Compared to the $ of SS, they are practically disposable. Seems you need less speed and more accurate helmsmanship. Or buy a jetdrive lower unit. A-Jay

Guess there's really no sense in rewriting the whole thing ~ https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/258333-productive-baits-2023-~/ A-Jay

115 days ~ Calling this "Tight Line Sunday" and I'm starting right here. Best part is, there's virtually no where to go but up ! Stay Warm A-Jay

GMC offers a 2 inch factory lift which I've had on both AT4's now. I like it. A-Jay

You made my point for me. A-Jay

The process is designed to weed out the 'unqualified' who attempt to take advantage of something they are not entitled to. (and they know it). This is what allows the folks that actually need the benefits, to receive them. Every BIT of information needed to apply for benefits (including qualifications) is readily available & the systems works. However, some folks want everything handed to them, while others pass on incorrect information. A-Jay

@BigAngus752 Right off the bat - Thank You for "breaking the Ice" ! I 'voted' for the first choice, only because it did mention animal rescue. But the real deal is that I'm all over the map ~ Finding unproductive outlets for my time, walking the frozen earth in a cloud of darkness, attempting to distract myself from my pain, hoping that time will pass so quickly that I feel like I've been magically transported into the future and the next pre-spawn on Lake Menderchuck, while participating in some type of bizarre of fitness routine. And somehow it gets me through each & every hard water season. 🥴 A-Jay

A-Jay

Two days ago. Go for it dude. A-Jay

With my recent intestinal issue finally resolved, I was back in the home gym this morning. Definitively felt like I had less in the tank, but managed to complete Total Body Day 3. Adjusted the resistance to make sure I still got the scheduled sets & reps. It wasn't pretty but I didn't skip it. #bornnfiftynine A-Jay

Sorry to hear you're on that road. I did it several years ago. Big Stress. Over the course of several months mine went something like this . . . I love you. I hate you. I like you. I hate you. I love you. I think you’re stupid. I think you’re a loser. I think you’re wonderful. I want to be with you. I don’t want to be with you. I would never date you. I hate you. I love you…..I think the madness started the moment we met and you shook my hand. Hope yours goes better. btw I did re-marry a few years later. And to a Human this time. Better. Good Luck A-Jay

This seems less like targeting specific fish and more like playing the Powerball to me. Either way, someone always wills . . . .eventually. A-Jay

Man, you nailed it ! A-Jay

I fish several bodies of water. Strangely, they all have the same name. I am willing to travel some distance to do so. This is why. A-Jay

Just added two 'new colors' to the quill. Looking super sweet too. I am such a sucker for that 'natural / semi clear look'. And at this point, I'm pretty sure Megabass knows it too. A-Jay

Thanks ~ Besides a healthy diet composed of simple but wholesome foods, I take it all and then some. Have been for quite a while now. Not exactly sure if it makes a difference or not, but figure it probably couldn't hurt. Looking forward to getting back at it. Still a couple of days out. A-Jay

When we foster, at least half the trick is to find out what "The Treat of choice is". Sometimes it's everything, other times it's nothing. The nothing dogs are an entirely different training experience. That's when we rely on 'the pack' to really help us out. A-Jay

Every year this thread seems to evolve a little bit. This one’s no different. Something that I haven’t covered in previous versions of this thread is what is it that makes a bait “Productive” for me in the first place ? I mean besides the obvious, what characteristics am I looking for in a bait when targeting plus size brown bass on Lake Menderchuck ? I may leave something out but here’s the gist of it; -When conditions require it, bait needs to cover water while still attracting bites. I need to be able to effectively control the presentation depth & speed. Including complete pauses when indicated. Needs to be capable of being casted a long way and still possess suitable quality hardware & terminal tackle to get a solid hookset at distance. And be able to maintain that all the way to the net. Either way, I want to do everything I can, to remain UNDECETED. Once they are alerted, this show is essentially over. Then there’s Bait ‘size’. This has been a very slippery slope for me. Couldn’t possible list all the baits & various sizes that are effective on plus sized brown bass, there’s just too many. I’ve gone round and round on this one and in the end this is what I’ve come up with. Coming close to matching the size of whatever ‘prey’ I’m expecting my bait to mimic or be in the vicinity of, has paid off. So two examples; bottom baits that might be thought of as crayfish seem to do best when they are close to the size of most of the crayfish in the system I’m fishing. When I’m looking to capitalize on fat smallies that are hunting the early season yellow perch spawn, 4-5 inch jerkbaits have proven themselves time & time again as big bite magnets. Not saying that micro baits and even magnum size baits don’t get bites, because we all know they do. My 2nd biggest SMB ever (6.94 lbs), slurped a ned rig and my very first 6 lb plus smallies hammered a LC 128 jerkbait (American Shad). Despite that, my overall confidence lies in the above mind set. Finally I will always use the ‘lightest gear’ I can to accomplish the above. But do not be miss lead, I’m not an ultralight angler. Far from it in fact. I will always start out on the heavy side of gear and work my way backwards. Tried it the other way and I got burned way too many times to go back. I’d rather get a bite from a plus size fish and land it. If I am missing bites, I may not even know it, but I’m not losing heartbreakers that much either. It’s a tradeoff. The Baits ~ Many of the same players seem to show up year after year here. And for good reason. Super early season just days after ice out, with water temps in the low 40’s and all the way to the low 50’s, My one two punch is a jerkbait and a vibrating jig. Hard bait covers the middle of the water column, and the vibrating jig is my bottom dredge. It’s usually one of the other and on the rarest of days, it could be both. On cloudy days & or over dark bottom areas, I like a dark back bait. Add some sunshine & wind or over sandy or light colored bottoms, I’m usually throwing something lighter colored. The Clown color is an audible and something I send out when the mood strikes me. But it gets bites ! Once the perch spawn is over, usually 45 degrees & above, these bigger fish abandon the shallows and start the courtship behavior. I usually bounce from lake to lake looking to find bass that have yet to get to that stage. Once they are all on beds, I’m done for a while. Then its post spawn, usually takes a full 3 weeks of recovery at least before anything in the 4lb plus class shows up. This is when my fishing turns almost exclusively to either night time or very first light deal. By now the recreational boating public is on the water in somewhat full force and I have no interest in being there for that. Fishing’s usually not the best during that chaos anyway. So I’m on & off the water usually well before they roll out of the rack. Regardless of where & when I’m out there, it it’s flat calm, I’ll target rock piles and the edges of steep drops off long main lake points with topwater. If there’s a breeze, I'm still in the same areas, but burning a spinnerbait just under the surface. Both require stealth and a long cast. With the water temps now on the 60’s plus, these fatties are supercharged. The strikes & battles are epic. As we get into full on summer, and the biggest brown bass go to never never land, meaning I have no clue where or how to get 5 lb fish in July and early August here, so I stopped trying. Instead, I wait, bide my time by prepping my boat and gear for the the final push. Usually starts up in the 2nd or 3rd week of August and runs until say mid September. Big fish come shallow again and they are looking to eat. At the same time the deep main lake point edges can produce again as well. So while I hate wasting the time to do it, I run around a lot looking for biters at this time of year. Still a super early morning deal with water temps as warm as they may be all season – mid to high 70’s here. Smallies although pretty aggressive can also be sort of moody too, when it comes to baits. The same topwaters are a good bet as are the spinnerbaits & vibrating jigs. And when I’m really in a mood, The A-Rig Makes an appearance. Some days they will just HAMMER that thing. This season however was not one of them. Kind of sad too. Because that deal can get addicting and quick. As September fades into October and those water temps really start cooling off here (doesn’t take long) and then two of my favorite & best presentations for sheer numbers come into play. A blade bait & a Swinghead. Honorable mention goes to a couple of small crankbaits as well. The blade bait really does require a fairly clean & hard bottom to be fished effectively. Conversely, the swinghead totally mugs them in a few inched of eel grass; a sand bottom is good to. So the same stuff that would cripple a blade bait presentation, is pure money for a swinghead. There’s a ton of blade baits out there now and I think they can all get bites. However I have yet to find one that out fishes the Original Silver Buddy Blade Baits ½, 5/8 and ¾ oz in lead, silver & gold does it for me. It’s how I fish it that is the magic sauce – less is more. I change the hooks. My swinghead choices are on the other hand very specific. The two baits that address and satisfy my desires/needs are the RPE Tackle Tungsten Swinging Football Jig (No Hook) and the Freedom Tackle Stealth Swim Jig. The RPE rig is obviously Tungsten, come without a hook, can be purchased in bulk, and possesses a unique and very secure hook hanging system. I use the ½ & ¾ oz only here and do add an Owner Oval Split ring to the front line tie. Big Fan. The Freedom Tackle product is offered & sold as a complete bait. And while I do retain the hook & quality skirt that comes with the bait to use in different applications, for my swinghead fishing applications, I am just using the head. And what a killer head it is ! Available in different weights, the ½ & ¾ oz are lead and the ¼ oz offering is plastic – all have a very stout hook hanger. Haven’t had one fail yet. This head design fishes much different than the football head. It’s much more of a swimming, almost gliding action across & along the bottom; rather than bouncing & digging into it like the tungsten head will do. Superior for shallower & light weed areas. HUGE Fan of this one ! Trailers are either a SK Rage Bug or a Reins Punching Predator. I’ll add some color to them too. My hook of choice when throwing the swinghead for brown bass, with the trailers noted above, has been the straight up regular wire Gamakatsu 4/0 EWG. Works well, still lose a few but by & large this one did most of the heavy lifting. The balance between being stout enough to get the fish to the net and still be thin enough to enable long distance hooksets with 15 lb FC in a fine one. I’ve had a few of these ‘open’ just a bit, which never makes me happy. However there’s a new kid in town which may take this ones place. It’s early in my R&D but the Gamakatsu G-Finesse Hybrid Worm has massive potential IMO. At 4/0 maintains the right shape & size BUT carries just a little bit more horsepower on the hookset. Time will tell but until it proves me wrong, I’m going with it. I’m looking for deep main lake basins or flats, a drop off that comes up to 10-15 feet can have fish around it (think hump). I will always fish the top first and then sit on it and fish off it. Hard Cover on a drop or a deep flat can hold many, many bass at this time of year. I’ve exhausted more than half my blade bait supply in short order fishing them more than a few times. Bite windows seem to vary and while there’s often a decent early bite, it’s short lived not to mention often pretty cold. Later in the day like 3 hrs before sunset and right to dark can be some of the best action I’ll see all day. Can make for quite a marathon if I stay for both bites. At this point I usually pick one or the other. This deal usually takes me right to the end of the season & hard water. Like right now. So there it is – Now let’s hear (and See) what were your best producing presentations in 2023 ~ Post them up ! A-Jay

LOL ~ Sometimes I feel like a human treat dispenser . . . . (We use a different flavor of the same dry food we feed them). In every pocket, in every coat. Ice cubes are big deal for some reason as well. A-Jay

Stomach Flu. 🙃 A-Jay