WolfyBrandon

I've been putting together a collection of various spoons to always keep in my tackle bag to do exactly that, and hopefully in the near future I can give it a try. Problem is I have a limited number of combos and already have 5+ other baits I want to tie on and try, but can't because the 6 baits I already have selected I plan to use. I make anywhere between 0-2 bait changes per trip on average, and I'm good about putting in time with a bait before changing. If I change baits 90% of the time its because either I need something weedless and don't have it, or I need a bait to run a different depth. Also on a side note my fishing log determines some of my bait selection as well. I have 3 different projects in the bait department. 1) A personal seasonal guide I put together that I'm testing out. 2) A specific selection of bait types I plan to focus on for that year. 3) Bait type & catch number results. So I guess the best way to put it is, it will happen when it happens. lol Hence why I've substituted the grub for the spoon in those situations and it seems to be working... (for now) WolfyBrandon

[August 24, 2018] As mentioned in my previous post, fall is fast approaching. The forecast for today showed a high of 73F, low of 49F, with an 11mph wind out of the SW. Arrived at Jeremy's after work around 1:45pm, (already rigged up baits the previous night for our planned trip) here is my bait selection for today... Had a few delays before the lake (Gas, Store, Construction) combined with it being a Friday and traffic at the boat ramp. We launched the boat and where headed out at ~3:00pm. We were pleased to see that even though there was high wind today, the lake was fairly calm. There is still a good amount of smoke from the local wildfires that seems to blow in or out depending on the conditions each day. We arrive at our First Location, Water Temp ~69F. Jeremy quickly hooks into the first bass of the day... 1 lb 04 oz Soon I hook into my second bass of the day (actually caught my first little dink on the grub while we were at the launch ramp earlier). After that we stopped getting bit, so we decided to move. Second location, Water Temp ~70-71F. I kept seeing a lot of activity on the graph out deep in ~30ft, so I decided to throw the lipless around for a while. Tried various retrieves, letting it sink to bottom, yo-yo, etc, but never connected with anything... Even tried fishing up shallow using the other baits, but nada. time to move... Third Location, Water Temp ~70F. This has been a common sight I've been seeing on the graph lately, and its lead me to make multiple short casts behind the boat with the grub, and I've caught numerous small bass by doing this. So... I decided to swap the plastic worm (which I wasn't using much) for this... Strike King 6XD Crankbait (Natural Shad) Had that combo in my hand for most of the early evening that we fished, and lets just say they were "chewing" cranks. Caught 4, one being my "Fish of the Day"... 16 & 1/4", 1 lb 08 oz Whats interesting was Jeremy was throwing a popper during the low light hours, and though he caught some early on with it... as the light faded the bite slowed down for him but stayed steady for me out deep. Was a good day. We each caught 5+, I caught a total of 9, and we had to leave them biting... WolfyBrandon - - - - - - - - - - [August 27, 2018] Congrats to my fishing buddy Jeremy for catching his new PB Smallmouth Bass!!! 4 lb 09 oz Post WIP, Coming Soon... WolfyBrandon

[August 19, 2018] This year is really flying by quick, I can already see it's starting to transition from summer to fall with the shorter days and colder temps. The forecast for today shows partly cloudy with a high of 88F, low of 59F, with falling pressure. That doesn't tell the whole story though, as the conditions lately have been heavily impacted by the smoke from the local wildfires... It's been twelve days since our last fishing trip, and today we finally had the opportunity for another one. It was on our weekend, so I met up with Jeremy at his place around 6:00am to gear up and head out. We arrived at the ramp and noticed it was pretty busy, which was expected being a Sunday. Water temp was ~71F, and had a little color to it probably from all the boat activity over the weekend. First location - we both quickly hooked into our first bass of the day, and Jeremy also landed a nice pike. We left in a hurry this morning so I didn't have a chance to change/retie baits from our previous trip like I usually do. The bite seemed to slow down so I made a minor change swapping my current squarebill (KVD 1.5) to my new 6th Sense Crush 50x (Live Baby Bluegill) that I wanted to try out. The main difference between them that I noticed was the KVD is silent, where the 6th Sense has a faint rattle chamber. We fished our first location for an hour and a half, and the only other thing I caught was an 8 & 1/2" yellow perch on the new squarebill. Time to move... Second Location, 8:45am, Water temp 71F, Clarity 10ft+. First cast with the grub, I hook into my "fish of the day" that was followed by one of equal size to the boat. 17", 1 lb 12 oz As we were moving along I saw a lot of activity out deep on the graph, so I made a short cast behind us and pulled up an 11 & 1/4" Smallmouth out of ~30ft. I did try working a lipless out deep along the bottom, but it never resulted in anything. Continuing to throw my new 6th Sense Squarebill, I hooked into something big... and told Jeremy to head for deep water. After a good long fight, it turned out to be my very own "freshwater cuda" aka pike. 9lb, 10oz It was now after 11:00am, I made a long bomb cast with my topwater popper next to a dock as we were moving to another area that resulted in a 12" Smallmouth exploding on it, and becoming my 6th bass today. 11:30am Jeremy hooked his 3rd bass on a Spinnerbait that had ~7 followers with it. Around noon he hooked into his 4th on the Spinnerbait, this time Largemouth. We decided to move again, but sadly our plans were cut short as the pull cord on the big motor broke (luckily it started on that pull). A change of plans put us at a different location within range of the ramp using the electric motor. Third Location, 12:45pm, ~3ft Clarity, Water Temp 73F. Worked a Horny Toad across the entire field of pads within the area and only had a single small bass blow up on it multiple times, but no hookup. Using a grub, Jeremy made a perfect cast into an open boat house and hooked into his 5th bass today... We fished our way back to the ramp and decided to call it a day at 2:15pm. All in all it was a good day, we each caught 5 or more bass, no giants unless you count the sizable pike. Had to deal with the wind a bit during the first part of the day and waves from boat traffic during the later. Actually had one wave come over the front of the boat a bit... It's too bad the pull cord broke on us, was really hoping to continue on to some key locations, but at least we were able to catch something when trying to salvage the rest of the day. The smoke from the wildfires was thick on the drive home, this is the worst I've seen it this year... WolfyBrandon

Al's Goldfish Lure Co Hook Bonnets @ Sportsman's Warehouse WolfyBrandon

[August 06, 2018] It's been 17 long days since Jeremy & I last fished. There was a bass tournament held last Saturday (4th). It's the summer season and temps are now reaching into the 90's. The past weekend saw a lot of pressure from both tournament & weekend anglers as well as recreational boaters. All in all, I was just happy to finally get back out and get some casts in, and thought even if I only caught a little 8 incher to stay consistent, I would consider that a bonus. Well I caught that little 8 incher... As well as a few upgrades... WolfyBrandon

- - - - - Just completed my Whopper Plopper Box in a Plano 3771 "Thin" CDS Box. Sizes 75, 110, 130 - It took some work to get it just right, but all those baits and sizes in this thin box is awesome. WolfyBrandon

New for 2018 WolfyBrandon

[Edit] WolfyBrandon

WolfyBrandon

^ Previous [June 20, 2018] Today was an example of the power of "PMA". It was a Wednesday, Jeremy and I got off work and met up at his place for an after work fishing trip. We launched the boat at 2:30pm, and headed to our first spot. It was shallow, water temp ~70F, we could see bass all over. We both were catching little ones left and right, and having a great time. Then there was a moment where I turned to look behind us and out of nowhere there was a guy in a bass boat on his trolling motor that came right up to us, like less than 30ft away... At first it was all cool, and he asked if we had caught anything. So we told him yeah been catching little ones... Then he proceeds to go right around the back of us, and cut right in-front of where we were headed. Once he gets like 50ft away, he starts up his big motor and just has it idling as he stands on the trolling motor and drives down the next 1/2 mile of shoreline that we planned to fish not even making a single cast... Jeremy and I both look at each-other and are like... "Well, that was rude..." What happened next was - we both continued fishing the shoreline that the dude just cruised through - like nothing had ever happened... (I just checked the time stamp on my images) Less than 5 minutes after that guy cut in-front of us Jeremy makes a cast and hooks into his "fish of the day"... We both continue catching them just like before, Jeremy even breaks his one day total record today catching 30+ bass. Two hours after his catch, I make a cast with a lizard to the outside edge of a log parallel to the shoreline and nothing, I then make a second cast over the log to the inside edge between the log and the shoreline and hook into my "fish of the day"... While I was in the process of landing my "fish of the day", Jeremy doubled up with a nice 3lb 05oz Largemouth. Fishing was so good we didn't arrive back at the ramp till 8:00pm. (We have to be up at ~3:30am for our work schedule.) We both made it work, so good times... Looking back on this day, we could of easily got frustrated and moved to another location and missed out on all of this. Instead we kept positive and continued on with our original plan we had from the start and it payed off. There has been countless times over the past 3 years from when I first learned Positive Mental Attitude from Gerald Swindle that it has saved my fishing day. Whether you choose to believe it or not, PMA is indeed a powerful tool in the tackle box. WolfyBrandon

- - - - - - - - - - Just updated the layout of my Football Head Jig Box to incorporate the new Strike King J-Lee Comeback Jigs... Red Box - Pepper Custom Baits Jigs - 3 Colors x 3 Slots Per Color x 3 Jigs Per Slot (27 Total). Green Box - Stike King J-Lee Comeback Jigs - 3 Colors x 1 Slot Per Color x 3 Jigs Per Slot (9 Total). Blue Box - Strike King Football Jigs - 7 Colors x 1 Slot Per Color x 3 Jigs Per Slot (21 Total). WolfyBrandon

Some Recent Tackle Pickups... - - - - - - - - - - Also just completed my box of Strike King KVD Deep Diving Jerkbaits... WolfyBrandon

^ Previous [June 08, 2018] WolfyBrandon

^ Previous [June 03, 2018] WolfyBrandon

^ Previous [May 20, 2018] Sometime last week while planning our next fishing trip, Jeremy mentioned that he might not have a lot of time. He asked if I would still be interested even if we only had a few hours to fish, to which I replied I'm always willing to go. We planned to fish during our weekend on Sunday, meet up at his place around 6:00am, and probably fish till around noon. When I woke up I took a look at the forecast for today... I could see it was partly cloudy with a high of 73F. There was a front off the coast, and a low pressure system to the south. It was looking pre-frontal as the pressure was going to fall after a few hours, and the clouds were moving in with a chance of rain. Arrived at his place at 5:50am, retied my starting bait selection which was the same as our previous trip except I swapped the Bladed Jig to a Wacky Rig. We headed to the lake at 6:15am, launched the boat at 6:35am, and noticed the lake level had dropped slightly since our last trip. Water temp also dropped from 49F to 48F, and the water clarity was now about ~3-4ft. We headed to our first location at 6:45am... It was a short run to our first location, water temp was 49F, and stained with ~3ft clarity. We began fishing and noticed the area had some current to it. They must be really drawing the lake down today, which explains the lower lake level even after a day of heavy rain last week and the snow melt and spring runoff still continuing. I was using the current to my advantage letting my weightless wacky rig get pulled 3-6ft under a large mat of wood, logs, & debris. I didn't have high hopes with the water being this cold. We moved down to some current breaks and fished around them and even into a pocket with slack water. There was enough pollen on the surface you could easily see where the edge of the current was. We fished our first location for 1 hour, and not a single bite for either of us (lots of snags though due to the current). During our time fishing the first location we saw numerous bass boats heading to the south end of the lake. I haven't been checking up on the tournament schedule lately, but what we didn't know was there was actually a bass tournament held on this lake just yesterday the 19th. We decided to move, and were discussing where our second location should be. Jeremy wanted to head south where everyone else was headed (thinking they might know something we don't), and I wanted to head north where everyone else might be overlooking. We actually had some time today and the possibility to do both, so the question was which one first? I figured since the south end is shallower we should head there first during the morning hours, and before the fishing pressure increases. The idea was to spend and hour or so down there and if things don't work out, turn around and head back up north while we have time. We also wanted to at least check it out as around this time last year (May 22, 2017) we actually had good luck fishing the south end, though year to year conditions can vary. At 7:50am, we headed south... On the way there we slowed down to an idle to check out a ledge and creek channel that we passed over a few trips ago and marked fish. There was also a large debris field near it on the surface created from all the runoff. We didn't see much activity out deep, so we continued on. Second location, water temp 48F, water clarity stained ~3ft. Jeremy wanted to make a quick stop and give this area a try, as it's an area he's fished in the past. We fished it for 25 minutes without a bite and decided to move as the water here was still pretty cold. In the short amount of time we spent here, we could still see boats coming to the south end of the lake. Third location, arrival time 8:35am, water temp 57-60F, water clarity stained ~4.5ft. We could see two other boats in this general area off in the distance. 10 minutes after we began fishing, Jeremy gets my attention and points out what looks like good sized fish hitting the surface like crazy out in the open water. At first I thought it might be birds as I could see something but couldn't make it out. So I zoomed in 8x with my camera and snapped a picture. Then zoomed in on the picture and could see it was actually a small patch of lilly pads out there and sizable fish hitting the surface all around it... We put the trolling motor on high and started heading for them. Couldn't tell if they were bass or not, but we could tell they were sizable fish over a few pounds. I just so happened to bring my box of topwater walking baits with me today, so I swapped out the Deep Diving Jerkbait for a Reaction Innovations Vixen... There were multiple surface strikes every few seconds within a very large radius, they were everywhere and before we knew it we had them on both sides of us. They were busting like a cast & a half away from us, and I could almost reach them with the vixen, so we stopped the trolling motor and went quiet. That's when they got a little closer and I was able to make a few good casts with the vixen and... nothing. I had this sinking feeling that they were not bass, but was curious just to catch one to identify the species. Time was ticking away and I told Jeremy the only way we could possibly catch one is to wait till one busts and cast something right on the rings. Well as luck would have it, one busted the surface, Jeremy made a perfect cast with a spoon onto the rings and let it sink to the bottom. Once he hopped it up and began the retrieve his rod loaded up, Fish On! It was only when we got it to the boat we learned they were big Northern Pike Minnows... Not the target species we were hoping to catch, however this is the first time either of us has seen surface activity like that, chased them down, and were successful in catching one of them. So in a way, it was a win for us. All the surface activity had brought in numerous ospreys & bald eagles to the area, and though we didn't want the fish, a bald eagle was more than happy to make a meal of it... I swapped the Vixen back to the Deep Diving Jerkbait, and we headed back to where we were originally fishing. I started throwing the Wacky Rig around and actually broke off what would of been my first bass today (seen it flash). Shortly after that (as I was retying) Jeremy hooked into his first bass which was a nice little largemouth. I was also throwing the grub around, and felt something pick it up and drop it. Never could get that fish to come back and bite again or take the Wacky Rig. We spent a total of 1 hour and 47 minutes at our third location and those were our only bites. Not wanting to waste any more time, it was now time to head north. We decided to have a little lunch break on our way out, as it was now 10:30am. Headed north, we could see snow still high in the mountains, it's going to be a while before that cold runoff is finished... Fourth location, water temp 51-52F, water clarity stained ~3.5ft. We arrived near one of our "honey holes" right at 11:00am. Behind us, we could see the edge of that front moving in... Throwing both the Wacky Rig & Grub, It took about 30 minutes and I started catching them... Bass 01 - 15'' - 1 lb 05 oz - Grub Bass 02 - 14 & 1/4" - 1 lb 08 oz - Wacky Rig Bass 03 - 14 & 1/2" - 1 lb 07 oz - Wacky Rig Bass 04 - 16" - 1 lb 14 oz - Grub I was hooking them one after another yet Jeremy was struggling to even get a bite. It wasn't until he made a bait change to a soft plastic craw, he was able to catch his second bass today. They seemed to want a dead stick presentation or something, I would throw the Wacky Rig out and just let it sink, work it out to 10-12ft depth and wait. When I would check the bait the fish would already have it. Had one deep hooked, but my Quarrow Hook Remover made short work of it. (Love that tool, it's a fish life saver.) Spent a total of 1 hour 55 minutes at our fourth location, and it was now 1:20pm. We only planned to fish till around noon, but the fishing was just starting to get good... So we decided to keep fishing and head even further north up to this specific bay Jeremy wanted to give a try. With the front moving in, the wind from the west had picked up even more where it was now starting to whitecap, and the boat ride north was getting rough. Fifth location, water temp 60-62F, water clarity stained ~4ft. We were fishing the southeast corner of the bay, right where the wind was pushing everything, and it was loaded. Jeremy caught his 3rd, we doubled up for my 5th and his 4th, then he caught his 5th, and later I hooked my 6th. Bass 05 - 13 & 1/2" - 1 lb 01 oz - Wacky Rig Bass 06 - 14 & 1/4" - 1 lb 05 oz - Wacky Rig There were more fish in the area, Jeremy saw a good sized bass follow in one he had hooked. I made a hookset with the Wacky Rig where I lost a Yum Dinger, but still had the hook & O-Ring. Something swiped at my spinnerbait as I saw it move sideways but didn't get hooked. I even managed to throw the Squarebill and hook into a bonus fish... A nice 7 lb pike (didn't get a measurement). Even though the fishing was great, it was now 3:00pm. We were 3 hours into overtime and had to call it, so we headed back to the ramp. We pulled the boat out at 3:30pm. The front had moved in over the south end of the lake, and we could really feel the drop in temperature as we headed back to the ramp. We even saw a bolt of lightning off in the distance. It was quite the day, started off slow, but with a change in location, and even the changing weather, things really took a turn for the better. It ended up being our best fishing trip so far this year. WolfyBrandon

^Previous [May 03, 2018] After our last fishing trip where I had great success catching 5 Bass and 1 Pike, I really thought the fishing was going to get even better as the water continued to warm. Jeremy and I planned another fishing trip the following Thursday of that week (today), which would be a shorter after work fishing trip. Got off at 2:00pm, arrived at his place shortly after and loaded up the boat with our gear. We both decided to retie baits after our last trip and decide on a plan for today. Somehow all that took an hour, and we headed toward the lake at 3:00pm. Launched the boat and were headed out at 3:30pm. We had decided to go to our furthest location first (which was a new area) and depending on the situation we could work our way back to the area we had fished last Sunday which was closer to the ramp. When we arrived at our first location, there was a heavy west wind. As we were fishing west to east, the wind was really pushing the boat faster than we wanted to fish. We couldn't really fish that area effectively, but as we continued on it was more protected from the wind. Things were pretty uneventful, until about the ~20th cast with the new Zman Jack Hammer Chatterbait I hear a "SNAP" as the line breaks at the knot and I watch as it sails through the air and splashes out in the middle of nowhere... R.I.P. Uhhh, didn't I just retie everything earlier? Must have weakened the line when tying that knot I guess... Oh and of course I only had 1 in that color because of price... We continue fishing and get back into this area that just looked great. Water is warm ~62F, Stained with ~2ft Clarity. Lake level is a little high so lots of shoreline cover, some rocky areas, vegetation, some matted debris... It had a little of everything. We both figured it just had to hold some bass... Two hours later, not a bite. Had some pike chase our baits around which wasn't the best sign when looking for bass, but we covered so much water by the time we finally accepted that this was not going to work it was already 5:30pm. We only had about 30 min left to make something happen, so we decided to head back to where we last caught them on Sunday, as that's about all we had time for anyway. When we arrived we noticed the wind had calmed down a bit as it was becoming evening, and the water temp had jumped from the previous ~53F the last time we fished it to ~55-57F. Things were looking pretty similar to the area we had just fished... All day we were throwing a mix of reaction moving baits and finesse soft plastics. Nothing was working, until about 30 min into fishing our second location Jeremy makes a cast up shallow over a log near the flooded brush and watches as a small Largemouth follows his bait out and takes it... We both had been throwing soft plastics up to the flooded brush all day in both locations and nothing until now. I tried focusing on the flooded brush for a while, until I got a bad loop knot in my line and didn't want to spend the time to fix it and retie as we were already fishing overtime. Basically I locked a Spinnerbait in my hand, and Jeremy locked a soft plastic in his hand, and we fished till 7:15pm and had to call it. I swore earlier I had a hit on the Spinnerbait but just didn't connect. In the end I don't think it mattered what I was using as neither of us had another bite that evening. So yeah... I Zeroed. Not since 2015 have I zeroed after I started catching them as I've made consistency my #1 goal. Mistakes were made this day, first of all being busy / lazy I forgot to look back on my weather logs before fishing, where we had a day with a high of 58F / low of 38F. Then I might of thought it was possible the bass pulled out. A lot of time was wasted fishing unproductive water in a situation were we didn't have a lot of time to begin with, and fishing two areas that were similar to each other and both unproductive. If I could have a do over I would only fish the first location for 1 hour, then completely change it up, like head to the northern part of the lake where the water is a bit cooler, clearer, and deeper. Fish an area completely different to what we were currently fishing that wasn't working... - - - - - [May 14, 2018] The day after I zeroed - I spent some time looking over my fishing log for that day to learn from it, and that's where I came up with the last part for the day above. 10 long days later... Jeremy and I are able to schedule another fishing trip for today Monday the 14th. It's part of our weekend so we had a good 6 hours to fish (~8:30am - 2:30pm). I arrived at his place early and started gearing up. It's been quite a few days since our last trip, and I believe "every day is a new day", so in my mind we were starting from scratch. Documented the weather over the past week and it's been a mix of overcast days with rain or thunderstorms, with a few partly cloudy to clear days with the average temp hovering around the low 70's. Today's forecast was said to have high bluebird skies, with high pressure - falling as the day progressed, and a high of up to 82F. It's also the day before the new moon, and two days before an incoming front said to consist of two days of thunderstorms. We planned to head up north to the deeper, cooler, clearer water in search of some smallmouth after the results from our last trip. I wasn't opposed to giving the south end a try as it's been over a week since our last trip, but it was more of a decision just to mix things up, try something new, and get information on other areas of the lake during this time. I recently put together a new combo, so now I can rig up to 5 baits at one time, here is my starting bait selection for today... When we arrived at the lake the first thing I noticed was the lake level was now about 2 feet high from normal pool. Stained with ~2-3ft clarity, and the water temp at the ramp had dropped from 51 on our last trip to 49. The warming weather and rainfall is melting snow still high up in the mountains creating runoff that is dumping into the lake leading to the current conditions. This makes fishing the south end of the lake tricky as during the early season we can get a good warming trend yet the water temp will remain either the same or drop a few degrees in temperature. They also release a lot of water from the lake to prevent flooding during the early season - so there is a constant dynamic of releasing warming water only to be replaced with new cold runoff delaying the lake from heating up (years past I've caught bass off beds in late June). The decision to head north will put us in an area with more stable conditions. We arrive at our first location around 8:45am, water temp 53F. I begin with tossing the deep diving jerkbait, and 5 min into fishing I hook into a 4 lb 07 oz, 22 inch Northern Pike Minnow... Not the target species I'm looking for, but it felt good to hook into something of size after my last outing. 15 min further into fishing I make a cast with the grub to the shallow part of a dock (as the lake level is 2 ft higher than normal pool) and within seconds after the grub hits the bottom it's fish on. Bass 01 - 16 & 1/4", 2 lb 07 oz I actually boat flipped that bass, and right when I got it in the boat it's sharp sandpaper teeth cut my 10 lb Trilene Sensation line... Covering water, we fished around our first location for ~1 hour 30 min, and that was the only bite. We decided it was time to move, so we headed a bit further north. Second Location has more depth to it, Water Temp was 52F. Fishing with the grub again, making casts to the flooded shoreline cover. 25 min into fishing I notice the tail of the grub got hooked on the open hook of the jig which I find suspicious as that doesn't happen often. I make a second cast to the flooded brush and it felt like I had pulled it over a limb or something but wasn't sure, so I make a third cast and let the grub sit, next thing I know something's swimming with it so I set the hook, fish on... Bass 02 - 13 & 3/4", 1 lb 05 oz Fishing our second location for ~1 hour 30 min, again that was our only bite. It was now 12:00pm, I had boated two fish, Jeremy had nothing, so I let him decide where we should try next. It was mid day, hot, we lost what little wind we had earlier and it was looking like tough conditions. We turned the boat around and ended up heading back to a location south of our first location today. Third Location, Water Temp 60-62F. After fishing for 20 min, we get to this big dock that isn't normally there, and is just temporarily positioned near the shoreline. We both cast all around it and no bites. When we get to the other side and just as I'm about to give up on it, I'm reeling my grub back to the boat and see a little smallmouth under 12 inches follow it out from under the dock and turn away. That was our first clue that there are fish here, they just might not be committing to our baits. I give Jeremy a chance to fish it, as I take some time to change baits. Since we have high skies, low wind, and I want something weightless I can fish slower, I decide to swap out the Spinnerbait for a Wacky Rig. We gave it some time but nothing resulted from it, so we continued on. There was a shallow flat with clumps of vegetation in about 5ft of depth we gave a try, but only managed to see two pike, one which followed Jeremy's spinnerbait to the boat and nipped at it but didn't get hooked. We both were totally junk fishing during the mid day lull, just trying to make something happen. I even swapped out the chatterbait for a buzzbait just for the fun of it. We actually seen a few fish bust the surface but couldn't tell what they were. At this point in the day I was just fun fishing hoping Jeremy would hook into something so he wouldn't get skunked. We fished the third location for just over 2 hours, when Jeremy said he would take the loss as it was now time for us to head back... Pulled the boat out at 2:50pm. Tough day for us, covering water was key just to catch the two as they were miles apart. We fished shallow, deep, slow, fast, finesse baits, and reaction baits. This is the time of year I struggle, that late pre-spawn to early-spawn time. If the water is between 48F-55F the fishing is good, but once it hits 56-62 its a struggle. It's still early for the spawn in my area, at least a few weeks out, need the water temps to increase a bit and the conditions & weather to stabilize. I did talk with someone who I trust that also fished on this day as well. They had better luck than us, and mentioned the best fish seemed to come very early in the day (like before we were even on the water) and seemed to shut down after 11:00am, which fits with when I caught my fish. Maybe with the new moon they are feeding early then shutting off during the day, or maybe it has something to do with location and we just haven't found the right area yet. All in all, I'm more than happy with the two I caught. WolfyBrandon

WolfyBrandon

[April 29, 2018] Jeremy's "Fish of the Day" 4 lb 02 oz Largemouth Bass My Baits That Were Successful Today 01. Grub - Bass #1 & #2 02. Spinnerbait - Bass #3, Pike #1 03. Squarebill - Bass #4 & #5 WolfyBrandon

They are Rapala Shadow Rap Shads in the deep version. They have a good action to them and slow float with head up profile. Could weigh them down with a size larger hooks or split rings to make them suspend or slow sink and maybe even dive deeper... could be deadly. Honestly haven't had a chance to fish them a whole lot yet, been working to complete my box of them. Hard to believe they came out at ICAST 2016, seems like it was just yesterday... it's already getting harder to find them at my local stores... WolfyBrandon

[April 26, 2018] 1st Bass of 2018 19'', 3lb 03oz Smallmouth Bass Winter is finally over, but it's been a rough early spring. The weather has been non-stop rain/snow every day, and it wasn't until last week my area finally got the warming trend I've been waiting for since the beginning of the year. I had plans with my buddy Jeremy that Monday (4-23-18) would be our first fishing trip of 2018. Monday is one of our scheduled days off from work, and having the extra time to fish would help us on our first trip out this year. The day was looking good with a forecast of clear skies and a high of around 62F. Sadly, while I was at work on the 21st (two days before our fishing trip), there was a big wind storm which got me sick later that evening. I was in bed all the next day, and Monday morning when I woke up at 4:00am for fishing, I was still sick and had no energy so I had to cancel our plans. Jeremy did head out with another friend that day since I couldn't make it, and they both managed to catch some good bass, which was their first fish of the year. We rescheduled for Thursday the 26th, which would be a shorter after work fishing trip. We had till 7:00pm to fish, when we launched the boat and were headed to our first spot it was 3:30pm. We decided to start where he had caught them last Monday and adjust from there. I had 4 combos, and was throwing (1) a Lipless (2) a Crankbait, (3) a Chatterbait, (4) a Grub. Water temp was 50-53F, and Clarity was Stained 1-2ft. We fished the first spot for a good 30 min without a bite. I made a cast with the grub on the new combo I put together for this year and was working it slowly along the bottom. When I lifted it up it felt like it hit something, but then started pulling back, so I reeled and swept the rod back and it was fish on. It was a good fish, it felt heavy and I could feel it head shaking... then a few seconds later the hook popped out. Never got to see it, so it will be another one that haunts me. I had learned that the new Medium-Heavy combo I just put together for this year, was more like a Medium compared to my other combos. I just didn't make a strong enough hookset to really drive the hook in. We fished that first spot for over an hour and that was the only bite, so it was time to move. Second location was a bit warmer at 53F, with more stain to the water around 1ft Clarity. 25 min into fishing Jeremy hooks into his first fish of the day which was a good Smallmouth probably around ~2 pounds (didn't weigh it). I was throwing all 4 baits, mixing up retrieves and nothing, not even another bite. By this time it was 6:00pm and we had an hour left. Started to think about the one I lost and how it might be a 1 bite a day deal and how I might have missed my opportunity. There was a lot of little things that day, like snags, multiple break offs from fishing an open hook, line twist since I recently put new line on all my combos for this year, etc. I still managed good Positive Mental Attitude though, knew the water was warm, we had bites / caught one, and we still had time. We both had different ideas on what should be our third (and last) location. I mentioned mine was near some deeper water which I found to be good during the early season in years past. It's also a place that I believe is over looked and doesn't receive a lot of fishing pressure. I mentioned we can run to it, spend 15-20 min fishing it, and if we don't get a bite we can head back. The one possible down side is that it's on the shady side of the lake, and our results today were in the direct sunlight. We decided to head to my spot for our last location. Third location, 6:12pm, water temp was 54F. I decided to change Grub colors from Green Pumpkin to Junebug as the water was still stained at 1ft Clarity and we were in darker conditions being in shadow now. I also changed just to fish something new to see if it helps. 10 min into fishing our third location Jeremy hooks into his second bass of the day a Smallmouth probably around ~1.5lb (didn't weigh it). 5 min after his fish, I make a cast near the last dock and seconds after my grub hits the bottom I see my line moving off... I wasn't about to make the same mistake again, so I reeled down and gave a good hookset with the new combo and it was fish on. It had me wrapped around the last piling for a few seconds... got it to the boat and figured I had better lip this one, and that's the one in the first picture. Landed it at 6:27pm, and even managed to hook a second one at 12", 13oz. Jeremy hooked his third of the day (similar size to mine) at 6:48pm. We headed back to the boat ramp at 7:04pm. Edit: Bonus picture from this day, Canada Goose nesting in a flower pot. WolfyBrandon

Just put together a new box dubbed "Various Lipless Crankbaits", it consists of different brands of lipless crankbaits, with a good color selection theme for each... WolfyBrandon

New Addition To The Family 7' 0", Medium-Heavy Power, Fast Action, Shimano Clarus Spinning Rod & Pflueger President (5.2:1) Spinning Reel (40X) WolfyBrandon

WolfyBrandon

It's on my list as well... Only one store in my local area had StudderSteps, and only the 5.0 size. I'm planning on experimenting with larger topwater baits anyway... I actually wanted to try KVD Line and Lure before I used Real Magic, but its been impossible to find at my local shops. So I started using Real Magic and it seems to work fine for me. I actually seen KVD L&L recently and might give it a go when my Real Magic supply runs dry. What's a Toadrunner?... Sounds like a knockoff or something... lol J/K I love Booyah's stuff. Honestly I haven't seen those yet, and I figure I will give the original a try first. I'm more excited for those Live Target Hollow Body Popping Frogs I picked up... I've been waiting since the end of last year for those to come out. WolfyBrandon

Far From It...