Team9nine

Just one small bass today, so no posts in that thread, but I did find a couple more good crappie - One just missing the magic mark at 2.91 lbs and another right at 2 lbs. The pipe flange in the second picture is 18” for perspective.

We must share a bit of the same practicality (or is it frugality?)...at least until it comes to jeans Then I probably get you there - lol

Pretty brutal front moved through mid-week. First day post front and I knew it would be tough. Missed a good bite, broke one off, but was able to land a pair of 3 pounders…just so happens one was a crappie, and it was the bigger of the two (3.30) 😎 These fish are Lake Menderchuck Bait & Tackle approved (last pic) 😉

We now return you to our most current Big Bass thread where our members expound, for pages and pages, on all the incredible presentation details, skill, effort and knowledge required to catch big bass… Carry on 😆

“Now, the rest of the story” as Paul Harvey would say. I’ve never been without a boat for the last 35 years. The Midwest bank stuff was just the most convenient for a stretch of time, but a lot of boat trips were still made, just often for crappie. Prior to that, though, I fished bass tournaments for 25 years, so I’ve seen a lot of water in my day. I was actually looking forward to the challenge of fishing completely ‘new to me’ water for bass. There were still some adjustments; mostly different types of structure and cover types compared to the Midwest, along with some deep water options now that we rarely had back in the Midwest. The suspended bass bite is all new to me, too. It took about 3-4 fishless trips to figure it out back in January, but the pieces are finally falling into place. But every day on the water is a learning opportunity.

The recent 4” of cold rain we received has put a nice stain throughout the lake and dropped water temps into the high 40s. Tomorrow, the next Arctic blast hits with a rain/snow/sleet mix, followed by a couple windy, cold days. But today was nice, topping 50 degrees with a light breeze and some sun…and I was able to scrounge half a dozen bass to the boat - happy, happy.

There are already 16 pages worth of topics with FFS mentions. Might start with this fairly recent one that has over 250 replies before we all go down the same path again: https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/262272-a-pro-angler-voices-concerns-about-ffs/

If I might, some clarification on dating specific line brands based on a historical news search. Trilene introduced their original nylon fishing line back in 1959, but the Big Game branded line didn't come out until 1985. P-line as a company was founded in 1982, but Floroclear came out around Dec. 2000, and their CXX line dates to 1995. The earliest P-line reference I found was in 1985. The earliest YZH reference I found was in 2000. Mccoy Mean Green dated to 1993. Maxima Ultragreen was referenced to 1980 at its earliest. Izorline as a company dates to 1973 and was founded by Russ Izor. The line was originally manufactured by DuPont for him. Izorline Platinum dates back to 1998. Berkley Sensation = 2001.

THIS ^^ Back in Indiana, it was state regulation that you could only run electric troll motors on any lake under 300 acres unless that lake was granted a legal exemption. Three of the four closest lakes to me in SC ranging from 300-800 acres have either 10 or 15 hp max limits on them.

And there is the difference, IMO. Very few people get that opportunity any more, but unpressured bass (or any game fish for that matter), just behave differently. Not a lot of waters, especially public ones, where the biggest remaining bass haven’t changed their behaviors in some way (location, aggressiveness, feeding windows, etc.).

This is the most telling aspect in your case. If backlashes and hangups that have to be pulled until something breaks are commonplace, then fluoro isn’t the answer for you. You’re much better off with some type of mono/copoly. I’d even hesitate to recommend a hybrid or coated fluoro line…and I’d never recommend Floroclear - lol. My guess is your first early break-off with it won’t be your last 😉

Been a while since I’ve posted some crappie pics, but it was the best bite going today, so…these were all 1.5-1.9 lb. fish.

Bass didn’t like today’s cold front, but I didn’t blank, either. On the other hand, the crappie bite wasn’t bad (Other species catch thread), so there's that.

This is only my second winter season of fishing here, and it’s been completely different than last year. High level assumption is that water clarity dictates the bite. If it’s clear, they are out (main lake) on shad mostly and feeding up, and if it’s stained, they’re up on structure and cover and feeding down.

Can’t get anything to eat on the bottom. Mostly jerkbaits and swimbaits or ‘jighead minnows’, with a few crankbait fish. Fish have been focused around shad schools on main lake from 1’-10’ ft. If more rain = more stain, I might finally get to catch them on a jig or Ned rig.

Back out on the water after a couple wet, cold days. Over 3” of rain, but surface temps only dropped 4-5 degrees. Fish moved again, but we eventually landed on them and caught about a dozen and a half in 3 hours.

The problem is the FFS/tourney conversations always seem to conveniently overlook ‘size structure’ and go straight to ‘population’ effects. It’s the former where I believe you’ll see the negative effects show up if early studies are any indication.

These big bass threads are always so - what’s the word - Interesting? Entertaining? That’s all. Carry on 😎

Usually just 2”-3” before tying the connecting knot unless the braid end looks suspect, then as much as seems appropriate. If I were to hang up and break off at the leader knot, I’d cut back a little more before retying, also.

We hit 80 yesterday, but struggled to top 50 today under partly cloudy skies and an east wind at 6-10 mph. Water temps cooled slightly, now 53-54 deg. Found bass working shad schools uplake and landed between 25-30 keepers in just over 3 hours. Fun afternoon on the lake. Now we wait and see what 3 straight days of heavy rain does to everything.

I think the question is the wrong one to be asking, because the answer is clearly “ both” depending upon the angler and the catch in question.

To look at a contour map and depth finder of any kind, even going back to flashers and paper graphs, and “see” the bottom of the lake as it would appear without water.

I got my unicorn today. A lot of close calls, but only 2 bites today. She bit a MB 110 FX late under cloudy skies just as sprinkles were moving in. Went 8.20 on the Rapala and 8-1/4 on the Chatillon. Water already warmed up to 55 degrees, but I’m sure that’s just surface. A good 4 days or more of rain next week will probably change everything.

Hard to make ‘em look big if they aren’t, so I didn’t even try 😉 - lol. Kidding. Just 4 cookie cutters today on A-rig on another “too nice” of day. Water clear and floating around 48-50 degrees.

Agree with the advantages/disadvantages. I never ‘long arm’ fish. In my case, being alone in a 16 ft boat, camera propped on a seat or against the side of the boat, I can only get about 5 ft away from the camera, so all ratios of me-to-camera and bass-to-camera get exaggerated, and sometimes even more so depending on exact angle. If you look close at my arms, you’ll see they are nearly next to my body, with forearm slightly extended away from me, and the bass sitting right over my left thigh. It even dripped on my new ‘hole less’ jeans (which everyone failed to appreciate😆), but which I thought I might get a scolding from the wife over - lol. I’ll ‘uncrop’ them later when I get a chance as that probably plays into perspective, too. The bump board ‘kayak’ shots are the best from a true length perspective, and as a former R&D guy, I can appreciate; but from a photographic eye and interest perspective, just one step above a bass-to-foot or bass-to-rod ground shot, IMO…same with holding a fish out into infinity from your wide-angle GoPro. But again, as you mentioned, we are all forced and dictated by our individual limitations in this regard to showing off our catches.