Team9nine

I’d say “it depends” - primarily on what size fish suffered the most (if any) due to the drawdown. Big fish need more of everything to survive, whereas little fish can live happily in a puddle. If the big fish had enough refuge to survive, and got to feast on the consolidated smaller fish, it could be a big fish haven for a couple years. If the big fish survival requirements were compromised and they suffered greater mortality, it could be a dink-fest for several years to come. Will be interesting to read your reports from there next year to see which way the scales of life tipped.

THIS, THIS AND THIS ^^^ It can/will happen to all of them at some point if your mechanics aren’t good, or the balance is off. Quite a few variables at play, so you just need to be attentive to every cast to minimize the issue.

Yeah, I'm in this camp ^^ Lots of new baits (soft plastics) being released, new jigheads being created - all refinements and specialization of similar techniques used in the past. FFS (primarily on tour) is the driver behind it all currently, IMHO, now that you can watch everything go down on your screen, especially in regard to controlling your bait relative to the bass/baitfish/structure, etc., so easily these days. The data from the top level tours supports this. My investment in the tackle and technique has been minimal to this point, because I just haven't seen it pay off on my waters beyond what I can do with what I already have.

Beside having a decent afternoon of catching, I also got to run around and use the old flasher unit on the boat today.

First day back on the lake after nearly a week. Surprised to see a big water level drop that had 1 of the 2 ramp lanes closed. Not surprised at the heavily stained water. Got a limit of bass, and lost a real nice one right near the boat. Also caught 6-8 crappie just playing around between spots. Unfortunately, 3 days of rain in the forecast, so this might have been it until next week. Water 46 deg.

Plain old Zoom Salty Chunk about 80-90 percent of the time. Zoom Super Chunk Jr., the rest of the time. Once upon a time prior to those, all Uncle Josh pork of some kind.

I’m in the moderate fast camp - goes back to the days of Klein/Nixon/Stanley and those guys preferring/recommending them.

Almost no technique specific rods here. I pretty much know the actions and ratings of all my rods, so when I select a bait I want to throw, I just tie it on to the outfit I think it will work best on. Sometimes that means swapping reels onto different rods first to align line type or test properly.

This ^^ It happens occasionally to me (a couple 2 or 3 times a trip if primarily jerkbaiting all afternoon) just based on the way I hold my rod/reel and work the jerkbait. Barely moves a little at a time so you don’t see or feel the little drag clicker move. Next thing you know, you go to swinging and nothing happens except your line plays out 😊

“Find the bait - Find the bass” Not directed at the OP, as a simple Google search will pull up tons of other references to this quote, but it’s possibly the most overused, misleading and worthless piece of advice in bass fishing - IMHO. There, I feel better now 🤭

This has been studied rather extensively, and the answer is, potentially, quite a few. I’m not certain how many bass actually move through the locks, but I know a lot of guys in the major tourneys have caught bass along the lock walls and immediately adjacent to them while waiting to lock through. It seems most common with baitfish type species, as well as migratory fish that often prefer to make large runs upriver to spawn. In many cases, lock and dams build accessory channels or similar to actually allow for passage of fish - think of “salmon ladders” as maybe being a common example. There are also live cams from some dams featuring these passages that you can watch in real-time for fish that are swimming through.

Rig up a ML outfit with about a 2”-2.5” shad or tube body on about an 1/8 oz head and see if you start catching all crappie. Really the only way to know for sure. Could be mixed, obviously, but throw something crappie can eat easily and see what happens.

Wasn’t specifically targeting them much yesterday, but ran into one anyway. Hopefully back out after them later today - highs in the mid 60s 😎

“Yes” to the mono and fluoro comments, or at least use a short leader of either if using braid - same as many do when throwing topwaters on braid. Another trick - just remove the rear hook on the Vaults and upsize the belly hook. That will completely solve your rear hook wrapping issue 😄 It also cuts down on the amount of hangs. Vaults are my favorite, along with a historical fondness for original Silver Buddies, for most mid- and deep water work. I use Johnson ThinFishers in shallow water. Vaults are a favorite, though. If you hang on anything wood, getting straight over it and just repeated slack line jiggling, using the lead body to act as a lure remover, frees most baits most of the time. Wedged in rocks can be a bit trickier. Everything else gets a lure knocker. All told, I don’t lose than many in a given year.

With that early reaction, just wait until the after the second shot. Most everyone says that one is much worse 😉

Nearly 4 inches of rain this week, and now the NW winds and clear skies following the front. Spent 2.5 hours on the water this afternoon, the first hour inside a creek arm hiding from the wind. Searched for crappie but only found carp, so pulled out the bass gear and caught one on jerkbait. Wind finally settled, so looked again for some crappie on the main lake. Only spotted a few, so gave up. Moved to some main lake points during the final 45 minutes and limited out on bass using blade baits. Water 49 deg.

A rare tackle purchase for me, but needed a few niche cranks, a pack of jiggling minnows to play with, and some Bitsy’s on steroids. Sad how little $50 will get you these days - but it will buy free shipping 🤗

Randy just posted a good video on bluff bank fishing - what to look for and baits. He mentions 2 of the baits I suggested, along with 1 other. The Ned could easily double as or complement the jig as a third option in this case. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xb7pHqsOOg

Yes, yes, and yes

Thanks for the mention @Blue Raider Bob. Now here's the bad news...I wish I could give you some great words of wisdom that would work for you, but I've come to believe that while 'a bass is a bass,' that only takes you so far. All success IS a local thing, especially when it comes to big bass. I've been fortunate to be able to push the envelope by fishing as much as 175+ days a year or more for a few decades now, and I can tell you that there is no such thing as water that is too cold to catch bass out of. I've literally caught them in about every cold weather/water scenario imaginable, right up to drilling holes in a frozen lake. But how you actually catch them - what will work or won't work for your waters - is literally based on your waters, your approach restrictions (boat, bank, kayak, etc.), and lots of trial and error. While all of us could rattle off our favorite winter presentations and locations, there's no guarantees any of them would actually work for you where you fish. You have to take the basics of a technique option and just give them a try. The same applies for location. We all are good at posting our successes, but what you rarely see is the hours and hours of our unsuccessful attempts with a variety of baits in a variety of locations - but that's how we learn, and what ultimately leads us to the good catches you eventually see. But to try and be a little bit positive in all this, I will say if I had to start a list of my most successful winter baits, it would include things like blade baits, Ned rigs, jerkbaits, and hair jigs (bucktail or float-n-fly style). Those 4 will cover the water column from top to bottom. I could also say with some confidence that being near or in deep water (which is relative to your lake) is also important. Steeper banks (>45 deg.), whether that be creek or river channel bluffs on a larger body of water, or the deep water end of a pond, are a great starting point. And from there, the trial and error of baits, presentations, retrieves, exact location, best weather patterns, all play. When you do get a bite, consider it a data point that hopefully you can use to expand and build upon, leading you to your next bass. Go out there with an open mind, and know that it's an extremely rare instance in which there isn't a bass somewhere willing to bite on any given day

Definitely wasn’t as good as yesterday, but did score one over 3 lbs. this afternoon on blade bait. Three days of rain starting tonight might really change things here if we get more than the 2.25!inches they are forecasting.

Forecast for most of next week isn’t looking too promising, and we broke 50 today for our high along with very manageable SW winds from 6-9 mph, so I made a rare weekend run to a local lake. Turned out to be a good decision, as I was able to catch a limit of bass in the 3 hours I was out there, topped by this 7.0 pounder (top two pics). Also answered 3 recent forum posts with today’s catch - MB 110’s are worth the $$; Katsuage hooks will easily hold big fish if your setup is right; and a moderate action rod does a really nice job with jerkbaits 😎 😄

Had some good success with them in ponds for greenies...but they are small and lightweight. Fun to fish, but definitely best to gear down if you try some IMO. Still have a handful of them.

A little back history... Culprit came out with their Captivator skirted slip sinker heads back in 1987. Those were some of the earliest versions of this idea sold commercially. Billy Bowen (GA) originally designed the bait modification for himself, took it to Eb Hargrove, a local Lake Sinclair guide, who in turn took it to John Zook, then tech-rep for Classic Mfg. (Culprit), who ended up contracting with Billy to do most all the manufacturing. Back in Texas, and slightly before all this happened, a Mansfield area fisherman named Jim Brown designed and fished a slip sinker that carried a fiber skirt, and was then fished similarly to a jig and pig. Same basic idea, but I don't think it ever made it outside that local area.

Rule #1 - Don’t blank - lol. Avoided that fate with this chunky keeper this afternoon. Briefly touched 60 around lunch, then temps started dropping. Blue skies again along with gusting winds over 30 mph made me change lakes to somewhere slightly more boat friendly.