Team9nine

Found just enough open water on one pond today to make a few casts into, but that was enough. Mission accomplished

If all I ever caught was “2 or 3 maybe even 4, two to three lbers on a 6 to 8 hour trip,” I think I would just quit bass fishing ?

A-Jay Funny you brought this one up when you did. About 2 weeks ago I was rereading through your "In Pursuit of Giant Bass" stitching thread from a few years back and thinking about messaging you. Every so many years I need a change of pace and something to chase to keep the interest, and chasing better quality fish next year, here in Indiana, was getting high on my radar - Kind of a IPoGB II thread Rereading through this thread, I can say that fishing for THE ONE giant bass has zero interest to me. I love bites too much to go that route, but I am intrigued by figuring out how to target a larger class of fish more routinely while not sacrificing bites to the degree of going fishless most trips (keeping in mind we're talking Indiana fishing, ranked one of the worst states in the country for bass fishing and continuing to go downhill for big fish). What really spurred the interest: Last year, I had the great pleasure of talking to Paul Prorok (he produced and edited Bill's book) for about an hour or so, and one of the things he said to me about Bill (and the book) really stuck. That really hit home, that I could target and catch big fish (relatively speaking) with a Murphy-style approach and without having to sacrifice numbers to the extent of a One Giant Bass angler as expressed by several above.

Since we skipped ‘Y’ ? Yellow Magic

W = Water Dog by Bomber

U = Umbrella rig

G is for "Go-Devil," made by Vic Saunders (Saunders Tackle Co., Arlington Heights, IL), a spinnerbait that was frequently trolled as much as it was cast. Vic was known as "The Go-Devil Man" and wrote numerous articles back in the late 1960s for what would soon become Fishing Facts magazine. He just recently passed.

I’ll try and track down specifics, but the knot tests were done on both nylons and fluoros, and what they found was with certain knots, saliva alone didn’t allow the knot to completely cinch tight, so the knot would slip/heat/weaken and break when it was loaded to breaking in the tests. Using an actual lubricant like silicone or wax (lip balm) allowed for complete seating and stronger knots.

Same here - never with a Palomar, and about half the time with everything else. There’s data out there suggesting saliva can actually make knots weaker in some instances. Use an actual lubricant or don’t use anything at all ?

So yesterday's trip was so neat, it was killing me to not go back out there again today even though the weather was getting worse. Winter storm warning in effect, and a high temp that just touched 32 degrees finally, late in the afternoon. Not a fan of iced guides and locking up reels (iced line), but I went anyway, "in the name of science." Wanted to see if the ice patch was still there...or worse, the whole pond frozen over (low of 26 last night), as well as whether the fish were still there, too. The lake was completely open this time, so I just fished the same little corner where the ice and bass were yesterday. Turns out @Paul Roberts was right - the ice sheet was incidental. Took about 4 casts to get hooked up with the first fish, then managed to land 9 more over the next 90 minutes, right before the first snow started falling. Even made sure to keep my gloves on the whole time this trip. With 4"-6" of snow or more arriving over the next 36 hours, then temps in the teens and twenties for a couple more days, this might have been the last trip of the year. Went out with the string stretching though which is all you can ask for.

Top 3 fish came from the pond with the ice sheet, and the bottom 2 pics are from an adjacent pond that feeds into the larger one. I'd say depth under the ice sheet was about 6 feet or so. There is no deep water in either pond. The ice sheet was sitting in the far end of the pond next to a culvert with a nice washout/drop in front of it that routinely holds fish, as well as the incoming feeder creek to the other side of the ice sheet - also a regular holding spot. Caught 8 from the small pond, nothing big (all <=14"), and 6 from under the ice sheet that were all better fish (>14").

Crazy fun trip this afternoon. Started out just hoping to get a bite, and it turned into one of the more interesting trips I've had. For one, there was a 20' by 35' sheet of ice on one of the ponds that had been blown into one corner...apparently over one of the better spots on the lake. Throw to the left of the ice mat as close as I could, or to the right of the ice mat into the narrow 5 foot gap between the shore and the ice, and then when I set the hook on a fish, fight him as he runs under the ice mat while I tried to stop him from rubbing my line against the edge and breaking it. Even had one cast that caught a corner of the ice mat and a bass ate Ned while it was hanging in the water. I set the hook, then had to pop him over the ice edge and ski him across the rest of the mat. And as if that wasn't cool enough, I was releasing about a two and a half pound bass back into the water with my knit gloves on. Well, I must have angled it just right, because the glove never got freed from his lips, and the entire glove slid right off my hand as I watched the fish land in the water, glove still stuck to his mouth/teeth as he swam off into the depths. Could just sit there laughing in disbelief Never had that happen before. You'll notice the single glove in most all the pics - lol. Anyway, 14 fish in two hours and I had to leave them biting when I lost the only Ned body I brought with. Fun way to end the year. Under a winter storm watch beginning later tomorrow and extending into Tuesday. Here's a few pics.

What the two above said ^^^ Have run several boats that way for years without issue. Doubles capacity and you’ll feel better about running on higher power more often knowing you won’t be running the battery down near as fast. Just have a good charging setup to make sure they both get topped off fully between trips.

Can be really hard to tell some species apart from just a general picture, but looks like either a naiad or one of the pondweed species. Both can be very similar in appearance. In fact, southern naiad is often referred to as bushy pondweed on some websites.

Another spool of YGK line just arrived tonight (10#), along with a few "Ned" restocks

Here’s one I haven’t seen mentioned...small blade baits. Picked up 6 bass walking a couple ponds yesterday on one. Pretty much a staple along with Neds in the winter for me. I most often use the smallest size ThinFisher, but there are others you could try.

Still got a few of these sitting in the tackle room ?

Exactly what I did, on the same sized reels. Measured and walked it off to split the spool into two nearly identical lengths, then topped off. If you get it wrong the first time, you can always pull it off and either add or remove the needed mono to get it right. Had to do that with one of the two reels I spooled. Once done though, that reel will always be easy to top off without ever having to remeasure

Likely the last day on open water in a boat for me this year. Every pond I went past this afternoon had skim ice on it. Got in 3.5 hours this afternoon on a small reservoir with 40 degree water temps, and managed to connect with 8 fish. Could be a long winter, but hopefully we get some breaks in the weather here and there. We'll see.

I'd agree with the above completely. I bought the 14# based on what Shin Fukae said he used for shaky heads, which was what I originally bought it for. AFter using the line, including for 'Ned,' I think the 14# would work fine with most Ned setups, but I too just bought a 10# spool (YGK) for a separate outfit to do Midwest finesse...and hopefully crappie Currently use 5# and 8# PP for Ned, and 8# PP or 10# 832 for shaky.

I’ve got and have used both 6# and 10# Sufix 832. It’s definitely thicker, but smooth. If I had to rank, I’d go YGK, PP, 832. Just my personal opinion, as I have all three spooled up right now and in use. And I’d agree with Leo - my initial impressions are that YGK is not a heavy baitcast kind of line, but more a finesse spinning type.

You're welcome. Definitely report back after you get a chance to try the line. Haven't seen many that have tried it yet, and curious to see if others like it as much as I do. I picked up another spool today while the sales are going

Manufacturers have to incorporate something else into the braid mix in order to get the specific gravity higher to create a neutral or sinking braid. I don't believe anyone has come up with another way around the issue yet. Sufix 832 is another very good line that has one strand of Gore fiber weaved into it to help offset the lighter density of braids parent material. On the YGK specifically, the mix with PE fibers is to increase the density of the overall line to 1.12 g/cm^3 (hence its name). It handles just like a high end braid; I'd argue better than most straight braids.

Been spending most all fall crappie fishing, but finally picked up the bass sticks again this week before things froze up. Water temps in our smaller reservoirs at 42 degrees, and just need one good cold snap to lock things up. Ponds are already flirting on the edge, and larger reservoirs only a couple degrees warmer at around 44 deg. Been tossing a mix of blade baits, jerkbaits and small plastics to nab a few from both the boat and the bank. Weather forecast looks like I'll get another shot or two late this week Here's a few pics...

I've been using YGK G-Soul SS112 sinking braid for much of the year and have been thoroughly impressed to date. Believe it's available from TW in both 10# and 14# tests. I've been using the 14#, but plan to grab another spool or two while the big sale is on.