Team9nine

They have much better eyesight than most people give them credit for. Neat thing was we had been on this spot for nearly an hour catching crappie and white bass. After I finally had to make a change in tubes, I decided to throw on a purple one (we had been mostly throwing chartreuse variations). First cast nets the first channel cat. Only two casts later nets the second one. Are they attracted to purple for some reason? I have seen a study that suggested blue was the most attrative color to channel cats, so maybe purple being right in that same color band made the difference...or maybe just complete coincidence.

Nice fish. Once you get the exact baits and setups dialed in for your waters, you can make a pretty wicked but very simplified finesse box that will catch loads of bass. All those fish I posted yesterday, both the "other species" as well as the bass, were all caught on just 2 types of finesse baits and outfits. Good work!

Ok, dug around my library here at the house a bit and found a few things on Lembeck's study. But first, I'm going to stake the 'finesse' label on Charlie Brewer and Charlie Ritchie (after fishing with Brewer), who both used the term in several different light tackle articles in Fishing Facts magazine throughout 1973. I have yet to find anything in print that predates their use of the term in those articles. Back on Lembeck, his study was on 203 Florida strain bass, listed as equally male and female. There was one 14 pounder, one 12 pounder, four 11 pound bass, and several 8 to 10 pound bass in the study. There were numerous bullet points that came out of that study, including; Bass showed no preference for or against light, and showed no avoidance of bright light or specialized use of shade. He documented various levels of activity and basically documented the 'homers' and 'roamers' monickers. Bass moved most (most active) during the morning or the evening, but there were also several documented cases of fish moving long distances in the middle of the day. This partly led to the terming of the individuality of bass. Along those lines, catch rates were similar (individualistic), with some of the tagged bass being caught numerous times and others not at all, which he again attributed to the individual nature of each bass. Weather was a non-factor in the overall location and movements of bass. Lembeck also dispelled some of the cold water lethargy belief by noting that some of the bass continued to make long moves in water temps that were below 55 degrees, though these did usually occur during the middle of the day. Certain 'spots' seemed to be more attractive to bass during certain times of the year. What he termed "shallow structure spots away from the shoreline", while always popular, saw particularly heavy use in late summer through fall. B.A.S.S. supposedly financed the study. In most cases, bass completely ignored boat motors (gas or electric) and wouldn't move unless approached within 6 feet or so by outboard motors. In clearer water, this depth extended to closer to 10 feet or a little more. Bass learned quickly, and once caught, were difficult to catch again for an extended amount of time. The mention in the Homer Circle article was a common response, where bass would literally leave an area if anglers got too close to where they could cast to a location a particular fish was holding. The exception occurred when cover was particularly heavy and the fish might have felt 'safer.' Tracked bass suspended a lot more than most people think. Specific bass had specific cover preferences, some prefering brush, other rock, some weedbeds, and varying degrees of thickness or thinness, again reflecting the overall theme of individuality.

Everything was biting today with these post frontal conditions...35+ keeper crappie, a couple nice channel cats, several white bass along with a few nice bluegill...and bass, which were posted in the 'Fishing Reports' section.

High pressure, blue skies, and a north breeze...perfect conditions for finesse fishing. Put a nice limit of bass in the boat in under 3 hours at a community reservoir this afternoon after having a great multispecies day with a buddy. I'll post those pics in the "other fish" forum.

I've got a 2015 165 Escape Tiller I bought new...love it A great platform to fish off of, especially if you're a multi-species angler. Mine is rated for 50hp, I believe, but I run a 40hp Mercury 4-stroke because there are no hp restricted lakes here...well, actually there is one, but it is a 10hp limit. Long story. Will do just over 30 mph with that engine, but can cruise 25 mph all day comfortably without jamming on the motor full bore. Boat is just the right size for overcrowded lakes and all the waves from associated boat traffic. Wouldn't want to go any smaller boat wise. After looking at a map and measuring distance on Nocamixon, I wouldn't want to do it on just a trolling motor. You've got about 3.5 miles in either direction from the boat ramp you could go, and that same distance back if you did. I would base the decision on just how much you fish that lake. If it is going to be your primary lake, or at least half your time is going to be spent there, then I would either go with a larger engine and run a kicker off the back. I have a Mercury 6hp 4-stroke that fits just perfect next to my 40 hp. The other option would be to just go with the 20 hp. Would be a bit underpowered, but well worth it if you plan on fishing that lake a lot. If it will only be a quarter of your trips or less, then I would make do with the troll motor and just realize there will be parts of the lake you simply will not be able to fish due to distance. The standard package troll motor on that boat is a 12v system. I believe I have a 50# MK on mine. You could squeeze two batteries in the front compartment and run a 24v system, but you'll be sacrificing tackle storage space by doing so and adding extra weight to the front of the boat also. Depthfinders: Garmin, Lowrance and H'bird all make great units these days. A lot depends on how you like to fish and how much time you spend offshore. In my case, I'm a dedicated multi-species structure fisherman, so I run 3 units off the back; A H'bird with SI/DI/2D and GPS, a H'bird dedicated DI unit with 2D also, and a small Lowrance with 2D and mapping. You certainly could get by with just a single unit if you spent the money on one of the newer/nicer models, unless you need a second unit for up front on the trolling motor. Again, just depends on what your style is. Think that covers most of your questions. I'll try and get a couple pics posted so you can see most of my setup. Feel free to ask more questions if you have them and I'll try and answer as best I can.

There are two search function boxes, both in the upper right corner of the screen. The larger one just above the forums I believe only searches the forums and returns nothing for any 3 letter search (“Ned”, “rig”, “Ned rig”). It did return something like 17 results for the 6 letter “nedrig” - no spaces used. There is a much smaller and less obvious search box far up in the right corner near the very top of the screen that appears to search the entire site, not just forums specifically, that will return a bunch of results as WRB mentioned if you search “Ned rig”. A little confusing, and small enough that I don’t think I ever saw or used that one before, as it doesn’t even show on my phone, only my larger home computer screen.

2 hours ago, RealtreeByGod said: I like senkos, flukes, and Ned Rigs more than anything but I feel it'd be kind of worthless to throw them in low light since they're mainly visual lures. Am I right in this assumption? Should I only be using loud and annoying hardbaits like chatterbaits and topwaters? Nope - I'd say you are wrong. I've had great success with Ned at night. Bass will find it just like they find anything they eat in the dark. Nothing they eat at night thumps around like a giant Colorado blade spinnerbait, yet they don't starve

There was another bass in that study, a 6 pounder, that he said would never likely be caught because anytime a boat would move near or a cast would land in the area near her, she would immediately leave and head to deep open water. That was during year two of the study.

FG more and more. Google search for finishing options to find one that works best for you to minimize fraying. Alberto before that or any other time. Seaguar knot comes recommended courtesy of Ned himself and Rich Zaleski, two heavyweight testimonials, and I’ve been checking out Shin’s knot here lately, also. That should be enough options - Lol

Yep - 8# leader, 5-6 ft long with that type braid setup will work great.

Don't shoot the messenger I'm just passing along the article/story from Florida FWC. It's their biologists that say the reported catch rate of big bass in their program isn't that dissimilar from smaller bass overall. I just found the whole thing interesting and wanted to share.

Ditto...Have reels spooled with both 6 and 10 pound test and never had issues. Been using it for half a dozen years and thousands of bass. Would buy again.

This was my conversion I ran for around 8 years. If you do them with stability in mind, you won’t have an issue. Wider is better, as is keeping the weight (center of gravity) low. This was a 1648 (16 ft long, 48 in wide) but I believe it had a beam in the 60s if I remember correctly.

Just saw the note in the Blaster about the results from the Florida big bass study to date. Pulled up the full report and this bullet point in particular caught my attention as it is a common topic in these forums, and something @Paul Roberts and I have discussed at length. Trophy Bass Statistics Catch Rates “About one in eight to one in four trophy bass were caught by anglers in the state each year. This range of catch rates for trophy bass is quite similar to catch rates for smaller or average-size bass in Florida, suggesting that trophy bass are no more elusive to being caught than smaller bass.” Full report can be found here: Florida Trophy Catch

Another vote for putting it on the multipurpose rod spbait/crank. I’m around 90% fluoro on my bait casters, and 10% braid. Don’t think I have a single one spooled with mono/copoly anymore. Do have 1 crappie rod with mono on it if that counts, but it’s spinning - lol.

I’m not out in the rain a lot, so I’m not a good judge of that. No issues the couple times it has been out in those conditions. Have had it out in both really cold and really hot weather without any problems. It’s in my boat year round, and I’m always fishing as long as I can get the boat launched into open water. I just replace the batteries every spring.

Work great! Guess that’s the ‘pro’. The ‘con’ - you have to learn how to use all the settings...entering weights into certain cells, erasing, etc. Not terrible once you’ done it a few times. Wheeler used them on Tour for years before switching to MLF and don’t think they ever let him down. Mine is still working good after numerous years on the boat.

Brody (the guy behind Wheeler’s videos) does an awesome job. I do like watching both his and the broadcast versions though because I do like to see what is going on with the other guys during the tournament, especially their reactions to ScoreTracker. On the showing stuff front, Jacob has seen all the feedback and comments about how many consider him one of the best “explainers” on Tour. As such, he is simply trying to capitalize/expand on that aspect as his ‘niche.’ The sponsors pay the bills, so focusing on that behind the scenes detail not only builds viewership, but also highlights products in use, and is a win-win all the way around.

Hate the way they package like that, but it’s obviously intentional. I paid for the package just to be able to watch MLF on the Outdoor Channel since everyone moved to that circuit including Wheeler.

CBS last Sat from 1-2. For me, on DISH, that was Ch. 4. Looks like it will re-air this Sat from 2-3 ET on CBS Sports Network

Love the old lead bills...not even all of them. Then add another couple boxes of old cedar Poes

Search function doesn’t like 3 letter words - Lol. There is a ton of posts on everything Ned. Buddy and I caught a bunch on Ned and Sliders this weekend. Ned/Slider/Wacky covers 80-90% of my bank fishing these days. Works great!

Depending on how high end of a rod you are using, you need to be careful about “high sticking” a fish like that during a fight. It could fatigue the blank if not outright break. Lost one last year after fighting a large double digit carp with too high a hold and pressure on the upper end (I know better, too ??). Didn’t break on the carp, but did a half hour later on a hookset while catching crappie - lol. Lesson learned. Otherwise, no rod issues with large fish just fighting them properly.

Funny this got brought up. Had a friend ask me last night about this exact line and whether Wheeler was using it during the Championship that aired this weekend. So I texted Jacob, and this was his reply: “Yep, that's exactly what I was using. It is no joke some of the best fluorocarbon on the market.” Probably worth a try on that comment alone. I’m 90% fluoro on all my bait casters and don’t see the memory issue as being any worse than some monos though.