Team9nine

Still fishing - just checked the log. I’ve recorded 178 trips so far, maybe a couple blanks on the year which I didn’t log, so call it 180. Of those, 158 trips produced bass, 39 produced crappie. Obviously some days I catch or fish for both.

They catch an awful lot of bass for me for the price, especially on smaller waters. Well worth the money IMO

And this thread is a perfect example of why whenever the topic of big bass comes up, the first rule of thumb is always, “location, location, location.” For the vast majority of public waters, most of the bass available to be caught are under 18.” That measurement is a standard metric for state fisheries depts., and almost regardless of where you pull the data, this rings true, even in the south. Here is just one of numerous examples, this one from a pool of 100+ Oklahoma lakes: You can roughly estimate the number of 18” or greater bass from the graph at about 6% or less. That works out to about 1 out of every 17 bass. In Indiana, where I’ve fished most of my life, our best lakes are around 10%, but an overwhelming majority are in the 0%-3% range (% of bass >= 18”). Just looking at my numbers from this year, I’m well north of 2,000 bass for the year, but only have about 2 dozen or so legit over 18”, so about 1% or just over. While you can certainly change a few things with your approach to try and target big(ger) bass, the most obvious (and best?) thing anyone can do is make every effort to spend your time on waters that simply have a high population of above sized fish. Your catch ratios will reflect the results of this one simple step. I’d add, this is also why you can’t/shouldn’t compare your catches to someone else’s on the forum - or feel bad about your catch size. Someone else mentioned in another thread (@A-Jay ?), something to the tune of, “put an average basser on above average water and you might be surprised by outcome.”

My attainable goal is the same one I set every year - not to set any goals for the upcoming year 😆 I’m on a pretty good winning streak with these 😎 I know - bah humbug! Something almost always develops to hold my focus during the year though…sometimes several ‘somethings’, but they’re all part of a larger system that always ends up benefitting me in the long run.

LJ Brasher was the big musky Jitterbug guy who also caught loads of 10 pound bass, mostly from small pothole waters in Georgia and Florida in the late 1970s and through the 1980s. Pat Cullen did throw a few topwaters like the Jitterbug and the Hula Popper, but the buzzbait was his primary night lure (he had 4 different ones he'd rotate through).

My Christmas tree is up and loaded with lights 😉

“It seems like I've spent a lot of time trying to copy what better fly-fishers were doing, and it's surprising how often that hasn't worked. You know the drill: Your partner is just hammering fish. He generously gives you the secret fly pattern, he tells you what size tippet he's using and what kind of drift he's trying for, maybe he even trades spots with you. He continues to hammer fish. You still can't buy a strike, and his kindness only makes you feel more dimwitted than you felt before. So what the hell has he got that you don't? Whatever it is, it's just too elusive. You can't steal it, and he can't give it away. The more you watch him, the more he seems to just be letting it happen instead of making it happen (the smug wretched), but when you try to just let it happen, it doesn't. If you come right out and ask him what he's doing, he'll either say he doesn't know himself, or he'll tell you something too simple and obvious to be of any use.” John Gierach

The bait is kind of irrelevant to me. Generally, I’d say anything under 45’ish feet is a short cast; from there up to 90/100’ish feet is a typical average length cast used with a good majority of baits; and anything over 100 ft is long.

If it's any consolation, I started the afternoon out bass fishing. Hit two areas close to the ramp - nothing. Slid out over some deep water just to peek...and that was the beginning of the end for the bass fishing today Up to 1.5 lbs.

Gator Grip’s ‘Golden Rule’ boards were the standard used by most every circuit in IN when I tourney fished. Solid board built with 1/8 aluminum, permanently etched markings, affordable and available at places like TW and others.

Yes on the first ? because my experience has been the built in maps are usually wrong as relates to specific structures, though this will vary by lake. You’ll know pretty quick once you actually get out on the water. Yes on the second ? if you’re running live mapping or create on the computer then load to your unit. It overlays your map of the area, so you won’t see built in contours except where you haven’t mapped if that makes sense. You need ZL card to store any significant amount of data from mapping in most cases as built-in storage was limited, and further additional data falls off similar to when you run out of track storage…at least that’s how my HB worked.

Yeah, fish with a ‘harvest mentality’ mindset like walleye and panfish are at greatest risk of their big fish populations being destroyed with the help of the latest tech. Sadly see it most everyday on various social media outlets. By the time the science (studies) documents it, and fisheries regs adapt to it, it will already be too late.

I enjoyed both those lakes, especially Cataract. These fish have been a bit stingier, but the size, both in general and on the top end, has definitely been a nice change. Curious to expand out to other lakes in the area and see what they have to offer.

Couldn't help myself - one more crappie trip in the books today. Best of the day was a 1.45 lb. fish. Fat bellies from gorging on shad, and some great fall colors on a 60 degree day. Also got another bullhead, but didn't take a pic. Three days of rain, then at least 3 days of 15-25 mph winds, but the next time I get back on the water, I'm going to chase bass (I think)

Lol - all catch and release, especially the big ones.

Yep, fluorocarbon sucks …and everybody has a different ‘favorite’ knot that has never failed them. Those are the two biggest for me 😆 On a more serious note, I’ve identified a few forum participants over the years who seemed particularly knowledgeable in certain areas or techniques, and whom I took the time to research and copy every post they ever made on a subject, and edit it down to a single searchable document of knowledge 😎

Keep in mind there have been some pretty unique and technical FFS (and other sonar) setups and “techniques” employed on tour that just haven’t made it out into the public domain yet, largely because the longer they’re kept under wrap, the longer those guys maintain an edge over the field. Kyle’s set up is still pretty basic, but I can see it becoming popular (adopted) because of the mount, the simplicity, and the video. I’ve even run a similar, but scaled back/down, version of his setup for a couple years now.

Great book! Seems to get overlooked a lot.

High pressure getting closer; blue skies, cooler air temps, a north wind, but snuck in 2 hours late this afternoon and was rewarded with a limit of crappies, including a pair of 1.40 lb. fish

I've been a little ate up chasing big crappie while waiting for water temps to drop enough to start fishing winter gear and holes for bass. We're finally there now, so probably soon. Caught about 3 dozen crappie today, topped by this 1.75 lb. fish.

There are no ‘clean hands’ when it comes to where we are as a ‘professional’ sport. One of the biggest ironies is that you can make a pretty good argument that we are so screwed up some 50 years later because of Ray Scott. Likewise, the anglers themselves have shown little sign of dedication, commitment, or strong enough leadership in the past of forcing the issue even though they’d all benefit in the end if successful, MLF being their most recent attempt. BASS has a long track record of major flub-ups and controversies, which partly led us to where we are at the present. This doesn’t change until one organization eats all the others, whether by agreement or brute force. Irwin Jacobs was arguably one big sponsor deal away from burying BASS in the early/mid 2000s, but he didn’t get it done and it ultimately cost him the company. So we are where we are, and anglers and organizations will continue to do what is in each of their best interests until the ‘Grand Unification’ occurs.

Neds have that head shape because Ned Kehde defined the rig and presentation, and that head shape was at the center of it. Ned referred to it as “the most unbeatable jig in the history of the world.” 😎 But “Ned jigs,” half ounce heads, and ‘Ned style trailers’ are just capitalism and necessity at work, and have nothing to do with Ned rigging (“Midwest Finesse”), so don’t feel obligated to use a mushroom head in those cases - use whatever will present the bait best in the cover/depths you’re fishing.

I use it all the time, but have had many a good day fishing Ned on partially ice frozen lakes in the winter. Nothing like the thump of a bass hitting a falling Ned pulled off an ice sheet 😉

A graph and a good topo map are your best friends here. As @Catt and @WRB alluded to depth wise, there are a ton of good breaklines showing in that 14’-21’ range (approx.). That would be one way to determine a starting point. Another would be with your graph, taking some time to look around at what depths you see the most activity at, as well as at what depth you stop seeing any. A graph will also help with pinpointing any thermocline that might limit fish. Finally, another basic rule of thumb is to expect to find and catch most of your fish about 3X-4X the waters visibility or less. Put all those things together and you should be able to start pinpointing a bunch of areas to start checking out.

Been to CA, got to fish Lake Mission Viejo with Troy Folkestead for big bass when it was in its prime, but never visited the Mini Mart. I called them when I found out they had the tape and they were willing to ship it to me