Team9nine

I believe that’s an Excalibur Shallow Fry, a Bill Dance/Jimmy Houston promoted line of baits. They were tied in with the Fat Free Shad deep divers if I'm not mistaken. The Bagley baits were ultra realistic balsa creations, so a bit of a different creature.

A neat shot last night as the sun was headed down and reflecting off the water, with the fountain in the background. The bait is probably about 40 years old, part of the Bagley Small Fry lineup that was introduced in 1979. Haven’t seen anything as delicately balanced as this thing, and the bass were fairly impressed with it, also. Caught about a dozen on it.

Had a pretty decent bite today considering we were just sliding on to the back side of a high pressure system that moved through overnight, and a breeze that had already shifted to coming out of the north. The lingering cloud cover probably helped in that regard. Picked up a couple dozen today, along with another dozen last night when I went out to test a presentation that popped into my head. Was able to land the one big bite I got, a nice bass that inhaled a finesse jig on the fall that was cast right over the only well defined depth breakline in the entire lake. And for the curious; I’m wearing shorts, not jeans with even bigger holes in the knees, and it started out in the mid 60s today, so I grabbed the flannel again today to wear over my clean T-shirt (more versatile than a jacket) ?

He said once he catches a fish the worm is useless and he grabs a new one. If I followed that logic, I might as well just throw Senkos instead of Elaztech ? …but we all have our idiosyncrasies, me included ?

Here’s another pic of a rigged finesse worm on a Slider head. Keep in mind that CB makes both the “old school” smaller bronze hooks as well as “Pro” versions with a round bend black nickel needle point hook which are a bit thicker wire. One or the other might work better for you depending on application. Hook setting style/technique also plays a role.

Lol - I do wear a different clean shirt every day, but I keep a flannel shirt handy when we go through these little cold snaps, like the highs only being in the 60s here several days back…and I like the pockets for carrying my gear. Now that that is cleared up, today’s report: Quick couple passes on a micro lake. First pass with a swim jig, good for four bites. Second pass with a finesse jig, good for half a dozen more. Most cookie cutter 2 pounders like these, but I did miss/lose a big fish that looked pretty sickly. Not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing - lol. Some of those sick, dying fish get pretty mangy.

Marketing - Al Lindner said it best, and its since stuck with me: You have to create a want or a need. You have to sell somebody something, and make a profit doing it, or you won’t have a job in the industry. As such, I’ll be coming out soon with my lineup of micro-lake rods geared specifically for bank anglers and other small water specialists. More details coming next month at ICAST ??? If the rods sell well, I’ll probably release a clothing line next, maybe sun pants with strategically located “ventilation seams” (patent pending) ?

Another vote for ignoring whatever you read. Throwing 25# fluoro right now on my swimbait rod without issues (see today’s post in ‘Latest catch pics’). Use whatever backing you’d like to save money. I’ve either got old mono or fluoro as backing under all my reels with fresh fluoro. spooled on top. #fadethebraid

A dozen bites on the swimbait this afternoon, all healthy fish, but nothing big landed. Favorite bite was this 15” crappie that had no issue taking on the big bait - first crappie ever from this location. Seems like there’s always one in every pond.

Snag some with a crankbait or blade bait and get pictures close up out of the water. I’m guessing some mixture of pondweed, chara, and maybe some cabbage from the pics, but very hard to tell from that perspective.

I was wondering if you’d notice ? Turned the old pair into shorts for the summer

Front moving through again today. Made a pass on a micro lake with the big swimbait to see if they might be feeding with the combination of weather factors - just 3 bites, and none of them worth posting. Thought it might make a good test to go back through the area with a more standard approach, so switched to a finesse jig when I got home, then went right back out and reworked the exact same water. Nine bites later, including another near 5 lb. fish, and it just reinforced in my mind the dilemma I have with big baits ? One of the big keys with these small bodies of water is focusing on little changes among them. Most all of these spots have now been treated for weeds and algae heavily, but this location has a bunch of nice green Chara (musk grass) growing out in deeper water. The stuff attracts crayfish, and bass, and the jig was probably an ideal bait for these areas. Neds are also a great option around this stuff. Lastly, I caught this guy on a jig. Someone apparently caught him before, or he broke them off. A single hook, a split shot and a few inches of line. He was able to pass the shot and part of the hook. A simple surgical assist and he was off and swimming without the excess baggage. I see this somewhat regularly and it always surprises me how good fish are at self extraction of baits and hooks.

If they’re both working, then they’re both “right” ? Bass fishing is rarely a “only one correct answer” kind of game. …And I’m guessing you’ll start losing/missing more fish, but I do hope you report back in after testing the change out. Maybe all three hookset approaches will be “right,” but I have my suspicions. As a couple posters have already mentioned, you’d be surprised by how long a bass will hold anything with a piece of soft plastic in its mouth. Take a few seconds, get in a good position, then swing

A few of these, along with the ability to count all your fingers and toes, and you’ve got it made. Don’t forget about your eyeballs, too. It’s how I start mapping all the micro lakes I fish from the bank.

High pressure, sunny skies, light N breeze at best and an early afternoon fishing time that combined with a heavily treated lake (algae) all conspired against any chances at a good bite today. No late window big bait fishing either, so called it after 21 fish and 2 hours. Tubes and wacky rig for what I did catch.

A slightly different take on the question, but to me, lakes are like people. As individuals, every one is unique and different, and comes with its own story on why that is. I like visiting each one to see how its personality changes from day to day, month to month, or year to year. Like people, some fall out of favor, or I lose touch with them for one reason or another, but I’m always excited when I return to them. It amazes me how two micro lakes that are literally across the street from each other can be worlds apart in their fishing and environmental makeup. I enjoy the stunted dink producers just as much as the semi-empty ‘tough’ fishery that only gives up a few fish every year, albeit quality fish. Many of these lakes I’ve been able to catch the same fish multiple times over a period of years, and it’s just like revisiting an old friend. The best is fishing a new place for the first time - the unknown - and seeing how quick I can assess the personality and structure of the place.

Another quick pass on a micro lake to tweak setups and learn presentation with some “hope I get a bite” type baits - this 5 lb. class fish was the first, and best, of 5 that bit tonight.

The size fish the angler needs to catch to replace his smallest fish AND make up the difference in weight he is behind the leader. For example, if his smallest fish is a 2 pounder and he’s 3 pounds behind the leader, he “needs” to catch a 5 pound bass.

Fun afternoon of fishing. First location I checked, the bass spooked the minute you dropped a lure near them, but was able to finagle 5 bites. Next location was better, catching over a dozen on a jig and soft plastic. Then right at dusk, under a hazy fire smoked sky and orange sun, I played around with a big swimbait just to see what would happen. Surprised me when i caught a bass on my first cast with it. Landed 3 others, but missed half a dozen bites when they’d bump it or were probably too small to engulf the bait. Was a good learning experience and certainly showed some potential. Just need to dial in the right presentation and conditions further.

I’ve intentionally sat this one out and just enjoyed the entertainment watching from the sidelines.

Got the opportunity to hit a small lake I usually only get to a time or two each year. Light breeze and hazy/cloudy skies from the Canadian wildfires was a welcome respite from the hot sun we’ve been getting. Managed to pick off 40 bass in a couple hours fishing just soft plastics again today. Lots of smaller fish in the mix, but I did get one around 4 lbs. and a couple other decent fish to go with him. Hoping for one more trip there later this week if scheduling allows. Always enjoy going to somewhere different as a change of pace, as each lake is different with its own personality.

Made a single pass on two micro lakes yesterday. Neighbor was already there fishing one of them when I arrived. He only got two bites, but one was a solid fish at 4 lbs or better based on the pics he showed me. He caught it on a big Chatterbait, which seemed out of place for this little spot, but it worked. I went finesse and caught over 2 dozen bass, a third on Ned and the rest on a Jackall Cover Craw, but didn’t have anything of size even close to his big one. Reflecting on the day in hindsight, I would have taken his two bites over my 25 just to have the big one, but I’m drawn to numbers and action, so it’s always tough for me to throw what feels like an “out of place” bait, knowing I might not get bit at all.

Have a pond with an overgrowth of algae still, so had to grab the frog rod and have some fun before they treated it again. Managed 15 or 16 good blowups, though nothing big, except the fun

Take your pick: InvizX, Tatsu or BasiX over AbrazX - the first three are all good lines. At this point, I wouldn’t use it (AbrazX) based on some of the test data I’ve seen.

Short trip in the heat (high 86), but it wasn’t too terrible. Beat the pop-up thunderstorms. Weeds overgrew the shallows before they treated, now everything is dying/dead. EVERY cast required cleaning off the clinging vegetation, but enough casts found open areas to get a handful of bites, including one decent fish and another near the 5 pound mark. Two shots of the bigger fish: A second decent fish caught sight fishing the inside weedline: