Team9nine

Looks like it’s working for her

Crappie nibbles will stay on the hook bend of smaller jig heads quite well if you go that route. Punch the hook right through the middle of a nibble and slide down, then mold slightly as needed. Much easier to just not use them in the first place, though ?

If they’re feeding near the surface, make sure you are using a light enough jig head to keep your bait up there and still maintain a slow steady retrieve. I’d recommend something around 1/24 oz or lighter. I’d try 1 to 1-1/2 inch crappie tubes, twisters, or shad bodied baits (Bobby Garland). Play with colors depending on clarity, but chartreuses or shad patterns are usually good. Like bass, wait and target (and time) your casts right into the spot you are seeng the feeding activity (swirling). Use light line. You could even go fly rod and streamers if it truly is surface feeding crappie. We catch them like this usually post spawn and again right at dusk/dawn in summer.

You can only pressure the smaller waters so much before they get tired of seeing the same thing, even finesse stuff. Still been getting a few on my usual finesse jig and drops shot setups, but watched a lot of fish spook yesterday whenever I got the drop shot near them - or just completely ignore it and swim past. Managed a few, but that bite is definitely slowing down. So I got the idea last night to try going even more finesse-y, pulling out the micro jigs, and that seemed to be the ticket today. Sometimes it doesn't take a huge change to get the bite going again, but it does take some change, and rigging method, bait style and color haven't been getting it done. Really curious to go back to the small lake now where the wolf packs are cruising but largely ignoring my efforts (just 3 bites yesterday). Hopefully another report, yea or nay, in the next few days.

All dinosaurs laid eggs, and chickens evolved from dinosaurs, so eggs came first…? lol, my final answer, Regis

I’m on my second 9.9 engine. My suggestions, based on ‘speed’ being important to you are; Check to make sure your jon boat has a 20 inch transom and not a 15 inch. Match the engine length to the actual transom measurement (short shaft vs long shaft). Forget the Pro Model Kicker and get the standard 9.9 engine. In hind sight, if you aren't held to a lake restriction, the 15 hp would be a better option/engine. Stay with a 3 blade prop. You’re probably fine with stock pitch, but I’m pushing a deep V and found that exchanging to the smallest pitch prop they make got my rpm’s up where they needed to be, and increased top speed.

Lol - yeah, Wheeler laid off them today. So did Connell from the looks of it. Wheeler did do a lot of his damage at Cayuga cranking when a lot of guys were finesse fishing, so it all comes full circle ?

Been out most every day this past week, and catching about half a dozen each trip. Weather and water are starting to change to a bit more "fallish"-like, and we've missed the majority of the heavy rain that has hit the area, so the bite is a bit in flux. Alternating between the drop shot and the finesse jig most trips. Did get drizzled on today, but got to swing on several without getting soaked.

It happens to Wheeler, too, and he and I discussed it earlier this year. I’d also say probability of btb AOY titles at this point is closer to 99.9 percent, even if he doesn’t catch a single bass on the second day tomorrow. He carried in a 65 point lead with only a possible 80 points available, and is sitting with 58 pounds after the first day (3rd). He’d have to drop to the bottom 6 or 7 in that group, and Jordan would then still have to win the event in order to overtake him. Numerically it’s possible, but practically…

Quite a few studies on this subject have been done over the years. One study mentioned, “experiments have shown that largemouth bass avoid feeding on active painted turtle and red-eared slider hatchlings. Largemouth bass also develop learned avoidance to all hatchlings of these species after just one experience with an active hatchling…” You can also search and watch “Use the Turtle Pattern for Springtime Bass” on YouTube, which is just what it sounds like. I also recall either a Bill Dance or Doug Hannon tip (pretty sure it was one of those two) to fish where you see turtles rise to the surface in a pond or lake, as it was suggested the turtles use the same cover and structure as bass, which is usually right underneath them when they come to the top. All that said, I have a friend who will absolutely pick up the trolling motor and leave an area if he spots turtles, as he is convinced the two (bass and turtles) don’t mix together ?

Hamilton and NE of there got hammered. I’m SW of there and we missed most all of those storm cells. Kind of glad in a way - lol - though I didn’t read any of them becoming severe. Missed most of the rain again today, too.

Nice - no signs of running water here today, and the fish weren’t cooperating at all…but it was a good bite yesterday pre-storms

No way to know for sure. I recently jumped a leader up less than .001” and saw a noticeable difference in performance. If you don’t have a way to measure exactly, use the measurements given online or on the actual spool as reference. In your case, maybe jump up .002” in diameter to start (example: 009” to .011”) and see what happens. You might also consider going with lighter weights on your presentation to decrease the amount of bottom contact and abrasion.

Any line with a larger diameter. I presently use Stren (mono), Tatsu and InvizX (Seaguar fluoros) for nearly all of my leader applications (all spinning). You could just try the next pound test (or two) higher in Blue if you like/have it, or go with something like YZH, BG, or Maxima if you want mono or hybrid. I’ve seen enough testing data over the years that suggests diameter seems more important than material type, brand or composition in this regard, generally speaking.

That would be my guess…

No, though that could play a small part. I’m suggesting you use line diameter as a basis for selecting your leader, not material or pound test. If you’re breaking off with 8 lb., you probably need a thicker leader line than whatever your 8 lb Sunline is. For example, even though they’re rated the same test, something like 8 lb Big Game line is probably thicker than your 8 lb Sunline and may work better for you, or simply try moving up to 10 or 12 lb Sunline, which will be thicker than 8 lb. Keep upsizing until you reach an acceptable level of overall performance for whatever you’re using.

Not necessarily - its been pretty similar overall. I think paying attention to your line diameters to achieve a good setup is the more important thing, not whether you choose fluoro or mono. Don’t go by pound test rating. Also pay attention to your knots depending on which material you use.

Only way to know is to just fish it. It definitely casts and fishes differently with a longer leader, which may or may not benefit you depending on the lake and cover. The great thing about a longer leader is it just takes a couple seconds to cut it and make shorter if that ends up being the better setup ? Much faster than starting over and retying everything to make the leader longer.

You can also go finesse with your hair setup like this 1/8 oz. ‘Midwest Finesse’ version I’ve been throwing for over a dozen years. About half the time I don’t even use a trailer with these little jigs.

Not far - a near bottom presentation, especially when casting. I’d say somewhere between 3” and 12” depending on angle of presentation. Run a short 3”-4” leader and you can almost gish it like a jig.

Starting leader length has been 6-7 ft to allow for a couple 2 or 3 reties before having to replace the leader. The bass being able to sling that drop weight/leader around while fighting them can do some serious ‘gnarliness’ to the line, as can getting the small hook deep in the mouth. I’ve played with hook to weight length, going 5” up to about 14”. Advantages to both depending on circumstances.

Anybody that dedicates an entire show to Spoonplugging is OK in my book

@WRB has summed it up best, IMO. In today’s “fact check” world, I’d say the big bait = big bass equation is ‘partly true,’ but also ‘missing context.’ In short, it seems the closer you can put yourself (really, your ‘bait’) next to a big bass, via timing, location, and/or luck, the less important bait size becomes, generally speaking. FFS has helped put some of these final puzzle pieces into place in that regard.

Slow moving post frontal conditions over the past several days following our big rain event. Wednesday I hit a pond I thought would most likely be stained, only to find clearing water. Gusty W/NW winds and mostly sunny skies, but still managed 8 or 9 on a finesse jig, so it wasn't too bad. Thursday was some clouds and lighter SW winds, so went to a different slightly clearer pond with the drop shot and again, 8 to 9 bites. Today, just a slight S breeze with a lot of hazy cloud cover starting to move in. Back to the first pond, but this time with the drop shot setup and was able to garner 18 fish. The good majority of these fish are running between 14"-16", so this must be the dominant year class moving through the system, but you get a few bigger every now and then.

Similar to @Deleted account, I don’t buy into the theory. Numerous studies have documented successful feeding rates of between 80-100 percent of the time for largemouth bass under a wide range of conditions. They’d starve to death if it was much different, otherwise. Under poor conditions, success does decrease though - high turbidity, heavy cover, extreme darkness, even how full a bass already may be - but none of these tie directly to prey camouflage. Along a similar line, while I’m just as guilty with having some personal color nuances and variations I like, most studies don’t support that these things play any role in overly attracting a basses attention and causing preferential feeding - but it grabs our attention, and helps keep tackle sales high ?