Team9nine

Longer than you, unless it gets too low on the spool first

Pretty much this ^^

Rewatch, as I think you missed his larger point, which is that there needs to be more intelligent and organized scheduling of events on local lakes to keep things balanced, which I agree with completely. Our larger state waters went through this process a couple decades ago, but a lot of our smaller tourney waters suffered for quite a while longer until they got on board and started doing similarly. Most of our most popular tourney waters now fall under these guidelines/restrictions, and it makes life a little easier and more enjoyable for all.

Perhaps this...? Naturally Occurring Foam

'Opportunistic feeder' is just a biological term for generalist predator, which is defined as "an animal (that) feeds on a wide variety of prey and is able to adapt to whatever food becomes available." I would argue that use/meaning outside of that context by anglers is either misleading or inappropriate. Studies back this up; for example, when smallmouth and largemouth inhabit the same body of water, LMB typically show 3X the variety of species consumed in comparison to SMB, which appear to be much more selective or focused on single prey items, especially in goby inhabited environs. Ralph Manns, biologist and longtime bass writer, sides with your argument about not 'fooling' a bass into eating your bait, and has long argued against what we typically call 'reaction strikes.' He states, “When anglers talk about a reaction strike, they’re really describing a feeding reaction. It’s not in their genetic makeup to get aggravated with a lure, unless they’re defending a spawning bed. They may display territorial behavior, but that’s solely when interacting with other fish." “To strike effectively, bass often must react quickly to nearby prey,” he says. “In that situation, fast-moving or erratic lures may work best. But it’s still a feeding response. If the fish bites, the angler has succeeded in fooling it into mistakenly biting a fake. When weather conditions or prey abundance improve feeding opportunities, active lures score and results often are spectacular.” (from an In-Fisherman writeup) Again, looking at diet studies, bass, especially largemouth, frequently have empty stomachs, usually 45-55% of the time in most of those studies. The other half of the time there is something there, but in various states of decomposition. Split evenly, it would suggest that 3/4 of the time, a bass is either hungry or getting hungry, which might then lead to the various 'levels of activity' others have mentioned, especially when combined with 'opportunity' such as optimal weather patterns, water conditions, or bait/prey abundance (large-scale or random/intermittent). Interestingly, and somewhat in support of this argument, is one study that shows that triggering neauromast cells (components of the lateral line) on the face of a bass can elicit a feeding 'bite' even when food isn't within reach or physically available, but it was within site (partitioned through glass) where the bass could see it. However, they couldn't elicit the same response to bass that were either frightened or well-fed, suggesting again that even this 'reaction strike' to a water pulse is primarily triggered by an anticipation of feeding (intention), or 'hunger' on the part of the fish.

Sounds like beams are shooting under the boat. You need to rotate the transducer back a couple notches, but this will vary depending on which side of the troll motor you’re mounted on. Also see if you are running in auto orientation (AHRS) or manually overridden.

YES - you said I had 24 hrs notice

Maybe it’s not the equipment - $15 and 12 lbs later… ? lol

Glad to see the Hayes SMB reinstated as the world record, as well as the Mabry Harper walleye

Another music thread… ? Reminds me of a good George Thorogood And The Destroyers song... I fish alone, yeah / With nobody else I fish alone, yeah / With nobody else Yeah, you know when I fish alone / I prefer to be by myself.

Geist! Out of a small boat, even - lol. Very light weights for that lake, but a win is a win. Congrats!

I’d go. I don’t even wake up before 8 any day of the week, and certainly never hit the lake before Noon - lol. Another thought - nearly every big bass figure here, or that you read about, has stated midday (roughly 11-2) as one of the best big fish time slots of the day to be fishing. Search some old threads on the subject.

Like others, I use cheap mono in most cases, preferably colored (green, orange, chartreuse) since fluoro is clear - makes a good indicator. I shoot for between 70-100 yds per spool depending on fluoro spool size. I either measure the distance on Google Maps and cut to length accordingly, or use IPT for that reel and count handle revolutions after doing some basic math. You may have to unspool and adjust a time or two to get it right, but once you have it, you’re good for life - lol

Yeah, first thought is largemouth will stay at 20 or less with the gizzards and the spots will follow the threadfin out to 30+ in winter. That would be my initial plan of attack until proven otherwise.

I’ve got an older Aquaview, and my experience has been if you don’t have clear water, you’re probably wasting your time. You can still see stuff if you literally hug the bottom in stained water, usually about 2 seconds before the camera runs into it and hangs - lol. Then the heart racing begins as you try to unsnag it without snapping the cable and rendering the thing useless ? So 4 ft of vis or better, might be good enough. If you only have 1-3 ft, or even less, save your money.

Just generally speaking since we don’t know the exact lake and its dynamics. Largemouth maybe, but probably not. They tend to stay a bit shallower, but spotted bass - I’d say a good chance you’ll find them in that 30-45 ft zone from late fall through winter, especially if the water is clear and you have a threadfin forage base. Otherwise, maybe not - lol.

Need better pics with better light and more angles with this one. I can’t even tell what kind of lip or attachment from the shading, but agree with @fin about some resemblance to the Palomine.

Once upon a time, but in hindsight, I now lean toward them being mostly meaningless outside of just being fun to look back through once you get older . Instead, I like to capture pure numerical stuff from time to time like # of trips, fish caught per trip, trip hours, fish per bait, etc. just for future reference and comparison purposes to see how years or fisheries change.

Looks like a finesse version for bass not completely locked down yet -

Simple, actually. @A-Jay fishes for big smallmouth and I chase largemouth. Different color preference between the two. Mix that up on a fishery dominated by one species (e.g., white swimbait attractor on Lake Menderchuk or red swimbait attractor on Okeechobee, etc.) and you might not get any bites at all! If you’re unsure, use a pink swimbait attractor, a blend of both colors, which will attract either species.

Yep, in the rare ‘Silver Shiner’ color!

Notice the small white swimbait added to the front hook. It is the key to this bed fishing setup ?

Hmmm, I fish alone 90% of the time. I just need to get it near the surface and verify it’s a bass and I’m good. But if you have a partner, then

Not fair - probably user error - lol. Both of Randy Howell’s giant bass and all 4 of Josh Jones’ ShareLunkers were all fluorocarbon caught fish.

We see it (Chara) in many of the ponds around here, but one in particular is entirely ringed with it. It is usually a short, stubby mass along the bottom, typically a foot or less tall. I only see it mat in the extreme shoreline shallows. My best producing bait for fishing it is a light Ned rig. It’s fairly “crisp” and easy to rip a bait through most times, and the light Ned does a great job of fishing over and on top of it. It is also very cold tolerant, so it’s great early winter habitat for bass snce it is often the last remaining ‘green’ weed around, and usually at slightly deeper depths.