Team9nine

My thoughts are more in line with this. Certainly there are situations where 2-3 days of stable or improving conditions lead to a good bite. However, I can think of as many or more situations where being near or on the center of abrupt change, day 0 or day 1, where I’ve had great bite windows that simply fail to exist if you wait 3 days for stability.

Not going to lie - I was pretty happy when the first fish I got today was one over 4 lbs....even cooler was getting to watch that fish come up from below the bait, just appear, and then open his mouth and suck the bait in - but then the next bite I got was one over 8 lbs. - my second largest bass ever and a pretty huge fish for Indiana. What a way to end the year! Interesting side story. Retied my bait before heading out and checked my trebles. Decided they were a little dull from previous trips, so I hit them with a file. Still wasn't happy with how they felt afterwards, so took a couple minutes to pull out the split ring pliers and replace them with some brand new Gammi's I just purchased. Can't say whether it would have made a difference or not in landing these fish, but it sure didn't hurt, and hit me as kind of a, "I'm sure glad I took the time and did that" kind of thing after getting each to hand. Here's a few shots of the big one:

...but it sure as hell beats working

The mouth rules out a lot of/most minnow species to me from the pic. Looks too big and not anywhere underneath the snout from the looks of it. Still going LMB for now.

My first thought: A very pale bass due to the cold water or water clarity...definitely not a white bass

Bill Plummer was another unique guy, but he did fish a handful of different baits. His favorite that he caught the most fish on was actually the jig-n-pig. He also used his 4 baits a bunch, too. He hated tournaments, also rowed or drifted into most places, and was a big fan of Dacron line and drags tightened with pliers He reminds me a lot of Bill Murphy - small boat, sneaky, simple approach, anchorer, loner.

Nope - "Topwater Charlie" was Charles Orme of Ocala, Fla. Pretty much the only lure he threw was one particular size and color of Devil's Horse, which he started using in 1957. He started fishing tournies in 1986 and won tens of thousands of $$ locally fishing just that one bait. It was said he had between 300-500 Devil's Horses in his possession.

There’s a person or two like him in every region that time or technology has seemed to pass by, guys like “Topwater Charlie,” Ned Kehde and Charlie Brewer to name just a few. They’re usually the best at what they do, because it’s all they do. A lot to be said, and appreciated, for a simple approach these days.

Typically, slow and steady with just an occasional twitch seems best for crappie most days. They don't seem near as prone to reaction strikes like bass are - and feed more deliberately. If you can determine a school depth, always start by retrieving just above them. Crappie like to feed up.

usually anything in the 1.5” to 2” range is standard crappie fare. You pretty much have small tubes, curlytails, and shad bodies as the most common soft plastic options, though there are a lot of hybrid “creatures” out there these days. Weight wise, 1/16 or 1/8 oz are the most commonly used jig heads for crappie. Up here, we frequently catch bass mixed in or hanging around with the crappie at times. Good luck!

3/32 oz jighead and Bobby Garland shad body, most in 17’-20’ of water.

Holey jeans every day I just wore a pair of bibs today because our high only went north of 40 by a couple degrees and the holes let in too much cold air

We got 9/10 of an inch of rain yesterday which local water temp gauges put at 42-44 degrees. Brought up the ponds and put a good stain in the water. Also got the fish a little more active. Managed one shy of a dozen today from the bank. Hoping to get the boat back out in the next day or two. Have to see how flooded the local reservoirs are - probably high and muddy.

You're just so good, you don't need to resort to snagging your lure in order to get bit like the rest of us have to

No spotlock here, but have heard of it happening. Guess that cable doesn't take abuse well, including being stretched hard. Messed up a buddies resolution when some version of that happened to him. Also have had a friend or two accidentally drop the troll motor on the LS cable and slice it, which basically ruins the transducer - an expensive "oops."

Been double jabbed, plus added flu shot late last month, then "boosted" today. No ill effects from the first two Covid shots, so hoping for nothing again this go round. We'll see. Wife hasn't been so lucky - "Covid arm" after the first shot and 2 solid days of side effects after the 2nd. Hoping for less of a reaction this time since it's just half strength. We'll both know by this time tomorrow. Hoping we got through family Christmas get togethers without any issues, too. Another wait and see...

Wasn't quite as adventurous as @ironbjorn and left the topwaters at home - lol - but hit a local pond that was catching the 15-20 mph gusts pretty good and caught half a dozen on blades fished like a lipless. Really enjoying this Indiana warm spell.

Been a great year for crappie; going to miss chasing them as much as I did this year. Hit the local reservoir up yesterday for one last go of it. Water 41-42 degrees, but I found them schooled up deep adjacent to the main river channel.

Never - but you'll get a lot of responses from those that do

It will change you if you let it, and will certainly modify your approach at least somewhat, but it's not necessarily a total screen game unless you either let it become that, or are on certain types of fisheries that set up that way. Every person and lake will be different. On a clear water smallmouth or spotted bass fishery, it could be a lot of suspended fish and screen time, especially in summer and winter when those fish are most likely to suspend. Some largemouth lakes will also set up that way, but a lot won't, especially the murky ones with lots of shoreline cover. This year I spent most of my time getting comfortable with LS by chasing crappie all year, along with some summer white bass fishing. They are great to learn with because of their schooling nature, as well as their propensity to suspend. You get good quick with bait presentation and control, and catch a boat load of fish in the process, building confidence in the units. I believe my crappie total for the year is now approaching 5500 fish landed. Next year, I'll switch and focus primarily on bass since I now have everything pretty well dialed in for how I fish. I also plan to hit a larger variety of lakes than normal to try and catch one or two that have more suspended or schooling fish - most of our reservoirs don't seem to. That's not terrible though, as one of the strong suits of LS is seeing and finding cover - and, of course, then being able to specifically target said cover. That's why I think if you only had one unit, LS is the more versatile overall, especially if you're multi-species.

New bait infatuation - you mean like this? … Umm, nope ?

If I told you how many bass I catch on “hung” lures, you probably wouldn't believe me ? It’s actually become a “pattern” for me on certain bodies of water.

Pretty certain I could take my MBR783c with a baitcaster of choice and some 12 or 15 lb Big Game and fish darn near everything - worms, jigs, spinners, chatters, buzzers, cranks of all sorts, buzzers, poppers, jerkbaits, blade baits, jigging spoons…just stay weight appropriate. Pretty sure I’ve done most all of them at some point over the years - lol

Haven’t even got a swipe from a bass on a micro Chatter in the ponds I fish - strange. I’ve given up on them - lol.