senile1

I think these excerpts from three of our astute members pretty much sums up my thoughts on this. I will add that @A-Jay's statement that "any decent quality stick can get the job done" and @WRB's statement that "You can get all you need for under $300" say a lot though. In other words, the vast majority of us who have bass fished for many years tend to buy sticks that meet a certain minimum level of sensitivity and quality. When I am on the water I want all the elements involved to be in my favor. As for @woolleyfooley's Champion Extreme rod, I think that you have plenty of sensitivity to get the job done.

Your struggle sounds familiar to me. Lakes with little or no structure are more difficult for me to find fish. Like you, I would be checking the boatlifts, mellow underwater creek banks, the dam riprap, and any mild drops into the deeper water to find the fish. Keep in mind that in the Fall they are probably following the bait which in your case is gizzard shad. I seem to always be able to locate and catch fish on lakes with plenty of defined structure, but lakes like yours are a tougher puzzle. There is a lake I fish near KC that is loaded with gizzard shad as well. Over the years I have come to the conclusion that the bass have plenty to eat so one must be more precise with presentation to get them to bite. For me, a big day on this lake is 7 to 10 bass. A typical day is 2 to 5. It can be frustrating. Fortunately, the lake has lots of big bass which can make up for the lack of numbers and is the main reason I fish there. Bass in lakes with lots of shad tend to scatter when the thermocline breaks up. Once the shad move back into creeks or arms the bass should follow and may be a little more grouped up and easier to locate. Other than these ideas, I have nothing else.

I think this sentence nails it. The combination of the spot and the way one fishes it is the secret spice.

As a few of you have alluded to, secret spots are few and far between these days. Unless you have a lake that is quite secluded or is used by most for some other purpose than fishing, there are likely no secret spots. Even on larger bodies of water such as Table Rock or Lake Ozark, many bass anglers frequent these lakes and a significant number of them are looking for the same types of structure to hold bass. Spots that are hidden below the water's surface are more likely to be secret, but with down and side imaging significant numbers of these can be found. And as @WRB stated, with FFS there will be even less of these spots that escape scrutiny.

I generally go with 8 to 10 rods although sometimes when the fish are scattered and responding to random techniques I will go up to 12. My older bass boat doesn't have room for more than that without making a tangled mess. Logically, you can minimize the rods to a point but there are some techniques that just don't work as well with a MH or M rod. One example is thin wire single hooks for Ned rig fishing. They stick better when you can just reel into the fish to set the hook and I have found that a light action rod is best for this purpose.

@RipzLipz It is the "3rd or More" designation that is bothering me. Sounds like Mahomes Sr. has a problem with getting behind the wheel after a few drinks on a regular basis.

@Glenn What an awesome trip! Looking forward to your updates and report afterward!

I bleed red, white, and yellow but the only play-off game I would have bet on the Chiefs to win was the Miami game. Like many, I expected the Ravens and 49ers to play in the Superbowl, though I would have loved to see the Lions make it after all these years. Sometimes, having an iron will to just win the game overrules statistics and sheer physical talent. We occasionally see teams like this and the Chiefs appear to have become one of them in the last few years. It seems great talented teams will sometimes lay an egg when they face one of these teams, especially in the play-offs, and that is what the Ravens did. Mental toughness is a talent that is difficult to measure, but paired with some physical talent it can be hard to beat. Tom Brady was the obvious master when it came to talent paired with a mind that just would not accept a loss. Go Chiefs! I hope they have one more instance left in them of beating a team that appears to be more talented.

@WRB Thanks, Tom. I remember messaging with you about the loss of your son. Such a terrible loss! I hope all is going well for you.

@Catt Thank you! My wife had another bad day yesterday but my 8 year old Granddaughter spent the night with us last night. That helps. She is a bundle of love. We will be attending our 13 year old Grandson's basketball game today and that helps too. He is the one whose Father passed. We have two other Grandchildren who are both adults now. I know I should drag myself back in here and try to participate but most of these days I'm just not feeling it. But then, sometimes you have to take the action before the feeling comes.

Fishing still occupies a great deal of my free time, but I think the last few years I have made a post maybe every three to six months, more or less. There are a number of reasons for that. January 1, 2018, my Father passed. On October 20, 2021, my Mother passed. Then on September 27, 2022, my wife lost her son, Justin, at 41 years of age. Cyndee, my wife, has had a lifelong struggle with depression and for the most part, medication kept it in check. Until now. It has been a real struggle for her, and by extension, me as well. On her bad days there is nothing I can do but hold her. Justin had been my stepson for 29 years so this was a shock to me also. Our participation in all social media has practically ended. I think most parents would rather die themselves than lose a child. My wife retired in 2014 and I retired in the summer of 2018. I have become more interested in hiking and climbing mountains. My wife and I take about 6 vacations a year between early spring and late fall. Between taking care of things at home, spending time with family, planning the logistics for travel, and traveling itself I don't find much time to spend on social media as is. Forums topics are repetitive and almost every time I begin to provide a response, I realize that the topic will receive responses from any number of members saying similar things to what I have to say. And finally, we moved to a new home and place last summer. We spent a lot of time looking for places between March and July of 2023 and finally settled on a 5 acre spread north of Excelsior Springs, MO. We had planned on moving to one of the lakes in southern Missouri, but after the death of our son, we both decided it would be best to stay near our Grandchildren in Kansas City, especially for our Grandson who lost his Father. To more recent arrivals to this forum, this is probably the best time to be a member of Bass Resource. @Glenn has done an amazing job of creating and molding it to be a place free of drama, for the most part. Back in the 2000s there were a lot more arguments, and Glenn responded with appropriate rules to make this place what it is today. I may not participate much but I do appreciate what is here.

Very sad to hear this. Obituary and Tribute Wall: https://www.mdfh.com/obituaries/Gary-D-Kilmartin?obId=29892547

I chose the crisp carbon fiber rod and on the first question, I chose both. I notice a noticeable difference in the rods mentioned. I am quite certain that it isn't just in my head and it makes me a better angler in situations where feeling the movement of my lure and interpreting whether a fish has bitten is paramount. I do agree with the idea that some of us are better wizards behind the wand, but that does not exclude the idea that a better rod/wand makes even the best wizard a better spell caster.

https://www.skedaddlewildlife.com/location/madison/blog/bat-guano-is-it-dangerous/#:~:text=Many animal control and healthcare,the outside of your home. I have thought about this as well. This article seems to indicate it is pretty difficult to disturb it without breathing in the fungus spores that are so dangerous.

Yep. Bradford Pears are a non-native invasive tree. I know a lot of them have been sold and planted in yards over the past few decades, but they do spread quite prolifically. I see a lot of them growing on the roadsides around here.

No hard water here. Temperatures have been back and forth warming the water somewhat. Last weekend I fished in 42 degree water and the fish were biting finesse jigs and Ned rigs, but they were still located near the deeper basin in this small 56 acre lake. We have had a number of warmer days lately. Unfortunately, the forecast for March 8th - 17th is for lows in the upper teens to around 30, and highs in the 30s and 40s. If that forecast holds our water won't be warming from the low 40s until probably late March.

Yep, and a significant number of the reviews are done almost immediately after receiving the purchase. Useless.

There is nothing worse than losing a child, a life partner, or preparing for what may be that coming loss and yet fighting it down to the wire. As you are well aware, life can be brutal for some of us and is one of the reasons why I have rarely been on social media, including this forum, as of late. I wish you all the best with this knowing that nothing I say can truly ease your pain. I hope you and Lynn continue to fill your lives with as many good moments as possible, and hopefully things will turn for the better and you will have many more of those moments to come.

This bears repeating and Catt alluded to it as well. Also, fishing with someone better than you can be very helpful. There are far better anglers on here with more expert advice than I, but this has worked for me. If you fish alone most of the time, I would suggest the following: Learn a small lake known to have decent sized bass first if any are available in your area. The time on the water thing takes less time if you have less lake to learn. Large reservoirs of a few thousand or tens of thousands of acres have lots of unproductive water and if you don't know where to look you can really get frustrated. Become proficient on smaller lakes and then apply what you learn to larger lakes. (Missouri's fishing app provides a list of all conservation maintained lakes. They also periodically provide prospect reports that describe the fish population so you know the size structure of the bass in many of the lakes. Hopefully you can find something like this online, or in an app for your state, to help you narrow down where to find larger fish.) Minimize the techniques you are trying to learn, but make sure they are in different sections of the water column to address different situations on the water. (i.e. Don't just try a number of moving baits. Try maybe three moving baits that cover the upper water column. Do the same for mid-depths. Also try slow bottom baits like T-rigged worms, creatures, and jigs when the conditions warrant it. A couple of finesse baits would be good to learn as well. And make sure you spend time with them to actually develop confidence in them. If you become proficient at fishing two or three baits for each section of the water column you will be equipped to catch fish and more likely to find the bigger fish.) Develop a schedule to practice the art of casting. Accurate casting is paramount. I would throw in that you should at least learn the pitching technique during your casting practice (and I would learn flipping as well). Being able to place a slow moving bait right in a small hole in brush or under a dock will increase your chances of catching bigger fish. Learn to handle your boat or fish from the bank in a stealthy manner to avoid spooking fish. If you think about it, all of the things mentioned above take one thing and that brings us full-circle back to time - time on the water fishing, time on the water or in your yard casting, time in the boat learning to handle it properly. Take time and enjoy the journey.

That is a nice clean boat and motor and definitely doesn't appear to have been used a lot. Congratulations!

Holy Toledo!

What a beast of a fish!

Nice work!

Thanks for the memories, KVD! Fifty-five is still young. Looking forward to whatever comes next.

Lots of great suggestions for baits here. As for bottom baits it looks like you have a finesse jig and a rage bug type bait there. I would add a light weighted tube and Ned rig.