shimmy

Nice to meet you man. I have been gone for a bit, but have a soft spot for this site. Find myself always coming back eventually. I just moved to Texas 3 months ago so I will be on the water a lot. I want to fish in that area as well. Will be fun to hear some updates.

Yes! Any advice for boat lanes would be appreciated. I am always nervous opening up the engine on a new lake. I had read somewhere that it has boat lanes possibly marked? Not sure. From what I have seen, it is not the best for big fish, but it does look fun and it seems a lot of the shore fishing is forgiving for not knowing the lake well. Might try to bring my son out there with me and see if I can get him a few fish as well. Given my level of excitement to go fishing, i will most likely bring too many rods with too many different lures and become too ineffective instead of committing to something logical. I just want to throw all of my lures that have been hibernating all winter.

Hey all, looking to hit a lake in Illinois to get the boat wet next week. Willing to drive from Wisconsin to central Illinois or northern Illinois area around Braidwood Lake. Will have a 115 hp motor and will not risk it on hp restrictions lakes. Any good advice for a lake to try and catch a big bass or at least daydream about catching a big bass? Been a long winter. All work and no play....Want to get fishing again! Thanks all, Shimmy

Have some videos if you want to find some lakes and spots where I am catching them. Good wintertime viewing while we still thaw around here. Other good options besides Vilas county

Always enjoy coming to the site. Sometimes I go a while in between looking at anything, but it has always served as a home base; similar to what A-Jay pointed out. The only shame with it all is not having convenient opportunities to do some casual fishing with members here. A bit of a bummer. That is probably the main reason it can be easy to go months without logging on. No matter what though, must give my hat off to Glenn for keeping this site relevant for so many years.

A-Jay was trained to be dangerous on the waters by the coast guard. I would like to propose to the committee that he has an unjust advantage. Perhaps he is using covert and unauthorized special sonar. Do we even know his declassified name?... A-Jayson Bourne

That is an awesome season. Do you fish out of Minneapolis? One of these days we should team up and get some big green fish in the area. 9 over 20 inches sounds awesome man. Troy

Virginia Utah Minnesota Wisconsin Neat to see everyone's places. I agree with other's thoughts that MN is the best place for numbers for largies. Central Wisconsin has been the worst for largemouth fishing by far for me. Everyone fishes and keeps what they catch year round within a 1 hour radius of my home. I generally have to drive a distance to hit better bodies of water. Fish are stunted everywhere. Have to travel to the northern or western part of the state to start fishing waters similar to MN. I fished very rarely in Utah, so I never gave it a good go. Most of the lakes were too far away for me. I have never really fished in a state that had numbers of double digit bass so my mark of a big fish has always been the 6 pound mark. I never had a good boat to go explore other lakes in northern Virginia. Even with a better fishable boat, I wasn't flexible enough to adapt and catch some of the bigger bass they have there. I definitely would have spent more time fishing lakes with bigger bass, be more versatile with lures, explore glide baits more, fish more swimbaits, and try to master a body of water. I have been binging a youtuber (SBfishing) in VA and he is a great example of watching an angler grow in knowledge, application, and then start catching giants (relative for northern VA) yearly in his tournaments. He also seems like a very humble dude as well. Very humbling and a good reminder to always learn more and try new patterns/styles of fishing.

Interesting thread. There is a clear discrepancy between people who fish large versus small bodies of water. Have fun sharing specific spots on a small body of water. It will affect the lake. On larger bodies of water like Toledo Bend, I totally understand that it can be easy to share spots and still find ways to work around boats in an area. Small lakes (200 acres or less) is what many of us fish and lakes can permanently change by sharing too much info. Not sure why people think they are taking the moral high ground by "freely sharing/helping" when it actually involves LARGE bodies of water. On smaller bodies of water, sharing with others may not always affect as many 6+ pound bass you catch, it definitely affects the number of 4s and 5s from my experience/observations. Nonetheless, I am still ok with sharing certain things with others if I know they are not going to share with others, not keep what they catch, and be the type to share their info as well. Shimmy

Been a fun year of fishing, but definitely got out less this year than I have in years due to work. I was able to fish in Minnesota for a good month, several weekends in Wisconsin, and made it out to Louisiana for a two day trip to break up the horrendous winters of Wisconsin that never end. Minnesota continued to be the easiest place to fish for me. I love that place, always less pressure (relatively speaking), and the easiest place to catch a 20+ pound bag in my opinion. Despite my efforts, I did not catch as many 5+ pound bass as in previous years due to several of our favorite lakes dying off from a fish kill. Definitely tragic and frustrating to have your favorite unpressured gems die off. Spent more time trying new lakes. I have heard of this happening throughout the state as well. Nevertheless, was able to still get some good fish there and in Wisconsin. Top 5 bass for the year still put me a little shy of 30lbs. Biggest bass this year between the two states was in Wisconsin at 7 lbs 1 oz (almost 23 inches) on my own jig. I do wish we had more Wisconsin guys piping in on this website. Pretty confused why we don't see a lot of reports. I generally find it harder to get a 6+ pound largemouth bass out of here versus MN. Here were a few of the Minnesota/Wisconsin bass and accidental northern and musky: (no smiling allowed. Bill Dance hat) (7 pounder) I also had the opportunity to drive my boat 15 hours south and fish Louisiana for 2 days late March. Was able to get my dad and brother out there as well. We had a blast. We tried out ol' Bussey to see how we could do on 2 days of fishing. Definitely crowded lake and a lot of learning and falling short on our end while there. We did not catch many bass, but learned pretty quickly that we were also not well equipped with the best fishing equipment (complete oversight on my part). I brought out a bunch of medium heavy rods and not strong enough line. We missed some big fish and I will try to be better equipped next time. I am hoping to stay out longer. Even after 2 days, I still don't think we came close to figuring this lake out quite yet. My biggest of the trip was this 8 lb 2 oz bass on a 5" texas rigged senko. Just realizing looking at the pictures that my blue shirt is a lucky shirt!!! Thanks for reading along! Shimmy

Hey all, I am in love with the Daiwa Zillion 10.0 TW. Looking for better handles to replace it with though. Any good suggestions?

Hey all, long time jig fisherman but am continually learning and having some occasional stumps. Asking longtime jig connoisure. Recently hit a lake in Lousiana (Bussey Brake) where there were bass in the prespawn and spawn. Water was murky, low visibility, and filled with timber. Like fishing in the woods. For the first time, fishing the jig did terrible for me. Talking to one of the locals, they stated that the jig bite was no longer on and was only working during the prespawn. Luckily we did adapt and I was able to stick a nice one on plastics. Nevertheless, it left me confused. The lake is definitely pressured, but given the structure, it can accommodate it. So I am trying to run through some theories here. Something pressured, i understand downsizing. Clear water and pressured, i understand downsizing and even going for plastics instead. However, this lake was very murky and filled with great cover. This lake produces very low numbers on average and I understand that, but the jig bite was basically non-existant compared to other methods. Help this young grasshopper with some feedback. Why now is the bite died down as opposed to prespawn? Jig in murky cover has always beaten plastics for me. But not this time and it seemed like it was not a fluke per the locals. Thoughts?

Based on good feedback from guys on this site, I will be there in 3 weeks...Biggest decision that is keeping me up at night is do I throw my main rig with a jig or a texas rigged creature bait. I could alternate, but I just want to pick one...Big decisions. And now I have to think about adding in Randy Howell's 5" senko. 1st world problems.

I have been out a bit. Still in Wisconsin fishing when there is no ice on the water. This thread has stirred some memories. This site has helped immensely with my fishing and is quite the humbling site with so many great fisherman. Have always wanted to get out fishing with some long-timers here, but always seem to be in a different state or area! It is tough to see people pass away or people's health issues over the years. I am very happy to see Dwight doing well and fishing. There is a lot of nostalgia for me on these sites. Really great guys on here. Always love to see longtime posters and their plunders of big bass in the water. I never grow tired of Andy's adventures down south in Mexico. I just want people staying healthy forever on this site. I do miss Fish Chris and his incredible photography.

Did they drain the whole lake during repairs? How did they get big fish back in there? Is it a lake that has some topo map? Since it is so shallow, is it basically trolling motor only? Can you rent boats? Thanks all Shimmy

Hey all, I am looking to do another fishing adventure somewhere in Late March anywhere from Kentucky to Texas. Only rub is I would prefer a smaller lake; one under a 1000 acres if possible. I am taking my dad out and brother and we would like to hunt for a big largemouth bass. This is definitely going to be a broad range of places to go. I guess I am indifferent to it being pre-spawn or spawn time period. Just hopefully not right before a spawn during that lull period. Detective work and feedback would be appreciated. -Late March to first few days of April. -Less than a 1000 acres to take my own boat for a road trip (currently living in Wisconsin) -Preferably for big bass and not numbers. Thanks again to any feedback!

Is there a particular depth that everyone is targeting with the A-rig there? Main lake points? Secondary points? Are people fishing a specific type of location for that? I am unfamiliar with the lake. Just awesome to see big bass consistently caught out there.

Out here for 6 days of fishing. Curious how this weather is going to hold up. Water temperature is mid to upper 60s, which is crazy. Curious if anyone is doing well. Went out today and had a good, but they were not eating my fall pattern type baits. Little nervous of the weather the next few days. I have all new thermal gear this year and won't be using it once out here, which I am a bit disappointed.

I got the 873+. The sensitivity is just unreal. Prior to getting bites, it almost is difficult to tell the difference between that and my Dobyns champion extreme. Then...the bite occurs and it feels like a lightning bolt going through the whole rod. It was just crazy. Couple thoughts thus far though and am curious if anyone else has had the same. The rod is rated 1/4-3/4; however, this thing is a tank. It is begging for a 3/4 ounce jig. The half ounce to 3/4 seems to be fine. This rod loads up early and stays powerful. To me, it fishes like a 4-5 power rod. I have lost several fish thus far because the hook set almost feels like it is too powerful. If the fish is under 3 pounds, you play the rest of the game trying to catch up to the hook set that yanked the fish out of his home 10 feet towards you. I have yet to battle a big fish on it. I am hoping that I am looking into this too much, but...that power though. Geez. It feels like a pitching rod to me. Man, the bite though...it is just amazing. This guy will get paired with my Daiwa 10.0 that just arrived today. This is my anecdote to the hooksets that are moving the fish too much. That 10.0 gear ratio will hopefully help me catch up to the fish. This combo looks incredible though. Blue on blue. I love the balance on this set up.

Hey all, looking to buy a boat. Just wondering if it is a bad idea to buy a 2009 2 stroke 90 HP Mercury Optimax as opposed to a 4 stroke? Since motors are going this direction of 4 strokes, it may be hard to find parts for repairs? Thoughts?

That is a great area. If you are going bass fishing, give Thompson lake and Whiskey lake a shot. Thompson lake is bass only. Fun because when you get a bit, you always know it is a bass. Your drives would only be 28 minutes and 38 minutes respectively. Worth it in my opinion.

Great fish man. But, I guess I will bite here... what scale you using? (or not using...) -Fish Police

I fished it with my brother this Spring for the first time. Definitely worth it. We were a bit frustrated by the fishing pressure, but for some reason, there were still good fish to be had. You were NEVER the first person to hit a spot. Brother stuck one around 7 pounds. Here are a couple pics from it. Fished it 2 days and had over a 20lb bag each time.

Those are great looking fish.

Decided to go camping to a new area this weekend. We picked a beautiful area that had two lakes that were part of the campgrounds. One of the lakes seemed to be more of a musky lake and was small, so I was not feeling that for bass fishing. Decided to hit the other lake (Cox Hollow Lake), which turns out to be a trolling motor only lake. Fished half a day yesterday and half a day today to give it a shot and see if I could get lucky with anything. Little did I know that this had a million kayakers out there. I swear, it was a Monday and there were still sooooo many people out there...Could always be worse though. Half the fisherman on the lake were panfishing so it did not bother me much. But, there was some zigging and zagging to hit new spots. I ended up doing well both days. First day, did not catch as many due to fishing a lot of unproductive shoreline. Second day, pinpointed the bite a little better and caught some good fish. I had tried slow and light jigs, but was getting more bites with a heavier jig with more movement, so I stuck with that the rest of the trip. Altogether, top 5 fish combining yesterday and today puts me over 21 lbs. Caught one 4 and a half pounder and was excited to get her, but then later on in the day caught a GIANT! I was hitting a shallow cove that had a deeper pocket/crater (14 feet) surrounded by 6-9 feet. It seemed like a place a bigger fish should be, but so did many other places on this small lake. I got a little tap on the jig, missed it, she came back again and set the hook into a tank. I was not expecting the weight of the fish and the battle caught me off guard. She was almost 7 pounds and almost 23 inches. I understand sharing this information does not benefit me and will bring more pressure to certain waters, but my hope with such a thread is that someone who is struggling on the water and wants recommendations of what to use and where to go, that this can provide some direction. Here are the two biggest of the day, tight lines. If anyone has any recommendations for new lakes to explore, just let me know!