Jigfishn10

Nothing wrong with that rant. Common courtesy should apply to all fishing circumstances, IMHO. Did you politely say something to the person(s) in the boat?

That's awesome A-Jay. Great pics and story, Thank you very much for sharing. When I got out of High School my dad was pushing me to go to Mass Maritime...today I wish I did.

1 bait? Dogwalker. Nothing like topwater fishing.

Sorry to hear that Lee.MD, I hope it picks up for you down there. I'm going with my 7 year old son tomorrow for the first time all year. I hope he catches a few. Take care and good luck.

Great fish Man! You told it perfectly!

Catt, I had to ask the question, thanks for the clarification. The topic quesion and the OP is a bit misleading, and I think slonezp nailed it by asking the right question about being shore bound or fishing from a boat. There is a difference between the 2 IMHO.

This has been bugging me for a couple of years. I really like topwater fishing and 9 times out of 10 I would get a bass on the belly hook. Inevitably the rear hook always gets caught on the side or top of the fish or on the end of the gill plate. A few times when I remove the hook from the side or top of the fish, I draw blood or I drew blood with some scales removed. They seem to swim away ok, but how much damage did I just inflict on the fish and will it make it?

Can you provide us wih more info as to how, when and where you're fishing them? Let us know what kind of jig you're using in these situaltions. Maybe we can figure out what or if you're doing something wrong or perhaps maybe there is an alternative jig you should be using?

Grundle, there already appears to be more non-boaters than boaters. All I'll be doing is adding to the problem.

So grim & Catt, Hypothetically, you're fishing a topwater and had a fish boil over it, you throw back and same thing, just a boil or nothing for that matter, you wouldn't switch to a soft plastic or some other follow-up lure?

It really depends on the mold/manufacturer, but 1/4oz = 3/0, 3/8oz = 4/0 and 1/2oz = 5/0. This is typically what I see and have used. What particular mold are you working with?

PM sent.

I fianlly got out for about 2.5 hours today after the rain let up and I finally put together a topwater day. 5 LMB with 1 right at the 3 lbs mark. They were active for sure today. I wish I could have stayed a bit longer!

Man, I used to fish those lakes when my buddy lived in Salem back in the late 90's early part of 2000's. I can't tell you how much I miss fishing them. When are you planning on going?

Nice post lynyrdsky1! Don't be afraid of throwing a single willow spinnerbait or any single blade for that matter (willows are the best at coming thru the weeds, but I have used colorados in the past with great success), right thru those weeds. Don't be afraid, you won't get hung up as much as you think. Don't try ripping it thru either, you'll kill the presention, reel thru it until you can't reel thru it, then rip it thru and try again in another spot. MHO

I start off with a spinnerbait and make 2 series of fan casts. The first series is retrieving it fairly quickly and the second slower with some stop and go variation. If no bites I swtch to a slower presentaion, usually a jig or tube and make a few series of fan casts with those. Then I would use some type of plastic stick bait and would really be methodical about it. If nothing, then I move on. That's just my approach and it works for me. i'm sure members here have other approaches which works for them and I'm sure I'll learn something here as well. BTW, welcome to the site, pull up a chair and enjoy.

gk is on point. You're already cognizant about different retrieve techniques, the main thing to do is get the lure wet first and let the fish tell you how they want it on a given day. With most lures I start off fast to locate fish and see if they're active. If that doesn't work, then I slow down and/or would use some variation of a stop and go retrieve. These are for reaction type baits, if all else fails then I'm working with a much slower, methodical presentation...jig, tube, worm...those type of lures.

An oinker for sure A-Jay. I've caught some nice sized crappy in tha past, but nothing like that! Hope it was good eating.

SAHWEET! Well done indeed.

That's not cheating, that's taking sound advice from a very good man.

I haven't been out fishing since late last week. The current temps and weather we're experiencing has got to be cooling our waters really fast and hopfully the bite will be picking up. Anyone been out fishing at all?

I noticed that you failed to mention that she caught her new PB this year which dwarfs yours...LOL...J/K...I do remember she caught a real nice one this year. Congrats to her.

Thanks BIG M.

I wonder if you could use some type of stain and dip them in over night and get results that way...hmmmm...I may have to experiment...LOL

I fish one 24 acre lake/pond (however you want to classify it) for the past 15 years and it seems to change in cover composition more and more. I may be able to catch fish on certain parts of the pond for a couple of years straight and then the next season the cover is either very sparse or nonexistent and the fish relocated. Even tho the structure hasn't changed, I'm finding bass are relocating from one year to the next. For example, I fished this hump for 3 years straight, but for some reason the past 2 years it hasn't yielded much. So, I don't know, I guess I'm glad that I can jump into my truck and take a 6 mile trip have to learn the water body all over again year in and year out.