Bluebasser86

I've got about a dozen 65's in my jerkbait box. It's a great little bait that catches fish of all sizes and species. I've never thrown it at smallmouth that I can think of but it's caught me countless largemouth, crappie, trout, and white bass.

In my continued search to find a replacement for Uncle Josh pork, my newest contender. Not exactly what I'd hoped for out of the package, but going to give them a shot.

This is one bent to run shallow. This is a more standard bend.

Thanks for the advice on the ceiling hoist. I was hoping to have a little more clearance, but I'll be the only one in the family that has to duck, at least until the boys get a little taller.

Those look nice. A locally made balsa squarebill has been by far my most productive crankbait for me this fall. The hard thing about wood baits is not every one is the same, which is also part of what makes them good.

I've had some hold for years, and then some that last a couple cast. I wouldn't use glue though, because that dot may not be needed down the road when the water temps change.

Yeah, since adding another rig to my fleet, probably not a lot of movement going on for me at the deadline.

I've caught bass with crawdads clamped down on the inside of their gill plates. It didn't bother them enough to stop them from feeding. Like others have said, they don't feel pain like we do, at the very least, not in their mouths. Ever hooked a fish and fought it the boat and then let the line go slack? They stop fighting. They're pulling against the pressure and the unknown object pulling them away from where they want to be. As soon as that threat is no longer perceived, they stop struggling and usually just slowly meander away until you start pulling again.

Skipping a Ned under docks has been killing them on the lake by my house.

Stained water is about all I fish. Visibility was about 1.5' at the lake I was at Friday and jerkbait was all the wanted, this one to be precise.

Took my first full day trip in the new kayak Friday. Weather was chilly in the morning but really nice later on. Wind was pretty good with just enough to put a ripple on the surface. Post cold front conditions had fish kind of nipping at the bait. Had a lot of them swipe at the jerkbait right next to the kayak. The lake I went to is known for numbers of smaller fish, but I always seem to find a bigger one when I'm there, this trip was no exception. Broke my previous kayak PB by .02 ounces ? . There's a good population of spotted bass also, one of the few lakes in Kansas that has them in fishable numbers. They were running larger than normal, which was a nice bonus. Lost a couple hard pullers I would have liked to have seen.

At least you were able to get out and enjoy some time on the water and you have a son that really seems to enjoy it also. A year like this can really make you appreciate the little things.

Welcome!

Junk fishermen Any given day I might be fishing a 7" glide bait, set it down to skip a wacky rigged senko under a dock, then pitch a jig at it, throw a topwater over some rocks, then root a crankbait through those rocks. If I have 8 rods on the deck, then I'm dialed in ?

I don't know that I'd want to be an expert at bass fishing, seems like it would take a lot of the fun out of it.

They have stripping baskets that strap around your middle so you don't have to lay them out. If you're spotting fish you would likely be standing though, and that's going to make the drive pretty useless.

These suckers are a test in the kayak. There was some heavy breathing in my video ?

I only change mine when it gets low or is really starting to fray. I never use conditioner on any of my lines.

I was using a cheap Daiwa spinning rod today that I got from Academy (even cheaper than the Arid X), with a KastKing Sharky II and 8lb Hi-Seas Grand Slam. I think the rod is a 6' 6" M/F and works really well for jerkbaits.

Bottom right, under the Ned head.

I think most everyone paddles the rivers, too risky to damage the drives unless it's a deeper river. I don't flyfish out of my kayak, but I'd think if you got a stripping basket you'd be okay.

If you're thinking about trying a LiveTarget bait, do yourself a favor and just don't. I'm sure some of them work, but they've fooled me way too many times with their innovative designs and super realistic paint jobs. I bet I've bought more of their baits than their baits have caught me fish. I've heard good things about their frogs/mouse, but no desire to try one at this point. Kind of a "fool me once (or several times)", kind of thing I guess.

Got out to chase one of my favorite fall bites after work this morning, and I was super pumped to do it in my new kayak. I was afraid the bite was going to be over before it got here, thankfully that wasn't the case. First cast just like last time, no way I could get a selfie with this sucker. Glad I went and picked a net up yesterday. After several more cast, thought I might have been struck by the first cast curse again, before I got slammed right under the boat again. I wish the first one would have been as fat as this one. The not so fun thing about these guys, or this spot rather, is I have to cast as close as possible to a big snag or they won't bite. Of course, it's just a matter of time before I get stuck. I was prepared with a back up bait, so I thought, so when I snagged an broke off I would just tie on the new bait. Well, that works in theory but my execution was poor, because my spare bait was still in the truck when exactly that scenario happened a couple cast after I hit the second fish. On my way back to the truck, it was less than a hour since I'd launched and the sun was getting over the trees and the wipers likely would be done by the time I got back to my spot, so I decided to hop over a few miles to the lake I took my maiden voyage on and see if my bass bite was still going there. It wasn't looking good at first, fished several docks with noting and not a swipe at a jerkbait, but finally connected on a dink on the Ned. Then I skipping under a dock that I'd caught one of my better fish last week and my line started swimming and I got set into a hard puller. Not quite as big as my big one last time, but a real solid fish for this lake. Seemed to figure them out pretty good after that. They were still under the docks, just more like halfway out instead of under the walkways and front of the docks.

There's a lake near me that I swear if the power ever goes out, I'll be out there with my lure retriever cleaning them power lines off because they're sagging they're so loaded with baits.

Some bite windows only happen first thing in the morning, like this one this morning.