Bluebasser86

Have you tried asking the guys you see catching how they're doing it?

Welcome!

I don't even use the drag on my baitcasters except in an emergency, not that most bass will pull drag on them anyways. I don't care if they make noise or not, I just want them to work when I need them too.

I was walking out to my shop Monday night and looked out into the field and thought I was losing my mind or just really tired, looked like a clump of grass was moving? Realized what it was and sprinted back into the house and grabbed my .308 and got into the snipers nest on the side deck. 3rd one I've shot in a month, 50 yards behind our kids swing set right at the edge of the tall grass in our back yard. Nasty thing was absolutely covered in ticks. Lake got to come look at this one up close so he could see that they look just like a dog, because we've had them in our yard in the middle of the day. Oddly enough, I've got quail singing again since I've shot the last 2. Haven't heard any quail in over a year.

At least he was nice enough to let you know right away that he wasn't a monster bass so you didn't have to deal with the let down once he settled in for the long, slow fight.

The river by my house is low, which means the gar are thick. They're fun to fight, so I go target them with rope lures and cut bait. This is an average one about 3' This crazy channel cat exploded on a piece of cut bluegill as soon as it touched the water, I thought for sure it was going to be a big wiper.

Okuma TCS, super nice rods and you can find them for around $100 all day if you look a little bit.

Mine was terrible, bad things happening and the whole family being sick, but losing a friend did remind me to appreciate the days because tomorrow is never a guarantee. I spent more time on the floor playing with my boys and noticing the little things than I have recently.

Raccoons and vultures gotta eat too. I know lots of people who take them for bait or to eat.

If you have a big open area, I'd tie it to something and walk it off, then reel it all back on under tension. I do this with my reels sometimes but I realize not everyone lives in the middle of nowhere.

That will work fine for 6" stick worm. Bass will have no problem eating that bait. I caught several on an 11" straight tail worm today (basically a giant stick worm), none of them much bigger than 2 pounds.

You might have a few late spawners but a majority are going to be done. Targeting them will be largely a waste of time.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

I have an Epixor XT as well as an RTX and like them both really well. The RTX I've had for a few years on my dropshot rod and it's been excellent. Very light weight with a fast retrieve and very smooth retrieve. The Epixor I got earlier this year but it has been very nice also and has handled several nice fish and has quickly worked it's way into my starting lineup.

Working over grass is one of my favorite ways to fish them, but the same technique works in wood and I like it because it's more of a feel technique like fishing a jig or worm. You crank it down to running depth or until you hit cover then slow way down and start feeling your way through, even using your rod to pull the bait along if you like. In grass, if you start to hang you give it a hard, upward snap and then a pull to feel if the bait is wobbling again before you continue the retrieve or snap it again. A lot of bites happen during the snap, or during the pull to check the bait. In wood, you'll feel the bait coming to cover and you can either crank it fast and crash it through, or you can slowly creep it along and finesse it through. Just depends what the fish like that day. If it starts to hang, just stop reeling, the bait will back out of the cover a lot of times. You can fish a lipless through grass, but you need to reel fast and really rip the bait free when it hangs. It's a great way to catch fish. Going to a little stouter rod, or braided line will make ripping the grass off the hooks easier.

Add a black and blue one also and you're ready to start jig fishing. Arky is a good all around head style, and Siebert makes a great jig.

I like to use them when I want a bulky bait, but need something even more resistant to snags than a jig, for when I'm deep in the jungle. I tie my own, they work really nice with something like a beaver or a pit boss.

This is usually true, until it's not. I badly outfished my boater as a co-angler at LOZ using a green pumpkin/red flake trick worm while he was fishing plan green pumpkin. We were fishing the same head, I know because I gave it to him, and obviously on the same spot. Something about the red flake was just doing it that day, but it was October on one of the heaviest pressured lakes in the Midwest, tiny little things make a difference a lot of the time. 95% of the time, I'm right there with you, except I really do like my white trick worms, especially if I'm fishing around post spawn smallies.

I rarely keep a hook long enough to consider needing to sharpen it. If I think one is dull or damaged, I replace it.

Are you using braid for the spinnerbait too? I've never liked the feeling of a spinnerbait on braid. Other than that your setup should be fine for spinnerbaits.

Good time to fish something like a donkey rig and try to double up. Smallmouth do it a lot but largemouth do it too.

They can really fool you into thinking they're giants in either case. Those little guys really pull when you hook them in the back and 2 working together pulling at the same time and then dragging in slowly really feels like a big one.

Giant channel. You eat the tilapia?