Bluebasser86

2-3 feet of visibility is pretty average for a lot of lakes I fish and green pumpkin is one of my favorite colors.

I've tried to explain to the "Why do you fish if you don't keep them?" people more than once, it's pointless. Right up there with the "Why do you need so much stuff?"

That is a great looking fish! Too bad about her story coming to an end, but at least you got to enjoy catching her one last time

I always have a rod ready to drop at followers, especially with smallmouth. I actually had a situation a couple years ago where a much larger smallmouth attacked the front of my crankbait that a small fish had eaten and stole it away from it. So I traded from an 8" fish to an 18" fish Those following fish are often very easy to catch and in a team tournament situation can turn a day around very quickly. I was fishing in 1 where we only had 1 fish in the box. I hooked a keeper that had several followers. Partner dropped in and hooked up, I unhooked and boxed mine while he was fighting his. Dropped my bait back in and stuck another keeper. We went from a single fish to only needing 1 more for a limit in 30 seconds

If you're concerned about a $15 bait being too expensive don't even bother looking at swimbaits To me there are certain high priced baits that are worth it, jerkbaits are a prime example. They're a very visual bait that is typically fished in clear to stained water that the fish is really going to get a good look at. Baits with good finish and details are going to help get extra bites. I'm less sold on the expensive cranks and wire baits, although you do typically get much better components, because they fish don't get as good of look at them and the action of them is less lifelike anyways.

I fished out of a 2 man with no electronics for years and found all kinds of structure, a C rig, heavy jig, or deep crank were my depthfinders. Those baits can be fished from the bank as well, I used to catch a lot of fish on a C rig or cranking a deep crank uphill and digging it hard, you just have to develop the feel for when your bait is starting to hang so you can avoid really getting it stuck. Like I said in my first post, nothing wrong with a bank fishing thread or bank fishing tips thread, but it doesn't need it's own sub forum.

5 something is what I prefer but a low 6 is good for squarebills or lipless baits.

I caught this below the dam at Olathe Lake today on a RES. They must have been really thick because it felt like my bait was getting slammed almost every cast but I wasn't hooking anything or if I did it was just there for a second and gone. Weird because it only happened with the trap and not any jigs, spoons, or other cranks. I'm sending the picture to KDWPT but if anyone fishes done there just be aware that they're there and make sure not to transport bait from below the dam.

Off the front of a beaver dam. Fishing them through and around cover is a great way to get bit but it's a good way to lose a bait too. I don't plan on owning a bait forever when I buy it, and I'd rather lose it to a fish than not catch anything with it.

It's a YUM crawbug for sure. I have bags of both at home and looking at the two side by side, no doubt it's the YUM.

I used to keep 2 in my 16' aluminum. If you fish vast open areas or long stretches of shoreline they can really be great. I had a 70lb trolling motor so I could handle most winds but I still used them on occasion.

Or a big treble hook, that seems to be a popular bait for some folks

I park my boat right on the bank just to get that deep to shallow retrieve, at times it's way more effective than casting at the bank and pulling it out into deeper water. This is more of a individual thread type thing. We have long running threads for all types of stuff that are popular but don't really demand their own forum.

Stretch before and after a day on the water and your issue will probably go away.

If you have a problem with a company, take it up with them. The forums are not the place to air out these kinds of issues. LOCKDOWN!!

Go to a lighter head and smaller hook and it becomes even more effective. I normally use a 1/16 or 3/32 ounce head with a #2 or #1 hook. It's just such a subtle presentation that can look like so many different prey items and so little to look unnatural that they just can't seem to help themselves. I really think the shape of it looks a lot like a small craw when they go into full blown escape mode and pull their legs and claws in to streamline themselves as they scoot away, which is often when a bass attacks them because they're the most vulnerable then.

I have used most all their hard baits along with their frogs, a few reels, and several rods, all have performed as good or better than I'd hoped.

You really have to be able to read the fish to catch bedding fish. Guys who are truly gifted bed fishermen can tell if a fish is catchable or not just by how it reacts to their boat and bait. A very short drop shot with any number of soft plastic baits is my best bed fishing bait.

Never broke a Rogue. I've had some with the plastic bills get deformed and not run right though.

Jig and jig.

I can launch a bait a long ways with my 6' 6" MH/F LTB but a 7' rod is going to give you a little more distance but casting distance shouldn't be a big concern if you're fishing around a lot of brush.

It's not, especially at night with a ticked off owl on the end of your line.

Yep, he was released unharmed. It's a grebe I believe, they don't get very big. I've had them chase my bait before but this is the first one to ever bite, very disappointing fight.

That 45-60 degree water temp range seems to be best for me.