Clint C.

The lake is currently at 59* It was lower last week. Mid 50* The water temperature really changes pretty quickly on this lake. There are also no shad in this lake. TONS of sunfish though. I think the bass are pretty well fed. Maybe I should downsize lures also? Maybe 3-4" plastics?

Yeah, once in a while I can get one with a spinnerbait, but I think from shore where I fish the plastics work best anytime of year. I'm more wondering like zip pow said if the fish will move deep again, or stay shallow and active or what? I know the rule of thumb is follow the bait fish in the fall but this place has bait fish everywhere! =p

Hey everyone! Has anyone had any experience fishing during an "Indian Summer"? We've had pretty low temperatures (~60) and starting yesterday we are going to be in the mid 70's to low 80's the next 10 days. I know the bass have started their fall feeding patterns so will this warmth increase their activity or just completely throw them off? I'll probably stick with my weightless plastics (I fish from shore), but maybe also do some drop shot fishing if they're deep. What are your thoughts?

Well I never catch a fish so if it wasn't for talking to whoever is with me I'd be pretty bored! haha

I personally have problems with the hook also. I'm looking forward to these coming out!

Great question! I'm kind of in the same situation. Do you have anywhere that rifraf rocks are falling into the water? Bass will be stalking the rocks from deeper waters. Maybe a very steep drop off too if you can find one.

I personally love my 200e7

Well I just got back from Cabelas. The XMLti was pretty sweet but I'm being really picky with this rod. If anyone is looking to get a great rod at an awesome price get to Cabelas by tomorrow they have it on sale for $120 The rod I really loved the feel of was the St Croix Avid 7'MF. This rod really felt incredible. I had them mount the Pfleuger Patriarch on it (9530X) and wow! So light and balanced. I really loved the combo. I haven't bought anything yet. I am still going to go to BPS and check out the carbonlite and see how that feels. Thanks again for all the suggestions!

From Lansing, just south of chicago. Caught this guy last week.

Haha I'm the same way. It's the only thing you can get me up at 4am to do!

Good thinking! I think it's going to end up being between the cabelas rod, avid, or bps carbonlite

Sounds great. I'll give em a try. I didn't realize I could return it if I didn't like it!

I do a lot more weightless soft plastics (t-rig, wacky rig, slug-go) than drop-shotting. So I would more want the rod suited for that, but would still be "ok" for drop-shot. I have a lot of options to check out! Luckily I have a cabelas 10 minutes away and a bps only 35. Gonna be a busy weekend! I will for sure report on what I think felt best. I have a KVD Quantum Spinning Reel I'm going to use on it for the time being. That Patriarch looks like a sweet reel though! Might have to get that too once I'm holding it haha

So the XMLTi is nice and sensitive? That's a great price on them right now!

Thanks =0) I may just go to bps tomorrow and see which feels best. what action do you all think is best for the type of fishing I'll be doing? XF?

Thanks for the feedback. Seems like everyone is really liking the avid rods. I'll have to go check em out. Yes most lures I throw on this will be weightless or mostly 1/4 oz or less.

Thanks ghoti appreciate the feedback! I noticed the Bass Pro Shops® Pro Qualifier® XPS® Spinning Rods are on clearance for $80 and have read some great things for them throwing weightless rigs. Have you had any experience with this rod? Or will it just not even come close to the St. Croix?

Hey everyone, I've read through quite a lot of threads for finesse fishing setups and it seems everyone has different suggestions. I want to get a rod and reel setup that is all around good for weightless plastics and drop shot fishing. I've been looking into getting the St. Croix Legend Bass Tournament rod. The longer the better I think. I'm in a wheelchair so longer seems to be a must. Around 7 FT. I really don't want to spend more than $250 on the rod. Also has anyone used the new Shimano 2500 FJ? I was reading it's specifically made for finesse fishing. Any reviews? What would you suggest around $160 if not the FJ? Thanks for the help!

Hey everyone, Did some Wacky Rig fishing with a 5" Senko last night. I had the Senko bit in half, and the one other bite I got was right at shore while I was pulling it out of the water to recast! Unfortunately I didn't get the hook set. So far your tips are helping though and I just want to say thank you to everyone for the help =0)

Just randomly went into Dicks today (in Highland, IN) and they had sluggos 50% off. Not sure if this is at all stores but it might be worth checking out if you have a store near by you =)

Hey WRB that would be great! You would be surprised at how hard it is to find info on this! -------------------- Went to Monee again last night, I didn't have any luck. Though I did see one guy pull about a 15 inch Largemouth out of the lily pads, and my mom caught a little guy about 6 inches just dangling a night crawler off the bridge right at the surface. I'm not positive what the guy was using but it was a soft plastic and kind of looked like a tadpole with a split tail, maybe 4" long. Any ideas on what that might be? He was just slowly dragging it across the pads and hitting open spots in them as he was retrieving. It hit pretty close to sure on the surface. So after that I tied on a scum frog, but had nothing chase it except other frogs. Also didn't see him having any more luck. Friday I think I'm going to try off the point on the island in the deeper water. P.S. I did use a 4.5" senko for a while (texas rigged) but had a hard time keeping it up over the eye of the hook. Any tips for that? Here is a picture of the lily pads by the bridge. They're pretty thick.

My friend swears by Adderall when he really needs to focus on something. He said it's insane the amount of work you can get done on it because it just makes you focus for hours.

@hatrix I'm going to have to try some of those Berkley worms. @lund I could get in one of those boats, but getting out of it would be pretty difficult. They're very tippy and it's a floating dock. I usually fish around the docks, around spawn time that was a good spot, but nothing is happening there for the last 1+ months. They open up usually around 5:30, I've actually never been fishing at the crack of dawn and have been told by many I'm missing out! About 4 weeks ago the bass were killing the top water frogs (according to reports, I only had one hit on them) right before sunset, but haven't heard of anyone having luck with them since then. As far as the boats, I have talked to them and they are working on getting an accessible small pontoon boat for disabled people. That won't be ready until next year though. They were willing to give me a launch permit, but for stability reasons I would need a 20ft+ boat and only about a 16 footer can fit down the launch.

I've had that happen when not paying attention to how much slack I've had in my line. Go to set the hook and nothing is there!

Hey Tommy, thanks =0) I've actually never tried a weightless Texas Rig, maybe that might be the key to this place!