Bankbeater

I always have contrast. All of my trailers are a shade or two different from the jig skirt. The only one that is an exact match is black.

When it was really hot here I found that the bass were short striking the bait. It felt like I had the bass hooked and then nothing. I switched over from a t-rig to a 3" or 4" finesse worm. When the bass inhale that small bait then the hook goes in too.

Water temps here are still in the upper 70's. It cooled down a little earlier in the week and then heated right back up. The slight cool down really didn't do that much to the water temps. Bass are either in the vegetation or cruising around it looking for a meal.

At that time my job was right next to the airport. One of the guys in the office said an airplane hit the World Trade Center and it was on fire. The entire building must have tried to get on CNN at the same time because our network crashed. I called my parents because I knew they watched the morning news. My dad said that an airliner had crashed into one of the towers and they were trying to evacuate it. Then my mom said be quiet, shut up. I asked what happened and my dad said a second airliner had just hit the second tower. I remember I said something like this isn't an accident. A couple of hours later one of the guys I work with came back in the building from a smoke break outside and said you guys have to go outside. We all went outside and it was surreal how quiet that airport was.

I have a little of everything. Booyah, Strike King, Terminator, War Eagle, and BPS. I use them all.

Welcome to the forums!

Actually launching the boat at the ramp is always good. A lot can happen between home and the ramp.

I still use an Abu 5600 C3 Hank Parker reel. It's the one I use for punching.

I just use some old line and tie a bobber stopper knot with it.

The one I have has been fished to the point of needing new hooks.

I'd say your August was a little better than just good.

I've been lucky that I have been able to get out and fish at least once a week this season.

What type of growth is it? Around water willows and coontail I like to fish with a 4" straight worm. If the bass are short striking I will fish with a 3" Stik-o.

I like snaps for moving baits. They're also handy when you are wearing gloves in 40 degree weather and can't tie a knot.

Anything small with a small profile. Most of the bass I am catching have been on jigs, finesse worms, and 4" senkos. The topwater bite had dried up, and the crankbait bite has slowed way down from what it was in July.

The bass around here have already started moving shallow in some lakes. I was back in a small pocket and thought this channel was a bass until it started to fight. I caught it on a finesse worm on a split shot rig just outside of some water willows.

In September around here it may be bright and sunny one day, and cool and cloudy the next day. The bass seem like they are more sensitive to the weather changes, and the bite can turn off at any second.

I'm looking forward to fall coming. There are small lakes and ponds around here that fish better in the spring and fall, and some that fish better in the summer. Plus with the vegetation starting to die off it will be easier to fish from the bank.

Congratulations on the new PB!

A few years back some kids threw a fairly large rock through our front window and took out the wooden single window sash that is original to the house. My wife and I both like the wood more than the modern ones that to me look like plastic. We called the insurance to get the window repaired, and we were shocked after they came out and looked at it. They said it would take 4 to 5 months to get the window repaired because there was no one in the area that had the wood working skills to build a new sash. Seeing the new houses that are being built around me I can believe it.

I keep a rainsuit in the car year round. When I'm going fishing the only thing watch the weather for is the expected high temp so I know how much water to bring. When I'm on the water I watch the sky, and if that changes I check the radar on my phone app.

The main reason I started fishing with jigs is because I don't see a lot of anglers using them around here. Most of the time it's more about the presentation, and where to fish it, than the bait itself. In the small lakes and ponds around here the only time I fish with a t-rig is when I want to use a creature bait or craw. Plastic worms get rigged weightless, on a split shot rig, or on a c-rig.

I fish a couple of small lakes with coontail and water willows growing out from the bank about 10'. A lot of the time the bass are right on the outside edge and hit the bait as it is approaching the vegetation. The lightest tackle I will use in this stuff is m/f. Most of my rods are 6'6", but the longer the better. When the bait gets hit I set the hook and then back up away from the water. I basically drag the fish out of the vegetation. It's faster and more forceful than reeling. You want to get that fish up on top of the weeds as fast as possible before it can dive and get buried.

No. If my drag is slipping on the hookset then either I don't have it set correctly, or I've set the hook on a snag.

Earlier this year It finally hit me that I needed to downsize my tackle when I reorganized my BPS 370 tackle bag and it weighed more than before I reorganized it.