Bankbeater

Try and look for hydrilla, or milfoil, growing near the bank and stand near it. It will hide you from any bass that are cruising close to the bank. Wind driven waves will also help hide you.

I have fished a lot of times when you had to get the bait right on the water line, or the bass wouldn't bite. I think sometimes that the bass are stacked up a few feet off of the bank just watching to see if something they can eat enters the water.

Temp is suppose to be around 60 degrees today. Tomorrow we are suppose to get 2 to 4 inches of snow. I'm looking forward to July. Maybe by then it will actually stay warm for more than 2 days.

Treat the edge of the weed line like the bank. Look for points, and pockets in the vegetation. Try and get your bait as close to the weeds as possible. When you’re bringing the bait back in keep it close to the weeds.

I usually only use Zoom Speed Craws, and Super Hogs. The hogs have a somewhat smaller profile, and I can use them as trailers.

For a morning outing when I'm bank fishing I'll bring four rods, and leave one in the car as a back up. I carry a small tackle box with a little of everything in it. When I'm on a weekend trip fishing out of a boat it's six rods, and my two tackle bags. One bag for plastics, and one for crankbaits.

I use a razor about once a week. The rest of the time I use electric. If I break out from my allergy and shave with a blade it's a mess.

Go Cardinals! I hope.

So what was in the crappie?

I junk fish until I catch a bass. Then I start putting together a pattern. How deep, what structure was near, what kind of cover is present? If that pattern doesn’t produce then I go back to junk fishing until the next bass is caught.

Nice healthy looking bass! Congrats!

To me it looks like a colorful largemouth. We had the same problem here a couple of years ago. The conservation dept. stocked spots in some small lakes as an experiment to see how they would adapt.

This was taken a few years ago. A few months after my Dad got sick. It didn't stop him from fishing though.

Jitterbug or a pop-r.

Right now it’s a lipless crankbait.

Dang! That’s a nice one!

I’m not going to worry about the moon. It will be hidden by the clouds again anyway.

Wet rip rap is slippery rip rap.

Today is the first day in over a week that we have had sun. Air temps have been in the mid to high 40s, and it has rained every day. I have been catching one or two bass each trip on lipless baits fished around submerged vegetation.

The lakes around me have both shad and bluegill. The bass tend to go after which ever they can catch.

A whole lot of coffee in the morning. Water while I’m fishing. Tea or Gatorade when I’m done.

10 or 15 mono depending on where I am fishing, and the weight of the bait.

I rip them through the weeds, but if I really start picking up a lot, I’ll switch to a 1/4 oz size.

Walmart, Tackle Warehouse, BPS if I have gift cards, and a couple of local bait and tackle shops.

WOW That’s a nice one!