Bankbeater

I think I tried this the last time. My math must have been off. I kept getting numbers up in the thousands.

Baitcaster, mh/f, 6'-6" to 7-4", Jigs. Baitcaster, mh/f, 6'-6" to 7-4", Plastics. Baitcaster, m/f, 6'-6" to 7-4", Moving Baits. Spinning, m/f, 6'-6" to 7'-4", Finesse plastics.

For docks and weedlines, look up ahead and figure out where you are going to pitch before you get there. Don't worry about if the boater has already fished that spot, and if the boater has fished the same spot try hitting it from a different angle.

I started using Big Game after YZH became almost impossible to find around here.

A lot of times in pressured water, catching any bass at all comes down to figuring out what they will bite that is different from what everyone else is fishing with. Usually it comes down to being more about presentation than the actual bait.

We are shut down until at least March, @Swamp Girl. The high temps next week are going to be in the teens and low 20s. It will probably take another week or so after that for the water to turn soft again.

I'm not sure we didn't have electronics, but is was cold.

We were all pumped up about the first trip of the year yesterday. Grabbed a quick breakfast and got to the lake around 7:20. Air temp when we got out to the ramp was 36. For about an hour, we had rain that varied between drizzle and a light sprinkle. The rain stopped and the air temp warmed up to 39. No wind was moving at all. It was very still. The small coves and some of the pockets still had ice way in the back. The plan was that I would fish moving baits so I was rigged up with jerkbaits, crankbaits, lipless crankbaits, spinnerbaits, vibrating jigs, and swim jigs. My buddy was fishing with plastics and bottom contact baits. When we figured out what was getting bit, then the other person would change baits. We found that the bass were not biting anything. I may have gotten one bite on a swim jig, but I casting shallow and I could have hit a dead plant stem. We ate lunch about the time the front arrived. The wind picked up to around 10 mph, and it was brought a wind chill with it. With no fish plus dropping temps, we decided it was time to throw in the towel and head home.

Fishing pressured water.

15 lb Berkley Big Game.

I always tell someone where I am heading, and I always call and say that I am on my way home.

Lew's KVD 300 on a BPS 6'6" m/f Carbonlite rod. I will have either 8 or 10 lb Big Game spooled on.

Watermelon seed, or White Pearl.

In January we had temps ranging from single digits to upper 50s. Looks like February is going to hold the same pattern, at least for a while.

My current baitcasters are Daiwa and Shimano. Spinning reels are Lew's, Shimano, and Pflueger.

Zoom green pumpkin Ultra Vibe Speed Craw with a 3/0 EWG hook. For fishing around the bank I use between a 1/8 and 1/4 ounce weight depending on the wind. The line will be 15 lb Big Game.

At least you didn't get any princes from a foreign country asking for money.

I've been reorganizing the terminal tackle again, and looking at the larger swivel bell sinkers. I'm thinking that I should put together a poor man's free rig and see how it fishes.

My daughter became lactose intolerant a couple of years ago. She has to take medicine before she eats anything with dairy in it.

The oldest reel I currently use is about 9 years old. My older reels are all retired.

I start out organized at the first of the season, and then go down hill from there.

Yes sir!

I wonder if any of the lures in that catalog are still being made today.

I been fishing the same 5/8 oz, black jitterbug for quite a few years now. I keep using it because I've never seen anyone else fishing with one.

Hang in there, and catch some big mommas!