Bankbeater

With vegetation that thick the bass could be anywhere in the water column. I'd start off with a buzzbait or a frog. If they're not on top I would try a weightless plastic worm, Senko, or a fluke.

That's not how I like to end a trip. Glad he's ok.

Happy wife, happy life.

Sending thoughts and prayers out your way.

I usually just long arm the fish. I get it back the bass back in the water faster, and there is less chance of someone seeing me with the fish.

Right now I've downsized to 8 lb Big Game line to give that a try. I was using 10 lb, but with the dinks I have been catching lately I don't think 2 lbs is going to make a difference.

That is quite the hawg you caught!

Some baits from my last two trips.

My daughter got it done to her car a couple of weeks ago. You can’t see out the back at night. It drives me nuts when I ride with her. I’ve already done an internet search on how to get the tint off the window.

We’ve had them in the window and door frames before. You can spot them when it’s humid before a rain. It’s like they swarm right outside of the entrance to the nest. We keep a can of bug spray ready just in case.

I usually spend between $100 and $150 on rods. Over the years I have ended 3 rods. An Eagle Claw rod in a tail gate, a BPS rod by falling on it when I took a tumble down a hill, and a St. Croix rod that I still can’t figure out how I broke it.

When I fish the city park ponds around here I always take the finesse rigs. I usually start off with a weightless small senko, and a finesse worm on a split shot rig.

I’ve had better luck with nightcrawlers in the winter. They just draw more bites than artificial baits around here. This time of year I never use them. I can’t keep them alive in the summer heat.

I use a snap. I’ve never noticed any difference in the action or bite.

Yesterday we saw some deer standing in lily pads that we fished a couple of weeks ago. Lake is down about 2 feet from when we first fished it back in the spring.

I’m in the Midwest. We get slammed from all directions. I don’t worry about the direction. I worry more about how hard it’s blowing.

Summer is my favorite. The bass are stacked up in the submerged vegetation looking for shade and oxygen.

Same here. Back in March and April, I was catching bass on swim jigs, then in May I was catching bass on bottom contact jigs. Ever since the start of June, I can't buy a bite with a jig.

I always breathe a sigh of relief when I catch the first fish. No matter what else happens that day I know I've caught at least one fish.

We have vacation and sick time lumped together. The thing is the more senior employees, like me, get close to 5 hours of vacation time each week until we hit 384 hours. If I take an 8 hour vacation day during the week I'm only really using 3 hours of vacation time, because of the 5 hours I pick up. A couple of years ago I was taking off every other week during the summer because I kept maxing out.

About 20 years ago we experienced a horrific hail storm. St. Louis actually ran out of new windshields because of the amount of damaged vehicles. I was so glad I parked under our big tree that night. I only got a couple of dings.

I use 1/16, 1/8, and 3/16 the most. The only time I use 1/4 or heavier is on very windy days, and in the colder months to make sure the bait stays on the bottom.

I have been fishing a floating minnow with just a steady retrieve. I've been bringing it across the top of submerged vegetation and alongside mats on the surface. It has been catching bass when the shallow running crankbaits aren't getting bites.

Sorry to hear. I've lost two good lakes over the years because the property was sold. I drive by one of them every day.

I'd hit along the outside edge. I'd also look for thin growth or a bare hole on the inside of that mess. If those didn't produce any bass I would move on.