Bankbeater

Dang. It sounds like my place of employment. I'm a few years away from retiring. I won't miss stroking egos all day, or holding my tongue. As far as fishing goes, I may get out on the water more or I may not. I will for certain be able to pick the time and water I will fish without having to keep track of the time.

About 30 years ago I belonged to a sportsman’s club in Illinois. Real nice place that was kept clean and had a maintenance person living at the site. Great cat and bass fishing. When the caretaker retired they couldn’t get anyone at his pay. They upped the yearly fee to cover the new guy’s salary. That was too pricey for me so I dropped out.

Most of the time for me it’s not only about smaller, but it’s about fishing with a different bait than everyone else.

Currently I have close to 20 rods. If I would have kept all of my dad's rods after he passed I would have had around 60 rods.

This is what I use also.

Around here a half ounce tandem spinnerbait worked in and around vegetation has pulled away from the rest of the pack big time.

Growing up fishing with my dad, he would be running the trolling motor and I would be fishing in the back. Back then we just had a trolling motor and an anchor. Later on, we got a fish finder. There were a lot of times we would go down the shore, or be going along a creekbed at an angle because of the wind.

Yes, Thank Goodness. Thanks.

Today was going to be the first boat trip of the year. Had everything lined up, I put new line on all of the reels, the tackle bag was organized, and I pretty much knew where I was going to fish today. What I didn't count on was getting a hook sunk up the bend in my middle finger on my right hand, which is my smart hand. I hadn't even left the boat ramp when it happened so I didn't get any fishing in. Got down to the ER and got the hook out so I guess I will try again tomorrow.

Congratulations on the new PB! That is a nice bass.

I've never been on Facebook, and probably never will be.

This morning I made the drive to the same lake I fished last week. Bass are still going after spinnerbaits and they're still in the eel grass.

Most years from ice out until mid-April or early May I will be fishing with hard baits maybe 80% of the time. I've noticed over the years that sometimes after the spawn is over the bite changes big time. The bass want bottom contact baits, and will not touch anything moving through the water column.

I'd be running that lipless right past some of those stumps at different angles. This time of year I like a slower retrieve. Just fast enough so you can feel the bait on the end of the line.

Most of my chatterbait bass have been caught in the fall and in the spring. During the summer months, I take them out of the tackle bag.

The BPS near me is actually pretty good. The one big gripe I have with the store is that they always seem to be rearranging everything.

Way to go on the first bass of the year!

Wow Glenn, sorry to hear about your mom and uncle. Glad you're healing up. The prostate is nothing to fool with.

If you have lipless crankbaits, throw those. Musky love them down this way. I would put them on a steel leader first.

I work the jig back using both. I start off dragging it, but I always run across a log or a rock, and I will need to hop the jig over to clear it. Once I'm clear I start to drag the jig again.

Welcome to the forums.

I don't worry about beds. I look for the bass that are in the cover. With all the rain we had last week, the water was up, cold, and murky. The bass were buried in the grass and brush.

Depending on the cover and brush I will carry 2 or 3. I put the reels on top of the tackle bag, or I prop them up on a bush if one is nearby.

The only fish of the day was when this largemouth came up out of the eel grass and hit my white spinnerbait.

I'll be good on baits for this year at least. It's been a long time since I bought any hooks or weights. If I keep losing them in the rip rap I will be making a purchase pretty soon.