Bankbeater

When it starts to become jacket weather I start fishing with a 1/16 oz. spinnerbait. I catch a lot of dinks, but every once in a while I find a hawg.

I got this one in clear water on a white swim jig. I've been casting out past the coontail, letting the jig hit the bottom, and then bringing it back in toward the coontail just fast enough for the trailer to move.

Congratulations! Chatterbaits seem to work better around here in the spring and fall when the temps are cooler.

Some nice looking smallies right there.

Welcome to Bass Resource.

I always have some cash on me. I only use plastic when I absolutely have to.

Depending on the size of the chatterbait, either 10# or 15# Big Game.

Oh wow! Glad you're Ok. My mom use to say when stuff like that happened that your guardian angel was with you.

Back in late April I was fishing a spook jr. in a pond. It was raining off and on so I had my rain jacket on with the hood down at that time. I made a cast and before I could start to retrieve it starts raining again. I reach over to pull up my hood, and when I do that, I start moving the rod tip around which moves the spook around out in the lake. A nice bass came up and took it. I get the bass about half way back to the bank, and it came unhooked. It would easily have been my largest bass on top this year if I had landed it.

I got my first Daiwa BC about 4 years ago. I tried to adjust it like my Revo, and I couldn't get it. I finally broke down and watched a YouTube video.

I have mono spooled on all of my reels except the punch rig. This year I didn't get to fish water with any large mats growing in them so I didn't use braid at all.

I still use them, and I have some old ones from way back when I was a kid.

Are you fishing from the bank? I use my telescopic lure retriever when I'm hung in the water willows along the shore. It's easier to pull up the entire plant than trying to get the hook out of a stalk.

Fishing slow. Sometimes to the point of dead sticking.

I would say it depends how thick the vegetation is you are punching through. If the bass can actually see the bait coming down then it may make a difference. If you're in very thick stuff that goes down a way, then it probably doesn't matter that much. Bass will know something is working down toward them and strike at it when it is close.

Zoom: Ultra vibe speedcraw Small salty chunk Super chunk Jr.

For a few years bladed jigs were catching more than spinnerbaits. Now the spinnerbaits are getting bit better than bladed jigs.

I carry a little of everything because around here you never know what those bass will be hitting. Creatures and craws Jigs Stick worms in different lengths Brush Hogs Finesse Worms Jig / Chatterbait trailers

These days I only use braid for punching.

Around here the vegetation is still close to the rocks. I fish with a Texas rigged craw or creature bait. If there is gap in the vegetation I will throw out a weightless plastic worm or a senko type bait.

This year I have not had a lot of luck fishing on top right at sunrise. Maybe 30 to 45 minutes after sunrise the topwater starts and goes on for about 2 hours. After that, the bite on top in done for the day. I've been fishing a Zara Puppy and a Pop-R. The bite usually comes on one or the other.

Good catching!

I cast a spinnerbait over a tree limb one time, and I started pulling trying to get it loose. When it wouldn't come free we headed the boat over to get it, and saw the hornet nest. I was lucky that when we changed the angle of the boat the spinnerbait came free. I didn't want to lose that bait, but I sure wasn't going to go get it.

Around here it seems like it's more about how much the temps warms up during the day. A 20 or 30 degree spread usually shuts the bite down. If the morning low is close to the afternoon high I do better on the water.

I'm usually down and out by 8:30 or 9 during the work week. On Saturday I can usually make it until 10 or 10:30.