cyclops2

I have used Ande 4# braid in up to the surface weeds & young Lily Pads. It cuts them AND your skin easily. Weeds can require a sawing pull & relax ryhtem to cut weeds. The 4# is 2 seasons & used with surface lures. Plenty of U V still strong enough.

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About fish getting well fed by now & not racing to a lure & sucking it all the way into their throat. If the bait is slow & they know it can not escape at all. The come up from the rear where a baitfish has NO lateral line sensing for protection. Worms & grubs. They pull up circle around An then move in for a bite. No more rushing. UNLESS.... 2 bass start moving in together. Then it is a race & full suck in job for the winner. I use 4 # mono & 4 # braid end of July to end of September. I have tested both lines with everything identical. Mono wins in crystal clear. Green braid in any not clear water. Braid is far better because it is smaller & STRONGER & no stretch when heated by sunlight. Mono 4# is useless unless you keep MAXIMUM TENSION into the net. S M B can still toss the hook at any time.

There is a chance that your Senko rubbers ARE ARE copy cats. That have a water smell that repels the fish. Senkos look like big grubs. They should inhale, mouth & spit out if bad copy cat lures. If bad smelling ? they may just look & move slowly away. Catch & release of bank fish REALLY makes them spooky of people by the water. Try to pick spots with TALL FULL LEAFED out trees BEHIND you. Wear a green outfit. Hat Top & bottom. Helps a lot Green moving in front of green is tough to make out the shape of you while moving. In my fish boat I get more bites CLOSER if I sit on the LOWEST cross seat compared to sitting in the higher padded swivel chair. Bank fishing is MUCH MORE difficult than from a boat. At 81 I still do both.

Ambush ambush points. The fish burns no energy ( what he loves doing. )

The good thing about Clayton area bays in USA waters is if the bass are slow or zero ? The perch are agreeable to bait live or fresh cut. I troll several ? Eagle claw made up spinner blades with the 5 red beads. It is needed this year as we have loads of greenish water with short site distances. So the blades & bait keep the action level tolerable. Everthing bites that setup.

My section is like a 2 mile x 5 mile lake with many islands. Save a TON of wasted time . Buy a GOOD underwater topography map with depths Ledges & makeup of the bottoms. Plan the sunrise , early morning spots. The bass DO school up on deep main shipping channel edges as the sun hits 11 am. My clayton area is erratic with a massive return of weeds. They are the food chain spots. Caution there is a new weed in town !! It looks like there are bass suspended in the vertical stems. Be suspicious of tall weeds with 1 or more fish symbols in a tight group. The echoes SHOW the bass right on the stem of the weed. Most are just the big leaf weeds. No quick bites ? move on.

The fish are finished spawning & & the weeds are almost at new highs where ever you fished the weeds. HUGE SMB & perch. The perch are chunky & only biting MEAT. They are tail hook nipping. Put a piece of perch on ? WWAAAHHOOO The L & S MB are both filled up on Gobies. So a pice of meat on any lure is mandatory to get the lure fully into the mouths of the bass. This is in a heavily fished catch & release area so the bass are wary about no scent lures.

Stop the lures. Buy some of the fish flavored BAITS...…………. Use it just like a lure. No real bass ? May be a sterile river / dam area. Try any other water. Usually no weeds = no bass. Weeds indicate a complete food cycle for all fish & baits.

When my daughter started catching hundreds ? of perch 1 day in my boat. She did not want to stop for lunch. My genes . ? Thankfully she realized I was a Abby Normal person. She is married to a fantastic fisherman. I am very lucky to have Vinnie as a Son In Law. L I G...…...Life Is Good

Always worked with minnows . Hook was out of sight. Dinner fish.

St Lawrence River is like a lake with plenty of islands & feeder creeks. So there are all types of big SMB available. There are the traveling school of big bass. The SCATTERED individual in a lingering feeding area. Or a small group of them moving as needed for new spot of food. The RARE big / HUGE lone one under docks & boats like a Large Mouth. Or a big moma cruising the open areas looking for anything. SMB are not really ambush fish. They will attack anything. At any depth. At anytime. Sun or no sun. That is what makes them tougher to catch from shore. They eat fast & a lot. Then move to the next place. So your going to have a hard time from bridges or shore. Keeping up with them. If you can find a DEEP DARK hole in a bend of a river ? Good chance of a lot of ALL bigger fishes being there. Quite often.

Based on cold blooded animal food needs & oxygen needs...…………… you are right. their preferred foods will be doing the same things ………….deep dark cooler & plants giving off Oxygen. frogs, mice lures WILL bring them up. BBUUTT...... the 80 pound braid …..WILL rip the jaw muscles/ tendons & gill hinge point badly as you are forced to drag them in. Good chance the fish will not ne able to use his jaw to suck in & clamp down tight enough again. Late fall I catch several LONG & skinny bass & pike. No sores on or inside the meat. Cut the bellies open & only a Goby or 2 in them. They are starving. Other bass & pike are full of Goby. Fish are designed to be supported all the time by still water.

Smallies FEED ALL DAY. In schools of big ones. I found about 25 big S M B nose in the bottom. Tails straight up munching away . No lure did a thing. I motored over & past them in 5 ' of clear water, bright afternoon sun. They separated about 10' as I passed over the spot. After about 30' they came back to continue the nose in the bottom feeding. Yummie yummie

You do as a adult what you see as child. How I turned out.

Fishing under a well lit up bridge over the Delaware River at 10 pm. Snagged. No Snag slowly & steadily moves anywhere it wants to. 15 ? minutes I put my whole hand into a huge Striped Bass mouthto get the lure out. My biggest bass to date.

The experienced thumb can compensate for the drag on a full or almost empty spool. I agree ful;ly with thumbs.

Latest Get rich quick industry. Eat PLANT PROTEIN. Coming to your food store. Grown with all the safety of Monsanto products.

That style lets me land large pike on 4 pound test in moderate weeds. WELL STATED BassWhole.

I too have become a guide with new people & kids going out. I cast constantly in a rapid circle around the anchored boat. Reason ? My double blade spinner & sinking Rapala have no hooks on them. I draw the fish in to be caught. Gets hectic. But I love it.

Anyone used 1 ? Good bad ? I fish the Saint Lawrence river. Big S M Bass.

I am 81 and have lots of cabin fever every day The weather is too rough to fish.

I totally agree with you skipper. when I have some senior ask for a few. I switch to the barbed lures. I extended the net handle to be 8' long as my old body moves slowly. I STILL LOSE fish by the boat. The S M Bass are fantastic at holding the lure tightly then releasing it boat side. I wear hat with side flaps, Sunglasses with side shields. Front face cover. Only the nose is exposed under a long billed hat The barbless hooks slide out of everything. Wear 60 SPF gloves with the traction dots also. No sunburn or E R room visits in decades.

I am back. Fire away. ? I am surprised what a level headed bunch of posters we have. I never thought of the accidental gut hookings as a form of random shot. But that is true. I will go to the F & G stockade. ?‍♂️

My non computer controlled engines are pushing 36 years. With the cheapest plug changes as needed. No PM ever done. They do not have ignition points. The USCG P-100 is a portable Diesel fire fighting pump. My Ship in 1957 had 1 of those small fire pumps.