out_doors_guy

As far as the worm goes, try a variety of retrieves and let the fish tell you what they want. I also would strongly suggest trying some reaction type baits, i.e: spinner baits and rattling crank baits. My personal favorite for muddy water would be a SINGLE colorado bladed spinnerbait with a chatruese or chart./white skirt. Single colorado blade will give the best vibration and I feel that is what gives you the best chance at attracting strikes.

More important than the temp drop is the high pressure associated with it. I doubt the water temp dropped much, if at all, but the barometric pressure did with the cold front that moved through then back up. The fish wont move much, locatonally, but they will become less active and bury themselves deeper into the cover. Slow down and fish deeper into what ever cover you have been fishing. Any excuse to use a jig is a plus to me, and after a heavey cold front a jig is going to be the best choice. Fish it S L O W and tight to the cover and you should do OK. Another option would be to switch from fishing lakes to fishing rivers. River fish are MUCH less affected by cold fronts. In your case, if you aren't fishing it already, give the Eau Claire river a shot.

Welcome to the forum.

I had the good fortune of growing up where there are plenty of both LM and SM bass. When I was younger, before I had a boat I did (still do in fact) a lot of wading in several nearby rivers that held smallies. Let me tell ya, a 1lb smallie that lives his life in the current of a river can kick a 5lb LM's butt. Good fun. I love fishing for all species, but smallmouth's will always hold a special place for me.

In no particualr order: NetBait Tiny Paca Craws 4" Yamamoto Senkos Kinami Double Tail Hua grubs BPS Tubes Colors I prefer would be green pumpkin, smoke, watermelon/red flake and black

I would have to say for me, in no particular order; Rebel pop-R, Smithwick Devils Horse, Zara Spook, Floating Rapala or Bagleys Bang-o-Lure and over grass or moss a Snagproof frog.

I am usually on the water at dawn, mostly because it is quiet and there are few jet skiers and pleasure boaters around and I enjoy watching the sun rise and all the critters on, in and around the lake wake up. As far as the fishing goes, after looking back at my log books, I catch the most fish between 10am and 5pm. My PB and nearly every fish I have caught over 5lbs was caught between the hours of 9am and noon.

Thank you guys, I figured around 5-6. The particular lake she was caught in has produced a few 5lb+ fish for me. Small lake that gets little pressure other than a few old timers fishin for panfish.

Caught this one late morning in a small S.E. Wisconsin lake. She was still full of eggs, which surprised me I thought the spawn was long overwith around here, so I didn't weigh or measure just a quick pic and back to water with her. What do you guys think she weighs, my cousin said 7 I say around 6. As a point of reference I am 5'10" 275 and I was holding her pretty close to me. Caught 4 others 12-15 inch, aprox. 4-6' scattered, coontail patches, hard bottom, water temp-71 3/8 oz. brown jig, brown/orange skirt, NetBait Kickin' B Chunk trailer, Alabama Craw

Set the hook regardless! One of the biggest bass I've caught felt like the little tick, tick ,tick that most associate with panfish bites as well. Additionally, Set the hook every time you feel something different. A lot of times you may not feel anything other than a slight heavy or mushy feeling.

6' medium and medium heavy fast action rods.

From the boat, 1-3 days a week.

X100 lol Seriously, there are 4 things I would tell you. Study the fish, you can't catch them consistantly without knowing them, there habits and their habitats. Keep a log, Going back and reading past entries will accelerate the learning process. Spend time on the water, preferably as many different bodies of water as you can. Nothing beats experience. And do not be afraid to experiment. It is easy to get in a rut doing the things that you have had success with in the past even though those things may not be the best for the current conditions.

Whatever bait is going to work best under the conditions I am facing would be a good answer. However, I do have preferences like we all do. I am most comfortable fishing jigs and soft plastics for sure.Although I do feel I fish other techniques well, it is bottom bouncing baits that I do best. As far as brands, Jigs and spinnerbaits: I make my own, soft plastics: Yamamoto and NetBait, Cranks: Poes, Norman and Bill Lewis Rat-L-Traps, swim baits: I have limited experience with them and have been doing some work to correct that this year so I don't really have any preferences yet.

I personally get excited over EVERY fish I catch. It is the level of excitement that changes. Of course a 5 pounder is going to excite me more than a dink bass but if I didn't get excited over catching any fish, I would quit fishing. 45 years fishing and it hasn't happened yet. Thankfully.

Thank you guys

I don't normally net bass but I do with other species. Stabbing, sweeping and scooping up a fish is a good way to loose it. The only way to net a fish is to lead it into a STATIONARY net, after the fish is in the net, then lift it.

Howdy guys, So Wisconsin near the Ill state line. Fish all over the state but stick to mostly smaller waters when I'm close to home. Turtle-Flambeau, Wisconsin River and Pools 9-11 on the Mississippi are my favorite waters.

x2 Equipment can increase effeciency but without the knowledge, determination, physical and mental ability it wont help you catch any more fish than you would without it.

Thank you sir.

I use flat sided, square billed cranks, always Poe's RC cedar baits, around heavy shallow (less than 10') the tight wiggle and square bill come through cover with minimal snags, if I am paying attention that is. Other than for heavy cover, flat sided cranks have a much more subtle action that works well in cooler water and in tough conditions like post frontal. You can look at them like finess cranks.

As others have said, your rod and line are to light for this type of fishing. A heavy or medium heavy fast action rod preferably 7' and MUCH heavier line will be a big help. As far as the hook-set, I always delay my hook-set until I feel the fish. Bass often smack the bait first, as if trying to stun it then circle back to eat it.

Watermelon/red flake, green pumpkin and alabama craw would be my choices.

As far as Senkos what works for me is texas rigged weightless if I'm using it to skip under docks and weightless wacky style in all other situations, using a weedless finesse hook when necessary. Other soft plastics generally texas style, depth and lure size determines weight, size of bait determines hook size.

I use a couple spinning rods, both 6' one medium and the other medium heavy with 8 to 14 pound mono. I've tried longer rods but the for me the shorter 6 footers give me more control and more options as far as the angle of the cast without having to re-position the boat as much. For baits, tubes, NetBait Paca Craws and Senkos in that order.