CDobber

For the most part, yes. Urban setting, 3 lakes ranging from 2000 acres to 9700 acres, all of which I have and will shore fish from as well as boat fish. There's also a 336 acre lake that I shore fish from but couldn't take my toon on (many canoe, kayak or troll motor it though)....and love the pads in one particular area, though they have not been kind to me this season. My avatar is from this location. The local spot closest to home is a 9 acre former gravel pit, have fished via canoe once but largely only talking about shore fishing from that. Smallies are not likely to be in the two smaller areas but are definitely in the other 3. Largies are definitely in all 5, and locate mainly to shore structures from my impression.

The depth and structure is only referring when I'm targeting smallies.....if I am looking for LMB, I do tend to try and throw shallow towards banks, overhangs, piers etc.

This year I've had great success with 1/2 oz black buzzbaits, normally with black/purple fleck Havoc trailers. Have never had success with spooks yet, though I will keep trying based on favorable reports on BR. I'd eventually like to get a double bladed buzz to try and have my eye out for a Cavitron based on reviews here.

Welcome, and thanks for sending us Chris Borland!

Definitely could be onto something there.....still working on the feel when its not the traditional tap tap tap or feeling the line move....getting better at watching the line astutely, trying to hone in on feelings/differences between bottom structure, weed patch and subtle fish strikes. Only time and practice will get that.

Thanks all. My electronics are on the less sophisticated side of things.....Humminbird Piranhamax 160. There is definitely some dark/light features to tell structure hardness below (black/white) but I would doubt if I could clearly see a thermocline and certainly haven't figured out if I could even distinguish things like submerged timber from a weed pocket. Also not certain it is capable of really ID the baitfish, it will show small fish (3 differetn sizes total) but not cluster pockets like the expensive models might. I can get a rough idea on size and direction they are heading, that's about it. Up here, I had been sticking to the 12-15' dropoffs the last two days but certainly ran surface baits in 5' or less as well. I was running a hollow body frog over scum the other afternoon along a shoreline, sorry I wasn't clear. I do vary the drop time and retrieval speed of both things like the rat l traps and vibratos for that reason (thanks to BR of course), and will also on occasion throw things like a DT6 and such to cover different depths. I know I don't have a great handle on the depths of some of my other cranks and such, and with time, I will certainly know more about their capabilities and success rates. I had not done a ton with swim baits the last couple of days, but the one smallie I have landed on the boat was with one....a very small Mimic Minnow in perch color. I have tried them on and off all summer in various depths at different places from shore and slow trolling an alabama rig but have not had success on one in a year or so. I have a couple other random, very light weight swim baits in the box but have rarely tried them and would guess many will run shallow.

I have heard that the summer bite has been tough for a lot of people around here, but I know there are bass in the lakes and some if not all of the ones I hit via boat have tournaments throughout the summer. In the two years I have been a boat owner, I don't think I've even boated a single bass since my smallie a couple months after getting it, and that one was not in an area that should likely hold bass, was not using my electronics, etc. It makes it even a harder pill to swallow, that one that started me on this journey just happened to be in the right place at the right time and no amount of information, experience, tackle and time has replicated it since. At least I've had a very good year so far from shore, so it is certainly not a lost cause. These last two mornings where it was highly researched areas, proper (I think) tackle selections, and no kids swimming/tubing while the boat was in use, and cooler water temps to boot....thought for sure it would change things for me. Thanks for listening all.

I would spend about $20, give or take, on soft plastics. A couple packs should be straight worms of differing lengths and colors. Others could be creatures or curly tails, etc. A variety gives you options. I would highly recommend looking at a squarebill or two...I have a KVD 1.5 that I really like and should provide with those two areas you describe, and I've seen plenty of positive reviews of the crankbait on here. Pick up some jigs as they are a versatile (and cheap) tool to have....gumball, skirted, etc. They pair nicely with the plastics already suggested. Think about the differing areas of water you want to cover....your buzzbait is top water, the rooster tail is top to mid depending on retrieval speed, the squarebill is probably top 1' or so....pick out some things that can get you the mid distances and the other suggestions can easily cover the ground.

Thanks for the input, Bassun. I too know it will come but had to vent. Skunking in and of itself, in general, doesn't usually get me down....but the compliation of them on the boat definitely has. I couldn't really say for certain what many of the other boats were using or targeting, though I suspect it was a mix of panfish for many, some bigger game fish (muskie, pike, maybe walleye) and maybe some bass. I know one of the two boats that encroached on my space was going for bluegill....the other certainly looked like bass to me (I believe one guy was using a jig/trailer and popping it off the gravel island).

I'm losing confidence and patience. I realize there are many variables as to why I can't find any success from the boat, but overall, my knowledge, gear and time should be producing something and I'm getting nothing but skunks. Lately I've been running 2 rigs at the same time....a dropshot rig with either a live crawler or twisty tail grub in chartreuse/pepper fleck and on my other rig I vary between many lures (buzzbaits, Pop R, Rat L Trap, Sebile Vibratos, etc) depending on depth and weeds. Yesterday I went to our biggest lake and found a bar I'd been looking for in the middle of 70' depths on the north side of it, 50' on the south side of it, and raises up to 10'....known to have some smallie presence, though was told not to expect huge size. I did not mark much of anything on my finder in the hour or so I was there, mid morning. Next spot is even more well known for fishing around here, including smallies and LMB. Marked more fish in this area as I stayed in the 12'-15' dropoff areas while drifting west, still nothing. Out about 2 hrs total. Today I went to some submerged islands on a different lake, and was out all morning. First spot is surrounded by 25'-30' water and comes up to 8'. Lots of vegetation on this island as well as rock. Marked a ton of fish, had a couple of crawlers stolen from the drop shot rig, nothing else in about an hour's time. There were probably around 10 boats in this same general area of the lake when I started (pre-determined to hit this area), so I would guess it produces panfish if nothing else. After someone parked their boat within my casting range, I left to go find the other submerged island, which I'd never been to before. I found it with little effort (small victories) and know from studying maps that it has gravel structure at about 20' when it is surrounded by 50'. Did not mark as many fish in the area and found no success...but had 2 boats (one of them was the same as before) come within casting distance in the hour plus time I was on this spot. I temporarily gave up on my quest to find a smallie and headed for some piers to try and find LMB with top water action....even with a gentle breeze, I had a difficult time keeping the toon where I wanted it to drift (no trolling motor) and found little shade over there anyway. I ended my morning today by drifting in 8', heading west towards my launch, and running a Pop-R over the top of the weeds and weed line. I saw evidence of shad busting the surface but no hits. All 6 places I've mentioned will be attempted again in the future, but the consistent skunking (or at least inability to locate/catch bass from the boat, have caught pike and others) is becoming a downer.

Official Wisconsin welcome, even though we've touched base on your other thread....

Glad to help....keep me posted on any success you have or good spots I haven't mentioned. You'll find on other, more local sites, that there really aren't many that share information on the Madison lakes for bass for some reason, maybe because of the number of bass tournaments held in the area. We came off of Waubesa on Sunday (after I couldn't find a single bass) to see that a tournament ended at 2 and they were releasing some great fish. While I do have a boat, I have yet to put much success together on that....and spend far more time on shore than in boat anyway with logistics. My three biggest bass have been from shore...21" (profile/avatar) from Wingra by lily pads/Edgewood, 20" at Verona on opening weekend this year and 16"/2 lb last Monday at Mendota Cty Park. All 3 came via topwater lures.

The first book I have read about Bass Fishing was by Uncle Homer, Bass Wisdom.

Welcome to my quandary! I am on the other side of Madison. Good: Mendota County Park off of M in Middleton...mouth of the channel Marshall Park (lagoon) Verona Fireman's Park Lake Wingra (though not this year for me)....at Wingra Boats or just east of Edgewood, down by the zoo, the creek leading away from Wingra and towards Monona Picnic Point (though its probably a long walk)...especially near University Bay Tenney breakwall (though I haven't caught anything there yet) John Nolen causeway (either side) Monona Terrace "The Wall" Governor's Island Babcock Park Lake Farm boat launch and pier by shelter #1 Not as impressed (but could still produce): Olbrich Park Warner Beach/boat launch area Spring Harbor Tonyawatha Trail boat launch Lottes Park Law Park BB Clarke Park Goodland Park/boat launch There's plenty of other places, especially if you decide to multi-species. For me, the most consistent has been the Verona quarry, but I live 7 min from it and finally found the 'other' side of the banks that had better structure. They're currently on lock jaw and only will look at live crawlers if anything at all. In general, look for places that have weeds shallow, submerged timber or overhanging branches, weed mats on the surface (or lily pads), anything that can provide shade coverage as well as camoflauge from bigger fish. Largemouth are MUCH easier to find than smallmouth from shore, especially this time of year.

Its entirely possible that I caught some as a kid that have long since been forgotten, but the first one I recall ever catching as an adult is what brought me to BR. I caught a 14" or so smallie the first time I ever launched our boat solo 2 years ago. Prior to that fish, I had never thought about bass, didn't have much of a tackle box, etc. I don't think I've been able to find a smallie since that day, and lately its been my targeted species from the boat, not aware of any shallow enough (especially this time of year) to get, and still waiting. Catching plenty of LMB though, so all is not lost.

Last night...yep, it was me. Walking to the chosen spot down the path, snapped the tip of the 2 week old rod on a branch. Cast for an hour, nothing doing. Went to put my squarebill on the line, it decided to imbed on my left thumb past the barb AND the front treble into my right hand, fortunately not deep. Drove myself home and then to urgent care with the full lure still attached. The nurse/PA were going to throw away the perfectly good lure, sans the split ring and back treble they cut off!

I normally don't get too disappointed if I get skunked....it happens. There's 2 exceptions to that for me, currently: 1. I just cannot figure out patterns from the boat. I have been doing fine from shore and realize I'm still on a learning curve when using the boat, but this is now the 3rd summer of boat ownership and I'm still very much lacking consistency and quality from it. 2. I am a believer in the full moon and positive effects of success around it, especially one day prior to and one day after. I didn't get to fish much around last month's and haven't caught anything in 2 days this time around. As long as I don't have a long (weeks) stretch of skunk this summer, I'll consider it a win...

If you are getting short strikes on your buzz, add some soft plastic trailer to the hook instead of a trailer hook. I've been putting a 1/2 oz black buzzbait with a black/purple trailer most of the season and had more bass hit that combo than anything else I've thrown, save maybe live crawlers. It does add weight to it, counteracting your reeling before lure hits the water, but really helped me a lot....was a tip I remembered reading on here after I had a short strike on opening weekend and landed my season best LMB.....20".

I am no expert either, but here is my two cents. I have 3 different kinds of braid on my three spinning rigs. Moss green spiderwire (50 lb, 12 lb test dia) on my ultralight rig that is set up for t-rig (doesn't get used often, have been told on here that its not nearly enough backbone for the method), smoke Fireline 20 lb/8 lb test dia on my dropshot rig and white Sufix 832 of unknown test on my main rig. They all, for me, give me confidence that I'll lose less tackle from shore in snags or fish in dense cover. I have tried leaders and so far have been unimpressed, either with the quality of the hold in the knot....flouro seems to slip right through... (yes, user error probably plays into it some) as well as experiencing popping/breaking of line in casting with torque. I have had far more hookups this year than my previous two years in bass fishing, and would classify my water as either clear or stained in most applications. I feel its entirely possible that I'm losing fish to visibility, but the line strength seems to outweigh this. I hate losing lures. The Fireline is by far the hardest of the three to work with in terms of knot tying....it just seems stiffer/slipperier when cinching down. The Spiderwire quickly fades from dark/moss green to pea soup green, so there's a bit more color transference on hands and such. The Sufix normally performs well for me in various applications, though I have had that line snap on casting lately as well, twice on Wednesday alone.

I'd also be watching these to see if the thief tries to sell it....any chance you have an ID number or something that would prove it was yours (I don't have a troller, wouldn't know offhand)

2014 GMC Acadia to haul a 22' pontoon

Spot I hadn't been to in about a year....same lake that I've fished (largely unsuccessfully all weekend) from the boat.....nice 16", 2 lb (fat) LMB, a few casts later in the same area, 21" northern. Both with 1/2 oz black buzzbait with 4" Berkley Havoc Pit Boss in Green Pumpkin/Purple fleck. Also had a first today....after reading a thread in the tackle section last night (pinned, using bobbers with senkos), I thought I'd sort of give it a try today...I only used the garden variety round bobber, and it was setup with my normal drop shot rig. Water had a little chop to it, and so far have only had success with the drop shot if I use live crawlers. I had multiple little nibbles in the 30 min of attempting from different spots, probably small gills, that didn't like the senko. On the last cast of the day under a tree, had something (probably a 12" LMB or so) hit the 4" white senko, weedless, and take the whole worm off. I expect that with a worn out plastic or a real crawler/red wiggler, but not with a fairly new senko.

Made it out on our biggest lake from 11-5. Had kids swimming and tubing, so I didn't get a lot of quiet fishing time but an absolutely perfect day out and surprisingly no issues at the launch on either end other than the fullest I've ever seen the overflow parking area. Last year had some knucklehead decide to try and launch his boat IN BETWEEN two other boats (ala no tying off) and bumped both mine and the guys on the other side. All that rush and I bet he was parked over on the side pier (bathroom break/crew team pier) for a good 30 min waiting for his family and such. Did get a bonus white bass on the way in while trolling (better than no fishing)....about 12".

Pretty much sums it up for me as well. I'm learning on the fly without the guidance of a bank partner, and without BR, I'd still be lost. I'm starting to learn structure (and finding it) as well as so many other important aspects. I've caught far more fish this spring/summer than the previous couple of years, and will eventually translate to increased success from the boat and in quality of size in catch.

I have my ultralight pole dedicated to t-rig but still trying to land my first t-rig fish. It should be equally effective at day or night, I think my problem is going slightly too fast, I think it needs to be low and slow.