Choporoz

I was here a few years ago. One of my 'home lakes' is murky to muddy 300 days a year and I quit on jerkbaits very early on. Until someone who I mostly trusted at the dock talked about banner days with jerkbaits. I was pretty skeptical. But I am a convert. There are some conditionals, though.... in thick water, I generally only target suspended bass between about five and nine feet deep....and only after I've fairly confidently seen them on downscan or ClearVu. But if they are on flats or points swimming less than ten feet from the surface, a hard jerkbait can be money, even in pretty dirty water

I always have a spinnerbait tied on. But it is rarely the first thing I throw. Wind is almost always a factor in my decision to use one. It is rare for me to use a spinnerbait if it is slick calm. There are rare times when I want to cover calm water fast and there is random stickups, laydowns or submergent grass, and I'll use a spinnerbait as I speed down the bank or flats. Wind factors come from two a couple unrelated vectors. One, I think that light broken by waves makes the shiny blades much more effective. Two, as much as I love bottom contact fishing, it can be much easier to fish a spinnerbait in windy conditions. If my t-rig or jig gets hit when I'm winding back to make another cast, I take it as a strong sign that I need to throw a spinnerbait (and/or crank or chatterbait). Spinnerbaits banging wood are so effective....and come through surprisingly well. A couple/few times every year I am shocked and pleased to get a spinnerbait slammed the exact moment it hits the water....I mean not even time to fall beneath the surface....and somehow, that often happens in six inches of water or less. I rarely target such a spot, but just planning to pull across a nearby log or something....I probably should spend a little more time throwing spinnerbaits very tight to the bank Last week....too windy for plastics. She hit a twin side-by-side that I've really been liking this year

It's gotten so I'm that way with a Rage Bug nowadays. Hard to put it down when it is so effective 80%+ of the time. It has won me money in every season but winter, and accounted for most of my biggest fish. I justify to myself by having different sizes on different weights on my deck....and it will fish as topwater, swimming and hopping to dead stick. But, there are still occassional days when it doesn't get bit, but something else will....and it takes me a stupid amount of time to get to the right answer

Bear bangers; but probably best to buy them after you cross the border. Tried air horns, sprays, whistles, bear bells....bangers are best

Woke up to this guy looking for something to eat in the kitchen a few days ago. Quickly re-homed to the nearby woods. But, I'm agonizing over whether to mention it to my wife. She will fully acknowledge that rat snakes are harmless.....and has even dispatched one off the deck. But inside is going to be a different reaction.... which do i want: freaking out and fearing more inside the house? Or a bit of increased awareness...vigilance?

Exactly same. Except that I mostly use fluoro...but SDJ as terminal knot for any line other than braid, which gets palomar only

I've seen lots of folks using dumbells. Good for storing and rolling off the bow. I have always liked the folding grappling type for the quick realse capability. And, I can stow it in a vertical rod holder.

You won't forget her. Seven years later, I still know exactly where she was, what lure she ate, and the sound of that line snapping....

I have a couple Evergreen micros, though they are probably closer to 1/4 oz. They consistently run true. But despite some folks really liking beetle-spin size spinnerbaits, I'm done using them for bass. The Evergreens catch fish, but I don't think I ever caught one over 14" with them.

Slowest times often are Mon, Tue, Wed, between 8 and 10 AM. Lots of great advice above. I endorse the checklist idea. My wife and I did it together the first several times and it went great, but we were careful to change up the responsibilities so we wouldn't forget something the other usually did if we were alone at a later time. One thing she did that has helped me was to break down the prep area list into 3's. Three things at the bow (safety strap, graphs, trolling motor), three mid (dock lines, key, power), three aft (plug, stern straps, trim). There's other stuff, but if I get those nine every time, chances of serious issues is mostly eliminated.

The only term that bugs me is 'seaweed', typically only heard from the same guys that call fishing rods 'poles'

I enjoy fishing in the rain. Especailly in the summer. Lightening is a deal breaker. Rain with high winds, maybe 15+ mph will drive me off the water. Rain in temps under 40 aren't fun. Rain in temps between 40 and 60 are infinitely better with good jacket and bibs. It took me way too many years to get bibs....game changer for me. I didn't understand how much better bibs can be than even decent rain pants.

Only two rigs off the top of my head where I use swivels...spoons, and Carolina rig.....and now that I think about it, I probably don't need one on a Carolina rig

Same here. I paid to have it installed before I picked up my new boat. It worked for all of about six months. I assume the flat is stuck, but I cannot find it.

True. I learned at a pretty young age not to keep looking after I found something.

I don't have a good solution....other than to buy more stuff. Moving back and forth has been a real pain in the rear. What's worse, is I'm splitting time between two different homes...in different states. Boat is at one and kayak is at the other. I still move some rods, but I now just have separate bags, boxes and tools for each.

Appears to be gone. I last ordered from them in May.

Kayak: -one white 360 light at all times -headlamp, only on when needed -no treble hook baits Boat: -360 white light at stern and red/green running lights at bow, on at all times -red LED rope lights around the gunwale, dimmed as appropriate -up to one treble rigged on deck -limit number of rods on deck -one handheld lantern with white and red options Both: -turn up baitcaster brakes a notch or two - daytime backlashes got nothing on a midnight bird nest -electronics on 'night' settings, with as little backlight as you can

Bought a Hercules drill at Harbor Freight last week. Now I can't wait to drill holes. I never owned a tool that was so satisfying to use. The power, torque, heft, solid feeling.... wish I had been aware of Hercules long before this

Not all too far from you, the bite lately has been: -Points - 15-20', on the bottom. They can be stacked up, but bigger ones might be on opposite side of the point from the schools of 2-3 pounders -Just outside grass edges in places where grass ends around 14-15 FOW -In the bait balls. This one is maddening, fruitless, and immensely rewarding... all in the span of a few minutes. Always have something on deck ready to drop quick into the bait when there's a blow-up or big disturbance in the bait. Things that fall fast through the bait have been much better than swimming something horizontally through, under, over. Early in the day, a topwater may do it, but fast drop is where I have had more success. -In cover, but buried in the thickest branches and multiple casts to same spot often necessary

I guess when I decide that dropshot isn't boring enough....

No. But, once I did spend a couple hours watching an Old Style can come to life.

I see that a recent Ken Duke (Bass After Dark) 2+ hour podcast is about noise. Not sure when I'll get through that...can anyone summarize?

Several years ago @TnRiver46mentioned how noisy braid is underwater....since then, I've wondered similarly to you... have I vastly underestimated the noise 'reduction' benefits of fluoro over braid?

Ok boomer! Jk Sorry.... I am a boomer Scopers know bass behavior. At least those at the top of the game. (And so do those at regional and local levels). No question. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they know a lot more about bass behavior than anyone who hasn't scoped. At least about bass behavior in the short-term, sort of tactical sense. They are watching bass relate to environment and lures and bait in real time. And with the amount of information available to them, they can learn about seasonal and long-term behavior in a tiny fraction of the time that we could. I'd like for someone to breakdown Bassmaster AOY for me by age...I see an awful lot of very seasoned gents near the bottom. Wouldn't surprise me if top half average age is ten or more years younger than bottom half. Clearly, that isn't all FFS-related, but it would, I think, show that anglers today don't need 20-30 or more years on-the-water experience to be the best I have reasons to not particularly like FFS, but thinking that scopers don't know bass like us old-timers isn't one of them Clunn said something recently to the effect that he learned more about bass from FFS, than he'd learned in previous 60 years