Jar11591

If it’s a new body of water or one I’m still learning, I’ll study the contour map the night before, as well as check Google earth to see what I can see. I also check the weather, wind speed and direction and the radar. I’ll rig up what I think will be a good start, but that may change when I get on the water. With bodies of water I’m familiar with, I just check the wind speed and direction and rig up what usually works at that location the night before. Making sure the battery is fully charged and the boat is loaded up the night before is a must.

Downed timber. Downer timber with weeds around, even better. Downed timber with weeds around and a steep drop off or deep water nearby, best.

St. Lawrence river for sure

My girlfriend surprised me with some new wall art:

I mow lawns for a living. Mowing my own lawn is like pulling teeth.

I’ve been fishing avidly my entire 30 years of life. I’m not sure when it all came together, but over the last 10 years, I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time on the water and I know I’ve picked up more knowledge and skill in the last 10 years than the prior 20. I think I’ve always been a good angler, even as a kid. But now I consider myself a decent bass fisherman. Getting my boat 10 years ago and joining this site and connecting with other bass anglers also increased my skill exponentially I believe. I still have so many things I want to improve on, still a lot of holes in my game and a lifetime of learning to do.

Bacon, egg and cheese on sourdough with home fries. I got the diner-style home fries down. It took a decent amount of experimenting.

Id call that more than “iffy”!

On one of my main lakes, the snapping turtles, loons, and bass often inhabit the same point to feed on the perch and bluegill. Whenever I’m fishing this point, if the snappers and loons are there, the bass are usually there as well.

I catch bass on topwater through October, when the water is in the 50s. Upstate NY.

That’s gotta be great

It’s worth the trip. The aggressiveness, the tail walking they do when hooked. They hit topwater baits like missiles. This is the first year in several that I’ve targeted smallmouth more than largemouth. It’s been so much fun.

Been fishing a new section of river each week. It’s paid off with a lot of productive water and smallmouth bass. Still have yet to get on that hot fall bite as temps are still in the mid 80s during the day, and mid 60s at night. Unseasonably warm. But got into some decent smallies that had their fall bellies today. They all looked stuffed to the gills. Pop-X and a Ned rig did the damage. The river has been eating so many of my Ned heads this year, so I made the switch the Z-Man Ned football heads. Glad I did as I went an entire day on the river without snagging my Ned rig.

You got a lot of people here pulling for you guys. My thoughts will continue to be with both of you??

Depends on what part of the country. In my area, the most common by-catches are chain pickerel and northern pike.

Yep. If you’re struggling to catch fish and aren’t very familiar with artificials, a weightless plastic worm is the way to go.

You must have never heard of Tackle Warehouse lol

And probably larger and more capable of eating a frog. A lot of the pickerel here are little snakes.

Their contact percentage is ok, but it’s rare they ever actually take the bait in the mouth in my experience. They just smack it from the side at 100mph. Sometimes jump completely over it.

Trout are stocked all over upstate NY, from urban park ponds and streams to the big adirondack lakes. Browns are the most commonly stocked but rainbows and Brookies are also stocked in lake, ponds and streams, and lake trout, splake, and landlocked salmon are stocked in lakes that are habitable. The adirondack mountains also have a protected native, wild brook trout called Heritage Trout that have descended from the same trout that first inhabited the lakes 10,000 years ago when the glaciers melted. A couple times of year I’ll target Brooks, brownies and rainbows in streams or rivers with little inline spinners, spoons and night crawlers.

Or pickerel.

I’ve caught bass on every kind of retrieve imaginable. Like most baits, the fish will tell you how they want it. I’ve found that a faster retrieve often works through lily pads, and a slower retrieve in slop. This is not a rule though. When I throw a frog, I will usually mix up the retrieve cast to cast.

Every day. Waiting on a rod in the mail now. Then I’ll need a reel to go with it. It’s a never ending cycle. Collecting tackle is a hobby in itself.

Nothing gets me all giddy like thinking about the next time I’m going fishing. Been like that since I was old enough to hold a rod and it will be like that until I’m too weak to hold one.

For most fishing equipment, I’ve found what I like. My rods are now mostly St. Croix and Fenwick. Line is Yo-Zuri, Power Pro or Berkley Trilene. Hard baits are mostly a mix of Megabass and Rapala. Soft baits are YCB, Rage, Z-Man, Netbait and Zoom. Jigs, bullet weights are 100% Siebert. Hooks are all Gamakatsu. If I’m “loyal” to these, it’s because I’ve found what I like and works for me, and don’t need to keep changing it up. But if something new on the market intrigues me, I’ll gladly give it a shot without thinking about my brand loyalty.