Josh Smith

Thank you, Paul. I've been fishing since 1979 or so (I was like, 2). I'm the son of a '70s bass fisherman. This is the most challenging lake I've ever fished, which is why I fish it! I usually pull fish out when others aren't. Never had considered whether fishing pressure could totally kill the bite, though, and this seemed to be the time to ask. Most of my reels are slow to moderate. 23ipt to 26ipt or so. One is around 31ipt, but I hardly ever use that. Thank you! Regards, Josh P.S. I plan to have the boat back out this year, and it will help my frustration. I know where the bass are but can't get to 'em without the boat. Good news is others can't, either! J.S.

Hi Folks, That lake I was studying last year has gained a HUGE number of people this spring. It's mostly folks going for panfish (which is a problem in and of itself. There's a limit, but all I see taken are small.) Now, I've not had much luck at all this year. I'm wondering if it's possible for fishing pressure to be so high that bass just stop biting... period? I've been trying different techniques. One technique I believe I'll have luck with is thus: 1. 3/8oz to 1/2oz football head jig 2. 1/8oz to 1/4oz trailer I didn't have much time to play with this so far. The jig is fished by tossing the jig out, letting it set for a few seconds to a minute, and giving a bit of slack to the line. I then snap the line hard, short and fast... and I mean hard and fast enough to snap mono, so this is a super braid only proposition. What I think this is doing is playing the line like a banjo string and the low frequency should attract bass. The day I came up with this idea I ended up with something in that lake biting and fighting for a moment before it let go. It didn't commit to the hook. Either it was a large bass that had learned to avoid traditional presentations, or it was a catfish. No carp in here. But I dunno. Is there such thing as so much fishing pressure that the bass just quit? Regards, Josh

That, Sir, is the million dollar question I've been trying to figure out. From what I can gather, it's mostly small crawdads and other invertebrates. I have been fishing this lake since I was 10. Lots of things have changed, but one constant is the (comparatively) simple ecosystem. Figuring out what's at the bottom of the food chain, however, has been a challenge. Regards, Josh

Yeah, man, I tried that. Was using swimjigs, football jigs, jerkbaits, and even a baited hook about 10' down. There are no shad in this lake; the bluegill and redear are the baitfish for the bass. I should dig out my fly rod (never use it) and go back. Maybe it's bugs they're after. Lots of water bugs were swimming on the surface. I don't see why that would preclude hitting something else, though. Josh

I'm in Indiana. We're not exactly close neighbors, but Indiana does get your weather patterns about a day after you experience 'em! Josh

Thanks guys. I'm talking about reducing splash at the 50 yard mark. Out to 20 yards or so is pretty easy to reduce splash. It's just that arc that I have to deal with that puts it way out there. Regards, Josh

Hi Folks, My 7-year-old boy and I went fishing this evening. It should have been an excellent night, but we got skunked. Fish were feeding topwater. I'm not sure if they were bass or if they were sunfish. We both had bobbers out as well as trying several different artificial lures. We got skunked. I mean, nothing. I've seen this before. There will be fish feeding all around, but can't get 'em to bite on anything I offer, and I've never figured this out. This lake has LMB, various sunfish (mainly bluegill and redear), and catfish. There are no carp or anything else I'm aware of. This was Sunday night after heavy fishing pressure all weekend. There had been a warm front and looks like the barometer is dropping slowly, anticipating rain. I believe it's a full moon, or just was. On paper conditions were perfect, and fish were obviously feeding. In fact, it should be about pre-spawn time. Still, nothing took 'em. This is one of the few patterns I've not been able to at least halfway work out. Anyone have any advice? Thank you, Josh

I sometimes like to finess/pinpoint fish at range and don't always like working into the target area, or it isn't feasible to do so. Sometimes this is brush close to shore. A technique I use here is I pick a limb and cast on to it with a weedless jig; I land the line on it and it helps land the jig gently like it's a critter that just jumped off the limb. The lake I studied last year and am further studying this year is heavily pressured, and long range gentle techniques are what get me the fish. Regards, Josh

Leo, I have. Or in my experience, it's more of a splash and they hit on the first twitch (which also sets the hook.) Josh

Hi Folks, I'm always adding new techniques to my casting arsenal. I love initial presentations casting technique is critical. I don't have much trouble landing lures softly with sidearm casts. I just sort of skip them across the water. This takes some practice to keep from backlashing, but it works. It's sort of like casting into the wind; my thumb does the same thing. However, when I'm casting overhead and really bombing them out there, I get more splash than I want unless I'm using something hydrodynamic like a worm Texas rigged with a bullet sinker. Bombing, say, Bombers way out is a problem with regard to splash. (Sometimes the splash attracts bass, but more often scares them off.) Not sure what to do with this. Thoughts? Josh

Thanks, guys! I usually swim a football jig a few feet and let it rest, or shake it. I'm imitating a bluegill colored crawdad and it works well. I guess I class most large jigs as swim jigs (as opposed to traditional Malibou or curly-tailed jigs.) Will read up on this. Thanks again! Josh

Use a stinger.

What about the football jig style etc? Aren't these classed in with swim jigs? Back when I learned about all this stuff I don't recall us ever having swim jigs (by name, anyway). I didn't fish for about 10 years, and there are things like this that I never did learn about. Thanks! Josh

Hi Folks, I've been looking for a complete list of swim jig head shapes and their uses. I cannot find anything along those lines, though there's plenty on traditional jigs. Is there anything you're aware of? Thank you, Josh

I had bluegill hitting my bass lures left and right last time I was bass fishing. The swimjigs and TX rigs were too large to hook up, though. Josh

Hello, They were definitely being swallowed, and the location is one in which I'd expect leeches to be. Plastic worms work really, really well in this lake, especially black jelly worms. Those, blue and black swim jigs, and chartreuse/black cranks all seem to work best. Crawdad lures seem to work well, too, but I'm just starting to experiment more with those so it's too early to tell how well compared to the others. Josh

I've done that before. Take your time; you don't want surgery! Regards, Josh

Yes, Sir, and at this point in my life I'm glad to have the salad take over. I'm being forced to learn new techniques, and I always have had a need to learn. The bass are so much healthier than they were in the past that it's worth it. The one downside is that I believe the concentrations to be on the other side of where I can fish without a boat. I'm trying to find some vacation time to finally finish boat repairs and get over there! Josh

Hello, They looked just like this: Josh

Been out fishing? Thanks! Josh

This worked extremely well! I used the lighter friction-type tape on the BPS. It makes a wonderful jerkbait rod now! I don't feel like I'm losing it when I cast. I also found some thicker, rubberized stuff with a sticky back, and bought the Wilson brand. After putting it on my Cherrywood HD, I then wrapped it with that thin friction stuff. The whole feel of that rod changed! I liked it before, but now love it for critter baits! A $20 rod simply should not work this well for much of anything. I'd change the eyelets to ceramic of some sort if I wanted to take the down-time, but the metal guides work OK, so I'll live. Tennis is not something I've ever explored, and so didn't know about the grip tape. It works wonders! Josh

To the OP: I just go to the BPS site and make sure that anything I order is an "A" handle. It's just the shortest grip. Some are pistol grips and some (most) are just short split grips or short straight grips. Regards, Josh

I feel crankbaits just fine on a '70s Lew's Speed Stick MH fiberglass rod. The reel is a 5500(pre-c) Ambassadeur spooled with mono. Regards, Josh

You should experience about the same feel with fluoro as with mono. I like braid for increased sensitivity, but you should by no means feel nothing with fluoro. Josh

Hello, What Francho said. As some here know, I was away from fishing for about 10 years or so prior to last year. When I came back, I was overwhelmed by how much things had changed. The lake I'd fished as a kid for bluegill overgrew with moss, and not knowing how to fish it (never heard of a frog then) I sort of gave up on that lake. When I came back last year, the moss was mostly gone and replaced with weeds of various sorts. Knowing what I know now, I wish that topwater moss was still around. As is, I'm getting a special thrill out of doing with modern lines and tackle what I couldn't do with it back in the '80s and '90s. For example, cover isn't nearly the obstacle it used to be and I catch most of my bass in deep cover I'd never have thought of tackling with my previous setups! But yes, the water is much greener and more fertile. The bass I catch are extremely healthy and well-fed. I don't recall a time when I've seen a healthier population of fish critters. The downside is that these changes have made the fish move, so the tree (still there!) that used to produce large panfish no longer holds much of anything I can find. I'm having to re-pattern the whole lake. I plan to have my boat going this year and take some soundings again. (Nobody I've found has bothered with this small lake). I look forward to seeing you post. I'm sure the changes in fishing techniques and equipment will surprise you as well. By the way, just a small secret: Some of the lures and techniques we used to use "back in the day" are working very well again, better than some modern stuff. It's because these new generations of bass haven't seen them before! Regards, Josh