BigmouthForever23

Sorry, I have to disagree with this. My dad and I would go out in the summer at noon, bright sunshine, wind, and troll with a 10 inch worm on the bottom near drop-offs and plenty of weeds and catch some of the biggest bass of the year. You just have to find them and throw them something they can't resist like a big slow worm.

Sorry for the vague post. I've used a Lews BB1 and Lews Speed Spool Tournament spooled with 14lb Trilene mono, medium heavy/fast action rod. The lure weight is a 12 inch worm with a 3/16 oz bullet weight. I've tried multiple size weights with no success.

Zara Spook and it's not even close.

I grew up fishing with my dad and he always used spincast reels, he's old school. I consider him a pretty good fisherman with a lot of knowledge but he never took the time to learn how to use a baitcast reel and neither did I. Well, I finally switched over to baitcast this year and I'm so glad I did. It took some practice but now I cast with a baitcaster no problem. However, I'm having some difficulties casting with light lures like a worm. Even if I rig it w/a decent size bullet weight texas-style, I still have trouble getting any distance on my casts without getting the line tangled. I've tried multiple reels, although they're all Lews since I can get a discount on their products because a friend of mine reps for them. But I've tried messing w/the brakes and spool tension knob w/no success. My question is do I have to switch to spinning for my worm rod? Are baitcasters more for heavy lures like crankbaits, spooks, spinnerbaits, etc.? I mean, I just learned how to use a spinning reel this year as well. My dad left me a classic one he had since he was a kid but never used. I use it on my crappie rod. Much easier to learn so that's not a problem but I'd prefer baitcast. What do you guys think?

I eat bass! I like the taste too. Honestly, I can't really tell the difference between panfish and bass when you fry em up. I guess if I had a choice I would go with panfish. But my dad and I started to eat bass when I was growing up since they were so much easier to clean. You want to stick with smaller bass though (<2 pounds) as they are the best eating. To fry em, all we'd do is roll the fillet in flour, dip in egg, cover with bread crumbs (Penko style) and then fry in a pan with just enough oil to cover the fillets. Fry em nice and hot and they turn out nice and crispy!

I love fishing topwater. A Zara Spook is my favorite topwater lure. The bite will be best in the morning before the sunrise. If you have overcast, you can catch them on topwater on day long. You want to be as observant as possible when fishing topwater. Try and find areas where the bass are breaking the surface. Look for nearby baitfish. Hope that the is little or no wind. As far as the Zara Puppy goes, I like going with the Spook as I find it easier to walk-the-dog. But the smaller Puppy will work as well. It's best to start out with a steady retrieve and find out what the bass want. Vary the speed, pause occasionally, etc. Make sure you wait a few seconds after you cast until the ripples subside. I actually caught a bass last night on the Spook although it was an odd catch. Right after I made my cast, I looked away from my Spook and the bass hit it before I even twitched it once. Also, make sure you wait until you feel the fish to set the hook. Good luck!

Interesting, we would use a 10 inch Culprit worm rigged exactly like you would with a Texas-rigged worm only instead of using a bullet weight right on top of the hook, we would use a split-shot 8-10 inches above. It was dynamite.

^^I had no idea about a LMB law. Anyway, another great aspect of this method is when the worm hits the bottom and you start trolling, the worm isn't dragging on the very bottom because the weight keeps it a few inches above which in turn makes it easier for the bass to see. It's also a much more natural presentation when using a worm, compared to say a Texas-rigged worm.

Yup, I never really asked him how he developed this technique or where he learned it. The great thing about this method is when a bass takes the worm, they swim away with it and hardly ever drop it before you have a chance to set the hook because the weight of the split shot is so light they don't feel the weight when they eat the worm. This gives you all the time you want to set the hook. There were many times where I'd actually wait so long to set the hook and pull up the bass with the worm all the way down it's mouth! I'd usually wait longer to set the hook as I learned setting it too quickly results in a not as solid hookset. For those of you who have caught big bass, the tip of their mouth is like shoe leather. If a a bass swims away with a worm and the hook is near that tough part of their jaw, you can forget about getting any kind of solid hookset.

Diamond Lake, an unincorporated community in Lake County. There are some monsters in this lake. We would hardly ever see anyone fishing because although it's not a super small lake, it's small enough where one ski boat can make a wake through the whole lake. It's basically in the shape of a circle. Nevertheless, it was hilarious when my dad and I would pull out a 5 pound bass on a 90 degree day in the middle of summer and see some of the looks from bystanders on ski boats. We would be bobbing up and down in our boat from the waves and still catch be catching bass. My dad had to do some convincing when he first took me out because I told him there's no way we're going to catch a bass in these conditions. But after I caught a few I was convinced. Some days were tough though. I mean, at that time of day and year the bass aren't very active. But since my dad knew the lake so well, we knew where to find them. The key was to get the worm near where the bass were holding and it's very hard for them to pass up such an easy meal. Unfortunently, my parents moved to Florida last November and so I don't have a boat anymore and can't fish Diamond Lake. I have to resort to local Park Districts and fish from shore... I'm looking for a house now though so once that happens, (if it ever happens, been looking since December), I'm going to buy a boat as soon as I can so I can get back out on that lake (or a different one).

So I grew up with my dad who would take me out on the lake and we would troll for bass with a worm. We wouldn't rig it Carolina or Texas style but with a small split shot weight about 8-10 inches above the worm. I know this is not very common but I was wondering if anyone has ever tried it. Let me tell you, at least from the lake we fished, it was gold. We would go out at noon, bright sun, ski boats everywhere, and be pulling out 4-5 pound bass sometimes bigger in the middle of the day. And for the area I live in, (NW Suburbs of Chicago), those are monsters. We didn't like fishing in the morning because there was this idiot who would would power up, illegally mind you, at 5:30 in morning EVERY DAY. I think he was a professional who wanted to practice before other boats were on the lake. But anyway all we would do is cast our lines out, let a bunch of line out, and SLOWLLLY troll a couple sweet spots we knew on the lake that contained very nice dropoffs. I can't tell you how fun it was to hook a big bass with so much line out. It made landing the bass that much more fun. The downside to this was the bass would have much longer to get free, but I always would wait quite a while until I set the hook. Some of the best times I've had fishing was with my dad practicing this technique.

I always liked Bill Dance. I enjoy watching his show.

Points + dropoffs (weeds below surface a bonus).

I live in the NW Suburbs of Chicago and the summers aren't too terrible. Fishing can still be tough at times so I usually go later in the evenings and only go out for an hour or so. Plus, I love to fish topwater and that bite seems to pick up once the water warms up.

Topwater!! My favorite topwater lure is a Zara Spook.

Thanks for the replies guys. You know what I think I'm just using the wrong presentation. I mean, with this weather that we've had this past week, I don't think throwing a quick moving Zara Spook that requires the bass to chase is the ideal lure to throw. Papajoe, I think you have it right throwing a SLOW moving worm. I used to worm fish all the time when my dad was still in the area. He had a boat and so it was much easier to throw a worm as you can get anywhere on the lake. But now that I'm going off shore it's a little more difficult. Add to the fact that I just switched to baitcasters this year, it's rather difficult to cast light lures and get any kind of distance. Heavy ones like the spook I have no problem with. I'm going to rig up a 10" Culprit black worm texas style, hit my sweet spots on the lake and see what happens. Papajoe, is there a website online where you can get the barometric pressure for a certain location?

Hello all my fellow anglers, new member here. Glad I found these forums. I have a question for you guys. I live in the northwest suberbs near Chicago and fishing really hit a wall this past week (I'm a 99% bass fisherman). The weather, although consistent, has consisted of overcast and rain almost every single day. The water level at the lakes in my area are high and the water is very muddy. I fish from shore and I usually throw topwater (Zara Spook). I also had a three-day weekend last week and I was super excited knowing the weather was going to be cloudy almost all day so I would have a chance to walk the shore and fish the entire lake. But the bites were hard to come by. My thoughts were perhaps since it's been cloudy for so long that the bass have fed plenty and are not very hungry. I know some rain can be good and when we first started to get a little rain a week or so ago it seemed like it helped the fishing. But now after so many days of rain it's been really tough. My dad said I need about 3 good days in a row of some nice sunshine and no rain and the fishing should pick up. What are your guys' thoughts on rain and how it affects fishing?