MIbassyaker

If I lose an appendage, I keep throwing it until I start getting superstitious that the lost appendage is why I'm not getting bites anymore (but almost certainly just due to chance).

You changed things up, took a clue from one of Glenn's videos, applied it, and got one....sounds like the opposite of clueless to me!

I threw a scrounger rig for the first time on Tuesday and got bit on the first cast. Just a dink, but it made me go, "Huh. How about that?"

If you would like to experience for yourself the dinks, rock bass, and pike bite-offs that I contended with today, you're welcome to it!

Probably a different lake, but I was on your turf this morning too...

I think @Jar11591 is right that the 1% figure probably includes many bass that were sampled from standard survey methods, but would generally be too small to be caught on hook and line. My experience in MI (which has about the same average growth rate as the other nothern states for LM), is that individual waters vary widely in both the % of fish over 19" and how catchable they are.

just regular needlenose pliers. I haven't had a problem with the wire breaking. Definitely if it breaks, that's a good reason to retire it -- even if you manage to get a blade and rivet back on there, gotta wonder what's going to break next?

I replace skirts, blades and rivets. Actually ordered some components just last week for exactly this, from TW:

The weightless Senko is no joke, and the chartreuse tip is a bit of a (not so) secret weapon for plastics and jigs any time the water is a little dark or off-color. A dark body with a chartreuse tip is characteristic of bluegills, which have bright tails. Get a good look at an adult bluegill from above in shaded or overcast conditions, and you can't miss it.

I've saw a guy fish a jig with 3/4 of a plastic lizard as a trailer and catch bass, so 🤷 Not something I feel like doing, but there are no rules, so go for it and tell us what happens.

Few of these guys this morning out on "Lake 9", with the biggest two each going 3 and change: Overcast skies had me thinking topwater, but after a lot of nothing the first hour, I went back to the t-rigged lizard that was doing so much work a couple weeks ago...and sure enough, that's what they wanted again.

Last week they needed something juicy dropped right on their heads. Fortunately, the old Zoom Lizard was at hand. One of fifteen cookie-cutter 15"-16"ers. The bigs have been hiding.

Five rigs in the kayak, each doing double or triple-duty: -weightless Senko- or Fluke-style plastic -Texas rig worm or creature; jig -Buzzbait, spinnerbait, or belly-weighted swimbait -walking or popping topwater; occasional jerkbait -finesse worm on head of some kind (ijgworm, shakyhead, slider, etc. ), ned rig, or tube

Best of 13 this morning at 16"....which otherwise was Dink City: To be fair, I find the day after Memorial Day holiday is often rough going.

My first fish on 5/4, after finally escaping my work/life to-do list for the time being -- a modest beginning to the year: (That's a "hot sauce" Siebert Fogy hanging out of it's mouth)

Let's try this again -- Just my luck, I finally get out on the water for 2026 in time for BR to go dark for a few weeks. Since then I have managed five ~3-hour trips. Some highlights: First fish of the year: Lots of 2-3lb action: Two best so far have been this 3.5lb and 4.15lb: The spawn seems is imminent in the smaller & shallower waters around here if it hasn't started yet. I'm going to hit a couple bigger/deeper lakes next week that may be a few degrees cooler.

My physical prime is long gone, although I'm basically healthy and still have plenty enough strength and endurance to handle the rigors of fishing. But now I'm in my knowledge prime, and that makes me a much better angler than I used to be.

You also said milfoil and coontail. Both of those hold bass better than curly-leaf pondweed. The Eurasian milfoil is also invasive, and similarly crowds out native plants, but is much easier to fish. Underwater it looks like long "tubes" with red tips, but collapses easily, so you can kind of rip stuff through it to an extent. Coontail is native and excellent to fish where you can find it. It will grow deeper than most other weeds and stay green later in the year. Has a sort of "christmas tree" appearance in the water.

I know it well This stuff is a menace on our natural lakes up here where it takes root. Its an invasive that grows super-fast and thick, crowding out the native vegetation. Unfortunately, it's not really preferred by either bass or the main baitfish species and is so thick there usually aren't a lot of pockets or spaces underneath. It makes one of my best lakes nearly unfishable for about a month in late spring/early summer. In most cases, the only choice while it is thick is to try fishing over it or around it. However, it will begin to die back and thin out before too long. By July here, it has usually thinned out enough to provide some irregular edges and openings that can be picked apart.

It's a suspension bridge with a 200-foot drop at the highest point, a grated road you can see through, narrow lanes with no divider between you and the oncoming lane, and frequent strong crosswinds. There is actually a lift service they run for people too afraid to drive across.

What has changed? Arthritis in my knee is worse and I need to lose some weight.

Oof. Forgot to set my team.

I've got a tube of the crawfish scent that's probably 10 years old, but never tried it....thanks for the reminder! (it doesn't expire, does it...?)

Boom! Congrats!