MIbassyaker

My waters have a lot of these guys: https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.aspx?SpeciesID=2249 They range from a very light brown to a dark brown, sometimes with a slight greenish or reddish tint, depending on time and place. Michigan folks should check out the DNR's Field Guide to Michigan Crayfish: https://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/mi-crayfish-id-guide-8-2020_699856_7.pdf

Same here. Took the dog for a walk by the gravel pits closest to me over the weekend - still completely iced over except for a narrow band of open water on the north side of one. I have couple free hours tomorrow afternoon -- going to investigate the riverbank in a few places. If it isn't too muddy, I might even get to make a cast...

Oh boy. Probably not going to use all of these, but here's what i've got ready to get rigged up and thrown at a moment's notice: Stick worms: -Yamamoto Senko -Strike King Ocho -Bizz Baits Sassy Stick -Berkley General -Rage cut-r Straight tail/Finesse worms -Zoom Trick worm -Zoom swamp crawler -Biospawn Plasmatail -6" roboworm -Strike King 3x Finesse -Bizz Baits Dizzy Diamond -Berkley Bottom Hopper Curly-tail/Ribbontail worm -Berkley Power Worm (4", 7", 8.5") -Zoom mag II -Mister Twister Phenom -Mister Twister Thunderworm -Culprit 7.5 -Charlie's Worms 8" swimming worm Paddle-tail/Buzz worm -Zoom Ultravibe speed worm -Buddha baits Swagger worm -Mann's Jelly worm 8"

Huh. "Moping". I found this, with Gussy and Jim Lindner for Angling Edge -- he specifically says it's not jigging, although it does look like the same thing as the damiki presentation:

If you have low-visibility water, you may find that they outproduce your darker-colored chatterbaits, especially if there are light-colored baitfish like shad or shiners.

Speed vs. depth. All else equal, heavier weights fish: (1) Faster than lighter weights at the same depth. (2) Deeper than lighter weights at the same speed. So change weights if you want to fish the same speed but change depths, or the same depth but change speeds. Exactly how much change depends on individual details of the bait; there's no single answer. And the differences are not constant across the range. so, at a fast retrieve rate, the depth differences are not necessarily the same as a slow retrieve rate. So no real way to know without experimenting. If you usually fish with 3/8oz, get some 1/2oz first to test out, and then get some 3/4 if you need to go deeper still. It is definitely worth having at least 2 go-to weights so you can cover 4 corners of a speed x depth range (slower-deeper, slower-shallower, faster-deeper, faster-shallower)

Yup, exactly the same here. "Jigging" or "jig", unless you're talking to somebody with specific shared understanding of bass jargon, means fishing a jighead with a plastic body, hair/feathers, tipped with live bait, or some combination of the three. And generally in open water, either on the bottom or suspended.

Oof. I've got Welcher and Auten in the 30s, fishing tomorrow; everyone else going home including....Lester, of all people. Should have just printed out the bucket lists, taped them on the wall, and thrown darts blindfolded.

Zaldain and Gussy were fishing the same area on the main lake -- one leads the tournament, one blanks ?‍♂️

I have an Overall PB, Species PBs, and lake/waterbody PBs (for each species).

Interesting -- thanks for the recommendation.

Black 4" curly-tail grub on a ball jighead.

Not my worst ever, but still bad: 59th 53rd 61st 70th 34th

Pirch has one now. I'm thinking about the length limits. Seems like going after the smallmouth is risky with the 18-inch requirement.

This is interesting. There are actually two questions here, that, as far as I can tell, the standard received wisdom gives conflicting answers : 1) What trailers for Spring? Standard answer is something with less action, presumably because something that gives off a lot of movement suggests prey that is difficult to capture, and bass are reluctant to expend energy on difficult, active prey when it is still cold. 2) What trailers for stained/low-visibility water? Standard answer is something with more action that aids detection from bass, who can still detect movement well in low-vis conditions, or by moving more water, creating vibrations that can be heard or picked up with the lateral line. More action also slows the fall, which may help bass find the bait in low-vis conditions So which is it? My own suspicion is... it doesn't matter most of the time, and when it does, it's not possible to know without some trial and error. I'm not convinced there is a clear generalization here.

We are guilty of enjoying absolutely glorious Summers, the promise of which keeps us going until the next.

10 weeks? There's gonna be open water out here a lot sooner than May! You're only 20min away from me, and I'd say over half the time you should be able to get on the water by mid-March. And bass are C&R year-round, as of a few years ago!

Ah, middle of Boston. I stayed in the Back Bay last time I was there, bottom right of the map. This part of the Charles is tidal, no? I feel like that's going to affect things as lot.

43 here this afternoon. Got a bit of a melt started...

Eh. Depends.

Cherry seems like a sneaky-good pick here. So @TnRiver46, are you calling out sick for work, so you can check out the action on the water?

Your ponds sound pretty typical of all northern public small waters with largemouth I'm familiar with....lots of 1-2 pounders, a few 3-4s, and here-and-there a wily, experienced 5-6 trying to live out its best life with minimal inconvenience. 1-2lb bass have no reservations about hitting 4-5 inch jerkbaits. Neither do pickerel, for that matter. But you can downsize to the 3-4 inch range if you want. It sounds like you have your heart set on suspending models. You have somewhat stained water. How much visibility? Many jerkbait experts attest that jerkbaits lose their effectiveness if visibility falls under a foot or two. Regardless, the less visibility, the more opaque (less translucent) I want my baits. I also tend to want them brighter and gaudier. I would get three jerkbaits: -Berkley Cutter 90 or 110 -- Ghost Bluegill, Yellow Perch, or "Gilly" -Smithwick Suspending Rattlin' Rogue -- Clown or "Lerch" -Strike King KVD 100, 200, or 300 -- Natural Bream, Yellow Perch or "Sugar Daddy" All affordable, in case you snag or have them broken off by a pickerel.

I understand "Green Pumpkin" to be a form of "pumpkin" that has some green in it. Thus, it is actually a sort of "greenish-brown". Watermelon, on the other hand seems to be just a muted, translucent green. While different companies colors vary, there are at least two generalizations present in most versions of these colors: -Green pumpkin is distinctly brownish whereas watermelon is not. -Watermelon is more translucent than green pumpkin. However, it's usually only possible to notice these distinctions when you have a side-by-side comparison.

Just requires some concentration and a little practice.