MIbassyaker

If you need a KVD+Largemouth fix, here is 4 hours of KVD with Mark Zona fishing specifically for springtime Largemouth in Michigan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLqcUPissFI

Great Michigan bass!

I'll put in a recommendation for this off-the-radar book by Ron & Al Lindner, which anyone who is into angling history and foundations might be interested in. It is a modern reprint of an old compilation of the Lindners' articles from Fishing Facts magazine, from before they launched In-Fisherman. It includes many of their observations and thoughts that originated the In-Fisherman F+L+P system, that they later became known for. Angling Edge still has some copies available numbered & signed by Ron & Al:

So sad to hear this -- When I first caught the fishing bug as a kid growing up int he 80s, I quickly discovered In-Fisherman TV show and magazine. Through IF, I probably learned more from the Lindners over the years about fishing in general than from anyone else in the industry. Amazingly, even the oldest IF publications hold up well today, if you make allowances for advances in gear and technology.

I have a round, spinning rack from BPS that holds 24. I think I got it several years ago for $50 or $60? It has 3 posts rather than a single center post, so it's sturdier than some of the others i've seen. I can even get 24 rods with reels on it at once, as long as I alternate casting and spinning, with half of the spinning reels pointed inward, and half pointed outward.

The MTIFS reports show that tournaments weighed a 7.00 in 2017, and a 7.71 in 2018. So that's two right there, if those aren't the same fish (quite possible, though). Jordan is about 50-60min away from me. I have only been on it once, in the summer a few years ago, and caught a dink and a 17-incher. It's a little busy for my tastes in the summer. I keep meaning to go back sometime in April or early May when I get a chance, but haven't yet. I didn't know there were smallies in there. How big do they get?

Number of water bodies on Y, Percent of bass caught that are keepers on X. So in two of the 20 places I've fished the most, less than 10% (0-.099 range) of the bass I've caught were keeper sized. In three of them, 60-70% (.60-.699 range) were keeper sized.

In my records, this depends substantially on which waters I fish. Of the 20 places I have fished the most around Grand Rapids, the probability a bass i caught is keeper-sized ranges from around 7% to almost 70%. Here's a breakdown of the number of water bodies in my top 20 for hours fished by keeper rate: What do the three in the top bin have in common?? Almost nothing, other than being somewhat remote natural lakes that don't get huge amounts of angler traffic (although two get a moderate amount, and one gets very little).

The two colors you need are "light" and "dark". But of course you're going to want every possible version of each to maximize your chances.

Former BR sponsor Bizz Baits, who I remain a big fan of, has 20% off sitewide, starting today through Monday.

OK, my order is in! I'm getting on the Hot Sauce train too, which I missed last spring. Plus a handful of odds and ends, other swim & dredge jigs, rage swimmers, a few tungsten weights & heads.

A baby largemouth pattern would be cool. I make one of my own with whiskey-green bw, black, and white, but it's hard to get quite right.

I can think of three reasons why color might matter: (1) One color increases visibility over another, in helping bass detect the presence of the lure given clarity, stain, and background cover elements, vegetation, etc. (2) Bass register one color or pattern as prey moreso than another. This is more about triggering a strike after they detect it. Both of these assume color has an influence over and above that of other visual cues, such as movement or profile. Both should also matter more in well-lit conditions than low-light conditions, as the distinction between colors inherently diminishes with reduced light. Increased fishing pressure could make (2) more likely if bass become more discriminating in what they strike. The third reason has nothing to do with the bass: (3) The angler fishes one color differently than another because of expectations, confidence, etc., whether they realize they are doing it or not. I tend to think (3) accounts for most of the color differences anglers experience, and that (1) and (2) contribute only occasionally. In this case, something as obnoxious as a Trap shouldn't be hard to detect, so #1 is probably out. But #2 could apply if bass were keying in on countershading (darker back/ lighter belly) as a visual cue.

A month ago I posted this on another thread, which sort of serves as my summary of the season: "My records show 31 trips outside the house to fish to 22 different bodies of water, four of which were new to me this year. 15 natural lakes, 3 impoundments, 2 free-flowing river sections, 1 river bayou, and 1 gravel pit. I fished a total 123.41 hours, for an average of 3.98 hours at a time. I caught 232 bass, including 209 largemouth and 23 smallmouth, for a rate of 1.88 bass/hour fishing. I was skunked twice." No PBs, no milestones, a couple of skunkings, but otherwise caught brown or green bass everywhere I fished, including a family trip to WI over the 4th. I didn't break 4lb though, unless pike and drum count. No real goals for 2021, other than try a few new places (which I do every year), and revisit a couple of places I haven't been to in a few years.

How many spinnerbaits does the Blade Krate hold? Is it suited for buzzbaits as well? Hard to see from the pictures, but I expect maybe not if it stores them flat.

Canterbury Feider Cherry Livesay Crews

It's worth checking in regularly on the Mister Twister catalog online. They continue to offer new baits with some frequency, along with the old stand-bys like the Phenom worm, curly-tail and Sassy Shad. The regular prices online are pretty good, and you can find good deals sometimes in their bargain bin. The 3" Meeny curly tail on a 1/8oz jighead was the first artificial lure I learned to catch fish on as a kid. These days I use the Phenom Worm and Lizard the most. But my favorite is the Thunderworm, which has been discontinued & resurrected a few times. They don't have it currently, but I stocked up a few years ago.

Oh boy! Been waiting for the Baccarac update -- amazing as always!!

Nice job! A little googling around turns up some rumors on another message board that the Wamplers Lake bass was disputed and ultimately determined to be a Florida strain (and therefore not caught in MI, contrary to what was claimed), based on a scale. I can't find any actual verification of this, but there must be some reason the fish didn't count as a new record, especially if the DNR knew about it.

Well, given the size of my to-do list over the next couple months, I very likely had my final outing of the year last week. Certainly my last kayak trip -- a 3-hour excursion wed morning produced one (1) 3.10# largemouth on a spinnerbait...and that was all. This was a down year in terms of both time spent fishing and catch rate, but even so, I don't fish nearly as often, for as long, or catch as many as many of you. My records show 31 trips outside the house to fish to 22 different bodies of water, four of which were new to me this year. 15 natural lakes, 3 impoundments, 2 free-flowing river sections, 1 river bayou, and 1 gravel pit. I fished a total 123.41 hours, for an average of 3.98 hours at a time. I caught 232 bass, including 209 largemouth and 23 smallmouth, for a rate of 1.88 bass/hour fishing. I was skunked twice. By lure, the senko (or other stickworm) takes the crown: 76 Senko 24 Buzzbait or Whopper Plopper 20 Hula Grub 17 Other topwater plugs (e.g., Propbait, Popper, walker) 17 Bladed jig 16 Paddletail swimbait 15 Jig 13 Finesse worm 12 Spinnerbait 6 jerkbait 5 ribbontail worm 5 ned rig 4 other misc. plastics (e.g. creature, grub, fluke) 1 frog 1 hair jig My most common by-catch species were pike and rock bass as usual, and also had some warmouth, crappie, bluegill, and one big drum (my first in a long while).

Ask yourself: What do you need the jig do to? Fall fast? Fall slowly? Get through heavy cover? get over heavy cover without burying? Stay on the bottom as you move it? Stay off the bottom as you move it? 3/8oz is popular probably because it casts well on a MH rod and, with a trailer on, falls at a moderate-fast rate that is "good enough" most of the time. The biggest issue with ponds tend to be overgrown vegetation and mucky bottoms. you may need the jig to get through a canopy of weeds, but not bury itself in the muck. A mid-range weight like 3/8 is often just right, and usually is a good place to start. You can adjust the fall rate by changing trailers to provide more vs. less resistance. If you are getting stuck in bottom stuff too much, move the jig faster or downsize to 1/4. An even lighter weight is good if you want to move it slowly but stay off the bottom. If you want it to stay on the bottom as you drag it, that may require a heavier weight, especially if you want to move the jig faster. It's all going to be relative to the presentation you're trying to make.

Glenn's and Hackney's videos above are saying almost exactly the opposite thing.

I have never understood the idea that one should fish darker colors in low light conditions. Low light conditions already darken your lures no matter the color (unless they are glow-in-the-dark) because less light in the environment means less light reflecting off the surface of your bait. Low light also reduces the difference between colors, so the darker the conditions, the less it should matter what the color is.

Eh. Delete me.

The big problem with these apps is that local conditions specific to the state of your particular water-body at a particular time will trump any generalized information the app uses to generate the forecast. Does the forecast consider the main forage species present, competitor predator species, fertility and clarity of the lake, amount and condition of vegetation, water temperature, or whether you've had an algae bloom? Does it know how much current there is, whether there is a thermocline, or whether the lake has turned over? Does it know anything about the possible locations, depths, or habitats bass have to choose from in your water-body, or the level of dissolved oxygen anywhere? All these things can and will overwhelm any of the factors used to create the forecast.