MIbassyaker

Had an enjoyable Independence Day weekend in WI on Little Green Lake... and even caught a few. We showed up to find the lake in the middle of an algae bloom -- it was indeed quite green, living up to its name. We rented a pontoon boat at The Landing, which fortunately had a depthfinder. I was the only one of the family much interested in fishing, though, so I focused on bass during my turns with the boat. I mostly fished around the north and northeast end, including musky bay and the sunken island. I ended up catching 7 largemouth and 3 pike while being dodged by jetskis, tubers and skiers. Here's a few of the bass -- the best was a three pounder (on the right, below) who attacked a weightless stick worm jerked through scattered vegetation in about 4 ft of water, : Other than one of the pike which hit a buzzbait, the other fish either took the stick worm, or a Hula Grub rigged on a title-shot jig and worked along the bottom. Thanks for the input! Seems like a nice place to come back to at a less-busy (and perhaps cooler) time!

I keep track of my catches but I'm not too interested in total fish caught by itself, or in finding the "best" lure. I use my records to keep track of averages and rates over time in each of the 30-something, mostly-small bodies of water I've been fishing for the last 8 or so years on a semi-regular rotation: average lengths, catches per hour, keepers per hour, rate of various species, PB per species by length and weight, and a few other things. I'm mostly interested in how different places compare to each other, and how my own success changes over time, overall and in each place. Lure information tells me what was successful, but also tells me something about which presentations I have vs. haven't tried much in each place. At the moment I'm at 137 overall for the year, at 1.95 per hour. Rate is down a little from my last two years, mostly because of a slow start in April and May.

Everybody is going to say clear water, and they're not wrong -- as a natural color, any kind of watermelon is a good choice for clear water. But consider the red flake: In clear water, red doesn't penetrate as deeply as other colors of the spectrum, fading to black around 20-25 feet (in many freshwater environments if you are viewing from a few feet away). In heavily-stained (especially brownish) or muddy water, red light is actually the least absorbed, and penetrates the best of the spectrum. That is, while no part of the spectrum penetrates as much as it does in clear water, red ends up penetrating the best as the other colors get absorbed more, giving red better visibility than other colors when muddy. Flake colors generally benefit from brightness, as the flakes shine and glint as they catch the sun. So: GIve Watermelon-Red a try in heavily stained or muddy water, on a bright day.

Revisited a place I haven't been to in 7 years. Not sure why it took so long to get back... just fell off my priority list. I had caught a few bass there, but it didn't strike me as very productive. This morning, I managed 10, including this pair of 3s: It fishes better than I remember! More accurately, perhaps, I fish better now than I did several years ago.

There is the Guide to Crankbaits and Jerkbaits, published by B.A.S.S. as part of a series of books called the Ultimate Bass Fishing Library. Lots of other books on bass fishing have chapters or sections devoted to crankbaits.

I haven't really been force-feeding topwater this year, although it did seem a little later than usual before I got my first hits on top... (checks records).... 6/4, likely post-spawn, on a Berkley Spin Bomb (a propbait). A few days later several buzzbait fish, including a 19" er. Have also caught a few this month on a frog, Whopper Plopper and walking a Pop Max.

River and stream smallmouth killer. The small size is advantageous for hook-ups, as they often get it in their mouths better than the bigger topwaters. Hooks are usually dull out of the package, though, so you need to sharpen or change them out. They're cheap -- buy a bunch so you have backup when you lose one to a tree.

Just because of rarity where I live and fish, I get really excited about any largemouth over 3lb, and any smallmouth over 2lb. In the northern states, a 4.7lb largemouth could be 10+ years old -- you need a lot of lucky breaks to live that long if you're a fish in a pond.

15lb big game

There are no jig police. Fish any jig you want any way you can.

No idea. I've never experienced any kind of preference for black & blue over any other dark color, for jigs or anything else.

6'8" M-XF St. Croix Avid X Pflueger Supreme XT 15lb power pro super slick to 8# Yo-Zuri Hybrid 3/0 Gamakatsu EWG 5" GYCB Senko, Green Pumpkin, chartreuse tip

Good explanation of Ned Rig retrieves by Ned here:

I've seen a couple clips of Palaniuk talking about this, and just when I thought it was making sense, he'd show an example and I'd realize I still didn't understand it -- I mean, the words coming out of his mouth were reasonable, but I couldn't tell how it translated into a drawing the triangle one way rather than another way.

I have been fishing out of a Wilderness Systems Tarpon 100 for a number of years now. It's perfect for rivers, as it's very maneuverable. I have upgraded to a Lure 11.5 for lakes, but still use the tarpon on rivers. I don't think there is a way to target Smallmouth without catching rock bass. Or if there is, I haven't found it. I'm sure I've caught more river smallies on 4" curly-tail grubs or stick worms than anything else. The Whopper Plopper 75 and 90 are excellent choice for topwater especially for larger fish (although I still can't keep rock bass off them). But sometimes they want a more stationary topwater, like a popper, or split the difference with a propbait like the Tiny Torpedo. Don't overlook floating minnow crankbaits, in-line spinners, or 4" worms on a slider head. There is an excellent book worth tracking down called River Smallmouth Fishing by Tim Holschlag. Very comprehensive.

I was like, "ah, rock bass......no, wait a minute, that's not a rock bass, what is it?" When I got home and looked up sunfish ID, warmouth was the only thing that jumped out. Smallmouth, Largemouth, Warmouth.....that should count as completing a slam of some sort.

These two today were about the same but pound for pound, smallmouth virtually always fight harder, especially in current where they feel like they must be at least twice their size. The Tennessee River is famous for smallmouth, and google tells me "Sylvania, AL" is pretty close (although I understand some of the TN river lakes fish better than others for smallies). I found this: https://www.outdooralabama.com/black-bass/smallmouth-bass

5 hours in the morning on a little natural lake nearby. This 3.21lb topwater (pop max) smallie a little after 6am was a big surprise, as I have never seen, or even heard of smallmouth in this lake before: A 19", 3.58# largemouth a little later: Those ended up being the best of 20. ...and then there was this little guy I couldn't quite place...is this a Warmouth?

Great action on these worms with just a tiny shake or quiver of the rod tip..."responsive", that's the word I'm looking for. It's an ultra-responsive worm. Drop Shot, Slider, Jigworm/Shakyhead, Split-shot/Mojo I like the "Pumpkin Punisher" and "Bold Bluegill" colors

I have the Avid X version of that same rod... it is really special. You made the right choice. The only thing you mentioned above that I don't typically do with it is drop shot and ned, but it will suffice in a pinch. For those, I use the same as what wiguide suggests above: a 6'10 ML/XF.

Niiiice.

No wrong answer; take your pick. I like these: Light: Chartreuse Shad, Blaze Shad, Super White, Bluegill Flash, Gold Shiner Dark: Green Pumpkin/Purple, Pumpkinseed, Bluegill, Perch, Northern Craw, Native Craw

A - Palaniuk B - Kennedy C - Clent Davis D - Chris Johnston E - Zaldain

My actual favorite color of any bait by any company is not Green Pumpkin, but... Pumpkin Green. This is a light, translucent pumpkinseed-like color with green flakes. Not all companies have a good version of this color. The Yamamoto Pumpkin Green, for instance, is too reddish for my taste. But Strike King has a good version of Pumpkin Green in the bitsy tube, and used to offer the elaztech 7" Super Finesse Worm in that color (must be discontinued now, though). Strike King also offers a couple other baits in colors so similar they may as well be the same thing: The Game Hawg comes in Amistad Special, and the Rage Craw comes in Amber black/green.

Leo Sheng of the Extreme Philly Fishing channel, had a vid where he and his dad caught one and showed how to cook it: