MIbassyaker

A 30-acre hole in the middle of nowhere...

Wowza!

Huge year for numbers, not so much for size: 5.25, 3.80, 3.75, 3.59, 3.58. All largemouth, but haunted by a lost smallie that would easily have made the list and been a species PB.

Siebert Brush jig! There's also the BOSS wood walker jighead, which you can add a skirt to.

I don't have a Patriarch baitcaster, but I have the supreme, supreme XT, and a patriarch spinning reel. All are excellent. However, before buying a new one at full price,

Weather and work conspired to make 10/14 my last day actually on the water, and that likely won't happen again until April at the earliest. I can occasionally find an hour here or there to walk the riverbank (or gravel pits, where there's open water) from shore but I only rarely catch something over the winter doing that. And I hate ice fishing. So for all practical purposes, yeah, I'm done.

Siebert order came in:

My closest BPS is 2 hours away, but I usually stop when I'm in the area. Not my favorite place to buy from but I like to browse. I do like some of the BPS plastics for the price, like tubes and ribbontail worms. BPS also sells an exclusive rattling version of the Strike King KVD squarebill. I'm not sure the rattle makes much difference, but if you want to diversify your crankbait portfolio, it's worth picking up a few. Sometimes you can find them marked down. There's also a nice 13-piece KVD squarebill kit you can get from BPS that has a variety of colors and sizes, both rattling and silent, and comes in its own 3700 box. It's a good buy and you can catch it on sale pretty frequently.

Ugh. I can't imagine why anybody would do this other than for laughs or a challenge. Just put a plastic creature bait on the c-rig instead. Among other things, there would seem to be a just a basic incompatibility between the kind of slamming hookset needed for frog vs. the more sweeping kind used for a c-rig.

Another thing about the flat 75x is that it also rises on the pause a lot more slowly than a standard squarebill, almost suspending -- perfect for cold water, which is what it was designed for. I have some of the crush 50x and the curve 55 too....beautiful baits, but haven't had a chance to try them yet.

Do largemouth and smallmouth really hybridize? I have not heard of that. I know spots and smallies are more closely related to each other than either is to largemouth.

I've only fished in the fall for the last 3 years, and not more than a few times each year. I'm still trying to get the hang of it -- it seems really seems boom-or-bust. I'm fishing small natural lakes and river backwaters of a few dozen acres mostly...I have had some days where they will jump on anything I throw, and some where there is just no activity of any kind, anywhere. Some of it is that our fall weather is always volatile, and the small waters I fish are probably more affected by weather and tempearture change than bigger waters. But even so I've found that following the usual recommendation of fishing after a few days of stable weather and/or a warming trend does not reliably mean I'll catch much...sometimes yes, sometimes no. The last month has been pretty dead.

I think it's definitely worthwhile to have a variety of walking topwaters in different brands and sizes. They sit differently in the water. They sound different as you retrieve. Some splash more, some less. Some walk better slower, some faster. Some have tighter walk, some wider. By owning several different kinds, you can cover your bases for what bass might want that day.

I really dig this.

A pretty good book, with used copies still available here and there at amazon and other places. Babe, Al Lindner, Roland Martin, and Bill Dance were all on my TV off-and-on when I was younger. What makes them all special is that they are not just great anglers, but also great communicators -- capable of putting key concepts and techniques into words, and showing you directly as they break down the process bit by bit.....a really underrated skill, and much appreciated.

It came to me in a flash of inspiration! Never seen one like it before, but got some components from Barlows and FishingSkirts.com....turns out, it works!

This homemade "baby bass" bladed jig pattern has been effective for me:

One of these days, I'm going to try this. However, I'm a little concerned about it becoming an obsession that will completely take over my life. I know my limitations....

I do the opposite! (...which suggests to me the two may actually be mostly interchangeable --- I don't care, though, they're both a lot of fun when the bite is on)

There are several good "Mom & Pop" tackle stores in my area (grand rapids, MI), that seem to be doing OK even with the presence of big box outlets like Cabela's and DSG. The best is probably Al & Bobs, which has been in business for decades, carries both low- and high-end brands, sells things by local tackle-makers you can't get everywhere, and sponsors numerous local fishing and hunting related events: http://alandbobssports.com/ These sorts of places are not just retailers -- they are also goldmines of detailed localized information, current and historical, about bodies of water in the area. The long-time patrons and regulars, when they come in, report on what's biting on what, where, and when, who caught what, in which spot, at what time, on what bait, and so on. Are bigguns being hauled in consistently from a particular place? Are there places that are declining or heating up? The folks at these stores tend to be able to tell you more about these things than the big box places...they just tend to be more plugged-in to the local fishing community.

Huh. I hadn't seen those Berkley topwaters before. They look nice...i'm a sucker for bluegill-ish patterns.

BAM! There it is! Great fish!

Suit yourself, but bass do not break the laws of physics.

Lol, a pretty good gag. I understand he rubs some people the wrong way, but come on -- sport fishing isn't Law Enforcement or Brain Surgery...it's recreation. And Ike positively radiates the pure joy of fishing in a way nobody else does.

I am a fan of anything I can get a good deal on.