MIbassyaker

Have a look at the V&M Buzz Frog -- weedless, great action, and great price.

I almost always fish alone. I spend most every other hour of life interacting with people in some other capacity, and people stress me out. So fishing is the mechanism by which I extract myself from social activity as much as possible (for about 5 months of the year up here, at least.). When I fish, I specifically go where and when I am least likely to be around more than a few other people. This means small, out-of-the-way waters that are difficult to find, or require effort to get to, and usually in the early morning.

There are no "junk fish" aside from ecologically-dangerous invasives. This is the sort of thing you encounter sometimes, unfortunately, when you run across people who have never had a complex thought in their lives, and don't intend to start.

I haven't fished much in the last 2 weeks, but made time for a short river float today. A bunch of little smallies showed up, the best of which was this 15-incher: Hard work and time-on-task pays off -- congrats!

I fish mornings almost exclusively, starting a little before sunrise during morning twilight. Mostly because I have a mild antisocial streak, and I just prefer to avoid people....more folks are willing to stay out until dusk than to get up dawn, so I often have the entire place (and prime spots) to myself for a few hours, even on those waters that get a lot of traffic during the day. In spring, though, when I do get out, I'll go later in the day because, as mentioned, there is more activity once the water has warmed a bit in the afternoon.

7'0" M/F Fenwick Aetos + Pflueger Patriarch: Currently spooled with 15# power pro slick + 8lb Yo Zuri hybrid leader.

Another vote for Milfoil+Algae. The snot stuff is a filamentous Algae, maybe Pithophora. Check it out: https://www.google.com/search?q=pithophora&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjIyZSPl4TcAhXGxYMKHWK7BBsQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=626 Texas A&M University has a site with aquatic plant identification: https://aquaplant.tamu.edu/plant-identification/ Also, North Carolina State University has put out an app for iOS and Android ("Aquatic Plants") that has some nice pictures for identification too: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/aquatic-plants/id876023735?mt=8 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=edu.ncsu.cropsci.aquaticplants&hl=en_US

Three in the cut, nobody yet cracking the top 20: Ott (47), Connell (32), and Williamson (24). One who missed the cut by a few ounces: Combs (61) And (sigh) one bottom-15 bomb: Hawk (92) So: on pace for basically the same outcome I've had in every other event this season, no matter what strategy I use, or whether I use any strategy at all. I thought I had gotten pretty good at this after finishing in a mid-90s percentile overall last year....Lol, nope!

A. Ott B. Hawk C. Combs D. Connell E. Williamson

I follow the same rule for almost all plastics, Senkos included: Anything with the words "pumpkin", "watermelon", "candy", "grass", or "magic" in the name.

I like the subscription box services a lot. But if you're hoping they'll be a discount substitute for regular tackle purchases, you'll always be disappointed.

And there's another thing too: The more you fish and catch, the more you will actually make sense of what you watch and read. You'll become more observant when you watch a video because you'll know what to look for. You will attach terms to concepts that you now have more direct familiarity with, like "feeling the bottom", and "semi-slack line". When you read a description of conditions or structure or cover, you will be better able to mentalize what it refers to, from your experience on the water.

Skeet Palaniuk Edwin Alton Sr. Williamson

Doesn't fix the missed opportunity, though. And then there's the small problem that my wife, who is always up for attending "events", would only be bored and annoyed listening to it in the car as we drive across Wisconsin...

Ah crap! I just realized: I'm going to be driving through La Crosse on Friday next week. Too bad I don't have time to stop stay long enough to catch the weigh-in, or expo Saturday....now I'm wishing I'd planned the trip differently!

Heh, I have one of those sitting next to me on the desk at the moment. Looks like a 1.5 or 1.0. Good crankbait, and rocky banks like that are the perfect place to use it. Grand Haven?

I only go out for about 3-4 hours at a time, and my first outing wasn't until the very end of april, but my catch rates have been up compared to the last few years. I have high hopes for the next three weeks as we'll get past post-spawn into the Summer Peak here. I really wanted to spend more time with jerkbaits, but I haven't been able to put down the following: --bluegill and sunfish pattern spinnerbaits and bladed jigs. A few different ones, but gotten the most mileage out of the Siebert Fogy and Compact Spinnerbait. --Biospawn plasmatail worm on an owner ball ultrahead has been the top finesse option. --Zoom Lizard has been my primary texas-rig bait. --4" keitech swing impact on 1/8oz owner brush head was my prespawn hero for smallies in late april/early may.

Wow --that's hilarious. OK, I want one.

I've gone back and forth on this, but have decided that I probably lose more fish with a trailer hook because of the casts I don't make while I'm spending time getting un-snagged, or removing the extra weeds, sticks, debris that I haul in on the trailer hook.

I was very disappointed to discover this video did not feature an A-rig with 8 lipless crankbaits...

One advantage of a single-spin is that it will "helicopter" when falling better than a double blade. I'm honestly not sure if there are any other advantages of a single over double. If you're fishing it horizontally, like most people do most of the time, just keep it a double blade.

I wasn't watching closely, but I thought I heard him say something about it when the camera was on, and that's what reminded me of it. I know Wheeler does this too sometimes. But of course, those guys do all kinds of things that I just get skunked trying to copy...

4" Power Worm + Owner Bullet Ultrahead.

I have a hard time getting my head around most color advice for dirty water. Seems to me the dirtier the water, the less color should matter at all. Yes, bright colors might be seen a little better, or a little farther away, than dull colors. Yes, opaque colors may have a better silhouette (but that ought to be true of an opaque white just as it is of opaque black). But natural colors, and even translucent colors, can catch bass just fine in dirty water. Does your lure splash down, move, vibrate, bump into things? Yes? Then they will find it, just as they find everything else they eat.

Anybody do this: take the skirt off a buzzbait and thread a plastic toad on? When would you prefer this over a regular skirt? Are there some buzzbait brands that work better than others for this? (like, bigger blades to keep the toad lifted?) Are there any toads work better than others for this? (lighter or more bouyant, perhaps?)