MIbassyaker

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/texas-rig https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/dropshot-videos

Slow trebled topwaters like poppers, propbaits, and floating minnows fished with twitches and pauses are good early in the year, as long as there isn't too much surface vegetation to get hung in yet. HOW early, though, that's another question. I know some people fish up top with water temps in the mid 50s, but I usually can't get much topwater action until mid 60s (from largemouth at least).

It's intended to help prevent snagging salmon, as I understand.

Be careful with dropshotting in Michigan -- it's still illegal without at least a 3" leader from main line to hook in rivers, streams and drowned river mouths (inland lakes and great lakes are OK): http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/2018-MI-Fishing-Guide-WEB_615716_7.pdf P. 10: Drop-shotting: The practice of having a weight suspended below a single-pointed hook that is tied directly to the main fishing line is lawful on inland lakes, Great Lakes and Great Lakes Connecting Waters only. This gear may not be used on rivers, streams or drowned river mouth lakes. P. 11: It is unlawful to: Fish on a river, stream or drowned river mouth (note 3, p. 18) using a weight suspended below any hook unless the hook is on a dropper line (a leader) that is at least 3" long.

1. wacky rig senko/stickworm -- just to get familiar with and gain quick confidence catching bass. Cast next to weeds or logs, let it fall through the water column, twich it up, fall, etc. You'll learn quickly where bass are and where they aren't. 2. texas rigged worm -- spend a lot of time on this - it teaches you how to feel the bottom, detect strikes, set the hook properly, and gives you the ability to throw INTO cover without getting snagged. In many people's opinion, the texas rigged worm is the foundation of all bass fishing, and once you become successful at it you will never stop fishing a worm the rest of your life. 3. spinnerbait -- work the mid-depth, experiment with speeds and types of retrieves. Learn how to cover water with a moving bait to find active fish. 4. topwater popper -- nothing is more addictive than topwater, and a popper is a good place to start. cast to a good spot, let it sit, pop it with a couple of bloops, reel a bit over to the next spot, repeat.

I drove around one afternoon about 3 weeks ago and stopped at those four and a few others, and they still had some ice at that point. Unfortunately, that was also the last time I saw any lake of any kind.

Just NW of Rockford, around Sparta -- Long, Lime, Camp, & Half Moon all ought to be open.

Trick worm is my go-to bait for dragging on a mojo/split-shot/slip-shot rig.

I wish it wasn't a senko. But it is.

Hmm. This one is harder than it looked at first. Still splitting hairs over a few spots, but here's what I have at the moment: A: Rojas B: Martens C: Crews D: KVD E: Tharp But I also really like the picks of Daniels (B), McClelland (C), and Grigsby (E) mentioned above.

I humbly submit...the 4" worm: Cast and crawl....cast and crawl...

Yup -- On one of my favorite waters, my LM and SM pb from that place were caught at the exact same spot (a weedline bordering the channel in a dam backwater) on subsequent days.

Another great find -- thanks!

The 3/8 dredge dock rocker is perfect for you -- buy that 5 jig set with confidence. get them with the wire tie option for better skirt durability

Underspins don't need to be a cool or cold-water bait -- they can be effective all year, and even in places that don't have any shad or herring. One thing about fluke-style trailers: without the paddle tail there is less resistance and they fall faster, so they pair better with lighter weight heads if you're going to fish them slow.

Yup:

Oh, for sure -- its just funny: "my little snakelets"..."my black beauties". He seems to have been looking forward to the day when a dinner of eels was only a few casts away. It's not clear the population ever reproduced here, however, whereas anadromous transplants and visitors -- both desired and undesired -- have, including steelhead and sea lamprey. In any case, I don't share the puzzlement over worms, given the variety of things bass will so readily eat. It has never struck me as a difficult problem in need of a special solution.

There is a funny old story of an attempt to plant eels in the local river here back in the late 1800s: http://www.grandhaventribune.com/News/2013/02/11/3-000-eels-dumped-into-bayou “I planted about three thousand at the Crockery Bridge on the Grand River, which was Jubb’s Bayou,” Jennings wrote. “There I procured a boat, took my young snake-lets, and with tender care, planted them in their western home in one of the finest bayous on the Grand River.” Jennings was living in Cadillac, Mich., when he wrote this recollection. He noted that he never had the opportunity to fish for the eels, as he had departed Crockery Township soon after planting them. “I did not remain there long enough to have the pleasure of landing one of my black beauties,” Jennings wrote, “but have been told by those who caught some that the bayous in that vicinity were alive with eels.” Apparently, most of the fingerling eels were eaten by fish in the bayous and river, and those that did mature did not flourish for very long.

I have one too and have been able to use it to good effect from both shore and from the kayak, for finding depth and underwater features, weedlines, dropoffs, humps, channels, etc. in small, ummapped places like gravel pits, bayous, backwaters, small lakes and stuff. I'm not sure how useful it is for identifying fish though, and when casting, the bluetooth connection can be unreliable at times. It works well dangled off the edge of the kayak and can be used for mapping. The mapping relies on your phone's GPS, so only works if the phone moves along with the deeper (as in a craft), and doesn't really work if you're just casting it (when casting you'll get the depth return, but not a map). You can store maps locally or upload to cloud and view online in a browser. As a substitute for regular sonar on a watercraft it's definitely limited, but better than nothing for sure. However, not sure how it stacks up against other castable options though -- there are a few different ones now, and I think the others are a little cheaper.

Well, he's much more reliable event-to-event than his brother, he won the Kissimmee open a couple months ago, has a great record at the classic, including the previous two at hartwell, and mode most of the top 50 cuts last year as well as a few top 10s (including the Conroe classic).

Sigh. Man, do I ever feel like an idiot for swapping out Martens and Elam for Lane and Combs. That settles it! Next event I'm going Pure Gut -- no research whatsoever! Nice to see Swindle in the mix on the last day.

There is no great worm mystery. Or rather, there is only a "worm mystery" if lure-striking behavior occurs because bass are precisely-tuned to particular forage species, and therefore a lure that draws strikes must be something that mimics a particular species. But this premise doesn't make much sense given bass are notorious generalists in their predation behavior, and rather famously are willing to eat anything that (1) moves, and (2) will fit in their mouths. It is true that Bass show preferences for fusiform shapes in general -- a long axis with tapered ends. But this isn't very mysterious either, as that general body shape is common to most of what they eat, most everywhere, most of the time -- baitfish, crayfish, terrestrial critters, limbs and fins aside, all sport some approximation of the fusiform body plan. And this simply because the fusiform shape is common to most forms of vertebrate and invertebrate life of the right size to eat in a freshwater aquatic environment. Artificial worms are another variety of the preferred fusiform body plan, and bass are just not too particular about the details.

I'm much, much, much more concerned about movement than color.

He just blanked (!) on day 1, as far as I can tell.

Streaming live on the website today and tomorrow 8am-11am, Noon-3pm ET, weigh in at 3:50 https://www.bassmaster.com/video/bassmaster-classic-live-2018 Also, (estimated) stats in real time: https://www.bassmaster.com/basstrakk/tournaments/2018-geico-bassmaster-classic-presented-dicks-sporting-goods