BiteFiend

If you are flipping and pitching to the shallow cover, fall rate is extremely important. Depending on conditions, I throw anything from 1/4 oz to 3/4 oz. The majority of the time, I will start at 3/8 oz and go up or down from there. For trailers I primarily like rage craws and chunks, chigger craws, and paca craws and chunks. I tend to use the same trailers shallow or deep. Also I like my trailers to match my jig 90% of the time.

Since you will be doing both on the same rod, I would use braid. You can always tie on a length of flouro leader for when you are dragging a jig. Not sure what knot you are using that is cutting your leader, but I would try a different knot. I've never had any problems with the double albright. Braid is going to cut through vegetation much better than flouro will. Never have fished Guntersville but I do know it's known for having a lot of thick grass, which is why I would start with braid.

I think most people would not experience any difficulty reading and understanding papajoe's post. His post was actually more gramatically correct than yours. Please use proper grammar and punctuation if you are going to TRY to be the grammar police in the future. Without it, it makes you look ignorant and arrogant.

Keep in mind that most of the dive depths provided by the crankbait manufacturer is typically based on 10lb test flourocarbon. Because of this, I like 10 lb flouro on my deeper to deep crank set-ups. Also for each lb test (line diameter size difference) over 10 lb test, effects the running depth by a foot. So for example let's say I'm throwing a DT16 and I'm using 12 lb test diameter. That lure will reach a max diving depth of around 14 ft typically.

So, so true!

Never tried them, nor plan to. I usually don't have issues with line twist on a DS. I just make sure the hook is tied perfectly straight and the bait is perfectly straight on the hook. Also I reel very slowly, even when bringing it in for another cast.

I use a 7' MH BPS crankin stick for exactly that reason. I felt like I was loosing too many fish with a 7' MH F. Or the ones I would land would have this huge, gaping hole on the membrane of their mouth and I would be amazed they didn't come off. I made the switch a couple years ago and haven't lost many fish on it. The ones I have lost with the CB rod were the result of user error and a wimpy hookset. Not because the rod is too soft.

It's been 6 or 7 years since I have been down there so I am afraid I won't be able to offer too much help. I do recall many, many points that looked like they would hold fish but had a lot of trouble finding fish there. Your profile pic caught my attention since it looks like an older picture of Memorial Stadium (but is hard to tell). Just thought I'd say GBR if it was.

A lot of small stubborn fish is usually better than 0 large stubborn fish though. The thing I find with the DS though is the more fish you catch, it increases the odds of catching at least average sized fish within that same spot. More often than not, the smaller ones will bite first because they are typically more agressive, so you have to go throuh them to get to the bigger ones. A lot of times though, you seem to get into small fish schools where there is nothing but small fish. That can get annoying.

Given the choices, I'm thinking I might have better luck with my bare hands. Actually maybe I can knock bass out temporarily by hitting them with that 4oz spoon upside the head, THEN use my bare hands to scoop them up. Lol Actually I remember asking for and getting the original banjo minnow for my 12th birthday after becoming so sold on their effectiveness by their info-mercials. Really seemed like the best lure ever when you're 12. I caught a few fish on them but man it was such a pain to keep track of all those little rubber bands.

Welcome! There's a lot of good info on the site. Bass fishing can be addictive. There. You were warned. Now you can't say no one warned you. Lol

I had 2 of these this happened to yesterday as well. I do know one of them got straightened out while trying to free it from someone else's old, tangled up fishing line. As to the other I have no idea besides catching a couple of good fish on.

Sounds like you have been fishing a lot of shallow water. I would start on that main and secondary point by the dam with DD cranks, FB jigs, and C-rig. If it works there, try it in similar areas.

In the lake. They will swim right beside your kayak, no stringer or anything. Lol

Haha, yeah my fiance is the same way. In fact her PB is just a hair bigger than mine, lol. What makes it even worse is she insists on only using "pretty colors". So bright neon pink stick baits are a go-to of hers as well as anything "sparkly".

When I got my first boat years ago, I had a habit of trying to cover too much water and fished areas too fast because I could now fish wherever I wanted. Don't know if that's part of the problem with you guys, but something that was suggested to me was to break the lake into smaller sections and fish that section only and really thoroughly. That section might have a variety of different types of structure and cover. For a couple months, I would fish the same 1/2 of a small 200 acre lake that has a point, a creek channel, some rip rap, and places of shallow vegetation. I had enough variety in that little area to not get discouraged (if they're not here, they could be there type of thing). It really forced me to slow down and fish more thoroughly. I still break down larger lakes the same way. Also begin with typical seasonal patterns and go from there. And if all else fails, there's almost always shallow fish that are catchable

Everyone foul hooks them from time to time. It's just part of the deal. If the ones big enough to eat it are consistanly missing your bait, that's different. A lot of times if you change to a slightly different color or change your retrieve (pauses, faster, slower, etc.) they'll eat it better. It sounds more like you just found some smaller ones that were protecting their territory. Bass are territorial by nature. Even little ones.

Can't go wrong with Cavitron as far as a non-clacker. As for clacker, I use Booyahs. I like to use a clackers if the water has a little chop. I think the Booyah's only come in 1/2 oz. Black and white are the only 2 colors I use.

Welcome!

I don't think they would but then again, there's no way of knowing for sure. It just seems like if they aren't biting a buzzbait and I think they "should be", a lot of times I'll throw a toad and get bit. I do catch bigger bass on a buzzbait though.

I could be wrong, but I was always told dark lures create the illusion of the bait being kind of a sillhouette in off colored and muddy water. And yes those same dark lures will work in the deeper hole you found. Bright lures work too, but I typically only use bright colors on moving baits.

I have braid and flouro leader on a few of my set ups. I like it for bottom bouncing techniques and on my DS and SH set-ups because fish can't see it. I also feel like a leader provides better abrasion resistance than straigh braid offers.

That's a really good point. Thanks for bringinf that up.

First, welcome to the forums from another Nebraskan. Omaha is a cool town. A lot of smaller lakes to fish and plenty of other things to do too. Just yesterday actually I was looking to see how many Ne anglers were on here, and we are pretty few and far between. I have fished some of the lakes you mentioned at one time or another over the years but haven't fished many of them this year or last. I have fished Wanahoo a once this year. I fish from boat so my experience might be different from yours but I seem to remember Wehrspahn having several main lake points. I would start on some of those. Some of them I think tapered from shore pretty quickly too, so they would be good for bank fishing. I caught a bunch of bass along the dam at Wanahoo in March but haven't been back since. I do know that along the campground there is some deeper water, so you might try there. If I ever get back up there with my boat one of these days, I'll shoot you a PM. Good luck.

Wow, that's kind of surprising. I know I've caught a decent amount of channel cats and flatheads on cranks, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, etc when targeting bass but I've never caught one on top water. The stereotype is that channels are scavenger bottom feeders. That's true to a certain extent, but they can be pretty agressive when they want to be and often feed on smaller fish in the lake/pond. On a local fishing forum I frequent, there's a few guys that target and catch catfish fly fishing. Always seemed weird to me, but from the pictures I've seen, it works.