RipzLipz

I can remember reading about Mr. Crupi & Dan Kadota in Bassmaster magazine in the early 90’s, soaking up details how they fished for those gigantic bass. Never bothered me how he or Kadota did it - the results spoke for themselves. Seeing that pistol grip baitcaster brings back memories. RIP Mr. Crupi & thank you for your service & contributions to this sport.

Blade choice may be dependent on what kind of baitfish are present. I fish some small (10 acres and larger) strip pits that are clear & have mostly panfish as the primary baitfish (no shad). Have caught some nice ones on a single Colorado blade spinnerbait. Booyah Blade 1/2oz in chartreuse/white with Zoom Split tail trailer.

Too late for me - had I saw the thread back in Feb, I’d have guessed a jig & I’d have been wrong. Ended up being the same spinnerbait for my 2 biggest of the year so far 5-5 prespawner in March & a 6-12 just last week. Both LMB. Hopefully not done for the year just yet. 🙏

Apparently reels will go on sale this Wednesday, starting at 9AM PT. Since they’re already advertising a separate future sale for clearance items, I doubt they’ll be included in the sale coming Wednesday. Easy way to find out is add items to cart & see or call them & ask. NOTE TO ALL: Military discount is NOT applicable to ALL items. If an item is not applicable, it should note that in your cart.

@Kites R4 Skyfishing, Yeah, most of the tail slaps I’d heard before while fishing in Canada were a smacking sound, like a good belly flop or something flat hitting the water. Those 2 I heard here in IN that one night were quite a bit more disturbing to me. At first, I was convinced it was a big fish, must have fished that area for an hour longer. After no more surface action, I considered that someone was messing with me, throwing big rocks from the steep banks. Felt a bit dumb when I heard it again this year & put it all together. 😆

Just amazing @A-Jay. You’ve put in the time & effort & it obviously pays off every year! I wish you nothing but the best for 2024! I'm 7-8 hrs south of you but fortunately still fishing this year. Season’s about done but could still go for juuuust one more pig.

Great job! My favorite bait from ice-out to spawn is a jig & craw or Rage Bug trailer. Give it a shot when the gals are fat & chewing early in the year. You shouldn’t be disappointed. 🤘

@ol'crickety Ow ow ow ow! Started bleeding again! 🤣

Or a huge beaver smacking its tail right around where you’re fishing a topwater lure at night. Had it happen to me twice in one night in completely different spots. I’ve heard them smack their tails before but these 2 instances sounded like someone had done a cannonball dive out of a treetop…..very deep sounding. Never knew for sure what it was for several years. Lake owner said it was probably a big catfish. Always bugged me not knowing for sure - could have been giant bass for all I knew. Was up fishing Rainy Lake this summer & a beaver was following our boat around. Came around a point to a bay we couldn’t see ahead of us & there was a huge hut near the bank. No sooner did we see it when I heard that exact same ka-doooooooosh sound. I immediately recalled that night fishing incident & just shook my head & laughed. Yes, bats - usually get that sensation something is flying around but if too dark to see can be a bit unnerving at times. Some owls can make some weird sounds as well.

IN - Home & there are bass in this state, @Bluebasser86 🤣 AL, AR, CO, GA, FL, IL, MI, MN, TN, TX, WI in the USA Canada - BWCA/Quetico (Basswood) & Rainy Lake My thoughts/opinions: Canada is a bucket list trip for anyone looking to chase smallmouth. The canoe trips in Quetico are amazing & you might be surprised how big a LMB can get up there should you run into any. Rainy Lake is full of 3-5lb smallies. Pike can be a nuisance after a few ruined spinnerbaits or cut lines (in BWCA/Quetico). Any Great Lakes trip can provide the smallmouth of a lifetime, including St. Clair. Great Lakes smallmouth should be differentiated from the rest like FL strain LMB - they’re just different to me than any other smallies I’ve caught. Do they ever STOP eating?🤣 Don’t overlook LMB opportunities. Oceans up there so be smart in your boat & watch the weather/wind. AL, AR, GA, FL, MN, TX & WI are outdoorsmen’s paradises all for varying reasons. I liked them all but FL & TX stood out due to the sheer number of large bass caught every year. Really liked TX though - Fork was very easy to find ramps & trailer to different areas. Lakes get fished hard but still produce. Same thing with G’ville & Eufala in AL as far as pressure. Really think TX has a great program with the Share A Lunker deal. IIRC, any bass 13lbs or larger that is donated alive to the state & the angler receives a free replica of the fish. For me, the real kicker is for the remainder of that fish’s life, half of all offspring go back into the original lake from where the fish was caught (if public) & the remaining offspring are stocked throughout the state. Big fan of spreading the gene pool like that as well as keeping it in the original lake. 👍

Had a similar experience fishing a coal strip pit in the middle of a hilly prairie-like field but it was a whitetail buck snorting at me. I’m not a deer hunter so it kind of freaked me out a bit. One other time while fishing late at night on a small public lake, we heard an awful screeching sound, not at all like an animal or anything followed by a loud crackling sound & very bright glow filling the sky over the top of the lake’s dam. We had no clue what it was until we were leaving around 4 in the morning & had to drive near the area from which the odd sounds & glow had come. It was a driver who had gone off the road into a rip rap ditch, over corrected & spun into a transformer. Driver was unfortunately DOA according to the emergency personnel we spoke to at the scene.

Nice soo-piggies @Fishlegs! Love those wide tails. Made me LOL

If I’m included in your reply, I don’t recall advising to avoid anything. I still fish cover but not with lures that will easily get hung up given my level of experience. Maybe I could have chosen my words a bit better. Just not going to assume others see things the way I do or anyone else might. Also, I’m not going to tell a potential newb to night fishing to just go at it with reckless abandon - not everyone enjoys losing lures which can result in giving up or has an endless budget. The bites from the bait monkey ain’t getting any cheaper. Don’t know about you, but I don’t enjoy losing $50 in lures on a trip & a newb to night trips is more likely to have that happen than someone more experienced. Plus dealing with a snagged lure can be hazardous if fishing from smaller craft which can turn over more easily like my 2 man boat or a canoe. We’re not all fishing 10,000+ acre lakes in bass boats. Each scenario can present its own challenges & hazards. It was intended to be advice to take it slow until the angler gets used to it, not avoid anything on a permanent basis. It’s all good though, not upset just wanted to clarify. Golf? Too many snobs for me.

My close friends know about it but none are fishing it. I wouldn’t tell anyone that I know wouldn’t release any trophies. After what A-Jay experienced this year in being followed, I probably would be smarter just not sharing at all. That public lake was a hidden gem up until the mid-80s. Caught my PB from there when I was still in grade school. The lake has come back strong - will PM you about it because it’s pretty cool IMO. If I tell the full story publicly, people from the area will figure it out & those trophies will disappear quickly I’m sure. It’s already testing my patience with the current visitors but I try to ignore what irks me & concentrate on fishing as best I can.

Along with the above info, I fish the potential night fishing lake during the day a few times & pick out good areas for night & note areas to either avoid or wait until I’ve memorized them a bit better. Laydowns with sprawling limbs underwater are no-no’s for me unless I’m using T-rig or a jig that won’t hang up as easy when pulled through limbs. Angle of the jig hook eye & shape of head will often dictate what usually works best along with learning how to finesse lures through logs, limbs, etc. Hollow body frogs with paddle tail legs & braid are great for avoiding the snaggy stuff. Just go slow until your confidence level goes up. Experience & lost lures are great teachers as well. Personally, I tend to fish open water areas that draw fish to them after dark. Points, humps, weedlines, channels, paralleling the bank. Be quiet, more quiet than normal, position your boat accordingly. If casting to shore & trees are overhanging, try using a lure that won’t get easily snagged in the trees should you be casting too far in. Move out from bank 10-20 more feet & try again. Once you get the feel for the casting distance, it will feel more comfortable & can then change to a lure of your preference. Another positioning method I like is finding a good area like a point or flat near a drop off & setting up so I can fan cast all around without worrying about the bank. I also tend to fish just the areas where I’ve caught bigger fish in the past. Big ones tend to use similar areas for both traveling to & from feeding areas & feeding over & over (creatures of habit) all around the lake. Target those first & hit them each time you go at night. Those places that don’t produce during the day but look like they should might be full of fish moving in & out during the night. Use your day fishing experiences to guide you to specific locations at night. Lastly, you won’t catch any at night if you don’t try it & stick to it. Give it a chance to show you what can be done & don’t give up too easily. Make each outing a learning experience. Sorry for multi-posting!

Only one way to know - launch & find out for sure. As others have said, most CO’s aren’t going to enforce the actual rules like that to the letter. But there’s always one that has to try & make a name for themselves. Play dumb if that happens ("Never saw the sign/posting, sir"). Never had any police show up where I fish but I tend to stick to smaller public bodies of water when not on private lakes. This, more often than not.

I do the chest pounding around my son & dad - we can be pretty brutal to one another & funny as well. Dad was with me when I caught the 6-12 on Tuesday & after I released her, I said, "I’m sorry" just loud enough for him to hear. Long running joke - similar instance but waited until we were well on our way home & I apologized & he asked for what & I said "for making you watch me catch that giant." To add to it, we’ll exclaim “OW!" for days afterwards and act like thumb/wrist is sore. Tuesday night, I walked out with a Kleenex wrapped around my thumb that I’d "bloodied" with a red Sharpie. Not that young anymore - in my 50’s but I try & sneak off like I’m still in my 20s whenever I can.

2 years ago in August, dad & I drove over to a strip pit for some late night bassin’. 15 minutes after sliding the boat in, my dad stuck this 6-6 chubby chick on a spinnerbait off of a mid-depth saddle: She’d been gorging on panfish, obviously. Not 15 minutes later, I had this 4-10 chunk blast my 3/4oz Booyah Moontalker spinnerbait off the other side of the saddle near a weed line & it pulled harder than some of those 6lbers above. Thought for sure I had a new PB until I saw it at the boat. Gave me a bad case of crazy eyes for some reason. Check the belly closely - it was buttcheeked it was so fat: Fingers over the lenses caused the pink flaring. Got my dad’s on video as he was getting her in.

Added a different angle of the 7-7 to show build/belly to post above. She was a monster. Was fishing with a buddy & saw a bed near a drop off with a 4-5lb male on it. Told my buddy that I’d pitch in the bed to try & get the male off of it & maybe the female would show up. Made the worst pitch ever & fell short of the bed. Let my jig fall into the deeper water & saw my line jump as it fell. Set the hook & all I could do was apologize the rest of the day. I think we had an unbelievable day that day - best five were 23-24lbs. Got a iPhone full of 4+ lbers from strip pits - had a 2 year run about 9 years ago that was unreal during prespawn & throwing jig & craws. That 3rd pic from top was a 6-12 from the pits - totally different build to those compared to the big ones coming from the public honey hole that shan’t be named. I find stuff like that interesting. Going to take my Solix to the public lake & Autochart it & see what I find when it’s too windy to fish at some point. Gotta get a separate battery or I will drain the trolling motor battery in a couple of hours.

I just finished loading the Coleman Crawdad juuuuuust in case. Cloud cover just rolled in & wind not a factor just yet. Should be taking that "wrong turn" in about an hour. @ol'crickety Not beating my chest, just sharing some of my fat bottomed gals from over the years. These are from strip pits (old coal strip mines) & some of the prettiest bass in color & build I’ve come across around here (quite clear water & very green vegetation, as you may tell from markings & coloration). Last 2 are of my PB, a 7-7 donkey that couldn’t resist the jig & craw:

@ol'crickety Thanks Katie! Have been waiting on a fat gal like this one since this past late winter/early spring - late February or early March. Lost one I’d estimate close to this size back then while fishing jig & craws with my son. Hopefully not the last for this year (going back tomorrow) but if it is, I couldn’t think of a better way to end it! I think I could fish days for one bite from one 5lbs or better, I’m that addicted to the bite, hookset & head shake from larger fish. Much larger fish swim in that place - potentially a double digit or close to it from a pic I saw on another angler’s phone who I’ve seen fishing at night many times this summer. Dude said he didn’t have scales & estimated it to be 7-8lbs - looked quite a bit bigger to me but pics can at times be deceiving as many of us here know & some of the larger fish from this place have small head/mouths & short bodies but are just fat slobs/butterballs. Upping my fluoro on jig rod from 15lb to 17lb test this off-season - I should have never looked at that pic!

Only had 4 bites all day but this 6-12 glutton crushed a 1/2oz white/chartreuse Colorado Booyah Blade spinnerbait near some laydowns yesterday. My PB for fall/winter timeframe. Lake seems to be settling down after turnover. Built like a tank, I don’t believe I could put my fist in her mouth. Pics don’t do her gut justice - she was feeding hard & didn’t have any problem stripping line off my baitcaster. Felt like I set the hook into a log. Released to fight another day & have some babies in the next 6 months or so. Sorry for the markups - public lake that gets hit hard for its size. Tight lines!

A couple of weeks late to this thread, but I have had similar experiences to @A-Jay in replacing stock trebles and stock split rings. I prefer & recommend Owner ST-36 (black chrome finish, round bend) in all sizes available as well as Owner split rings. Sticky sharp hooks (as are other brands). I skimmed through the link @A-Jay posted & noticed a section where he discusses hook point location/rotation of the stock hooks. Through my trials (and errors), I now always check the stock hook rotation/location before removing any trebles. Not all trebles have the same eye to hook point orientation which can cause the hook points to be in a different rotation. Whether this affects hookup ratio, I have no clue - I just try not to change the stock hook point locations if at all possible. I'd recommend going to Jann's Netcraft & locating a hook size chart to keep on hand when replacing trebles - sometimes the hook sizes aren't exactly the same. For example, Owner tends to run a bit smaller than other manufacturers from my experiences (meaning a size 6 Owner might be a bit smaller than a size 6 Mustad). Even when changing out trebles & split rings in favor of what I feel are sharper & higher quality hooks, fish will on occasion come unbuttoned. Too many factors beyond the angler's control can come into play (dull hooks, using weight of lure against you, split rings, line stretch, rod action/power, how the fish are hitting the lure, fish committment to the attack, etc., etc.). I know it's maddening trying to figure out why fish come off - many times I feel it's just circumstances beyond our immediate control, as pointed out by @Captain Phil already. I'd recommend any of the Owner trebles - I usually stick with ST-36. I haven't tried the short shank trebles (ST-35) but I would expect they're just as good as the ST-36. Not saying they're the best of any hook, but that's my personal choice for replacing stock hooks (if needed). I'd also recommend these split ring pliers if venturing down the path of changing out stock hooks - I feel these are pretty much idiot-proof (but as soon as I say that, an idiot will prove me wrong) & should fit your needs for most sizes of treble hooks: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Texas_Tackle_Split_Ring_Pliers/descpage-TTSRP.html Texas Tackle split ring pliers (orange handle)

Sorry to read this @A-Jay I am blessed to have & have had access to some d**n fine private fisheries & am currently revisiting a public lake that was a hidden gem 40+ years ago & has finally had some decent efforts at proper management. The public place can get inundated with non-fishing kayakers who can on occasion absentmindedly venture right where the fishing is best but a bit off the beaten path for a typical kayaker. Sometimes I just grit my teeth - others I can’t keep my mouth closed. I admire how you’ve chosen to handle this particular inconvenience/intrusion - probably much better than myself. As always, wonderful catch!

As always, the donkies are impressive Dwight!