Turtle135

Several years ago I got into participating in those month long, online tournaments where you post your biggest 3 bass for the month. Since I was competing with other anglers all over the country the 2 and 3 pound largemouth were doing me no good. The best approach for me was to fish a large jig and to learn to fish that jig at a snails pace. I traded "numbers" for "quality" as I would have many fishing trips where I would only get one bite. While my total number of bass caught plummeted my catches of largemouth over 5 pounds had never been higher.

the cool thing about winter holes, once you find one you can usually count on it for years and years, on the Upper Potomac they can be very small areas (like the size of 2-3 parking spots)

15 yards for unnecessary roughness!

I am wondering, is real dilemma with the Senko the "over reliance" on that particular technique to catch bass? Is it that for many anglers that the unweighted Senko is the only real "confidence" presentation they have? This question about less expensive versions of stick baits seems to pop up almost as frequently as threads dedicated to "line type".

I believe what is actually happening is that the smallmouth are starting to concentrate near areas where they will spend the winter. This leads to long stretches of river with few smallmouth this time of year. Check out these Youtube videos. They talk about winter locations and tactics.

River2Sea is coming out with a winter version of the "Whopper Plopper". It will be called the "Whopper Chopper" and can be used until the ice gets more than 6" thick.

that looks like a largemouth, look at how far the jaw goes back

Most of the lakes I fish do not have that shad migration to the creeks (cause there are no shad). I assume the shad are following their food source (plankton) into those creeks? Once the water temperature drops enough to curtail plankton production that water would lose that green tint? So might water clarity be the clue as to when the shad will leave the creeks?

I won a tournament largely because I had a DIY fiberglass stake out pole (basically a sharpened stick). 3/4 of the field that day took a complete beating from the wind and was out of the running. I took part of the winnings and purchased the 6' YakAttack ParkNPole. http://www.yakattack.us/by-product-name/parknpole/ It is light weight, incredibly strong and it floats.

I think you are correct on that. We need our local sonar guru to chime in on this. Paging Wayne P.

It looks like AutoChart Live is only on the Helix 9, 10 and 12 models (not the 7 and the 5). http://www.humminbird.com/Freshwater/Lifestyle/HELIX_FW/

Clopper Lake in Seneca Creek State Park: http://dnr2.maryland.gov/publiclands/Pages/central/seneca.aspx Little Seneca Lake in Black Hill Regional Park: http://www.montgomeryparks.org/parks-and-trails/black-hill-regional-park/ Both are grass lakes with healthy largemouth populations.

18.75"

what part of the state is he located?

I really like the Dirty Jigs swim jigs as well. The one thing I have found with their "finesse" swim jig is that light wire hook will not hold bass in heavy vegetation. That light hook will flex and the bass will get off before I can get to them. Their regular swim jig works well in the heavy weeds (and the finesse work great in more open water situations).

I am a lefty and use a right handed bait casting reel. The rod never leaves my left (casting) hand. On spinning combos I reel with my left hand. Every so often I try to switch to the other side of the reel. I can retrieve lures just fine but everything goes haywire when I hook a fish. I am going to stop trying. I can walk lures, pop poppers, jerk jerkbaits with either hand. After reading through this thread it is very clear that we are all a little confused in different ways.

If the Wilderness Systems Radar Kayaks live up to what has been written about them then those might be close to the perfect pedal drive kayak. Forward and reverse and can also add the electric motor in the other pod. The pedal assembly automatically deploys up at the press of that button. All that and a kayak that supposedly still paddles really well. I guess we will see when those hit the market. A kayak that still paddled really well on the river and did not have to have anything like a prop or fins below the hull (that would get destroyed by ledge rock). Then having the pedal option for reservoir fishing on those windy days. I could see my wallet getting lighter quickly!

This is just my personal experience. I throw a lot of 10" and 12" ribbontail worms in the summer when the water is 70 degrees or warmer and catch some of my biggest bass of the year. Once the water drops into the 60's (as it has now on my water) that big worm does not generate bites. I have much better luck with a jig or a texas rigged stickbait (Senko, Yum Dinger. etc.). The jig works all the way through the winter into the prespawn for me.

for an example this 22" largemouth was 6 pounds 10 ounces

I've always been interested in these DIY setups. Back in the early 90's I used to use a Humminbird portable fish finder with the transducer on a suction cup on my kayak. That *&%$ suction cup would always find a way to pop loose at the absolute worst time!

here is one DIY solution: http://www.chasintailtv.com/articles/diy-angler/199-make-your-fishfinder-portable

Do you have an electric motor mounted where you can work into the wind? I fish out of a kayak so I feel your pain with the wind. One presentation I have found to be effective this time of year is to peg a 1/4 ounce bullet weight in front of a Texas Rigged 5" or 6" Stickbait (Senko, Yum Dinger, etc.). That will knife down to the bottom very quickly in 30' of water (much more quickly than a skirted jig) and the presentation lends itself to a more active retrieve (I like to lift & drop and shake it). I have managed to catch fish in 40' of water on a fairly windy days (the wind seems to improve the bite in the fall on my water).

I like the black brass bullet weights (1/8th and 3/16th ounce) that bass pro shops sells. Anything larger and I generally use tungsten.

Kayak angler here as well. In my "active rotation" I have more reels than rods. I will switch to a different bait casting reel based on the line that reel is loaded with. I will generally carry from 2 to 4 rods. p.s. - I do have a closet loaded with old rods that are just "not quite right"