RHuff

I paid $5200 for my boat and added about $5000 upgrades to it.. I couldn’t imagine buying something that costs 5x, 6x, or 7x that…

Pretty dumb question but I assume rocky reserviors nose hook and grassy areas texas rig?

A. 6’6 Medium-Heavy with a size 1 VMC Redline Neko Hook texas rigged and a 1/4 oz tungsten teardrop B. 6’6 Medium-Fast with a size 2 VMC Drop-Shot hook with a 1/8 oz tungsten teardrop.. I guess the biggest difference I’m asking is do you all prefer to texas rig your drop-shots or nose hook them?

One of the greatest coaches is father time.. time on the water to learn from experience.

1. Blade Bait 2. Football Jig (drag slowly) 3. Damiki Rig

My best producers are tequila sunrise and margarita mutilator

dedicate a separate battery source for your black box and graph you’re running it on. I went lithium I usually get a little over 13v for around 10 hrs.. I like the black emerald color pattern on night mode (it shows up amazing in bright sunny conditions..

This is what I have learned and how I tend to view this technique.. Think of terms of a meter.. cooler water (42-55 degrees) fish are more aggressive and warmer water (65-80 degrees) fish are more finicky.. That 55-65 temp is spawn spawn baby… Prespawn - bigger minnows (4in or bigger like the freeloader) Summer - tiny fry size minnows (2.5” yum sonar minnow) Fall - midsize (3-3.5” like the mooch minnow) Bass near the bottom are hard to catch.. Bass suspended alone are hit or miss.. Bass following bait fish balls are hungry and aggressive.. Use jighead weight size according to wind and current.. I like a 3/16… go 1/8 in calmer conditions and 1/4 to 3/8 in extreme.. If you cast into a school of bigger bass chasing bait it is of utmost importance that you keep them in the scope and fire back in there.. You can load the boat to make one gigantic bag but those suckers can also disappear in to the abyss at any minute…

How do they do in thick lily pads?

I use Black Emerald (The Neon Green) for my FFS on the bow and side scan at my console.. i just don’t have to strain as hard in the sunlight to see it..

I’ve seen many bass on FFS rise up from the abyss of bottom out of thin air and start cruising the bottom then vanish back into the bottom.. I always look for a school of bass either trailing a bait ball or a group of bass sitting right under it…

We all know that there are no “rules” in bass fishing as everything is constantly changing but there are a few trends I have learned and to “live” by after fishing a full season with Live Sonar. This is just me talking and your experiences are different but for the sake of a good convo… 1. Bass are always near bait - either following schools, near cover to ambush bait, or on the bottom near bait…If there are no bait in an area it’s a pretty unproductive area.. find an area with a lot of bait there will generally always be bass close by 2. Bass seek shade in hot conditions BUT where there is bait nearby be it fry near docks, bluegills near weeds, bait near lay-downs etc.. 3. Depth really is only relevant when there is bait present.. If the bait is shallow there will be bass shallow and if the bait is out deep there will be bass deep too near by… This answers the whole shall i fish deep or shallow today delimma.. I think you guys and gals can see my point… I idle around looking at clearvu and side scan to find bait and cover/structure.. Once I find that I locate bass on Livescope.. after that I try to catch them.. that’s the hard part.. When they all three line up though it’s a thing of beauty…

Frittside 5…. Candy Apple Red Craw in Spring, Ghost Morning Dawn in Summer, Bluegill near Bream Beds, and Kentucky Blue in Fall (right now and the conditions you described) I like to throw it on a spinning rod with 8lb braid and 10lb flouro leader…

You see a lot of soft bait colors mimicking gizzard shad, threadfin shad, or just shad in general… Does anything specifically mimics an alewife?

Thank you for taking the time to explain things like this in common terminology so the average knuckleheads like me can understand!

Care to share what type of jighead, minnow, color etc is working??

I still don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. Was out again and saw several different schools along the bottom still in that same 20-25ft depth range. It was cloudy conditions, wind current, a few bait balls along the bottom and some in the 10-12ft range. I could see fish cruising the bottom back and forth and could see them come up off the bottom to feed then drop back down again. I threw dropshot, ned rig, jig, blade baits, crankbaits, deep jerkbaits. and lipless crankbaits… some fish would follow or circle around my bait but nothing would commit to it… it’s not like it’s massive schools of bait where there is too much bait. The conditions are there and everything set up right except the bass won’t cooperate… I just don’t understand what I’m missing to trigger these fish..

@WRB what’s your go to drop-shot setup and bait of choice?

Right now my 5 are Wacky/Neko Dropshot Jig/Minnow Ned Rig Finesse Crankbait

Whatcha usually start with?

Water temp is 62 still fairly warm i’ll throw the blades and jig/minnows when the water gets a little cooler..

I’m thinking my rigs of choice in the garage is not it more than it and I force the issue too much before adjusting..

Do you seasoned guys go to the lake prerigged or do you ride around and look at the lake and your electronics before deciding what to tie on? I’m thinking riding, visualizing, and studying your electronics would “force” you into making educated guesses?

Not bass chasing bait balls out deep but deep bass on drops say 25-30ft relating to or directly on the bottom… Today I tried dropshot, ned rig, lipless crank, neko worm, and dragging a jig. They’d come right up to or surround the bait but would not commit to it. This was multiple schools on different parts of the lake, too. How do you guys get fish like this to bite? They are relating to deep grass edges with their bellies on soft bottom. I feel like these are the best quality fish on my home lake right now.. I can see them come up from the bottom and cruise around and disappear back into the abyss on my Livescope, but for the life of me cannot catch these boogers lol

In WV most likes are still 65-70 range so main lake points/first third creeks been catching them on frittsides, spinnerbaits off cover and dropshot out deep with jig/minnow for suspended bass chasing bait balls As water cools the frittside will get better along with the ned rig