Fried Lemons

When I was first learning how to target bass I threw a weightless Texas rigged worm exclusively for about a year. From just that bait I learned about picking apart cover and proper hooksetting. It took me a long time to gain any confidence in reaction style baits.

I used to fish both extensively and the paddle tail swimbait has replaced both of them as my go to.

I've had a few trips where I broke a leader off and just tied direct with no change in catch rates. I only use a leader when fishing rocks.

Fished 9:30-1:15 at one of my usual spots, bluebird conditions. I hadn't caught anything over 3 from this spot in over a year so I wasn't feeling too confident. Caught a 3 and a 4.25 early on in 3 FOW, shaded timber. Feeling optimistic, I continued with the shallow cover pattern for about an hour with no success. I decided to saturate cast a particularly good laydown and on the 5th cast, I got smashed. A few casts later at an isolated brush pile nearby I got smashed again. I grinded my way back to the parking lot and managed to stick one more 2lber. I had a heron repeatedly follow me attempting to dive bomb my swimbait and decided to call it a day. There were a ton of people hiking the path today and more than once I got comments about fishing for turtles.

The weedless one is the Working Class Zero Citizen, line thru is 3:16 Rising Son.

Hit a spot around Dickerson I don't travel to much to test the waters. The water is usually too choked up with duckweed to fish anything besides a frog. I tried a frog in the thick matted duckweed for about an hour and caught a single dink. Moving north I was pleased to see that wind had blown most of the duckweed towards the south end where I was fishing. I switched to a weedless swimbait which I pitched around laydowns for a few fish. I missed 3 big bites, characterized by a tick followed by a loss of feel. I could see from the teeth marks the fish were completely engulfing the bait but for some reason I was not sticking them. On the return trip I switched to a line thru for better hookups. On my first cast I pitched next to a stump and as soon as I turned the handle this fish was on.

I go by the little falls reading.

The larger fish were likely carp. The bigger snakeheads there are conditioned to hide down in cover and not show themselves. I haven't seen one since they spawned in early July. The ones I see are too small for most frogs and spook easily. I've caught a few on weightless plastics thrown from a light spinning outfit.

That place is overrun with small snakeheads. I have yet to see or catch a bass bigger than 12" there this year but I see a dozen 4-15" snakeheads each time I go out. I suspect the combination of draw downs and proliferating snakeheads did a number on the bass population.

You may want to consult the guys at swimbait underground as there are definitely guys from your state who do well on the big baits. I fish a river that has a decent population of walleye/schoolie striper and a very healthy population of blues, flatheads and channels. I got into the swimbait game this year so I am not nearly as experienced as some but I will share my experiences so far. The only fish I catch on the river with regularity on swimbaits are the catfish. I catch them on big topwaters and jointed swimmers during prime low light conditions. Other times dragging big soft baits is also effective but the bait needs to be right in their face. Pay attention to the forage in your body of water. The stripers I catch on conventional lures are mostly keyed on small 3-4" minnows. I have thrown 7-9" baits around when I knew there was a bite happening with minimal success. I still believe there is a swimbait bite to be had, I just haven't cracked the code yet. Fish high percentage spots during high percentage times and you should get bit. Just temper your expectations and realize you probably won't catch as many fish as you could with a jerkbait.

If you're catching a lot of dinks and getting frustrated you should probably change locations and/or presentation. You might luck into bigger fish but the tactics that catch small bass are not ideal for catching big bass.

If you are deadset on braid to leader the FG knot is well worth learning. I've used it to connect braids from 10-80lbs and once I got the hang of tying the knot it has never failed me. Contrary to what a lot of people seem to believe it is not that hard to tie with some practice. You use one hand to keep tension in the braid. Use your other hand and your foot to keep tension on the leader. I do this all the time on the water in adverse conditions and it never takes me longer than 2 minutes.

I've been scouting neighborhood/retention ponds in my area. Found two that may have potential. Seems like the lakes and ponds within a 20 minute drive all get fished and harvested hard. Word is already out about the snakeheads at Little Seneca but I'll throw in an anecdote. I was up one of the creek arms and spotted a small 12"er cruising over the grass beds with a bluegill head sticking out of his mouth.

There’s really no bad way to rig them they just get bit. The weightless nose hook rig is really good in shallow weeds especially burned over the top like a toad. Dead sticked with some twitches it looks just like a dying baitfish. Downside is you get one fish per bait.

Numbers: 4” Keitech Easy Shiner on a 1/4oz leadhead or weightless nose hooked. Size: Hudd 68. Honorable mention to Stanley Ribbits skipped under trees in the hottest part of the day.

Big and nasty looking.

I’m assuming you are referring to the tiny trout magnet jigs. I have used SOS in 2lb and it is very good line. I do not recommend using 4lb unless you are horsing larger than average fish out of cover. You get significantly better casting distance and line handling with the 2lb. You just need to be diligent about checking your knots and line for fraying.

One of my biggest bass came on a trout swimbait from a body of water that does not have trout. I've opened up a few fish I caught schooling and their bellies were stuffed with little 2 inch minnows. I was using a much bigger 4 inch swimbait. I think if you find fish during feeding windows a well presented bait that vaguely resembles something from the forage base should get bit. It doesn't necessarily have to be exactly what they are keyed on at the moment.

I have some of both and could make a lineup from either company and be satisfied. I don’t have any of Daiwas latest low profiles because I’m not digging the TWS they pushed on all their reels. I’ve used the older Steez and Zillions which I really liked.

Go at night and throw a wake bait.

Line breaking above advertised breaking strain is a good thing. It just means the line has been labeled misleadingly and is probably thicker than other lines marked similarly.

Never tried mullet but I've used store bought mackerel which is oily and smelly and pretty similar. It worked but not as well as native fish. If you want to catch big ones try live or cut bait locally caught.

Owner makes some good ones but you'll have to import them. The wire is a thinner gauge making the hooks wickedly sharp and less prone to tearing holes in their mouths.

I like the drawing power of hard baits. I usually toss them first looking for the aggressive biters whenever conditions seem favorable.

I typically use leftover main line as my leaders mainly for shock absorption and abrasion resistance. I recently finished a spool of copolymer so I started using up some fluorocarbon. Where I fish snags are inevitable and I had 3 break offs the last trip. To my disappointment, every time I had to break off the leader would snap right at the knot (I use FG). I know the knots were not slipping because the bit of leader wrapped in the braid was still attached each time. I have used the same system with copolymer and have never had the line break at the knot. For now I'll go back to mono/copolymer leaders. Has anyone else experienced this issue? Additional background info: My leaders are typically 6-20ft. I have not had any problems casting the knot through the guides for multiple trips. I usually have to retie when the leader gets too short. 10lb braid to 8lb fluoro.