bigbassin'

I’m interested in trying to do a 2 day camping trip in East Tennessee or Western North Carolina targeting smallmouth. I will be shore bound, wading is not a problem for me. Any recommendations on where to look? Not looking for your spots, just general state/National Forest areas where I could pitch a tent on the side of the road (or a cheap campground if needed) and have access to smallmouth water. I’ve looked into similar trips for trout in the past, I was thinking the concept would be the same. Just instead of looking for streams off forest roads at say 3000’ or higher I’d look closer to 1500’. Is this the right approach or would I need to be looking higher/lower?

Does anyone know what the piece of plastic that is part of the brake pedal arm that actually engages the white switch is called? In the second photo it’s the green plastic. I bought a new switch but after playing around with the old one I realize the switch is fine, it’s the shattered green plastic on my floor that’s the cause of the problem.

To the best of my knowledge, anywhere besides the Flint and way north up the Chattahoochee no longer have true shoal bass. I’ve targeted them before in the flint and they were a very fun fish to catch. Not sure if catching them is always easy, but when I went it was very quick to put together a pattern and catch several in a short period of time.

Personally, if I’m catching gar that typically means I won’t be catching bass. I’ve caught catfish and bream around them, but never bass. Gar can get by with significantly less oxygen in the water than a bass can. They roll to supplement the water’s oxygen with air from what I’ve always been told. I also feel like I see them the most active in hot, stagnant water which in theory isn’t the best conditions for bass fishing.

What do y’all think this bass is? The replies I’ve gotten on a local forum are saying it’s a spot, but I’ve never seen one with this coloration before. Personally I think it’s a shoal bass. It was caught a little north of Atlanta if that helps.

I think the toad or swim bait trailer is a situational deal. Personally I’ve done way better with a skirt than a trailer. With that being said I primarily fish emerging eelgrass, hydrilla, coontail, or pads when I throw a buzzbait and I’m lobbing overhand casts covering as much water as possible. Where I consistently see guys throwing the trailer is when they are putting the buzzbait under docks or overhanging trees. The toad or swim bait gives the lure a flat surface that will skip up under cover. If you don’t intend to skip the buzzbait, I wouldn’t bother with a trailer.

Biggest issue I’d see with dredging the bottom or throwing a squarebill is that ponds like the one you described typically have a solid algae growth on the bottom this time of year. If your pond doesn’t slime any bottom baits you throw, I think it might be worth a shot. Being as featureless as you describe, if you could locate a 1’ ditch or bump it could hold several fish. You may also find a “brush pile” where the neighborhood kids have thrown in sticks, rocks, etc. that provides something different for the fish to relate to.

Night fishing the Everglades? I’m surprised the mosquitoes didn’t carry yall’s boat away...

I have zero sense of smell...don’t think I’d be able to smell anything besides a skunk before getting within sight or distance.

This one always gets me. Trout fishing once these 4 folks all in their 50s watched me catch a trout. When I released it they said something to the effect of your just fun fishing, not fishing for dinner. As soon as I said that’s right, they got a real confused look and than began skipping rocks all around the pool I was fishing. I wasn’t particularly thrilled by that.

I tried these for the first time back in April and they have become my go to lure if I’m just messing around for whatever will bite. Mostly fished them in little creeks, but I’ve caught 3 different species of black bass, speck, bluegill, and red ears with them. I don’t think I’ve been skunked yet. I’ll never catch another fish on them because of that last sentence, but up until then they were great fish catchers.

Anyone have any feedback on fishing out of this kayak? I haven’t demoed the boat in the water, but it has been the most comfortable kayak I’ve sat in on dry land. I also like the instant forward/reverse, rod holders seemed good, and the weight is a huge deal as well for me. Some questions I have on it are: - Is pedaling really that much easier than paddling on this model? - How big of an issue is the prop over grass flats? - Is the speed you get with a pedal drive at least close to what you get paddling with the same amount of effort? - How does the model track? - Does the rudder lever hold up? Felt cheap imo. - Anyone try fly fishing out of it? Probably 25% of the time I’m throwing the fly rod. I feel the line would be constantly tangled in the pedals, I imagine all pedal kayaks may be this way. - Any general layout issue you found after you began fishing? Also, are there any other kayaks y’all recommend in the 10’ class? I imagine the kayak will predominantly be used in smaller lakes, but it may see some decent flowing rivers from time to time. Ease of storage is the biggest criteria as I need to be able to easily carry it up the stairs/transport in a short bed truck. Kayak must be a SOT. Quality rod holders matter to me, however I’ve never brought more than 2 rods on a kayak and then I wind up using just 1 almost the entire trip so the number is not as important as quality. I’d hope for a happy medium between speed and stability but probably leaning more towards speed/maneuverability, honestly don’t remember ever seeing a kayak flip I didn’t think was user error. I don’t see myself mounting electronics so while having the option isn’t bad, it’s not make or break.

I do have a picture of the track, it won’t allow me to upload it though.

I don’t plan to give it up permanently, just for the time being. My thought is I’ve been doing this for 10 months without a single encounter, now that it’s mating season I’ve had 2 in a week. I think being mating season must have something to do with it, so in another month once it’s through I’ll get back to it. Regardless all I caught were 2” creek chubs, so it won’t be at this spot.

Next go around I will be carrying and/or with a buddy as well. I didn’t see a single sign of deer out there which kind of surprised me.

As some of y'all may have seen I posted last week, I ran into bears on my last outing. Yesterday's trip I ran into another one only this time was much more terrifying. This is also an extremely long post, so head's up on that. For background I decided to try a creek in the Cohutta's (North Georgia) where 3 creeks merged at around 2600'. Maybe I'd catch one of the unique bass species they have in the mountain range or I'd fins wild trout. After driving to the location, spending quite a bit of time on dirt roads to get to the location, it is very clear based on the overgrown parking lot and lack of trash or other signs of humans that this was not a frequently used trail. At the start of the trip, that's exactly what I was hoping for. As I begin to head down the trail, it becomes pretty clear the descent is much steeper than I expected from Google maps. After descending roughly 800' over the stretch of a half mile, I'm already nearing what I think is the end of trout water, but as I mentioned earlier they have black bass species that live only in this area to target as well. The trail has completely flattened out and parallels the river which has several creeks feeding into from higher elevations, giving me hope the water will be cold enough. For the first two miles the creek is too narrow and shallow for me to even consider trying to fish it. As I make it further in, eventually enough creeks have merged that the water is consistently at least 6 inches deep, with little pools maybe a foot deep, stream is about 6-10' wide. Once I reached this point I began to fish the creek anywhere I could feasibly bushwhack to the bank (there weren't many spots I was able to do this). The whole time I'm hiking in/fishing I'm keeping in eye out for any tracks or signs of bear activity, still a little on edge from last week and knowing that the next person to come along won't just be 10 minutes away like last week. Around the 5 mile mark, I see my first sign that anything else has ever been out there. It's a track, 3" long, 4 fingers, 2 pads on the heel, no claws. Another 50', another track. 50' past that I come up to a 2' tall game trail that appears to lead to a bedding area for something. Walk another 50' and I hear my first first animal call, sounds like it's about 100' in front of me. Now supposedly there are no mountain lions up here, but that track is about double the size of a bobcat, and on the big side for a coyote (plus neither track had claw marks like a dog/coyote would). On the other hand, it is small for a lion. The call sounded right for a cat of some kind, but without seeing it I can't be certain. Regardless I decide I don't want to figure out which of the three it may be and make this the point I turn around. I head past the second track, nothing new. I head past the first track, there is now a total of 3 instead of the 1 just a few minutes earlier. I'm very much on edge at this point and for the whole walk back I have some kind of animal calling every few minutes at a distance that sounds like it's always 100' away and in the trees. When I reach the bottom of the hill to climb back the last stretch, I see a bad sign. The third set of tracks I see all day that are not mine or the ones I previously described belong to a bear. Two tracks, each about 5"-6" and based on distancing they belong to the same one at least. Several trees in the area have also had pieces of bark ripped off. Now all of the missing bark was facing downhill, so I convince myself I just wasn't able to see it earlier and I must of missed the tracks. This is about all I can come up with since that trail up is the only way out. Not even 5 steps into my ascent, I found the bear. As I was 90 degrees with a bush to my left, it roared and (at least in my head) the entire bush shook when he did. I was close enough to touch the bush with my left arm. Unlike last week, where I was able to calmly stand my ground and then back off when that didn't work, I completely panicked. My first reaction was to turn my back to the bear and run before realizing what I was doing. As soon as I caught myself, I tuned back towards it, stood tall, arms out and trying to talk as normally as possible as I retreated back 100'. As I'm standing here, I quickly realize I'm at a low spot on all 4 sides with zero visibility forward, backwards, or to my left (2 of the 3 directions the I'd assume the bear would come from if it were to advance on me). Moving to my right by about 30' puts me on slightly higher ground, but also moves me towards the animal calls I've been hearing for 5 straight miles and most likely further reduces my visibility. I decide standing right where I was while everything cooled down was not any better or worse than anything else I could do. After waiting 30 minutes on my watch after the initial bear encounter, I'm still hearing calls to my right but I have not heard the bear in a while. I decide to test with a rock throw in it's direction since I'm getting pretty tired of the calling. The bear very loudly lets me know it is still there. I'm thinking my best odds are a group of hikers or coming down the trail that would have the bear outnumbered and potentially scare it off. I remember how remote the area is and that I did not see a single track or sign showing human life had ever been on the 5 miles I walked. Another thirty minutes go by (both the fastest and slowest 30 minutes of my life). I repeat the process and it plays out exactly the same way, except 5 minutes later I hear the bear snort just a little to the left of where it had been. I wait another 20 minutes or so and now something has changed. I hear the first call from my left instead of my right. It sounds closer, maybe 50' horizontally. It also sounds more vertical like it's from up above me. I try throwing a rock at the bear again, no reaction. I immediately decide that now is my window to get out of here. I grab a pocket of rocks to throw at trees to create ruckus ahead of me to spook anything that may be there and throw one every 30 seconds until I'm out of rocks. This puts me about 400' from the base where all of this occurred and the animal calls stopped. Not totally out of the woods yet (literally) I put some pep in my step and got out of there at a pretty good clip. With only 5 creek chubs to show for the whole ordeal I will never be back to that area again. I also have to say with two encounters in 7 days, and especially with how this one played out, I think any form of adventurous mountain fishing is over for the moment.

Most of my bass wading has been in rivers so there are a few more environmental factors going on to mask you vs in a lake, but in my experience the fish were not spooked by my presence. On one occasion I stepped in a hole, backed out of it by 10 yards or so and caught fish back to back on a whopper plopper. My River pb (5lb 6oz) came after I walked through in area, turned around and pitched right back to my mud trail. Fish hit about two rod’s length away from me. Had one hole (about 10’ deep with the surrounding bottom at 3’) that was under so much brush you had to walk up under the trees, casting wasn’t an option. Me and a buddy would just dip our jigs in like cane poles and frequently double up.

Wading has been my preferred method of fishing without a boat for several years now, so much water that is missed by bank anglers opens up if you are wading. I’ve caught 6 of the 7 black bass species while wading, and realistically don’t think I’d have been able to access smallmouth, shoal bass, or Suwanee bass water without wading to it. Because of location, I’m typically targeting largemouth when I wade. 2-3 jigs, a bag of craw trailers, and a KVD 1.0 in orange/red are all I carry with. Jig will get the majority of the work, 1.0 will be used just to throw something different for a while more than anything. Fighting a fish while in the water at their level also adds to the fun imo.

For the record, I just looked it up and according to google most Black bear mating is done in June. I was planning on solo camping in this spot next week but I think I’m going to rule out that idea.

Any of y’all have any memorable bear encounters while fishing? Had one today that wouldn’t back off. It started snorting while up on a ridge 45’ above me, I puffed up, waved my rod, and made noise like I always hear you should with a black bear. Bear came down from the ridge to my elevation, got about 15’ in front of me, puffed up and growled. I decided I should be the one to very slowly back down at that point. It was only about 200-225 pounds but I still liked its odds better than mine. Any other time I’ve seen them they immediately take off without me having to do anything. There was a second bear with it, but it appeared to be the same size so I doubt it was a mom and cub, rutting behavior maybe? Or should I have ignored it/backed off immediately and I riled up the bear?

The most well known shore spots are Alligator Alley (I-75 running East-West on the North end) and Tamiami trail (US 41 running East-West on the South end). For both locations just pull over anywhere you feel safe parking and start fishing. Keep an eye out for gators and snakes when you walk towards the water. I've never fished the Alley, but it is just largemouth and oscars from what I understand. Tamiami while in Miami is almost only exotics with a chance at snook and the occasional largemouth. Once you get out of town and into the Everglades, you start catching more bass than exotics in my experience. I've never fished further than about 20 miles West of Miami, but from what I've always read the further west you go, the saltier it becomes. On the Naples side, the canal is predominantly snook, tarpon, and jack. As far as how to fish the Tamiami, in Miami just pull over next to each bridge or culvert and work a jerkbait as fast as you can by hard cover. You'll know within 10 casts if there are any peacocks or oscars. If you aren't being bit or followed, move on. Once in the Everglades, the canal is grassy and I'd recommend a fluke, senko, or weedless swimbait. Targeting the grass is where you'll find bass, rocks or wood mixed in may hold peacocks. Like I said earlier, I've never fished the naples side, but an x-rap around the bridges for snook is pretty standard practice from what I've read.

Tried a creek today which the downstream portion was roughly 3-4' deep, slow moving, and 1' visibility. Clay bottom with several laydowns. This section looked like traditional small creek largemouth fishing. Biggest red flag besides not getting a hit was that I din't see a single baitfish or other sign of life in this area. The upstream portion consisted of shoals that were 1-2' deep. The water seemed much cleaner in this portion and the location just looked more appealing than the downstream section. Freestone bottom with a couple of larger boulders mixed in. If I were 75 miles north I'd assume that section would be trout water, not bass. I've never caught a largemouth in current moving that fast so I would think spots would be the only potential bass to catch. Will spots live around fast-moving shoals? If so how would you recommend fishing it? I was switching between dragging and swimming a jig, trying to get it to pass on the downstream side of anything blocking the current or through the runs. Water temp is 65 and rising if that helps.

Do you have a fly recipe for that white fly?

What is yall's recommendations on inflatables, or any other boat to get off the bank with limited storage? I've done kayaks and canoes in the past, but don't really have the space for either at the moment. I also need to be able to run a trolling motor or I'm not interested. I'm frequently on the move for work so whatever I have needs to fit in a 6' truck bed (without fear of it being stolen) or in the back seat. Considering these requirements, I've been thinking an inflatable may be the way to go. I could throw the boat in the bed and trolling motor and battery in the back seat. I've spent probably 100+ hours fishing with in a friend's inflatable without a single issue (probably carried 500 lbs between us, battery, trolling motor, gear, cooler, and wooden floor). We caught plenty of fish, and would run it on decent size lakes (staying within a few hundred feet of shore) and slower rivers. Is it typical to have these boats run issue free or is quality a concern?

Anyone having much luck fishing around Atlanta from the bank? I've tried a couple of times in the past month with no luck, I'm guessing the colder temperatures have probably moved the fish off the bank until spring. Fished the Chattahoochee for trout as well a couple of times, nothing there either. Done OK up in the mountains but nothing crazy.