Ktho

Got a good one today on the dark sleeper before losing it to a snag

Just moved to Buffalo and went fishing for the first time since moving and fished a Lake Erie harbor. Fishing was really hot and got rewarded with some nice smallmouth and my first pike. Hopefully it’s not all beginners luck but couldn’t have asked for a better introduction.

Have been taking my SUP out in morning chasing schools of busting bass. Catching em on whats left of my Clone Fry supply and Fluke Jrs fished weightless C hooked.

If I dont feel like throwing a megabass I go with the Luck-E-Strike STX Jerkbait. It's a great knockoff.

In south orange county really the only legal place worth pursuing is Laguna Niguel Lake, I've caught a lot of bass out of that lake from shore. You can catch them a heck of a lot of ways there too. Outside of LNL there's some city park lakes around the county Laguna Lake(fullterton), Tri City, Craig, Ralph B clark, Huntington has central park and mile square, and Santa ana has a few ponds as well. If you want to get on a bigger body of water I'd recommend the smaller SD lakes like Dixon, Wohlford, Murray, or Miramar. They're easier to fish than the bigger lakes from the rental boats and Wohlford is the only one with a bow mount trolling motor.

1. Drop Shot 2. Drop shot 3. Drop Shot Unranked: wacky, ned

It's easier than you think to fish light in deep water if ya slow down. In CA a lot of the reservoirs are deep, like 200ft+ deep in like 80% of the lake depending on water levels and I fish a lot lighter than you'd think im talking 3/8oz footballs, 3/16oz underspins, and drop shot with 1/8oz or 3/16. Most the 'deep water' i'd be fishing is 30-50ft. I don't know those East texas lakes very well, but looking at the charts they don't strike me as places where in the winter I'd automatically be looking for the super deep spots. But most the structure I'd fish is normal stuff like humps, deep points, and vertical walls. Boat positioning and electronics play a big roll when fishing deep. Cast one direction and you're in the money on a hump and a little bit the other way you're in actual no mans land. Fishing these deep spots it's not unheard of me to throw buoy markers out to mark spots.

My go-to is the Gamakatsu drop shot/split shot hooks. I don't use a sweeping motion when fishing deep or far from the boat, the fish pick it up pretty solid so after the initial hookset I just wind wind wind and put pressure on them. A lot of the bigger/deeper fish will move to the surface after being hooked and its harder to get the pressure needed for a good hookset when they're swimming to the surface or towards you.

Ever consider a saltwater jerkbait like a Daiwa SP minnow or Shimano Exsence? There's plenty more but larger baits just most commonly get marketed as saltwater baits.

Might make more sense to know this is also a common definition. Smaller/lighter is always going to be more finesse when applying this definition. It's also why I reckon "finesse" labelled baits are lighter, more slender, smaller, and less commotion causing than their full size counterparts. verb 1. do (something) in a subtle and delicate manner.

The Reins bubbling shaker is by far the best drop shot bait i've ever used. It's a vaguely baitfishy type of profile, 4" works the best for me.

Vacationed to Lake George, NY with my GF and her parents. Bought a $30 combo up there and some ned rig gear and was able to sneak in a little fishing. Caught both smallies and largies, only LMB by the lakehouse docks, had to paddle 1mi across the lake to find some smallmouth. I especially liked that, I've only ever got into them a tiny bit at Castaic and Havasu so was really looking forward to getting a few NE bronzebacks. I'd love to go back and fish it for real the fish seemed quite eager to entertain me, certainly a lot more than the Texas and CA bass im used to.

1. Gammy EWG 2. Gammy EWG 3. Zman Shroomz 4. Gammy Drop shot/split shot, occasionally gammy ewg or straight shank

Straight shank

Meh even at small lakes like Dixon or Murray patterns still develop

We read from the same book.

I used to throw giant plastics like that, and bigger, when fishing hard bottom and jetties for the saltwater bass in Socal.. not sure I'd use it for largemouth haha

Only one moment comes to mind. Years ago started fishing freshwater again and grabbed a rod with old line on it. Got to the pond and bass were busting all over. Get hooked up on a popper and it breaks off. Tie on a soook and keep fishing, 30min later I’m reeling one in and notice it had a lure in its face, get it to the bank and it gets off because it’s whole face is trebles. It gets off but I got my lure, not totally sure if I hooked it again or lures got tangled when it hit.

I wouldn't hire a guide that backseated me and fished the whole time, that's bush league might as well just pay for gas and forget the tip. They're still on the front deck running the pedal and keeping their eye on everything but there's plenty of room on a 21' front deck for a guide and an angler. I've gone a handful of times and haven't seen that but I also talk about that sort of thing prior to booking. As far as back seat goes imo there's 2 ways about it. 1. You're getting 'back seated' and the guy on the peddle is fishing what he wants to, not caring about your positioning, and you're just along for the ride. 2. The guy up front cares and works to position the both of you on fish and at a speed that lets you still fish. #1 sucks and its super easy to get negative and in a bad mindset. #2 is just fun fishing with friends and you're giving each other space.

99% of the time I'm using a Gama EWG or Superline EWG. Very rarely I'll use a Trokar flippin hook if it's extremely dense vegetation. Most of the veg I'm fishing is tullies so don't need to pull bass through pounds of matted grass.

I like the 10-12” ribbon tails a lot but my real favorite are the 14”+ hand pour straight tail worms like Uptons, they slay when the water warms.

One important distinction is often when those dudes are making videos or giving advice they're fishing the lake of their choosing, on a day of their choice, and fishing where they want. That's a HUGE difference between recreational fishing and tournament fishing, it's a lot harder when you're fishing a lake you're forced to, on set dates, with 100+ other boats limiting what water you can fish. Palaniuk and Pirch had pretty poor showings at the Classic.. those dudes are still extremely good fisherman.

One way to find out. The best lipless bites I've ever had have been burning them over a coverless creek channel in 3-5ft. You don't need grass or rocks for them to work.

I'm a big artificial lure guy but I've stitched a clicker jig a time or two and it's been quite fun. Only cheating if it's in a tournament and its not always the most effective although sometimes fishing the live can feel that way.

Hudd bugs work alright but never felt like they preferred it over a standard craw presentation. Megabass has a lot more wins than losses though so interesting to see how it shakes out