Joshua Vandamm

That initial shock won’t be fun. But I’m layering 3+2 mil. 5 should be good, I hope.. A staff is probably a necessity on slick rock and in current. I mostly but not always fish calm waters

Thanks. Yea I wade anywhere but mostly lakes along the shoreline which can be rock or mud. Probably 80% mud. Socks are bulky? I have normal hardsole waders also I just don’t like how often water gets inside and I sink into the mud too much because of those heavy lugs. Yep. Felts not an option really. What’s TT? Neoprene booties are basically socks with a thick rubber sole right? Eh. Only if 10 of them are willing to die. LOL but that’s another topic.

I don’t know if they’re actually making more in Dec or not. I heard they may not

Just got me a farmer John 3mil and NRS 2mil long sleeve to layer for wading. I’m thinking that should work in water above 50F at least..,(?) question tho is what type of shoes to get? Wet shoes or 5 mil socks with water shoes overtop of them? Thanks!

They havent made any new slammers all year. Where you guy getting them? The evergreen 180 is the same basically just more expensive. LOL I still ordered one

That I could see working. Like a big BBZ-1 floater

At night? Nice. They stopped selling slammers last I checked... but Ive have a Evergreen 180 on back order for a month. LOL good seeing it work into the late fall. What’s the weather like there right now? Day/night temp?

At 4 mile I’m betting? Hope tracked bass of all major strains accross the country. What he found thoughout was large bass tend to be more active (move around more, presumably hunting more) at night from coast to coast and in between. Night fishing should be defined as an hour after dark to an hour before sunrise. 3am is a good time to get those true nocturnal fish.

Yea. If you fished as much at night as you do during the day I bet you’d quickly notice how much more aggressive large bass are at night. They hit more large swimbaits, 190 ploppers etc. behave more like smallies in terms of physicality. Ever had a 6lb or more jump 5 times, even with your rod tip underwater? LOL your really lucky to be in Cali. The state record here in MD is only 11.6.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.insideline.net/features/2016/10/31/tracking-trophy-bass-with-john-hope%3fformat=amp “ Day vs. Night – Which Time is Best? I kept pressing John with more questions. I was curious as to why I always seemed to catch bigger fish when I fished at night. John had confirmed early in our conversation that most of the very early fish that he caught to track were caught night fishing. He strongly believes that there are two types of fish; those that feed only at night, and fish that feed only during the day. In general, as fish grow past that magical 7 pound mark, they all become nocturnal feeders. However, there are several caveats here. First he shared that in his tracking experience, all fish eat 12 hours a day and rest 12 hours a day. His observations are that this is done in about two-hour increments, so they feed two hours and then rest two hours netting about six hours of feeding activity in any 24 hour period. In general he observed that day feeders will feed well into the night on full moons (remember at any given time he was tracking as many as 20 fish at once) but that nocturnal fish fed the same no matter the moon phase. In the past I had heard John make the statement that if you wanted to catch a trophy fish you should find a choke point and sit on it an hour before and an hour after sunrise and sunset. If you did that for three days in a row you were likely to get the biggest fish that travels that route to bite in one of those six fishing sessions. I asked him to clarify. “Since you have the ability to catch both day and night feeders,” John explained, “the best time to fish is an hour before to an hour after sunup and sundown. There are simply more fish feeding during those times than in the other 20 hours of the day.” I pressed further, specifically asking him if I were to catch a fish at 2am, would there be no chance I would ever catch that fish at some point in the future during the day? John replied, “It was my observation that at any time, 25% of the fish we monitored apparently did not get enough to eat during their respective feeding hours so they would feed into or during the normal resting period. This means that generally you are not going to catch a nocturnal feeder during the day, but it can and absolutely does happen.” The one big outlier to the day vs. night feeder rule he noted was a smallmouth he tracked on Whitney that was caught by Elite Series Angler Alton Jones. “Every other fish we tracked was a day or nocturnal feeder until it reached 7 pounds when it became a nocturnal feeder. Alton caught the fish pre-spawn down near the state park on a pea gravel point. That fish fed during the day fall, winter and spring, but when the weather got really hot the fish became a nocturnal feeder. Everybody thought those smallmouth disappeared. They didn’t, they just all became nocturnal feeders in the summer which is why the smallmouth guides all switched to night fishing in the summer.” “

But here’s the thing... studies have shown many trophy size bass feed ONLY at night. So they must be active At least some nights even in the cold..

That makes a lot of sense. That’s in Cali right? How’s this relate to temp? I can’t find your report. Supposing you night fished in years past... what was your experience on the bite during fall-winter at night? I ask topwater specifically because it just works way better than anything else at night, in summer....

Ive been loving the topwater night bite all summer and fall. But I live in MD, and it's about to drop below 40F at night. ? Realizing you can catch bass almost any temp... My question is, 1) around what water temp does the night action die down? And, 2) when/what temp does topwater specifically, become a Less productive choice? Many thanks!

Safari - Jul 27, 2018 at 4:22 PM.pdf

Fish don’t care. Lol

Weather definitely makes a difference. Probably the biggest factor. Timing is everything. In life and in fishing.

We’ve had a lot of fronts that last days-weeks this year. I know how to read a passing front, but how do you judge what might or might not be good times to go out when it’s persistent? Especially when it’s raining on and off so unpredictably... I don’t mind fishing during light rain. Just not sure if it’s the most productive time. I’ve tried fishing the gaps in the storms with mixed results

It’s like clay. You shape by hand then it hardens.

I don’t know what the sprinker tails are like or made of (silicon? Floats? Heavy? Etc), But I bet you could duplicate or improve on it with this stuff... thoughts?

What’s the sprinker tail made of? Silicone? does it float? Heavy plastic? just curious because people say it’s a lot better/louder than any tail you can add

Nice. I actually have both also but haven't thrown the spro. Only tried the SG once. Between the 1oz SG and the ½ Oz spro, which would you choose?

Just looking for some opinions. The Rad rat look way more realistic, but I've heard mixed reviews about durability. Note that loosing a tail is common and easy to fix so I don't consider that a durability factor. So, Which is better and why? Spro rat Vs Savage Gear Rad Rat Thanks!

Say your reel just started spinning a bit less freely, and you think you detected a bit of additional resistance or sound. ....what do you check first? Spool, drag or gears? Thanks!

The larger eyes note is interesting. I've always suspected larger bass have better vision than smaller ones for this reason. ...Which nicely circles around to 'highlight' the whole point of night fishing. Bigger bass feed more at night. Some exclusively at night.

Thanks. As the cones are still there then they must be able to see color when there's enough light eg. moonlight. Similar to ourselves.