JLWoodman

Best LMG's I caught out of Branch County in the last couple weeks!

Glad to hear. In Branch County, where I live, most lakes get sprayed for the same reason. Most of the lake associations use pellets, can't remember why, but they seem to kill off the craw and perch hatches and who knows what else. Kinda sucks. I feel our county does not care about our fisheries, seems to be more about skiing and weekend pontoon boating, stuff like that.

Lake St. Clair...now that's exciting! Hope you catch some lunkers there.

Hello fellow Michigander!

Was just on Randall Lake a couple days ago and the water was stained a nice green color, so I would wait to see what the weather is like and if it's been raining some time the last day or two before you fish it and if the water is clear or not. This chain is unpredictable and very day to day. These lakes also get sprayed in certain spots for invasive vegetation which kills the fishing for a couple days. I feel the bite will be good during the time you will be there, as long as you can find them. This chain is made of small lakes that get over fished so the bass can be finicky, but like I said, the fall bite should be good. Too bad you aren't fishing the Coldwater/Marble Lake chain. The bass fishing is much better there and it's in the same area.

Is this Randall chain happen to be in Branch County? If so, the best bass lakes are usually North Lake, Randall, and Craig Lake. Messenger is the worst lake for bass. If you can get on the Coldwater and Marble lake chain which is much better for bass fishing, it's in the same area, I would go there instead. Marble Lake can be very unpredictable but it holds nice size large mouth if you can find them. Coldwater lake is pretty large and holds plenty of large and small mouth. You just have to find them. Look for large schools of baitfish and you should be good. Also, all of these lakes are early morning lakes and during the second week of October, I would look in sandy/gravel/rocky areas that are next to drop offs and weed holes and lines. Creeks during this time. And flip docks. Just remember to find the schools of baitfish first and start just before sunrise, the baitfish and early morning are key. I would try jerk baits, flukes, swim baits, unpegged weighted t-rigs, and if all else fails; drop shot wacky worms, shaky heads, weightless t-rigs all finesse. Hope this helps, and good luck! I have a secret spot on Coldwater lake that always produces...lets see if you find it!

Using 3/8 - 1/2 oz jigs, and 1/4 - 3/8 oz tungsten bullet weights with my T-rigs. @Felix77, I think you got most of it in your post and everyone else who replied has some really good advise too! The other FC line I bought is 10 lbs. test. So I think I'm gonna buy some FC in 14-16 and start again there. I should probably practice tying these FC knots too. Thanks so much for the help, I just don't want to be afraid of using copolymer or fluorocarbon because of my experience with it.

I just had a nice morning on a big lake in Branch County. And where was I? Fishing from the shore, flipping next to docks. First I found a bunch of baitfish. Why would bass be hanging around without anything to eat? I just bought a new worm and jig rod, so I was using that flipping weightless plastics (worm and craw presentations). Caught quite a mess of LMB's, but to be fair, most of them where in the 1-2 pound range. Only 3 of them where in the 3 pound range. There where some bigger ones there, but they would not bite anything I had at that moment. I finally tied on a natural colored jig with a craw trailer and got a real nice one to bite, however she made a nice jump and got of my hook. Just keep trying. The first thing I do is find the bait that the bass are eating. Whether it's craws, shad, or whatever. Then I try to match that with my lures and hope for the best. The area I was fishing this morning, the bass eat craws, small baitfish (mostly baby bluegill and perch), and big worms. So it's not to hard to catch them when the bait is there and it's the right time of day. Best time in my area of Southern Michigan is to start in the morning just before the sunrise. Second best time is a couple hours before sundown. Just remember to find a bunch of baitfish first, otherwise the bass may not even be there. That's what works for me, happy lunker hunting!

First I got some P-Line copolymer in 8 lbs. test. Used it with a polomar knot for a couple weeks with a chatterbait, lipless crank, and texas rigged with an unpegged weight and plastics with out problems. All the sudden the line seemed to come undone or break at the knot. I tried to use some jigs and when I got bites, all of them broke at the knot...it seems. I also lost two buzzbaits after I switched to a different knot that was similar to a SDJ knot (watched a vid with Mark Zona), but apparently the knot has no name. Lost all lures to this knot, made sure I was tying it correctly and tested it out and I could just pull it apart. I also have some fluorocarbon line that I have not even opened due to my troubles with the copolymer. What is the hands down best knot for these lines? What am I doing wrong? Do these lines need to be changed after a couple weeks on my reels? Anything I need to know? And, any other tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Rod length is your preference, but if it was me I would go no less than 7 ft. Med-heavy to heavy action with a fast tip, maybe moderate fast tip. Lots of good rods out there. For reels I would go no lower than 7.1.1 and I'm really liking the Lews Speed Spool. Some nice heavy line, stained water low visibility I would use braid. And clear water I would use fluorocarbon or some nice low visibility line. Flippin and pitchin is quite a bit of fun, just get out there and try different things to see what works best for you when it comes to lines and lures. If you can try your rods and reels out before you buy your set up, I would do that if at all possible, cost a lot more than line and lures and I feel you get what you pay for in most cases when it comes to rods and reels. Happy lunker hunting and good luck!

I'm far South in Branch County. Two big chains in my area, the town I live in is called the "gateway to the chain of lakes", includes Coldwater Lake, Marble Lake, and Randle Lake that have the most 'tourneys. Late May and most of June I caught a lot of top water LMB's on a couple frogs mostly and I still fish a black jitterbug, Lol! The biggest being just over 4 pounds in a small area of open water between two sets of lily pads on Marble Lake. 4 pounder is also my PB of the year. After the top water bite slowed down in my area, I caught a bunch with different cranks up till July. The biggest being 3 pounds. After it got really hot, I have been hitting drop offs to mostly 10-20 ft. next to pads or weed lines (finding schools of baitfish first) with a wacky rigged drop shot (different finesse, trick, and ribbon worms), the biggest was 3.8 pounds. Also used a white buzzbait and a black buzzbait in the early mornings but all dinks and not many. Caught some nice rock bass and pumpkinseed sunfish on the buzzbait's though! Now I'm using a combination of drop shot rigs, Carolina, split shot, and mojo rigs which seem to be producing the best results for me than anything else at the moment. Got some good numbers so far this year but I cannot break my PB for the year which is 4.2 pounds to be exact. My wife, son and I like to fish Jackson Hole at Custer State Rec Area in Calhoun County and a couple different lakes at Waterloo and Pickney State Rec Area which produce some really nice fish but still can't break that 4.2! Looking to join a bass club in my area and start to get into some 'tournaments to see how that goes next year! Good luck to all the Michiganders this year, we don't have the biggest bass ever like Florida, Bama, Texas, or the Cali Delta for instance, but our fish are still a lot of fun to catch. Nice thread!

Thanks again lunker hunters! Glenn, last week I watched one of your vids on a split shot, or a mojo rig, went out and caught 6 nice bass in under 1 hour! To be fair, the bass were pretty hungry and I found them under two big schools of baitfish. But it worked out very well, so thanks!

In a simple way, you kinda got it right. You might want to use braid in low visible waters also. Flaurocarbon is used mainly because fish have a hard time seeing it, and for its sensitivity. Mono has a bit of stretch to it. Copolymer is the best of both worlds with flauro and mono...not sure is I'm spelling flauro correctly or not. It also depends on what lures and rod and reel's you are using... There are a few videos here at bassresource that Glen does, that can better explain it than I can. You should look them up. In a lot of these education and teaching video's, they will tell you what set up might be best. Like rod and reel combo's to go along with the type of line and lure for a drop shot rig for instance. Yeah, you should check them out.

I like to do some homework before I fish something I never have before, or didn't fish at a certain time of year. Try to find out what the bass are eating and do what you can to match that. If they are chasing shad, try white and transparent white baits. If they are chasing sunfish and/or craws, match those with the same colored lures. Simply put, find what they are eating and "match the hatch". You also might want to find out where they are hanging out at, given the time of day. What kind of bottom the ponds have and vegetation. Look for transition area's. If these ponds have fountains in them, that's a great place for bass to hang out due to the extra oxygen the fountains give. I could go on forever. Do your homework and you will catch more, hopefully. Good luck!

Look at that donkey! I love top water in the morning, especially frogs. Very nice fish!

After reading crypt's reply, I don't think there is much to add at all! I'm not sure if Rattlin' Rapala's come in different weights. If so, that will also have an affect.

What's up Uknowme! Nice to see another new member from Sothern Michigan here.

Thanks for the help everyone! Dave A, nice to see someone from the K-zoo area here (if that's Michigan). T9, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for your reply! I took your advise this morning and used it to my advantage and it really does help get into certain spots! I spent a couple days on the water with these and they both squeak very well already. I also checked out the Megastrike website and those buzzbait's look really amazing. I am totally gonna pick up a couple of those! So thanks for your reply Robert. I'm gonna just keep plugging away with these and see what else I can learn. Thanks again everyone!

I am new to buzz baits. I recently bought a black one and white one, single bladed, both from the same company (Strike King). I already put red trailer hooks on both and caught a few bass and a couple big pan fish on them. The problem is they both pull to the left on the retrieve. I do not know if this is normal or correct. I tried to adjust them a bit but they still pull to the left. My question is; is this fine or should these buzz baits run straight? If I need to adjust them, what do I adjust? Is there anything else like tips and tricks to these, or any other types of adjustments to catch more and bigger bass, more consistently? I searched the topic already and could not find too much on getting them to run straight. Thanks in advance!

I get a lot of success with a finesse style worm, wacky rigged on a drop shot. So many great answers here so I would just like to emphasize casting parallel along transitions (like along grass or vegetation lines, or drop offs) if at all possible. Also check over where your fishing. If the vegetation is more brown, it does not hold much oxygen that fish need. Brown vegetation mixed with a mucky bottom is not a good place to fish for bass. Find the greenest vegetation you can with rocky, or at least a harder bottom, bass like that along with shade and cover and structure. Try underneath docks too. So many great answers here, you will find something that works for sure. Good luck!

Hello everyone, I'm new here... Thought I would weigh in to give maybe a different perspective. I am new to bass fishing. I have been pan fishing most my life until my wife, son, and I accidentally caught some bucket-mouths and figured out what bass fishing was all about. Ever since then, we bass fish almost everyday. Needless to say we went back out and had no luck what-so-ever. So I did what most people do in 2016...went online, found this site and youtube to learn quite a bit about bass fishing that I never knew before and now my family and I can go out and catch bass almost every time out on the water. That being said, we still have so much to learn. When looking stuff up on youtube, it seems bassresource vidoes are always first to come up, for whatever reason, along with 4 or 5 other DIY bass fishing youtubers. Now, I cant really understand the vlogs and other things like that, however, I have learned quite a bit and it really works. Not specific products, but ways of rigging and fishing, and what types of rods and reels to use. It has worked for my family, it has helped create some really great days for my family and something constructive for my very young son to get into (which he loves by the way). It doesn't really matter, there is crap all over youtube, and we are all here for one thing, we all love bass fishing right? I know I do! So try not to worry about the crap on youtube and just get out and fish. The reason I joined this site is because I think I can learn a lot more here than on youtube, and I wanted to join a really nice forum with like minded individuals! Just wanted to say, in my experience so far, I think you can learn a lot more here than on youtube about fishing, and I know what some mean about selling out and pushing products, but I don't pay attention to that.

Very cool! Thanks guys. This site truly is what it says. I could spend hours here just reading some great material on tips and tricks, and I have already come across some nice bass catching stories. I cant wait to get into some more, I only wish I found this site much sooner!

Hello fellow fisherman and women! My name is Jesse and I am from the small town of Coldwater, MI. My wife and I have a two year old son named Sydney after his Great Grand Dad. I have fished here and there all my life, mostly for pan fish. After finding out our wee little one was born an outdoors man, we began to take him trailing and fishing every chance we get. After a great day of pan fishing, my wife and I accidentally caught some nice large mouth with our little hook and bobber set ups (the largies must have been very hungry), we also caught some nice Rockies...we let little two year old Sydney reel in everything he possibly could. Boy did his face light up and we had a really hard time getting him of the water and back home! He loves to fish now and after all those largies and rockies, we caught a serious sickness for bass fishing. However I did not know much about it. After searching the web and YouTube, I came across this wonderful site. Sydney still can't cast his little Spider-Man pole very well but he can reel in the small ones and he just loves it! As do my wife and I. We just shore fish and we have a nice size canoe, but I'm now saving to get a nice used fishing boat. If it wasn't for these videos I found, I don't know if we would be able to have too much of an idea how to set up and rig for bass and it might not have been as enjoyable for my family! I'm just so glad we were able to get our son into bass fishing at an early age, we think it will help him be a better person growing up and it's just a great thing for us in general. We now fish almost everyday and learning and getting better everyday! Well, that's it for now. I'm new to the site and just wanted to introduce myself and a little background on what led me here.