NorthwestBasser

@WRB once again you nailed it. If you look at this lake on navionics, that spot is very close to a marker nicknamed "jaws"... For good reason, haha

I've dropped 5" senkos nose hooked. A few 3 lbers on it, but more often it's just getting tail tugged by perch. Lost too many, so I switched back to smaller cheaper baits, robo worms and dream shots mostly. If I do drop shot senkos now I wacky rig them

@WRB yes it freezes over. The point you're talking about is sort of mis represented in the map the OP posted. It's actually a small peninsula that creates a small bay, the open water side of the peninsula is a pretty good spot. The 70' area you mentioned is also a great spot, shear vertical cliffs rise straight out of the water there, at about three feet below the surface they begin the sharp drop down with the first 15' or so of that being good chunk rock. Good eye sir!!

As far as where they are. Fish were marked @ 20' and deeper Down to the 60 and 70' holes in front of the rock cliffs. Go just past the lighthouse to the next point, the is a hump there, 25' on one side, 35' on the other with the top of the table sitting in 10-14'. As soon as the water warms up a bit more they will be sitting there feeding on perch. Also, once water temps are up to about 55 degrees start heading south to the spawning flats, the edge of that flat is about 8' deep and drops(to the north) to 17' that ledge is the waiting room so to speak. The day the water breaks over 60 degrees and rising start fishing that shallow flat. That's the recipe for Silver Lake. Every... Single...year

It's a 90, they have a different shape than the 110 and 130's

No smallies in this lake, perch blugill lmb and tiger muskie

This lake won't "turn on" til the water temps hit 48-52degrees. You may get lucky and catch a few but don't hold your breath. You can,however, catch tiger muskie there right now. In fact three were caught during the tournament you mentioned. One on my boat in fact. We didn't fish this tournament thinking there would be any big bags brought to the scales but we certainly didn't expect to have the entire field blank. We fished it because the lake that was originally scheduled for the day was still frozen so we switched to Silver since it was open water.

So what stops people from mortally wounding every fish they want to "legally" harvest then? What state is this in?

Some fish won't survive, it happens, rarely does it bother me. I am slightly more bothers that you kept an Ilegal fish though. Why not just toss it back. Saves you from breaking the law and if by any chance the fish could have survived, it wasn't because you took a knife to it's spine. Yet you claim to feel horrible about it? Interesting... Anyway, don't give up on the topwater, it's an amazing rush and you had one fluke incident, I fish topwater as much as I can and I haven't lost one fish. Keep at it and you'll figure it out. If you don't wanna deal with trebles throw a frog or buzzbait.

Okay so you guys don't think I'm crazy? Something is weird about this fish! I've had guys I fish with basically call mean idiot for thinking it's anything but just your run of the mill largemouth

Just such an odd fish for around here, it's had me scratching my head all day. Most everything had me saying LMB, but the color pattern and stripes on the face really had me thinking maybe a small mouth/largemouth cross Our smallies and largies are very distinct fish here in Washington state and it's incredibly easy to tell the difference. This one hurt my brain.

I don't believe I've ever heard of a spot here in WA either. And I live and fish here, daily. Haha... Trust me I'm very confused.

When I caught this fish my brain said LMB. After checking on it in the livewells, I thought, where did this smallie come from? I've asked a few guys I know and so.e say LMB with cool color and pattern. Others say mean mouth... I'll post some other pics in the comments. It has camo on it's back like a smallie, a lateral line like a LMB, and it's almost hard to tell how far back the jaw extends. Any one have a guaranteed I.D.?? Last pic is the fish in question next to a definite LMB I caught a few hours later

We don't have shad in any of our lakes. Our bass prefer perch, baby trout, crawfish, bluegill... Probably see bluegill in the throat the least. Lots of perch though..

Last spring, cranking a rock pile in about 6 fow. Hooked a 3½lb LMB, very next cast, exact same spot, hooked a 3½lb SMB. I broke up a turf war... Haha. When I'm targeting smallies, I ALWAYS retrieve my lure parallel to the bank. This is because once I find and pattern the fish at a certain depth I want the fish to stay there. I've noticed with the smallies, if I fish perpendicular to the bank I can inadvertently pull the whole school off the depth zone they were sitting in when they follow the hooked fish out. They are definitely followers and I haven't had the same issues with largies

It was a bit difficult to figure out at first. I watched all the videos, had good friends try to teach me. Couldn't get it. But I kept practicing and one time it just clicked, the motion, the timing. After that the actual pitching became very easy. Practice helped with accuracy and silent entries. So my advice is just start pitching and pitching and pitching. To targets ON THE WATER, being in your yard kinda helps to figure out the mechanics of the cast but until you're pitching to targets you intend to pull fish out of, it's just not the same.

Gotta catch them to really be sure, however, bass rarely seem to stack up vertically. You're more likely to see them schooled up and spread along the bottom, like in the second image. I'd say those are likely bass in all three images. Where are you located and what other types of fish are found in your lakes? Knowing what other fish are present and how they school and relate to structure, i.e. stacked on top of each other, hugging bottom, always suspended, etc.. can help you determine what type of fish you MIGHT be looking at. For me it's easier to determine the images I see "ARE NOT" bass than it is to say, "those are bass"

6th Sense... Cloud 9 c10's and crush 250md. Awesome baits, love em!!

Started my daughter fishing when she was 4, she is about to be 7...she some how figured out how to get on you tube on an old phone I gave her play games on wifi only. Heard a man's voice in her room so naturally I went to check it out, found her sitting in her chair watching episodes of Big Bass Dreams with Oliver Ngy. Such a proud moment for me. Tears of joy, so I showed her how to cast them to the big TV in the family room. She loves to fish and be on the water with me and her mom!

Very true, and that will ruin your line retrieving it back like that on a long cast. Simple fix, add a swivel. It's a straight retrieve bait so that won't be a problem and when the body rolls instead of the tail it won't twist your line

Man, you just hit home with this.

Speed and directional change seems to get me bit more than a steady retrieve. Not that i haven't hooked up on a steady pull here and there, but something erratic seems more productive. Also, depends on the lure, jerkbaits are constantly erratic. Buzzbaits are usually more steady although I will change speeds multiple times during a given cast, but mostly find the speed they like and set the cruise control, haha.

Come on guys! Everything he described screams one certain bait to me. Poor water clarity, cold temps... i want something that puts out a beacon of flash and vibration and that can be fish at any depth or speed i want. Im tying on a blade bait and ripping that sucker up and down off the bottom! Just bring a hand full of them because you're gonna lose a couple, haha

I pitch with a 7'5" MH 7.1:1 reel... always braid at least 30lb. As mentioned above, the reel speed isn't nearly as important as the rod, but if you're pitching heavy cover, i prefer pads, thick grass, and mat edges, the braid is a MUST. And sure you can technically pitch any lure, spinnerbait, and get away with different lighter gear, i just feel like I'd be using a different technique all together at that point. I'm buring spinnerbaits over and along grass and want a long cast to cover more water. While opinions will differ, pitching, to me, is synonymous with heavy cover. Be it mats, pads, grass, timber...