The Bassman

Here's a different one, muskrat runs. Quick way to sprain an ankle. I have to disciple myself to never cast while I'm walking. I fell in one last fall and really messed up an already bad knee.

My fishing roots come from wading creeks for smallmouth. Knee and ankle problems have made it much more difficult the past few years. Shorts and sneakers would suffice in the water temps I fished in. A cheap vest, med light spinning gear, and a few small buzzbaits, paddletails, and jigs and I was all set. Very much miss those outings.

I'm using the Wake-Z a lot lately and it produces some really nice bass. It's on its third season and as many sets of hooks. Still going strong except the bluegill color is now more shadlike. Can't speak for their other cranks.

I'm like Rodney Dangerfield when he said that he was looking for the fountain of middle age.

I see the occasional cat I catch as a bonus. I have to remind myself to carry my grippers when fishing one pond in particular. Their mouths can really clamp down on a hand.

Even though it seems a bit large for wacky rigging I'm finding that a Kahle hook is getting me higher % hookups. A side benefit is that they don't seem to gut hook.

4.76 a good bass? Well, to quote Fred Sanford; "Is a bullfrog waterproof?"

Small inline like a #0 Mepps is always good. One of my favorite methods is a bit unorthodox but deadly during the spawn. I'll take a tiny #12 hook and a very small soft plastic (lately I've been using this tip of a Z-Man finesse worm) and just lob it at rods length. Fun to watch it disappear as it hovers in the water. Gets big males on about every cast.

I had some excellent outings with chatterbaits last season. Not so this year. Why? Probably because I've barely fished them. Our thought processes have far greater impact on our success than a particular lure does.

The tempo has picked up here in central IN. since restrictions have eased. Went out to eat with my son for the first time in months. Another thing I'm noticing is that I have the ponds I fish pretty much to myself. We had a stretch about a month ago when the weather got nicer that things got crazy. Bored, confined people finally have other things to do.

Nice smallie. Looks like 3-3.25 lb. BTW you gave me a sore neck. lol

So did I, except they were skeeters.

Megabass Dark Sleeper and Z-Man 3" Slim Swimz have caught me a lot of bass including some good ones in the 4-5 lb. class.

The biggest question I have is why certain ponds I fish have suddenly and precipitously dropped in fish size and production while others continue to yeid both size and quantity.

The closest I would want to get to Detroit is Lake St. Clair.

Caught a big one (9-10 lb.) the other day on a Fat Ika. The one thing that indicates to me that it's a cat is how swiftly they take a soft plastic. Hard to tell at first with hard baits, though.

I find that buzzbaits run best with as little trailer as possible. I like to remove the skirt and use a small paddletail like a Z-Man 3" Slim Swimz. Keeps the lure real light on its feet.

Sounds more like a couple of ponds I fish that suddenly declined for some unknown reason. Post spawn females are stressed but not that stressed.

Z-Man uses different % of salt depending on the bait. Zinkers are the saltiest, I believe. Might have some effect on storage (?)

And being so hungry about bedtime that I was tempted to screw up and eat something more substantial than jello and popsicles.

I'm 66. Just "celebrated" my first year on Medicare. Except for some arthritis in my knees and ankles I feel great. I'm definitely younger than my dad was at this age. In spite of the wear and tear on my joints I believe my trade (painting) has kept me functional. My dad retired before he was 60 and just sat.

I only carry one outfit since I'm a bank fisherman and walk several ponds in a day. I try to anticipate what my best technique will be and equip accordingly. Sometimes I get it just right and sometimes I miss. Makes a good challenge. For the most part this year has been exceptional so it works for me.

Welcome from a fellow hoosier. I'm 66 and still don't know what a hoosier is.

Article in the new In Fisherman addressed this very situation such as in tournaments where bass are out of the water for extended periods of time. Upshot was that your bass should be fine. Congrats.

UFO from a micro galaxy.