BassNJake

Darwin candidates right there

I usually have one skunk a year. The last couple of years I've tried to get the topwater bite going in sub 50 degree weather. I get a bunch blow ups or swipes but not a commitment But it hasn't happened 2 trips in a row ?

Funny that you mention these. I bought a soft plastic lot off of ebay and 2 packs of 10 inch Upton UC worms were included. I never heard of them. They are nice and I only have 3 or 4 left. They fish great on a wobble-head type jig dragged around on the ledges and deep points

I thought it was pretty awesome not only that he got them back but again how tight knit the fishing community is!!

This is me, except for the heavy cover part. I am a line watching hawk. I feel this is always the weakest point so it gets the most attention.

https://www.bassmaster.com/news/unbelievable-lost-and-found-story

I have not had much luck with a whopper plopper either. However, in 2016 FLW had an event here on Norris and James Watson won fishing topwater including the WP > The Whopper Plopper accounted for eight of the 15 fish he took to the scale. Several others were enticed by a War Eagle Buzz Toad with a Luck-E-Strike Frantic Frog trailer (black). Also Norris showed why people fish Cherokee and Douglas lakes more often. Day 1: 5, 13-10 > Day 2: 5, 13-04 > Day 3: 5, 9-12 > Total = 15, 36-10

Part of the problem is that they are not going out alone. They used to have co anglers and now they have marshalls. Ever been out on a Lake Erie in a 18 ft boat with a 75 HP motor? It'll work if its slick calm, but 2-3 footers are not safe and if there is a slight breeze from Canada it can get to 5 footers quick. Like the others have said Rules are Rules The tourney officials are there to enforce the rules, not babysit the people who dont know them

Welcome Tom!!

Listen to the "scientific experts" and its red or green that bass can see Listen to actual guys on the water and every color under the sun will work better than the others given a specific condition Go with what you have confidence in- I have a DT16 painted in matte black and its one of my best cranks Yet you dont see too many cranks in black https://www.technologicalangler.com/bass-color-vision

hahahahahhaahhahhaaa Oh wait, I'm a browns fan

On lake Erie I have caught at least a dozen smallmouth bass with a hook and tube coming out their butts What I have noticed is that most fish I catch that have a hook in them, the barb is the first thing that rusts because it is small and not as thick as the rest of the hook. These hooks seem to just pop right out When I was younger I gut hooked a bass in a pond Tossed it onshore for the turtles to eat A couple days later I found a bird (small hawk) that died with my treble hook stuck in its beak We have a bunch of guys that tie a mason line directly to branches and hang a bluegill off of it ino the water So I see a couple dead herons stuck in a tree every year too I always cut the hook now Takes less time than taking one off with pliers that is hooked in the mouth

What an awesome tourney!! The first few days seemed like it was gonna be a 2 man race Hartman or Fieder Brandon stayed consistent, brought in a 20+lb bag on both weekend days and caught the big fish when he needed. I loved the mega 360 shots of the big flat he was fishing and the isolated boulders scattered around

I love topwater so I'm fishing shallow for largemouths (although I have had some excellent smallmouth topwater days casting over 15-20 feet of water with a walking bait) Just have to make sure you are seeing bait or other clues such as herons combing the shore or coots swimming around I'm not talking huge schools of baitfish (although that'll work) either smaller groups of minnows or bluegills anything lower on the food chain will attract a bigger fish You often see guys graphing deeper water with their electronics to find schools of bait or bass I do the same thing running the shoreline but use my eyes watching for little bait flipping around or scattering when my bait hits the water. I can go down a stretch of water and tell if I got a chance to get bit. If I'm not seeing any action, I wont be getting any action My lake is 2 rivers that have been dammed. It's almost all rock. Dropoffs, ledges, pea gravel, chunk rock to huge boulders. There a billion rocky things to try and target. My best bet for catching and not casting is to go to the 10% of the lake that isn't solid rock and fish the isolated targets. Instead of making 1000's of casts down the rocky shoreline or the 80 miles of ledges I target the small group of rocks on the mud bank or the couple of bushes at the end of the point Instead of fishing down the side that has 40 docks, I'm gonna hit that one lone dock With that being said, there are always fish that can be caught offshore. Sometimes those fish are easier to catch as they are not seeing as many baits. But those are the hardest fish to locate and some are not as active

The weather is coming into play seeing a lot more cranking and less flippin.

I think Jordan Lee would have to disagree.

Tomorrow is gonna be tricky if the wind blows like they are saying it will. I love when there are variables thrown into the mix

Monsoor gives some hope for middle age guys looking to compete into their later years. He has had a long successful career!!

Watching the elite series event going on right now, Jamie Hartman commented on how small the craws were that the smallmouths were spitting up. The fish are telling you what they want, most people wouldn't try to force feed them something else. You hear stuff like match the hatch, which may apply here. Me, I'd throw a toad just because I love topwater bites

I make a pass fishing a toad primarily because I love topwater, I also like that its weedless so I can skip it under the overhangs. Then I'll swing back though flipping a senko(reverse rig) to the same targets. I'm also looking for baitfish in the area- without the baitfish this pattern is dead

It's 10:30am and he's now shaking fish off to save for Sat and Sun I knew I should have picked him .... but that dang stache

I'm fishing isolated shade spots on the sunny side and having pretty good success. If I fish the shaded side I make 50-100 casts before getting bit. If I fish the isolated shade spots on the sunny side my ratio of casts to bites is much better. It also allows me to hit very specific targets, where as on the shade side everything is a target. I have not had the depth finder on in 3 weeks or so but last time I did water temp was 86 in the morning. With my shallow water fishing I have no need for the electronics Judging by some of the tourney results here(Norris), I'm doing just fine fishing 5 feet or less while everyone else is running deep drops and ledges. On a recent outing to Lake Chickamauga we did pretty good running the same shallow shade pattern Of course one of the guys we know that lives down there pulled a 7 and an 8 off a deep bend in the channel But our 5 best beat his 5 best and that included his 2 hawgs

Awesome, hope you guys got some videos to post!!

I've cut a 6/0 hook with those. Sometimes when I'm ledge fishing a big worm they get it on the drop say 15 feet deep when bottom is near 30 or 40 With the wave action from the pleasure boats and bass ledge runners it reduces my ability to see any line movement or to feel the light "tics" on the line. So inevitably, I will gut hook a couple. I spent years laying over the side of the boat, with the fish in the water and using the technique where you turn the hook through the gills. Now as soon as I see it is gut hooked- I cut the hook just below the barb - pull out the hook and send it on its way This is my go to method and is so much quicker than the through the gill trick IMO