Dirtyeggroll

Monkey got me at Academy! 4 whopper ploppers, a couple lipless and I would've bought that 705CB but luckily it was gone.

I really like the way you have identified what you have thrown and where. I might have to adopt a similar recording scheme.

Not a large quantity caught at Harrison county on Saturday. The fish really seemed to have shut off with the cold front that rolled through. Evryone that caught fish caught them in the same muddy cove on squarebills or jigs in 1-4 feet of water that was about 4 degrees warmer (52-53) than down by the dam (48-49) There were a few big ones though. The big bass was 5-14 And they were at least three others over five. The winning weight was 14-4 and only a few caught a limit.

Sure, I’ll upload the video. When you see it you will understand. I did contact the local authorities. The guy was a total tool.

Serious enough to have been with the front of the boat, intentional and not in jest.

I had a guy in an old 17’ Tracker bump me in my little 10’ plastic boat and then proceed to anchor down and fish for crappie right where I had been working a dock. I asked him what the hell his problem was and I asked him if he realized how dangerous it was and he told me it wasn’t my lake and that I should respect my elders. It took everything I had not to tie on a 1 ounce tungsten weight and rocket it at him. He could’ve sunk my boat or knocked me over and I could’ve drown. I was running my GoPro so I got it all on camera and have reported him to the local coast guard authority, but it doesn’t seem like they are gonna take much action. I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt or ingorancy, but some things are down right obvious.

Clearly the deer was trying to swim across the water and a giant bass took it down. Think of the rod we are gonna need for the new topwater deer bait.

New PB for Iowa 6.19 lbs (6 lbs 3 oz) and first Iowa Master Angler Bass. Got this jetty giant on a flat-sided squarebill on a wind blown jetty in 47 degree water.

Got on some prespawners in South Central Iowa right near the Missouri Border on Friday and they were choking a moving bait (flat-sided squarebill). Our club also held a tournament at Harrison County Reservoir near Bethany, MO today (April 14th) and a majority of the fish were caught on squarebills in 4 feet of water or less. The for key for all of these fish has been either wind blown rocks or banks near a deeper (6-10) channel swing.

Its more like a cloth/fabric. A tough, hook loving, unforgiving and overspreading cloth-like material from hell.

Sold

Break the cycle once, you’ll stop getting the e-mails. Trust me, there was about a period of 10 weeks over the winter where I made a purchase every week. I would get a coupon for $10 off of $30, one for in store purchasss and one for online purchases. I mostly bought stuff that was on sale and tried to keep the total as close to $30 as possible. I eventually got to the point where I was no longer buying things I wanted, but literally searching for things that I might (or might not) find useful.

Something like this did cross my mind after about a half hour of trying to free one bait that was in 4 feet of water. Although, I am not really confident it would help much with the matting. But, I do have access to all of th equipment and supplies to make one for next to nothing. Other than having one more thing in my 10-ft boat, what can it hurt (still not going to be throwing $9 crankbaits in places I know that matting exists).

I spent an hour with a lure knocker trying to get one of them back out of the matting. I felt the lure knocker get hold of the hooks and thought I was gonna get it back but I’m pretty sure it just bent out the hooks that were on the lure knocker and not the matting. Then on the next one I managed to hit the rope of the lure knocker with my trolling motor and get it wrapped up and snap off the line with the bait on it.

I was hung up and then suddenly my lure started coming back to me. (Thanks fish for saving my crankbait. I did end up losing 3 due to the landscape matting they put under the gravel/rocks that is starting to come up. I will probably have to stop fishing trebles in this lake. I have lost a total of 5 crankbaits this year due to the matting crap.)

Geesh. I am legitimately interested in the study methods.

Specific reference to article? Journal, title, please?

I use the bug almost exclusively as my jig trailer. I pinch about 3/8” off the top to make it a little shorter. Depending on the conditions I sometimes leave the pinchers attached together, pull off the side appendages or fish it as is out of the package. I love it paired with an Andy Montgomery skipping jig for getting way up under docks.

I really like this description of junk fishing. This an example of how I currently perceive pattern and junk fishing. Pattern fishing example: Fishing an type of structure/cover pattern with the same bait. Fishing windblown rocky banks with a crankbait. Skipping all of the laydowns and ledges in an area to get to the next windblown rocky bank or hammering the same bank over and over with ONLY with the crankbait and ignoring the other presentations. Junk fishing example: Thoroughly fishing an entire area with multiple structure/cover and presentations. Pulling up to an area and picking every aspect of cover/structure apart with every bait tied on. Ripping blade/spinner baits through grass and timber, sliding a jig or worm into every laydown or pocket, running a squarebill over all of the chunk rock and timber, tossing swimbaits at fishing breaking the surface. In other words, I perceive pattern fishing as choosing and sticking with one option/presentation on one condition of structure/cover. A pattern could consist of a couple different structure cover/presentations (45 degree banks near docks and under docks), but in general it is very focused. I tend try to find a pattern by junk fishing. In other words, I will find an area that would seem to hold fish and run that area thoroughly with one presentation at a time until I get bit. Once I get bit on something I force myself to hold that rod as long as possible. Usually, I will stay at the same spot for a while, because I have found in the past, that many times there is more than one fish there. Then I will go find a couple different areas of that body of water that present similarly and cast the same bait at what looks like similar structure/cover. Eventually, I will return to the place I caught the first fish to see if it is "loading up" and make a high number of casts. Sometimes I will throw a different type of presentation near the similar structure/cover just to keep myself interested, but I know I will return to whatever presentation I caught the first fish. A specific example of this "pattern" fishing occurred for me last weekend. At the lake I was fishing, there is a channel swing that comes very near a bank with lots of timber and some nearby chunk rock. The channel is 11-14 ft deep and the nearby bank is 0-6 ft deep. Most of the timber is in the 0-6 ft water. There were also 30-40 mph winds. In past experience I have caught fish from this area and many others report that this area holds fish. The question of the day was what were they relating to and what was an effective way to get those fish from the water and into the boat? They could be relating to the timber and want a jig or worm, or being on the timber, they could want a crankbait or spinnerbait bounced off of the wood. They could also be hanging out near the chunk rock waiting for some kind of crawfish (imitation) to get stunned of the rocks. It is very possible that fish could be caught from all of the described cover, and fishing such, I would consider, 'junk fishing'. However, on this particular day, I got bit on a crankbait on the windblown rocks. After catching a fish, I made hundreds of casts with the crankbait and eventually caught 4 nice ones on the same small stretch of bank (I would have sought out other rock banks but a tracker TXW 175 with a 45-lb Minn Kota doesn't do so well in 40 mph winds). I was fishing a pattern. Could I have caught more fish had I thrown different presentations (flipped the timber) in the same area? Maybe. In fact, last fall I caught a fish flipping a beaver in the same timber (and my partner caught one on a T-rigged worm), but instead of wearing those baits out last fall, we threw everything we had tied on (junk fishing) into the little channel swing bank and didn't catch another one. Of course, all of the fish on a lake are not going to be doing the same thing and can probably be caught with multiple presentations on any given day. Personally, however, I subscribe to the thought that if I catch one on a bait, if I cast that bait enough times near similar structure/cover, I will be more likely to catch another than if I were to turret through my rods on the deck.

March 30/31, 2018 - After a trip on the struggle bus during the day before the tournament (forgetting suitcases and dead batteries), our 2nd tournament together, the Omaha River City Bass Club Spring Open at Twelve Mile Lake near Creston, Iowa is in the books! We improved a whole lot from the last one in September 2017 where we only weighed one fish! While we still didn’t catch a limit this time, we did end up weighing 4 quality fish for 12 lbs 3 oz, which was enough to get us in the money $$ (4th place)!!! The lake is loaded with timber and we spent pretty much the entire day tied up to the same tree. We got the fish dialed in on a 6th Sense Flat 75X Crankbait which was perfect for the chilly 45 degree water and the wind blown rock bank we were fishing near a channel swing. If I hadn’t lost my only Flat 75X with about 2 hours left, I’m confident we could have caught a limit and moved up at least a position or two, because they were CHOKING the Wild Lava Craw Flat 75X! It really gave me a new appreciation for “don’t leave fish to find fish.” Had it not been windy we would’ve just cruised around the lake and probably caught fewer if any fish.Nonetheless, we had a blast and are ready for the next one!!

I plan on going to San Diego from May 18-22. I've got a little extra cash and thought it might be fun to hire a guide to get me on some big bass. Does anyone have recommendations for guides that might be able to put me on some big LMBs in the San Diego area?

I certainly plan on doing a guided trip, but just haven't had the time yet.

Based on your responses, I think what you may have been trying to ask was “How do I know I am getting the most distance out of my casts?”

Looks like its worth at least $500 to me!

A year later... I fish with a club out of Omaha and we had our first tournament of 2018 March 24/25th at Table Rock. Here's a video of 3 out of the 5 I caught the entire day, we were fishing near Mill's Creek: Fish #1: Jig; Strike King Andy Montgomery Skipping Jig Blue Craw with Strike King Rage Bug Okeechobee Blu as trailer. Fish #2 and #3: Alabama Rig; Yum Flashmob Jr. Top two swivels removed and replaced with CPS springs. Z-man MinnowS Pearl as teaser baits. Bottom 3 swivels replaced with split rings and swimbait heads attached with Z-man HeadlockZ 1/8 oz. Two outside Zman MinnowZ Pearl and following bait Strike King 2.75" Rage Swimmer in Sexy Shad. I fished a Curve 55 as well almost all day and didn't get a bite on it. My total of 5 fish weighed 7 lbs 15 oz. The boater I was with caught fish on: (4 spots) Strike King 2.75" Rage Swimmer in smoke (on rock ledge banks) (2 LMB) Zman TRD PB&J on a ned head (under a dock) (2 spots) Double Colorado Spinnerbait Chartreuse (on gravel banks with trees) (1) Spro Rock Crawler Red Craw (on slow sloping a gravel/rock bank) Boater best 6 fish weighed 10 lbs 1 oz. He repeated the same pattern the following day March 25th and weighed 6 fish (our club weighs 6 fish) at 11 lbs 4 oz. With 10-1 the first day and 11-4 the second day, he got first for our two-day tournament (only 6 anglers). I keep dreaming of the day I learn where the big girls swim at Table Rock. Seems like I can only ever catch 1-2 lbers and the rare one that goes over 2.