SJS

There goes my excuse for the last several days.

I like to say I am the best fisherman in the state. I like to say it. It's not true. But, I like to say it.

"BASS did twice in 2024 in Alabama and this year in NC. BPT was recently in Oklahoma, not sure how hot it was tho" Any idea of how the total aggregate poundage compared to cooler months? I am wondering if the pros keep on chugging regardless, or if they are as affected by bad heat as mere mortals.

I don't follow tournament fishing, do they still hold pro tourneys in the deep south in this kind of weather?

@A-Jay , what is that lure you were using? Looks like a jerk bait. If so, is it a deep suspended one? I work jerk baits with quick short jerks, but you look like you are almost sweeping it a good distance.

Did you ever have a day when it all came together like magic? After weeks in the 90's, and five straight days of 97 and 98, with humidity beyond description, a violent thunderstorm swept through an hour ago. I peeked out the door and the temp was down to a mere 91 with the air considerably less humid. I rushed to the pond behind my house, and it was more beautiful than ever. The normally insipid water color was a deep and beautiful blue green and clear of the usual grass, moss and generally ugly floating vegetation. There was no wind and fish were rising everywhere. Did you ever have a day when you just knew in your bones you were going to strike piscatorial paydirt? I tied on my favorite jerk bait and fan casted from the bank to the spots I just knew were holding bass. Did you ever have your fishing dreams come true in that magic moment? No, me either. Complete zilch. Maybe golf isn't as boring as I remember.

Well, I'm not going to forget effective. I want to catch as many large bass as possible, as often as possible. But if I could have my way and have my most effective lure also be the one I most enjoy fishing, it would be a jerk bait. It's not because they are the most effective for me. They are not. But, I like how they cast, how they look, how they move and how they feel. I don't fish them all of the time because I want effective more than just my fun with a particular lure. But if I had my way it would be jerk baits that worked the best, all the time. What is your most fun lure to fish? Is it also the most effective for you? Is i

"My nicest looking rod...and one of my most expensive at MSRP...is an OG Cielo 6'6" MHF spinning rod that I purchased on closeout for a measly $75 shipped. It was a $300 rod" @new2BC4bass , if you had paid $300 for it, would it have been worth it? I don't own any expensive rods and wonder if there is a noticeable benefit. Maybe I should start another thread for that question.

92 degrees here at the moment and I just came in from fishing. Bass were not hungry. I'll try after dinner when it is down to a balmy 86.

As the OP, I will go against the majority here and mention why I asked the question. I do not consider BC superior to spinning I grew up fishing with old baitcasting gear, including rods made of split bamboo. The reels had none of the features modern BC reels had. I think the line was dacron, but whatever it was it was a braid, just not the braid we use now. I loved BC gear. My first exposure to spinning reels was in high school when my best friend used a Mitchell 300. I tried it and didn't like it at all. I come from a military family and was born and raised on Army posts all over the world, and my own work has also moved me around a great deal. So, I have fished for many species in many places. I always regretted that I couldn't cast light lures with my BC gear, but I had no desire to switch to spinning. When it got too light for BC I used a fly rod. Then, I moved to coastal SC and fished mostly salt water. I found I preferred large spinning rigs for surf fishing for large fish. Recently, I started fishing local ponds for bass. For reasons I do not recall I bought a cheap spinning combo. I did not expect to fish much because my ponds have gators. I fish from the bank, and my particular gators are far more aggressive than the experts claim. I'd like to take some of those experts fishing here. Anyway, the bug bit me and I started buying more and better spinning rigs. Fishing a pond from the bank here requires some casting skills I had never developed before with spinning gear. When I realized I was serious about fishing again I bought a couple of BC rigs, sure I would enjoy them more. The same old familiar feel of BC was still there, and I enjoyed it the same, but I quickly realized I liked the spinning gear more. Not because it was easier, just because I enjoyed it. To draw an analogy, anyone can operate a motorboat to go where you want, but you need skills to make a sailboat work at all. On the other hand, if you try to dock a large power boat in a crosswind with a contrary current in a crowded marina you need skills. Similarly, anyone can cast a spinning rod and reel and catch fish, but you need skills to use BC gear at all. The difference is, while you do not require great skill to fish with spinning, there is no law against forcing yourself to develop more than the rudimentary skills and I found once I had done so I actually enjoyed using it more than BC. Someone commented on spinning gear as a fairy wand. Stripped of its pejorative connotation the phrase is appropriate as I do feel that high proficiency with spinning rod and reel is almost magical. As for power, I understand how BC makes one feel that there is more power available, but I have landed enough large sharks from the surf with large spinning gear to feel it capable of all the power one needs. I hope I do not get barred from the site for admitting my affection for spinning gear, even for bass.

Yup, I guess we all go fishing with @Glenn to one degree or another. We should call him Uncle Glenn, except I'm old enough to be his father.

Things have been dead for days with heat in the 90's and humidity off the charts. Having tried everything I could think of, and being desperate, I did the only thing left. I bought a new rod today. The pond I had in mind was being assaulted by the folks who maintain that property with industrial size mowers rumbling along the banks and men with edgers trimming the edges of the banks. I knew I had no chance of actually catching anything in these conditions, so I decided to try out my new rod by getting some casting practice with different kinds of lures to see how the rod felt. I recently read something by @Glenn about how the middle of the pond with no structure is unlikely to be holding fish but that was the only water open to me with a chance of standing on the bank and not being run over by a mower. I went through a spinnerbait, a Mepps in-line spinner, a crankbait and more and was pleased with my new rod's performance on all but the spinnerbait. Before packing up I tied on a Rapala 4" jerk bait. I have never really learned how to fish a jerk bait. Bought this one thinking I should give it a try sometime so about an hour ago I did. I cast out into the middle of the pond and started a slow steady retrieve and then remembered it was called a jerk bait. So, I gave it a couple of small jerks. Got hit by this 18" beauty and got to enjoy watching its twin swim right alongside it as I was playing it. Clearly, I have no clue what I am doing out there. Even less of a clue what the bass are doing out there. Clueless but loving it.

Those numbers are humbling. I never caught 34 of anything in a day. Is there a Mt. Rushmore for bass anglers?

I like to enjoy the battle and not rush it, though I have fewer fish get off when I do rush things a bit. After reading @Pat Brown talk about lactic acid I think I will change my tactics.

Not talking about finesse fishing, but for power fishing for bass does anyone use spinning gear, and if so, why?

I have never owned a true bass boat, nor even fished from one other than one time back in the 1970's. Still, I suspect I can infer from the equipment on modern bass boats that much of that equipment has a great influence on how one can fish. I am wondering if the same is true of small craft like kayaks and canoes. Specifically, assuming your small craft does not have the same ability to establish and maintain a precise waypoint, especially in current, do you fish with different tackle than you might in a given situation? Might you use spinning gear rather than baitcasting for the simplicity? Might you employ longer casts rather than shorter? Is your choice of tackle the same regardless of boat? Do you have better things to do with your time than answer dumb questions like this?

@Bass Rutten , what are you using for rod, reel and line for your finesse fishing?

" . . . suggest that I'm a quality (for Maine) angler . . ." No "if" about it, @Swamp Girl is a Quality Angler, for any state. I learn a lot from that angler.

Never tried it until this year when post spawn and hot temps killed the bite. It worked great and I enjoyed the process of fishing ultra-light on my Shimano Clarus rod and Miravel 1000 reel with 4lb test. Unfortunately, even that is not working now. I may try dynamite next.

Not sure how to rate myself. I only carry 1 to 3 rods, so maybe a 2, but that is because I fish on foot from the bank. Conversely, I could be a 10 because I have totally different lures on each, and the extra lures I carry are also different. Unless, that is, I feel confident about something specific because of the water, weather, conditions, etc. If I have confidence in a particular lure on a particular day, I delight in taking one rod with that lure and some similar lures with variations in size and/or color.

The bass here have become very tight lipped. I got antsy for that tug on the line and drove a bit and did some saltwater pier fishing. After days of trying every kind of lure I knew without luck in the ponds, I was optimistic that things would be easier in the salt. I got my first rod strung and baited with shrimp and leaned it against the rail, stepped a few yards down the pier and strung up a second rig. Just as I was ready to cast it off the pier, I saw my first rod jerk and then go over the rail and into the water. That reminded me to loosen the drag when fishing multiple rods off a pier, which I did with my second rod and almost immediately I hooked up with a stingray. Much larger than a bass and stronger too. This was followed by a second ray, a few sculpins, a sea bass, a spotted sea trout and a whiting. Next day I went to a smaller pier and landed three small sharks, a lizard fish and a sculpin, and had a much larger shark on that broke me off. Most of those fish were larger than bass and fought at least as hard. I also enjoyed some fish dinners, something I do not do with bass. So, why was I eager to get back to fishing for bass, and since then have gone back to the bass despite very little success? Hot, muggy weather, little to no action and I still want to try to catch bass more than to actually catch larger fish in saltwater, with cool ocean breezes to keep me comfortable, and a fresh fish dinner after? Why do I read other members mention that they only fish for bass; even some who have the means and freedom to do anything they want, fishing or other activities. What is it with these finny, slimy critters? Is it because they play hard to get?

Thanks, I will send a test pm now.

I am pretty bad with computers, and my grandkids are not around to help. I have tried to send a private message to a few people here and got no response. It may just be that they didn't want to respond, which is OK, but I am curious if it may be something I am doing wrong on the site. Would some kind soul be willing to do a test run with me? If so, let me know in response to this post and I will try and send a test PM. If I don't hear back from you, I can use this thread to try and figure out what is going on. Thanks.

I have been fishing for largemouth bass since 1955, and I have learned a few things. Number one, I am a slow learner. I learned what little I knew from old outdoor magazines and trial and error. Joining this forum has shown me the extent of my ignorance and how much I underachieved. I am overwhelmed with the extent of knowledge of the people here. My big advancement this year was catching a PB and finally learning how to fish a T-Rig. I have not mastered the T-Rig, but I have begun to get a feel for it and catch some bass. This has made me cocky, and I have been branching out into other soft plastic rigs though still focusing on the Texas Rig. So, I have been catching a fish here and there on the Ned, the Drop Shot, the Shakey Head, the Neko and the Wacky rig. One thing I have struggled with is what one does after learning how to tie the rigs. I mean, how do you retrieve the darn things. I keep looking for distinctions between these various worm techniques and find no clear explanation. I have read articles and watched videos, and a small glimmer of light is seeping through the murky confusion in my old man fishing brain. So, I would like to explain what I think is going on and ask you kind folks to tell me if I am right or wrong. It seems to me that the different rigging causes a slight difference in the way the worm moves, but the retrieve is the same as a T-Rig with all of them. Slow, pauses, small hops or twitches, slow dragging. It also seems to me that the basic worm is the most reliable over lizards, frogs, crawfish, etc. Am I on to something here?

Thanks.