ne_dan

10lb Big Game is always good.

Light wire gauge around vegetation, heavy wire gauge in/over and through vegetation. Trailers I'll use anything from a Rage Magnum Meanace Grub, Keitch's in 3.8" and 4.3", Reaction Innovations Skinny/Little Dipper. I don't really use heavy gauge swim jigs much, especially up in the Northeast. I have a couple but get a much better hook ratio with the normal/lighter gauge jigs. I mostly use 1/4oz jigs, once you add a decent trailer you're easily over 1/2oz and for me personally swim jigs are a shallow water lure (less then 8').

Gamakatsu round jighead in anything from 1/8 to 1/4. Depends on depth and what size hook I want. I also like the Bass Pro Round Head Pro Jigheads, slightly longer hook shank, good VMC hook for the price, only thing I don’t like is it only comes in 3/0 hook. The Gami has a vertical line tie and the Bass Pro has a 60 degree horizontal tie.

^ this, even a warm day in the winter depending on where your located.

Got out and froze for 2 hours this morning, water temps were 35 degrees air temp was about the same. No wind for the first half and hour but then just enough of a breeze to freeze wet hands. Managed one bass that went 2.58lbs on a jig, dragging across rock piles in 15’. Pretty sure I missed a couple more but it was a very light bite. Did get a handful of perch and one pickerel on a jerk bait working the drop off from a flat to deeper water. Happy that the first trip of the year didn’t result in a skunk.

Abu Veritas Winch isn’t bad, and you can find them on sale now for around 110.

Jigs and cranks. I always throw both but this spring I was on a good crank bite for months both deep and shallow. Same with jigs always throw it a ton but this year was better then normal.

Chatterbait, Senkos, Frogs. Chatterbaits were replaced by Spinnerbaits, seems like everyone’s been moving away from spinnerbaits for so long that spinnerbaits were new to the bass again. Senkos were replaced by jigs, and Frogs were replaced by Swimming worms. The last two were more due to the fact that we had so much rain this year everything was flooded for most of the summer and I fish rivers a majority of the time in the summer.

Had the day off today, decided to take advantage of the calm winds, dense fog and go to a bigger shallower lake than I’ve been fishing lately. Water temp was 38, managed to get on a decent bite. 5 bass, 8 pickerel and white perch. Threw a jerk bait and a Spinnerbait shallow all day, caught fish on both. Biggest bass was 3lb 10oz, also had another 3lber all the rest were mid 2lb range. Hopefully this milder weather holds out for a little longer.

Got out this morning water temps were hovering around 38, dead calm. Only managed one bass but it was a decent one. 3lb 12oz on a jig in about 15ft of water on an isolated rock pile.

We do it for surf fishing up in the Northeast. That’s when I started recording everything and I carried it over to freshwater. For surf fishing I usually record tides, air pressure, weather, location, successful lures, time of day and fish. Freshwater record air pressure, water temp, lures, flow rate for rivers, weather, location, time of day and fish. I keep a notebook in my glove box, it takes maybe a minute to write it down. It is really helpful to look back and see what the conditions were like when you were on a good pattern and helps you pinpoint when it might happen again.

Around 180 days. From March to November I was averaging 4 days a week. Mid summer I was going out almost everyday.

Jig or wacky rigged worm first under the dock or close to vertical structure; depending on how many snags are around the docks (ropes, chains and support beams). Sometimes I’ll throw a Spinnerbait parallel to the dock, this year I started throwing a jerk bait in place of the Spinnerbait with decent success.

Got out for an hour after my daughter’s basketball game today. Kicked my float tube across the lake to the only shallow flat surrounded by 10’-15’ water. Landed 5 pickerel and 1 bass, all on a jerk bait . Found out my waders have a new leak, but I’ll take it for mid-December.

2024: LMB over 7lbs in New England. This year came close at 6lb 11oz Just catch more decent SMB Over 200 days of the year fishing. This year hit around 180 days. Fish new waters.

You’ll probably get the email in the morning. Never had a problem with them not sending out credits, if you don’t get it by 9 central time just use the chat on the website.

I figure you should be fine with the Tatula, I have mine on a Expride A 6’10” medium and a Dobyns Champion 704cb. I use it for everything from light tubes, light top waters like spooks and popper and 3/16 and 1/8 spinnerbaits when I’m wade fishing rivers. I’ll also use it for small cranks and jerk baits when fishing from a kayak. I usually have 10lb mono on it. If you’re not intending on returning the reel I’d at least try it. I also have a Scorpion MGL, I like it but it’s on my jig rod (3/8-1/2oz plus trailer), I wouldn’t really want to be throwing light weight stuff with it. Daiwa really has the fine control down for lighter baits.

I have a Tatula 100, casts a 1/8oz tube jig and a 2.75” tube just fine. Just use mojo while you’re getting it dialed in; which shouldn’t take long at all. What rod are you using?

Decided to take advantage of the mild temps today; put the roof rack back on the car and took the kayak out for a couple of hours. Only brought jerk baits and jigs. Forgot how much I dislike fishing a jerk bait from the kayak when there’s any wind, but managed to pick up a few. Biggest went 3.15lb on the jerk bait, two smaller ones on a jig and a handful of pickerel on the jerk bait. It was nice to get out after fishing from the bank for the last couple of weeks. Hopefully there’s a few more warmish weekends this winter.

Wax on the guides helps to keep water from freezing for a little bit, but eventually you’ll loose the battle.

I love night fishing, you will catch some of the biggest bass at night. I like fishing a Rat around weed/pad edges, around drop offs. I also like spinnerbaits across the top of offshore shoals. I like to launch at dusk, my biggest worry is never wild life but people when I come back in. After I get back I always do a couple laps of the parking lot with my flash light to make sure I didn’t forget anything. Last year heard a pack of coyotes killing something in the woods lots of howling and whatever they were killing was letting out a horrible scream. This year had a ticked of beaver following me around tail slapping when I was out at night in my float tube on a small lake.

Bigger Tubes, Spinnerbait, Crank Bait, Jig. It all depends on the flow, depth, and how much rip/rap there is. Also if your fishing above, at the side or below the spill way.

Got out today on a river. Wind forecast was wrong as usual, made it slightly more difficult but still managed to pull out a decent day (caught about 18 lost track at one point). 1/2 oz Football Jig and 1/2 oz Wobble Head dragging and bouncing in 8’-12’ did the damage today. Forgot my scale in the car, but biggest went 20.5” so I figure a little over 5lbs. All but one were hooked in the roof of the mouth. They were inhaling it; so much so that some of the bites were hard to detect. Water temp was 46 when I got out at 10am and 49 when I left at 3pm. I also got one heck of sunburn on face after forgetting the sunscreen at home. Hopefully there’s a few more nice weekends left in November now that fishing after work is out with sunsets a 4:30.

I got out on Monday and Wednesday on my kayak. Fish were still where they’ve been for the last couple of weeks. Water temp hasn’t changed much but it was early in the warm up. I’ll be out Sunday morning on a river before the rain comes down. Might be one of the last outing in the kayak for the year if the weather keeps trending colder. Then it’ll be time to take out the float tube. I might get out for an hour or so on Saturday on the outer Cape after visiting my parents.

Got out for an hour and half tonight before getting chased off by some downpours. Went back to the same lake as Wednesday, split the limited time between deep offshore rocks and remaining weed lines/pads. Managed 13 bass, biggest went 4.3lb off some rocks in 17ft dragging a football jig. You can all most call your shot as soon as you feel the jig hit the rocks. This is my first year having side view on my kayak and it’s been worth it’s weight in gold for finding offshore structure.