Lottabass

It was a beautiful summer day! Squarebill bounced off wood was the ticket. Water high and dingy. Dropped my clicker in the lake. 20 and change, I think!

Local county conservation board. :Considered just leaving it by the pond lol" Don't do it. You will be arrested for littering.

Fishing will be tough but there is always a way to catch 'em. Big bladed spinnerbait or a fat, wide wobbling square bill bumped slowly into shallow wood cover will work. Repeated casts to the same stump is needed. Slow down and worm that square bill thru there.

@Scott F That is a nice boat. You are a rare man to have kept her that long. I hope you are not quitting fishing? What are you replacing her with?

@Swamp Girl "The bass are so strong that I fear the day is coming when one will pull a rod out of my hand." Katie, when I was a little boy I remember my Mom tethering my mittens to the cuffs of my snowsuit in the winter so I wouldn't lose them. Maybe us cronies and codgers need a tether for our rods!!!! Lately when a bigun wallops my frog it's not a hook set it's more like hang on for dear life!!!!

All the hype and marketing makes it sound like a "magic lure". There's no such thing.

I'm with @JonB2 . I catch more on the days when my SvF is 10. I believe you have to figure them out every day. Sometimes I slip up and push a bait or a location that ain't working too long.

@Bazoo "Let’s say, I think that they’re biting crankbaits, or at least I want them to bite crankbaits…" What you want and what you think is the wrong approach IMO. Listen to the fish, they will tell you. If you listen.

I don't think you are doing anything wrong. Small boats have the same problems. In a big boat you can winch them to the net quicker. In my opinion getting them landed as quick as possible is best, the longer the fight the more problems can happen. So I vote no on patience. However, a big, hot bass right next to a small boat can be a problem too. You have caught a lot of big bass. Just keep fishing!

We have had severe storms lately. Lots or rain and wind. I was easing up the lake today and I saw a limb sticking out of the water quite a ways from shore. Never been there before and I fish this lake once a week so must be blown in recently. As best I could tell it was about 50 feet long with the root wad stuck on the bottom in 5 fow. A squrebill bounced across the trunk caught 11 nice, fat bass and 4 crappie. Squarebill spanked 18 more on wood around the lake. Reminds me of an old saying, "Minnow be nimble, Minnow be quick. If bass gonna get you, He must hide by a stick."

The duck and I say THANK YOU!!!

Last week the water was high and dirty with abundant duckweed, which I love. Today, still high and dirty but very little duckweed. This is the time of year when it really blooms so I don't know what happen to it...? Anyway, I caught 9 on a dinger in 6 fow. 1 over 5 but she only had 1 good eye.

13.5, I don't think so! 6 or so, maybe. What does Katie @Swamp Girl think?

@Swamp Girl Katie, 80 bass!!!!!! I think you should be "lottabass" and I should be "ol'crickety"! 🤣 And I thought you were just the Bass Whisperer!

They work well for wacky worms.

I carry a lot of tackle in the truck. When I get to the lake I consider water level, water color, water temp, time of year. and put what I think will work in one box. I use a tiny boat so I hope to chose wisely. Once I start fishing my head tells me, "Dang, why didn't you bring that purple metalflake Golly Plopper..." It's a mental thing!

Way to go, Mom! That is a BIG bass!

Sore, but ain't quittin!!!

Lake was high and dingy after heavy rain. Caught 17 on spinnerbait and squarebill tight to the shoreline. No big 'uns but it was a hoot!

@Swamp Girl Goofy? Yes. How about the names they come up with for race horses?

I bought some coikes before they got hot on TV and YT. Haven't used them yet as conditions haven't been right, but I will when water clears. Watching tournaments on TV, heck even Jason Christie is throwing them! As with any other lure, put it in front of a bass and move it at the right speed and depth and they work. All the marketing and hype makes my butt tired!

@Swamp Girl " Al's Thunder and Lightning!" Katie, my left shoulder is thunder and my right shoulder is lightning! I know you're not supposed to leave fish when they are biting but I did. I admit I couldn't take any more. It was painful turning the steering wheel on the way home.....but I can't wait to do it again.

It always amazes me that I can frog a mile of duckweed and catch 0, then 33 in one small area (about 20 yards long)!

4 over 4, 1 over 5.....

@Pat Brown Pat said; "I think the advice to go slow with a frog is very discouraging early on because we picture these super long arduous retrieves where one Cast takes up half our day and we don’t catch anything." You got to find em first. When looking, I just reel the frog across the mat. If there are fish there they will show themselves and then you can spend time working the area. They ain't everywhere and you will waste time and get discouraged by trying to catch fish where there are none. Even "The Deity" can't catch bass where they ain't. Many times there are groups of bass under a mat. I wouldn't call it a school, but 3-5 in an area. Although I have caught 20-30 in a small area (I would call that a school!).