Mobasser

Night fishing from the bank years ago, I had a deer come within a few feet of me. I never knew she was there untill I turned on my headlamp. We looked at each other for a few seconds, and she raised her head to get a better smell. Once she got a good whiff, she jumped away and was gone in seconds. I once hooked a small bass at night on a spinnerbait. Getting the fish close to the bank, I turned on my headlamp to see a much bigger bass had been following. I've seen many shooting stars, muskrats, a red fox, and lots of bats around lights at night. Everything comes alive in the dark.

The conservation officer told me that they were putting grass carp in here also. He told me that these chara weeds can grow one inch per day in the hot weather. I've had to fish over and under it on these lakes.

Twenty years ago, I always carried a few crankbaits along on my fishing trips. I fished most of the standard models by Bomber, Bagleys, Poes, and Rebel, in both shallow and deeper diving versions. At times, they were good fish catchers. Getting over a point, hump, or especially a drop off with crankbaits used to work good. Now, I don't even carry them anymore. Not a single one.My crankbaits are tucked away in an old tacklebox in a closet at home. The reason I stopped fishing them? Chara, the invasive weed. On two of my favourite lakes I've watched this weed get started and slowly increase to cover more and larger areas, making it impossible to fish any crankbaits, lipless baits, or any treble hook lure. This invasive weed has changed how I fish. When I started bass fishing in the early 1980s I spent a good amount of time learning to fish a plastic worm. Now, I'm glad I did. It's still the all around best bait for catching bass around these weeds. Springtime, I can cast some spinnerbaits. But once it starts getting hot and these weeds reach they're peak growth, it's a plastic worm that works the best. That's ok though. The plastic worm has been my favourite bass lure for a long time. Aside from plastic worms, I carry a couple of poppers, buzzbaits, and spooks for topwater fishing, along with a Johnson Silver Minnow spoon, which can be a killer bait around the weeds. I'm wondering about others here on BR. Have any invasive weeds forced you to change how you fish your favourite lakes?

I had great luck with older round ABU reels for years. Now I'm with Lews and Shimano.

Stickbaits? I don't throw them much but when I do, I'm still throwing a Smithwick Rogue. And still happy with them.

I would say focus on bass behavior and learn to fish a t rig plastic worm.

I've never bought one, but have heard good things about the Rico. I think they are tuned to imitate the "spit" sound of shad on the surface. Two other poppers worth checking out are the Yellow Magic, and Don Iovino Spash It.

My weakness also Catt. I hardly use crankbaits anymore because I'm hung up most of the time.

Over the years, I've read countless articles on bass fishing, and studied the styles of famous fisherman. Some examples are, Flipping, in the style of Dee Thomas, and later Texans Tommy Martin and Larry Nixon. Light line fishing, in the style of Charlie Brewer, Billy Westmoreland, and Guido Hibdon. Topwater fishing in the style of Charlie Campbell, and Zell Rowland. At times over the years, I even went as far as trying to have the same tackle as they used, down to rods, reels, lines and baits, and tried to duplicate what they were doing to be so successful in bass fishing. At some point, I realized that this wasn't working for me. What I realized is that these men, as well as most great fisherman, have that " something different". It may be a small detail, that others can't copy, that makes they're style unique. It could be anything that sets them apart from the rest of the pack, and is probably something they developed with years of experience. We can always learn from them, but the fact is there's only one man. What makes a champion is being unique, and having that " something different" that other guys don't have. Successful fisherman probably all have something unique that sets them apart from others, and, it takes some time and dedication to find it. This applies to both weekend fisherman and top professionals in our sport. Do you have something different in your own style of fishing that you feel has brought you success? And, do you agree or disagree with this " something different" idea?

Agree Catt. Wally World has Creme and Lucky Strike plastic worms, and brush hog baits sometimes for 1.00 per pack. Last year , I found a bunch in the clearance isle for . 25 per pack.

Of course I do also. Some folks don't see it that way.

Around my house this would be a good way to get a seat full of buckshot. Always asked permission. Don't sneak around on other folks property.

I like hot weather for the big worms. Late June, July and into fall. A big Culprit is one I've used for years.

I fish one 4600 ABU that's over 20 yrs old. I have newer stuff, but if something keeps working well, I'll keep on using it. My folks came from the WW2 era, so I grew up with the don't throw it away mentality.

I try to set the hook right away, as soon as something is different. I used to wait, but I missed a lot of fish that way. I also think that bigger fish seem to strike and spit the jig faster than smaller ones. Big fish don't need to eat your jig. They're not competing with a bunch of dinks for one bite. They can eat when they want to.

Plastic worm

Shimano Sienna is actually a good reel for around 30 bucks. I have two 1000 size I bought seven yrs ago for crappie fishing. They've held up well

I like the look and feel of cork handles over others.

Yes. In the hottest months of summer. I just wear old shorts and tennis shoes. Yes. In the hottest months of summer. I just wear old shorts and tennis shoes.

A plastic grub of some kind( curly or straight tail) is an old standby for bass. They've lost popularity the past years because everyone throws paddletail now. A 3" curly grub on a good jighead will catch multiple species, bass included.

Roboworm, Zoom Finesse worm, Zoom.Critter Craw

Place an order with the Charlie Brewer Slider Co in TN. They always include a few free sample baits to try. One of the few companies I know of that still does this.

I've been wanting to launch my canoe. It's almost 4ft wide in the center, square back, and 17ft. But the winds have been so strong I've been bank fishing lately. I'm not complaining. I'm still fishing, so it's all good. Before long, we'll be more worried about the heat and humidity than the spring winds.

Same here. The strongest spring winds I can remember. The weatherman says wind at 10 to 15 mph. But the gust are at 30!

Look up Mend It. Sometimes older chewed up plastics work better than new ones