Eric J

Just read the thread about breeding nightcrawlers. Never used live worms for bass. Who uses them and how?

☝️ Yup...

At my local it's always carp.... carp... and more carp....

1/4 and 3/8 mostly depending on the plastic...

I love Topwater and usually fish a popper with decent success but I am trying to learn the "art" of frogging... All I can say about this morning is... AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!! I was fishing a local pond that is new to me, second time fishing it. I was throwing plastics with no luck and decided to go with a soft hollow body frog, Weedless with the rubber trailers. I must have had 10 hits on this thing and not a single hook set! I waited, then waited longer and no deal. What the hell am I doing wrong? Frustrating when you find the right bait and can't land a thing,

I ordered some from Dick's today... The BPS about an hour from me usually has good stock. I hate going there. I always end up like a kid in a candy store and spend more than I planned... ?

Dicks. Cabelas. Walmart. Discount Tackle. I'd post the online links but don't want to break any rules... You can order online...

MAGNUM RAGE BUG! FTW!!!!

I have two Daiwa reels I use with my ultra light rigs that I have owned for 20plus years or so. They were top of the line when I bought them and with proper care they are still top of the line!

I'm a bank angler and don't really use drop shotting as a technique. Any opinions on whether it can be effective from the bank?

Topwater... you watch the lure work and that hit ROCKS!

My buddy always gives me the same answer, "Sounds like a plan." I hardly ask him any longer as I know he just ain't coming. I think we've fished a few times together this season so I passively let him know and then its up to him ...

I fish a high pressured lake from the bank regularly and everyone uses senkos. So... I never use a Senko. My success rate is much higher than most at this lake. Run the colors and use something that will force a reaction, a BIG worm like the SK Anaconda... Good luck!

As a bank angler I believe we need to work harder to produce as we can only cover a limited amount of water. Some days it takes quite a bit of time and diligence to land anything. Add the recent heat wave here in NYS and it gets even tougher. One of my locals, a 160 acre lake is notoriously tough to fish after spawn for the "bankers". And its become my obsession. I got out yesterday morning spending a few hours sweating and pretty much just disturbing water. Topwater got nothing, bottom plastics, nothing. I left my usual lake and drove over to another spot where I caught nothing but a nice lure someone lost in the water. I did however meet a gentleman and his young son launching their boat. We got to talking and I found out he recently moved here, (Lower Hudson Valley), from Virginia. We exchanged #'s and we'll hopefully get together so I can help him find all the area spots... No catches but a good morning. Fast forward to later that day toward evening. I head out to that same local for some late evening action... I definitely got there a bit early, 'bout 6pm and started off with a Plopper then switching to a creature feature for some bottom. spent about an hour and a half moving around but nothing. There were several others fishing but nobody was having any success. A bunch of kids in from College hit the area I was fishing so I moved to the long bank and hit my favorite spot. Switched to a T rig worm with a bullet weight and still nothing. Got caught up on a rock and lost the rig. I figured I gotta change my presentation so I tied on a Football head jig and a Power Bait worm with a twister tail Pumpkin Green. Figured I needed that worm to be more vertical. Second cast in and my line goes tight but no lateral movement so I'm thinking I'm stuck in brush and I start to pull through when the line goes left so I set hard and FISH ON! Great fight and I land a nice healthy fattie largemouth! Fate however can be a fickle thing. Next cast out I lose the jig TO THE SAME ROCK! Unbelievable! I quickly rig up another Football and go at it again. Several casts in and BANG! Another beauty. I realized I was the only angler still working water and its about 8pm. Diligence and changing up... It works... Somehow I lost the second jig to that bottom rock... Really insane as I've fished that spot plenty and never had that happen. So with no Footballs left I tie on a weedless jig but the bite was off. I finish up doing some froggin' on the back inlet with no results but felt great having landed two beauties. I know two fish may sound like poor pickings to many of you, specially down South but this is a tough Lake and takes work to produce there especially from the bank and becomes a point of pride. I'm obsessed with this body of water and it's teaching me a lot. So here's to all my fellow bank anglers... TIGHT LINES!

Mostly alone. I have one buddy who I go with sometimes but for the most part I'm solo. I end up meeting other anglers and have some good talk. Love the solo time as it relaxes me.... Eric J

Lol... I'm 58. Degree in English and published in several genres and mediums... But, however... New to baitcasters.... My thumbs have been with me for a bit though...

You think you got problems? Besides fishing I'm a tabletop wargamer. Last week I spent 200 bucks on models. Then I start planning on a new rod/reel combo... ?

Anyone else have trouble fishing with baitcasters at night? If the moon isn't full and overhead I can't see the lure hit the water and/or anticipate the contact to stop the spool. How do you deal with this?

As has been said, get a feel for whatever lure you are using, that will help. Get to know your terminal tackle. My baitcaster set up is a heavier rod and a tad less sensitive than my Spinner. A few weeks ago I'm fishing with a buddy and I threw a last lazy cast before moving to a new spot, all the while talking to my buddy while just walking with the rod in my hand, lure still in the water. My buddy says, you wanna watch your line? You got a fish on. I turned and set the hook... biggest bass of the day... Pay attention... ?

Yup... I've had that issue. Ain't no stop till they hit that Top!

I have become addicted to Topwater. There is nothing like that explosion on the surface for me. Last night I got a spectacular hit on a Popper the second it hit the water, literally... I cast out and the second it touched water, WHAM!. The fish smoked the lure, exploding through the surface. I was stunned. Almost didn't react which in retrospect was probably the best thing as it helped the set. Who else is addicted to Topwater??

Air temps in the Lower Hudson Valley NY have been in the mid 90's for a week. Local lakes have been hellishly non productive. Finally caught a decent fish yesterday on a spectacular topwater hit. But that was it.

My absolute favorite!

If the bite's off I try some really ridiculous lures. This morning I ran a SK Anaconda. The sheer size of it was hysterical. I got into a conversation with another angler and we had a good laugh. I also enjoy smoking pipes and always have one with me when I'm fishing solo. Very relaxing for me...

volzfan, just some background as I agree with you 100%. I have been in retail for 40 years and have managed big box, mom and pop and everything inbetween. My current company is also all about getting that credit card app. I have lost great salespeople responsible for bringing in significant revenue because they were sick of the Credit App pressure. I actually joked with the sales people at BPS about it. I do plan on emailing BPS. Being on both sides of this coin for many years I have a lot of empathy for retail store team members. Its a tough job and very underappreciated. A bad experience can ruin a customer's day while a good one has them leaving smiling. I was once asked during an interview, what is my style of selling? I replied that I've never sold anything to anyone. I forge relationships with my customers. Sadly too few in our business really understand that...