BubbaBassin’

@WRB @Catt Went out today, found a big hump surrounded by 40+ deep water and came up to a hazard bouy in about 6 feet, Ran a crankbait through, saw a lot of bait running and something jumping but couldn’t see what it was, ended up being a massive (school)? Of gar. I caught three, shook of 5+ of the toothy jerks before my 1.5 xtra deep gave out and started turning itself in circles. The bottom was covered in chunk rock and hydrilla, Was wondering if the gar would keep bass away from that area? Spent an hour or so there and there all I could catch. Wanted to get a more experienced opinion. Sorry to keep bugging you, just trying to learn anything I can.

I will adjust the transducer position again when I go back out, it has worked great in the past, I hope it’s not the transducer. I can’t afford a new one lol, I’d just fish in less than 40.?

Not my settings, Reseted to defaults twice. No readings below forty feet at all.

I factory reseted them when the problem began and have tried twice since, I think it’s my transducer, I just don’t have the money to replace it so I’ve left it alone. And yes sir, the auto setting does this and when you have it manually set below 40’

I tried explaining this to the humminbird tech support as well but they didn’t get what I was saying. No matter what I set my lower range at, it loses all reading at 40 feet. No thermocline bar, nothing, I can see what’s above 40 but I cannot read a bottom or anything below 40. I’ll try and get a picture when I go out again.

I think next time I go out, which may be in an hour or so, I’m going to focus on graphing and try and at least find some fish. I just have to go shallower than 40 I suppose.

I’ve found baitfish schools and can determine the contours/ comp of the bottom, rock/clay etc, So i’m fairly certain I’m reading from my transducer, I also have a navionics card I saved for in it so I can better find more productive areas, I just don’t think I’ve sunk enough time into it to run across anything that I can identify as a definite bass, like an arch or stacked on bottom, I’m qui comfortable with a jig, I’ve caught multiple 5+’s on so I consider it a confidence bait, I use a wacky rig often as well as a failsafe or when I want to determine if there are smaller fish in an area as well, I’ve recently started throwing a squarebill simply to imitate a bluegill feeding on the mayflies that were hatching not long ago, I’m comfortable with a shakey head, I want to learn a deep crank and start learning some more reactionary techniques. I’ve fished a dropshot once or twice, Swimjigs have been great for bites lately as well, I just have trouble landing fish on them.

You’ve also been very helpful. Thanks for your time!

Oh that was an entirely different scenario, I didn’t want to clutter the general with a new post, so I necroed this one, the lake I primarily fish and am fishing now is Lake Harding, temps in morning push high seventys and midday can drastically increase up to Mid to high eighties.

Honestly? Intimidation factor. I have a Helix 5 gps Di on my dash, nothing on the front, It’s what I’m saving for at the moment, but I can’t seem to find them on a graph, I’ve searched humps and points, but I’ve never really seen anything, I know I should be looking for baitfish or arches, but It’s all just blank, I don’t know if I’m in the wrong place or I simply haven’t found them yet. And my graph doesn’t read past 38 feet. It simply loses all reading past there, even if my lower range is adjusted to lower than that or Auto.

Right, I apologize I misphrased my question, what do I do outside of tournaments, to expand on what I already know, and to grow as an angler? Everyone says there’s nothing like time on the water, but I want to maximize what I learn, I’ve never caught fish I found on my electronics, I can pick apart most shallow cover, but the consistency is there, I think there’s something more to finding bass than just beating random banks With good looking cover and happening upon a couple keepers, this is really my only resource, with covid I can’t really talk to other fisherman, and I have no mentor. So I was looking for advice on how to start building towards consistency and finding patterns. If that all makes sense.

Wouldn’t that hinder progress and keep me from growing as an angler though? I feel like throwing the same baits over and over would limit my maximum productivity in different situations.

@Catt I’m looking to get into college tournaments when I enroll, how do I go about broadening my horizons so to speak, I catch around 1-2 keepers every time I go out, but I don’t really know how to establish a pattern, I’m still relatively new to competitive fishing.

Sooo rookie question, how do O find the main forage? The lake is notorious for strong gamefish, crappie, trophy stripes, and decent largemouth and spots on occasion. It’s fed by the hooch, so I’m assuming shad. I’m stuck with a tournament partner that doesn’t know what topography means, and just beats random banks. There is a surplus of docks, and it seems to be a fairly decent current pulling lake based on the river and dam, so the deep bite should be there. Most fish I heard about spawning were in backs of bays and sloughs. And to respond to @Catt, I’m only 17. So I’m new to the tourney scene. The slumps kinda always there lol. Just doing tourneys to talk to some oldtimers and glean some knowledge. What I learn is worth my 20$ entry fee. But I would like to make a good showing.

I’ve got a tournament coming this saturday, and I’m not hitting on anything guys. Super clear for the lake 4-6 feet. Temps in lower 70s. Fish in early post spawn. Lake is called Lake Harding. Any advice would be appreciated.

I can’t stand in it sadly, but I will keep everything else in mind. Can I fish other ways if all the big bass are covered with anglers? Supossed to be 50+ anglers on a 100 acre lake.

@Catt @WRB So I went and prefished today, skunked, and I come in to the shop, boys caught a 8.8 and a 9.7 today on beds. I’ve never fished the spawn before from a kayak or boat. Please if anyone has any advice I would appreciate it.

F1 Tiger Bass, Northern strain and Florida strain mix supposedly. Edit, if anyone feels like some reference on size of these bass, check out the Lee County Lake FB page. This guy zack is killing 6+s everyday.

I fished some as a kid, mostly catfishing with my dad. But he was never really into bass, I found rhis website around two years ago now, and I’ve been sucking in information ever since. My dad was diagnosed with a terrible terminal illness, ALS, early last year, rendering him immobile and fishing is my way of reliving those memories, although in a different manner. I was 14 when I started and I won’t go back. I had no mentor, all my learning was online. The internet as a whole has been an invaluable resource and I couldn’t really get on the water and fish because I had no one to take me. So I read and learned. I fish tournaments and place fairly well now, and I contribute almost all of my experience to hours of Bassresource and Youtube.

There we go. Finally got back into my actual account. This is Logan. I will update you guys from this one. Thanks again for the advice.

What is the difference between certain strains of largemouth? The way they look? I’ve noticed Florida strain seem to fight harder and look darker. But I would like to hear from those who really know.

After four days of nothing but grinding, a dink finally broke my skunk. Been fishing from sunup to sundown. Rough lake.

@Boomstick @WRB Finally got one as the sun was setting.

Hey @WRB sorry to bother yu again but I went out again this morning, (it’s where i’m at now), and these bass are eating these 1 inch baitfish and chasing them across the top of the water in the back of this cove but I can’t get them to eat? I got a bite on a wacky rig under a tree but didn’t hook up. Any advice?

All good man. @WRB I looked at the fishing report, and it doesn’t make much sense to me. It uses markers that I can’t seem to find. And it’s a week old. But it also says that the fish have been on road beds? Is that like spawn beds or similar?