schplurg

Finesse to me is all about presentation, not the bait. But what do I know? Still a rookie, but I've understood it to mean trying to get specific action out of a bait with slow and subtle movements. Maybe the difference between dragging a bait along the bottom and popping it up a certain amount so that the tail jiggles, or the skirt blooms, or whatever. Perhaps bringing it slowly and deliberately past a precise target location rather than just burning it through the water. I think I've tried to finesse a crank bait. Bring it down to depth, then pausing it or slowing down near some cover and teasing it along. <shrug>.

Just an added note - many of us including myself have said "as long as it's legal" but there are exceptions to that, personally I mean. If someone is constantly taking a legal 5 fish limit out of a very small body of water I may not like it, legal or not. Not much I can do, of course. I suppose a friendly comment maybe but I never have. Haven't really come across a reason to yet though. People here usually take carp which is fine by me. Laws aren't always well thought out either so just because it's a law doesn't mean it's a good idea. I live in Cali and we have no shortage of ridiculous laws and regs. Just food for thought

I was told, perhaps here or perhaps Garmins site, that a 500 watt RMS or less transducer is okay to run out of the water. Anything higher may run too hot. Don't take my word for it though.

Me too, except I'd add a dark color one too. I don't care too much about brand. If one bass doesn't like my bait's wiggle another one will I figure. They aren't all the same. Note: I'm still a beginner and I'm cheap.

I use that all the time, was wondering if it had a name. Thanks!

I went bank fishing yesterday with one rod and one lure. I had an hour to fish and tied one on and went for it. Brought the backpack just in case. It's awesome just walking and covering water without "doubt" entering your mind. Well I had doubt that I'd catch fish but I rarely do there anyways. But I mean I didn't even consider changing baits - it was kind of "freeing" in a way. I liked it. Bait of choice was a crankbait. These banks are good for one.

I wish that would happen to me. Having a rough season so far - I'll take a fish anyway I can right now.

I weed whacked in flip flops once. Once that I remember anyways. Thank goodness it was only a battery operated one. I looked down expecting my toe to be sliced but it wasn't. If it were a gas one at high RPM I'd be short one big toe.

Hey thanks man! I have a new one but I didn't catch any fish. Talked to a Sheriff about Anderson Lake being drained and how that would affect the creek/ponds. It's the only interesting thing in the video probably. Having a rough start this year. Going out to Calero in the kayak Sunday so hopefully I'll have something to show for it. As for the topic I tried my Dingers the past few times out but nothing has worked yet (it ain't the worms). I actually prefer worms without the weedless slot. I find that jabbing the hook in a worm keeps the point hidden better. I rig 'em sideways or upsidedown because of it. Good cheap baits.

Just a heads up - my local Walmart is out of stock on a lot of items but you can order online from them. I ordered almost 2 dozen crank baits to stock up, most Ozarks and a few Cotton Cordells. I like to use the cheap baits where barbless hooks are required. I have a Plano filled with just those for my local ponds.

That's pretty much the answer. With my phone I can press a button and say "take a photo" and it will in about 4 seconds, or you can set a timer. You just need a little tripod or velcro, as suggested above. If you're on shore - well I have a bunch of GoPro mounts that I can also use with a phone with some easy modifications. Clamp it to a nearby tree branch, set it on a rock. Be prepared so you don't have to mess around after the catch. I have my phone and scale ready to go. I wear a GoPro so I only will take a separate photo if it's something special.

The "but I target shoot" argument falls flat to me. Other arguments do not, but that one is meaningless. I wanna target shoot a bazooka. So what if some people use them to blow each other up? Seriously man, everyone just wants to ruin a good time. I'm familiar with and have owned guns. I have a gun safe in my room. I could see carrying in the woods bank fishing certain places. But a boat on a lake? I say again, I wouldn't fish (or live) anywhere that I thought it was necessary to do so. And I tend to think that most people are pretty stupid, especially on the water, so it doesn't fill me with confidence to know some boaters carry. Then again, 6 out of every 10 gun deaths in 2017 were suicides, almost 24,000. I'm not really worried about being shot when most people are shooting themselves. More fish for me! https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/08/16/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/

When I was married my wife insisted I pay to have my hair cut. I'm freaking bald! He did the same thing I did - clippers, except he'd use two different size guards and I only used one. He did do better touch up work though probably. You paying 3 times as much for clippers will still save you money. But if your wife insists you return to the shop post Covid - well doing it yourself could become quite costly in other ways

My guess: the tolls did not decrease now that 500 less people need to be paid.

This one is a little different but something that taught me a lesson. Early this year I went to Uvas Lake here. Me and a friend walked around to the other side, a little over a mile. Bank fishing. About 10 minutes into fishing I had a bad back spasm and I was on the ground. I was just walking on flat ground and boom - down. Long story short, I was eventually able to hobble back to the truck under my own power. My friend carried my backpack. I was close to not being able to make the walk back at all. It hurt like a word I can't say on this forum, a bunch of 'em! The pain was excruciating and it took a long time. Like all my fishing trips, I have it on video and it hurts watching it. If I were alone and fishing closer to dusk I could have been stuck there all night. There are animals on that side of the lake. I've seen torn up deer carcasses and all that. Coyotes and mountain lions are there. Kinda freaked me out that something like that can happen any moment. So now: - I carry my kayak whistle with me even on shore. That would help me at this location - there are homes near enough to hear me. I will get a horn for this and the yak. - I tell someone where I'm going and when they should start worrying. - I have a minimal emergency kit. Alcohol or peroxide, napkins and tape if not bandages, lip balm, and a headlamp. Not much really. - I tread more carefully. - make sure my phone is charged. May not get a signal out there, but you may at some point. - I have better hiking shoes. Waaaay less slips and falls now. I've fallen hard many times on steep banks. Hurts but makes for a good laugh for the videos LOL. I fell once landing a fish and I swear I heard it laugh. But what if I break a leg? While fishing, think about what would happen if you got injured right at that moment. Plan accordingly.

Not bass, but I caught the same bluegill off a bed in maybe 5 minutes. Was goofing around one day with a bunch of them fighting for beds with each other three feet off shore. I'd never seen bedding fish of any kind fighting for spots like that. After releasing it the second time it would flee from my bait so I stopped messing with the 'gills at that point. But as others have said, bedding and spawning is a different situation. I antagonized that little fish into biting.

Some of that money goes to schools, just not nearly as much as they promised while trying to convince the voters to allow it. If it did, maybe people would be smart enough not to play the lottery in the first place? Raising money through gambling seems a little wrong as well, at least for the state. Maybe the state should sell cocaine too to help finance hospitals? Here in Cali we tried to recall a gas tax a few years ago. The state put out propaganda ads saying that "Roads must be repaired with the tax money so first responders can get where they need to go safely" What a crock. They whip out the ol' "first responders" thing now to get what they want. Who'd vote against first responders? pfft. Heart-tugging postcards sent to us voters with tired dirty firemen featured on them, pleading with already overtaxed taxpayers that they can't drive on our roads to help us unless we pay more for gas. Then when you go to vote, the ballot is called (paraphrased) "Money for road repair for first responders" instead of "recall of the gas tax we promised we would not force upon you without a vote" Voters fell for it. Then after the hoodwinked voters did not repeal the tax, the money was reapportioned to be spent on other things. I'll put my soapbox away now. If I was catching fish this year I'd post less, but I'm not so.... LOL

The older I get the less I want to be around random people. Someone mentioned a person buying lottery tickets in front of you. I wanna tell them how stupid they are, and I want to tell the owner of the store to get a vending machine for them. Gawd I hate that more than anything! Some real Einsteins there. Hurry, my beer's getting warm!!! "Hmm how much are those? Can I get two of the "Pick Your Pocket" scratchers, and three "Rip-Offs" and maybe one of the "I'm A Sucker" ones...." Have you ever met anyone who does NOT claim that they are "ahead" in the lottery? And have you ever seen anyone in a 7-11 who looks like they can afford to play? The state won't let us play blackjack where the odds are actually relatively decent, but playing the lottery with odds that are 1,398,664,511,967 to 1? No problem! Sorry, I hate everything about state lotteries. Even the revenue the states earn is squandered away/ripped off.

What is this "hair" you all speak of? I trim some fuzzy looking stuff off my head every now and then - well the sides anyways. And my back - joy.

No. Way too many people. Could only bank fish until a week or so ago. Too many lakes were/are closed that I want to kayak in. I like the empty freeways but no, not good for my fishing at all. I've worked through it the whole time so my fishing time didn't change. The choice and quality of where I can fish has changed. Tackle is harder to find too, though I'm stocked up now.

I caught the same striper twice within 20 minutes in the Delta. I know this because it still had my broken off hook in it's mouth with a few inches of line tied to it. I actually only saw him the second time. We were both happy about the second catch - I got my hook back and he got it out of his mouth. Was using frozen anchovies from the bank. It is possible that it was a different fish, but very unlikely I think. Same hook, same line, same spot.

But even "Fat BassGuy" (censor) wanted to eat "the baby", not Dr Evil! Small is tasty!

Can you report something like that? I always have a camera on when I fish so I'd have evidence if I needed it. Gonna kayak again soon myself. Nothing new though of course. My step-dad was run over by a boat while he was floating in the water with his waterski on. The woman who ran over him never saw him - she was pulling a skier with no other observer in the boat, so of course was looking behind her. He held his ski up high and everyone yelled to her but nothing mattered. Straight over the top of him. I should post the photo of him sitting on shore with his wooden water ski in many pieces spread out on a blanket in front of him. He was uninjured. If I can find the photo I will. Was over 50 years ago (he's still my stepdad). When the driver of his own boat pulled him out of the water he "thought his legs were going to have been cut off by the prop" Perhaps mandatory classes or licensing would be a good idea one of these decades? Even Kalifornia doesn't do that so probably not, eh?

Congrats on the PB! I like to hold the fish in the water and grip it by the lip rather loosely. When the fish is strong enough to pull free on its own I figure it'll be fine. If the fight was short and the fish wasn't out of the water long I don't really worry about it, but I like to get releases on video anyways so I don't usually just toss them back in. I've had fish swim away slowly that weren't tuckered out, I figure they're just tripping out on the fact that the big monster (me) is letting them swim away. "holy cow what just happened to me!?" The first 10 seconds of this video is one of my favorite releases (eegads the thumbnail image is scary though! That's me on the right...):

Insurance paying off a local service makes sense. I remember as a kid my Dad had v-drives (he was a boat mfg so we were always boating) and those old hot boats broke down a lot in general. Someone was always around to help if we needed a tow. Conversely I remember us towing boats as well. Of course there will be times where nobody can help you like that. Thanks for the responses.