txchaser

Gilly - a lot of the spots I fish a gill is primary forage. We'll see how it does vs the geecrack. Hella craw will get a shot. Could make an interesting trailer for a chatterbait, and we'll see how it looks on a jig vs the rage craw. Sometimes the gills wont leave the rage craws alone and I end up chewing through packs. Stunna - slight sink seems different enough than the vision 110 that there might be some great situations for it. Or it'll just sit there since I don't end up on many jerkbait bites. Poop bait - I forget the name. Looks like a craw with the claws off. If the berkely research is correct, that thing should be pretty productive. The new Gamakatsu worm weights might make for a better presentation with CPS-style hooks as it might cover the knot and the top of the bait. The evergreen swim jigs are great, so the evergreen buzzbait gets a shot. But the brutal part? Large and mini-blade chatterbaits. Across colors, weights, stealth or regular, weedless or not, I have... a chatterbait problem. And fiddling with new ones like the stealth red/GP, or very heavy ones has been productive. So I'm sure I'll end up with at least a few colors of each of them, and I'm super curious to see where the mini fits in vs a colorado underspin. If the big blade does what I'm hoping, it's an underwater buzzbait. On the other hand, I can't make sense of the backing line they are selling? Costs about what Big Game costs but only has that one use? Maybe I'm missing something.

I'm still learning the alabama rig. I'm catching fish on it, sometimes anyway. -I can certainly draw the connection that if bass are chasing the schools hard enough to push them up to the surface, the a-rig has done well for me. -So far, smaller/JR a-rigs have been more productive -Slower/deeper better than faster/shallower -Steady gets me more bites than pulsing or stopping -Sometimes they are biting the key or different bait, sometimes they are biting anything but that. As an example last weekend they wouldn't bite the one bait with chartreuse-dipped tail, so I replaced it. But mostly I feel like I'm just guessing and flailing around, especially with no livescope or 360. If I see shad I start throwing it around. What were your breakthroughs where it was productive enough for you that you started thinking about getting a dedicated rod for it?

Somewhat of a "thanks BR" and somewhat of a recap post. A few members have mentioned over the last few months that you are unlikely to find any bass below the thermocline. And one member (probably @WRB) said that the bigger fish hang around the thermocline. So I paid attention, and when I fished Saturday my first objective was to find the thermocline by cranking up the sensitivity on my electronics. Looked like around 12-14ft. And saw a decent amount of baitfish and other goings on in the 7-9ish foot range. And the occassional school blowing up shad on the surface, which I had seen in the prior weekend. I expected that was going to stop around 10am, and it did. Well that eliminated a very substantial part of this lake, as unless I was going to punch mats or chase the schoolies, I had a good depth range to fiddle with. I don't fish cranks deeper than a squarebill very often, but this seemed like a good setup to go play and learn. I found a big deep flat that wasn't obvious on the map (the map is... not wrong, but it is misleading). And the flat had deep on one side and big weeds on the other, but it was deep enough that there wasn't a ton of vegetation - anything shallower than 7" or so gets weed-choked very quickly. Net net, I caught a bunch of fish, and sure enough the bigger ones were right at that thermocline depth. The biggest one went 6lbs 14oz, and was the most vicious strike I've ever had from a largemouth... I thought it was a striper! Nearly took the rod out of my hand, peeling drag trying to run deeper, etc. And the remainder of the fish came from fishing deeper/slower using a A-rig and a white chatterbait. Every now and then they'd come up to chase the a-rig, but if I kept it low and slow there were a lot of bites. Recap - 1) using the thermocline eliminated water 2) fishing the thermocline got me a bigger fish 3) knowing where the bait was gave me a top depth too Bonus, paying really close attention to finding spots that looked the same explained why I had a crazy-good day this winter... I never could figure out why those fish were where they were, I sort of lucked into the pattern this winter and just went with it. But I couldn't explain why it only happened on that spot. What would I have done differently? Tied on a carolina rig and tried that in the same spots too. I suppose I wasted too much time trying to make a frog bite happen over the weed beds, and I had low confidence in a t-rig given how keyed these fish were on shad.

Kistler Helium Light Medium Heavy or Tatula Elite Finesse, either with a tatula SV or as of tomorrow a zillion.

Initial Thoughts: Review of Teckel Sprinker Frog vs. Booyah Toad Runner vs. Homemade Teckel Sprinker Frog - Fishing Tackle - Bass Fishing Forums (bassresource.com) This frog, probably by a factor of 10. But I fish it more than any other topwater too. I'd rather be throwing a buzzbait as average weights are way higher, but often the grass doesn't allow for it.

Your rod is at least one power too light for what you are throwing. Chatterbait and a trailer will be around 3/4 oz unless it is a tiny trailer. As an example, I've been using a Daiwa MH rod for 3/8 and 1/2 oz chatterbaits and I have decided I really need to go to a heavy.

A couple weeks ago I lost a fish doing pretty much the same thing. Fishing in a lake that has all the right stuff for a big fish, but only had one over seven after something like 20 trips. I know this lake really well and I had been hunting for a bigger fish for a while, but no luck. On this particular trip there were a few alligator gar out, and they were being aggressive. Wife had already lost a lure to one. It felt like a gar was nipping at the back of my chatterbait as I was working it through a grass flat by deep water... it was a really different feeling. Anyway, I thought to myself "I'mma get this dang fish, watch this" which is a cousin to "hold my beer" - I hadn't thought through what would happen if I get could get a hook in it, but that's beside the point. Anyway, I got a nip that felt nice and solid, and full body set that hook and proceeded to try to ski that gar back to the boat, figuring it was just a little hook tip in bone. Only.... all of the sudden it breaks the water and it was the biggest bass I've seen in this lake, by a lot. It was the one. The one I had been hunting for. I was so surprised by it not being a gar AND being a big (really big, but I can't weigh it in the water) bass, I just stared at it slackjawed. Well, you know how the story ends, she shook that head and all the slack I gave her was just what she needed to throw the bait. Shake-shake-shake-DANG. Never froze before, and I hope it doesn't happen again. I know where she lives, so maybe I'll get another shot.

Yeah if yall have rain like we had up here, it's kind of messed up the patterns. Going after spots around the gill beds might be the best shot. But I've seen a bit of the same thing. Only other place would be buried up in the weeds (assuming there are some), but unwilling to come out for topwater.

Three situations have delivered better fish for me in north texas on smaller waters, at least since the summer pattern showed up (water here is now over 90). It seems like the summer pattern came on hard and fast, and the only thing showing up on topwater is dinks, probably chasing dragonflies or something like that. Which is a drag because post-spawn was epic on topwater. All the fun summer stuff like buzzbaits and frogs has been a bust so far. 1) If there's a creek channel mouth on that pond, a big worm deep and/or deep cranks. Biggest since the summer transition was on a big worm, but deep cranks delivering decent weight. 2) Soft plastic swimmers like a swim senko, fished real low around isolated weeds clumps, and or staged deeper from the bluegill beds. 3) Steep dropoff from a flat. Might be up on it, might be just off it. Mid-column, mostly chatterbait.

Hooked a roughly 36 inch catfish on a flutter spoon. There was no way that thing was ever making it in the net, and that net has seen some big-ol bass. This thing was rolling and twisting on the surface and my buddy kept trying to get it in there. It was never going to happen. But I still give him grief about it.

50/50 chance when I take a new reel out the mag brakes are set a zero, and daiwa-style, there's not really any spool tension at all. My thumb is getting better at catching it, so it's not causing cutouts anymore... but for a while there I'd be all excited about playing with a new toy and blow it up bad enough on the first cast to just put it back for the rest of the day. One early morning a buddy and I were fishing, it had just gotten light enough to cast and see the bait. I cast a frog up next to some tules and had planned to just soak it a bit. The bite the day before had been really slow and finicky. So I relaxed, leaned over and picked up my coffee and took a nice long swig. And then I hear "Hey, um, Txchaser... I think you have a fish!" I look over, the frog is nowhere to be seen, and the line is running off. Fortunately I was able to get a good set and brought in a four-pounder. Felt like a dummy all day though. Usually the equipment failure is my brain.

I wonder how closely the blue wavelength blocker glasses would approximate what a bass sees. I'm really interested to see if there's enough in the hue differences of (for example) black and blue for it to be visible.

There are some presentations where a specific rod is nice, but not really a make-or-break kind of deal. Frogging isn't one of them. Best you could do is look for a finesse-y frog with thin hooks, but you are still trying to drive two hooks in the toughest part of the fish. If you can swing getting a heavy/F rod it will make a big difference. If not, the advice above about trying a toad instead is good advice.

I bought a truck mostly to carry tackle. Sorry, but I have no message of hope. Me: I have 20 packs of rage craws in the only four colors you need for any water in Texas. Why would I need another craw? Monkey: But what if this new brand is "better"? What if they want something slower or faster or less flappy? Dangit, but sometimes the monkey was right, it -is- better. Five colors/sizes of whopper ploppers today, and probably 10 other buzzy spinny topwater things. They wanted a 90 in bluegill. Not the clear bluegill, the one with the white belly. 10 to 1 on that specific thing vs everything else I threw this morning. Here's a clip of the monkey taking his truck out for a spin: This actually helps a little. Ask me about the bag of brush hogs I've been hauling around that are nearly last on my list to actually fish. If I didn't do this it would be six bags. The other thing that helps goes a little like this - Monkey - look at this shakeyhead trick worm video, you can see them underwater. The ones you use aren't as good as these others and you only need four bags, but you better take everything with you so you can test and see just how much better these are. Me - shutup monkey ? , it's too weedy, I haven't used a shakeyhead in a year.

1) Chatterbait 2) Chatterbait (seriously) 3) Keitech Fat 3.8 or Biospawn with an owner flashy swimmer. Does really well in the weeds, and has a little more flash (willow) or noise (colorado) than the swimjig. 4) Toad; I like the Keitech Toads. If you get the Keitechs, a 1/8 oz 3/0 swimbait hook gives it a fall rate about like a senko. Some other thoughts: Intersection of shallow and deep water; depending on the bass season I might be deeper or shallower, but deep (relative to that part of the lake) water nearby may make a difference. My three biggest fish were all within 50 feet of deep water, 4 was 75-100ft , 5 was right next to a weed edge dropoff. If you are catching smaller fish, turn around and cast the other direction. It's not a perfect analogy, but it's been helpful for me in the past - by and large the bigger fish are going to run a little deeper, so maybe there's a feature that is out a little deeper than where you are. Fish that too.

Getting the Mustang Elite HIT helped me a lot. Texas is pretty hot for a lot of the year, and it is light enough that I don't really notice I have it on. And, really important to me is that it is a Type II/V, which gives you a decent shot for rolling over on your back... which is the thing I'm most worried about anyway, is getting knocked out. And something like double the buoyancy of most life jackets. Scout swimmer school got me really comfy in the water, but there are so many things that can go wrong. I'd wear something else underway at speed though, it's not really made for that. IMO every televised event should require at least an auto-vest be worn. It doesn't get in the way, and it sets a good example. More buoyant - check More likely to roll me over - check Not hot - check Price - well, it sucks. But it is cheap insurance.

Hot bluebird saturday this weekend, and still to light wind. Catching fish here and there on random stuff, couldn't put together much pattern besides middle weed edge (two rows of weeds emergent). I needed to start covering some more water, was spending too much time picking stuff apart with too few results, so I start throwing the chatterbait. Game on! Chatterbait was nearly last on the list after catching them on bubba shots, slow-dragged swimbaits, and senkos, and punching and frogging with no results whatsoever...

Jackall Archelon Hollow body, and a hole for a rattle.

☝️ yep this Similar pattern showed up for me post-spawn this year. Started chucking the senko either right on to the bank and dragging it off, or dropping it about 1 ft from the bank and letting it just sit there. And sit there. And sit there. Way longer than I would usually soak a senko. But then it lit up. The day went from no pattern and just junk-fishing, which makes me nuts, to game on.

ok here we go, first cast on this new awesome reel spooled up with new awesome line... bzzzzzzz..... oh man, brakes at zero haven't had to cut it out with scissors yet, but it sure wastes some time, and I sure feel like a doofus when I do it

GP/watermelon red laminate - 955 - is called watermelon/lt watermelon, but in person looks like dark green or GP. And my favorite sleeper color 956, especially when the spring texas craw bite is on.

https://www.amazon.com/Newport-Vessels-Trolling-Battery-Extension/dp/B079M15G7H/ref=sr_1_2?crid=II8MF0OC5UCF&dchild=1&keywords=trolling+motor+wire+extension+kit&qid=1624072179&sprefix=trolling+motor+wire+%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-2 My wire connectors in the head look like this they sell these at lowes home depot etc I think. Not an electrician, but I'm not a fan of those spade connectors for high-draw applications. The kit came with bolts that fit the rings so I could put that connection on serious lock-down, tape it up, tape it again with duct tape.

@MickD I'm curious if 1) you have anything further after some time has elapsed and 2) were you using 8-carrier braid? I ask about #2 because most of it is slick enough I've had to make some tweaks here and there to get good knots with the FG, especially on hard leader.

I think by just caring you are already ahead of most. And it's one thing to have an unavoidable poorly hooked fish, and another thing entirely to boat-flip a fish on to the carpet. For whatever reason that just sets me off.

OR= Outdoor Research https://www.amazon.com/Outdoor-Research-Active-Casting-Fatigue/dp/B078Y36QBT/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=active%2Bice%2Bcasting%2Bgloves&qid=1623983156&sr=8-2&th=1