txchaser

10 acre lake, northern and probably hybrid fl/no bass, 15ft deep, lots of shallows dock, standing wood temps have been 70-90 for the last week or so, beginning to dip down into high 60's Thursday 76-95 15mph steady Friday 50-84 3/4" rain early AM, 15mph steady Saturday 43-69 partly cloudy, 12mph AM, down to 8mph afternoon <-fishing this No idea whether they will be lit up from it cooling off, or shut down by it. At the moment I'm inclined to work the dock and the shallow water with both finesse and oversized offerings (big spook, 8" extra-fat worm, 68, etc) and see what shows up. Part of what I'm sorting out too is that the lake needs some serious culling, but the lake record is over 9, so perhaps I can motivate something bigger to get off its ass and come eat. Trying to break the chatterbait/senko/buzzbait/swimmer/frog combo that serves me well, but leaves me wondering what I missed. recent report as maybe it's useful Last weekend at few small ponds/lakes of similar size the active fish were very shallow or within sight of very shallow, and keyed on hollowbody frogs when there were weed mats to hide under, and swimming stuff within a few feet of the bank where there were no in the weeds. Some fish out deep, but they were spotty and would only bite offerings that took no energy to eat. Two fish coughed up shad when caught, one about 2", one about 4". Funny thing though, couldn't buy a bite on a white fluke.

A few thoughts that may be helpful: 1) so far when I see red in the water column it is most likely wood 2) wide cone first, you are probably getting a lot of half-returns where you are getting part of the fish. In 8 FOW use narrow to check out something specific or map an edge, but mostly run wide or medium until you see something interesting. 3) as far as I can tell the fish icons are fantasies 4) the lakebook site is pretty good, and I notice things on there that for some reason I didn't see on the phone. Definitely worth reviewing your logs on the site when you get home. 5) You didn't ask, but thickness of the arch will tell you size of the fish.

At the farm pond this weekend there was a lone stick a few feet from the bank about six inches out of the water. One wily little guy had figured out that it was a high-percentage dragonfly landing spot and just sat there and waited for the next one to land. Was fun watching him jump up and grab dragonflies for a couple of hours while I fished.

There are two elite models, the regular and the P/F. The regular looks to be targeted at long casts. P/F has differently tuned brakes, but it has been working fine for me just fishing it like a regular baitcaster too. Tatula SV is targeted at lighter lures, skipping, lots of control. Seem to work great across all applications.

This is where I started with the Fuego/Tatula SV/Elite/150 and it worked for me. As my thumb gets better I back the mag setting down, as the lure gets more aerodynamic relative to its weight I back it down, if I'm casting into the wind I (hopefully) remember to go up. Someone mentioned that the magforce doesn't like whippy casts - I agree with that - if I try to make a short overhand cast (when I should be sidearming it) - I get more backlashes there than bomb casting.

I store buzzbaits and spinnerbaits in small plastic worm bags from here (or from the same company but on amazon): https://www.clearbags.com/spec/fishing-industry-packaging/worm-bags Then they fit just about anywhere. One alternative I learned about on here that I've used too - cut a slit between two compartments in a plano, and so the body of the spinnerbait is on one side, and the blades on the other.

I haven't thrown anything light on it, but on a normal cast I don't see much difference between it and my other tatulas. If I recall correctly it's mostly about how it works at low speed/end of a cast, and on a normal cast I'm thumbing it at the end anyway. If it helps, I have to respool it because I got too much backer on and was spooling the braid all the way down to the backer. Haven't done much pitching with it yet so can't help on that front. I just put it on my jig rod and treat it like a normal reel.

As an alternative, I bought the fenwick hmg travel because it has multiple tips with it, M and MH. Roughly the same price.

-Was that on wide/med/narrow? Narrow is really accurate and detailed. Wide is pretty noisy and can return some nonsense but is good for a rough cut. or maybe weeds sparse. throw something with a treble down there on that bright green hump and see what it is. -if your sensitivity is cranked up too high you might be seeing suspended particles? this is the most likely case for the yellow junk -deeper support has been pretty good - email them the scan and ask -go look at that scan on lakebook, sometimes I can see a lot more on the bigger screen -Tom is right, turn the fishID off - it's distracting and doesn't tell you much -that pile of arches might also be a light brushpile, although usually you'll get some orange in the return if it is brush of any size.

Somewhat related to this thread, is there a reference point for (as an example) what diameter a 12lb line should be when someone says 12lb line without saying brand? Maybe big game or something like that? Perhaps something the reel manufacturers expect when they say x yards of y lb. test?

@jpurdue ??

https://www.mustangsurvival.com/en_US/products/flotation/inflatable-pfds/hit-inflatable-pfd-MD318302.html I got this one, specifically because it's a type II vs a type III when inflated. More likely to roll me on my back if I'm knocked out, which is why I wear it in the first place. The one in A-jay's picture is slightly different, and is supposed to be better if you get thrown out of the boat at high speed, which is not my use case.

https://www.lunkerlore.com/single-post/2019/04/24/The-Impact-of-Wind-On-Catch-Rates Posting this because Josh's research was really good on lots of what is discussed in this thread. The book was an eye-opener for me. Includes winners like which kinds of lures have a higher likelihood of catching big bass, what's the go-to color (not what I expected), whether barometric pressure makes a difference, etc. Here's how I'm starting to view the world, as a relatively new guy (about a year now) of serious bass fishing: Opinions and Marketing <-- Lots and lots of this around Anecdotes/Stories <- Less of this than the above, single data points, but sometimes can help challenge what I/we think I/we know. Or randomness can reinforce things that aren't consistently true. Shrug. Opinions and Anecdotes from "knowledgable sources" < - lots of this here on BR, thank you all for the insights and being willing to challenge the common knowledge or reinforce it where neccessary. Decide for yourself who you consider knowledgable sources. Statistically valid data < - there's almost none of this out there. It doesn't help the bait monkey at all to suggest that three lures are probably responsible for 75% of all the big fish caught. I made that up, but the chart in HPF was eye-opening. I'll never forget the quip about berkely determining that fish will bite a craw body with no claws and legs more often than one with claws and legs but that no one would buy something that looks like a skinny potato. Buy the book, it costs what a couple of bags of senkos cost, seriously. It won't always be "right" but that's how statistics works. What I -do- think it does is give us an advantage. On to my latest deep dive, learning how to catch florida bass that are inactive/post-frontal. Very humbling.

@jpurdue has some pretty good data about this question. The thread was about solunar but the specific post talked about his research and days of the week.

I saw a video that helped a bunch, haven't had an unravel since - important part was wetting your fingers and protecting the knot and line, and hitting the braid tag with the blue flame part of a lighter. Balls it up a little and locks it down. Haven't had an unravel since, in what's probably 100 knots. Possible that you are over-tightening and stressing the flouro beyond it's point of elasticity? For what it's worth, my experience with 6 & 8 lb leader is that it's so finicky as to be nearly unusable. My hunch is this - when the whole line is flouro there's plenty of elasticity, but the shock of the no-stretch braid is just too much for it, at least at my skill level. I've also noticed that the really smooth braids are much harder to get color change or lock-in on; for a week or so I've been wetting before I cinch and it seems to be helping. Seems backwards but.. I was out of other ideas. Bit of a rant but personally I'm starting to work out which rods I can ditch the braid-to-leader setup, because I'm getting tired of fiddling with it... I'm habitually throwing into the gnarliest stuff I can find (thanks BR, learned that here) because where I've been fishing, that's often where the fish are. And I've learned to check the line more often (thanks BR) and I'm often getting nicks, rough spots, teeth wear, etc. I don't really enjoy fiddling with it all the time, on or off the water. But I'm a little wary of the nasty backlash problem, which braid seems to be very forgiving about. Little by little I'm getting better at jamming my thumb down quick, but I've in no way mastered it, especially when I keep backing down the mag drag just a little. Sufix Advance Mono seems less rubber-bandy than the other lines I've tried so that's helping.

As the title says, I'm looking for a hollow-body frog alternative to a yellow magic popper. The bass were dialed in to a struggling shad presentation yesterday, and were choking the bait in the back of the throat. Made for some really nasty hook removal projects. Maybe it's just as simple as pick a white popping frog and stick some bb's in it? Maybe not, the tail feather is pretty subtle on the YM.

One thing that occasionally gives me some line dig is after a really hard hookset or a tough fight. Don't bomb the next cast, just put it out there gently.

It's not tackle, but some of the members here did a pretty good job of making the point. And this particular model seems to be one of the few type II's.

Lake Fork Tackle makes a weighted wacky rig, but on the 1/16 black the weight seems to be in the hook itself. So a couple of bucks for a metal (aluminum? very light) ring that fits the 5" perfectly. Use whatever hook you like. I was really tired of the o-rings chopping the senkos in half. Now, they don't last forever (a head shake above water will still throw the worm) but they last at least twice as long and you don't have to fiddle. http://lftlures.com/catalog/wacky-hook-weight-system

I had a good experience with Fins braid at @WRB's suggestion. They recently launched a new braid, "sling braid" and I got some. I was a little on the fence on diameter, as it seems a little thinner than others at the similar lb test. In particular, the 30lb is .009 and the 50lb is .012. This compares to Sufix 832 30lb at .011. 50lb seemed a little big, so I got the 30. Am I overthinking this, or am I about to have a bad experience with the 30lb on baitcasters, because it is so thin and will dig?

Any update on the TW code? It accepts it but always shows as qty 0 so it effectively doesn’t do anything.

What's in the article above is simple and laid out really clearly, and you'll get comfortable with bottom presentations and catch fish while you are doing it. I'd add a few things: 1) Rig the Fat Ika with the tentacles towards the line. 2) if you are going to buy hooks, get owner centering pin hooks in 3/0 light wire for the senko. Made for the senko, baits last longer and the shimmy on the fall is nice. And Owner 4/0 Wide Gap Plus for the Ika. Neither of these baits need weight. After you get comfortable and successful with the retrieve in the article, start focusing on casting/pitching the same lures to very specific spots - weed edges, laydowns, anything that might hold a bass. As an example, I've had great results casting a senko on top of a grass mat, dragging across it, and just barely rolling it over the edge so it can fall straight down. Everything under the mat is waiting to see if it looks tasty. Then try bringing the senko back in the middle of the water column like a fluke - twitch-twitch-pause. If you do that where you can see it in the water you'll get a better feel for how to twitch it and how it darts around. After that you can experiment with adding weight and changing plastics. Texas rig Rage Craw and Zoom Trick worms are great places to go next, with 1/4 oz bullet weight. Since you are on the bank, if you decide to try the chatterbaits and spinnerbaits mentioned above, consider getting weedless versions since you don't have a good way to get them unstuck. And don't forget to put a trailer on them.

Maybe a hijack, maybe on point... What's the best auto-inflatable out there? The high risk scenario for me is fishing alone, knocked out cold, so a manual inflator isn't going to cut it.

I have and have worn the Huk, Simms, Orvis. The Huk is definitely cooler than the others. I bought a two-pack of the hanes cool and dry mentioned above on amazon for 18.00. Lots of colors and great reviews. And I just bought an iso-chill (because Texas). Haven't tried either yet.

Magnum Caffeine Shad, unweighted or with 1/16. Softer, heavier, nice tail wag on the fall. The important question though, does it catch bigger fish? I have no idea. The little tip flick doesn't do much though... try a two foot yank and both it and the zoom will dance.