TriStateBassin106

More topwater, more specifically buzzbait fishing.

May so far has been on fire! here in New Jersey we're finally in the heat of the spawn, caught more fish in three days this past week than I did in all of April!! Bunch of fish on beds and cruising around at my lakes! Including this first fish which was close to 3lbs on a bed! Mostly caught on senkos and chatterbaits, almost had my first buzztoad fish but I didn't set the hook right.

Nice job Mike! I've been using the chatterbaits for about 3 years now. I didn't know the big deal about them until I got my first fish on it! The more and more bites you get on them you'll start to get a groove going!

800 or so dollars probably, I've only been hardcore bass fishing for 4 years.

Black n blue 5inch senko. Fished wacky style!

I use Columbia PFG Terminal tackle fishing shirts. They have a version with a hoodie and one without. I usually wear it in when the temps are around 58 degrees or higher in the morning and then gets warmer in the afternoon. Keeps me nice and cool. I also wear them in the heat of the summer since they have UV protection. They're around 40 dollars.

Had a good week of fishing, finally starting to catch bass again here after a 2 week skunk and also had some fun fishing for trout in the creek on our season opener here in the Garden State

I fish alone 70% of the time but I have a group of friends I fish with and they're always fun to hang out with and talk to especially if the fishing is slow or really hot and we're all getting on them. Personally if I had to prefer I would say fishing alone or fishing with someone who's also not a heavy chatterbox is preferred.. I'm more intune with the fishing and usually do better in terms of catching.

Spawn is coming up here in NJ, this is a good thread to bring back since most of the country is about to be in/already are in the spawn.

A-jay you nailed it right on the head, that's basically my same philosophy about trailer length for all jigs it all goes with how long the skirt is. Trimmed skirt = trimmed trailer etc. ?

First few bass of the year for me. Both were caught in that late march early april timespan, bite has been brutally tough for me since then, water won't warm up.

I don't throw trailers on spinnerbaits but I always have some kind of trailer hook. Chatterbaits and trailers are like bread and butter. They go perfect together, I use the Yamamoto Zako for a baitfish presentation and sometimes a rage menace grub if I want a more compact size, I rig the menace vertical.

Yup. I throw the zman weedless heads in my lake that has that slimy dead algae on the bottom. I use the heads with the weedguards and the weedless EWGs. I personally prefer the weedguard one better for my situation, I also throw a open hook ned head on the weedlines of hydrilla at one of my ponds I fish.. I use the 1/10oz size and 1/6oz if I'm fishing deeper water.

I own a 10e NXT, it there's an opportunity to pick up a bass raider take it man. These boats are extremely hard to find at the moment. The NXT big difference is its a different color and has upgraded seats.

So far the bass in this particular pond aren't that big most are around the 1 to 2lb range because it had to be restocked but I've tried the war eagle finesse spinnerbait fished slow and a keitech on a owner flashy swimmer. I'm probably gonna downsize my jerkbaits at this point because I've been throwing 110s

What are your tactics/strategies for fishing pockets of hydrilla in the early spring? One of my ponds has this stuff all over it and in the summer time it will come to the surface but right now it's all submerged in pockets near the edges of the bank and the water temps finally got to 51 degrees. So far I've been trying spinnerbaits and paddletails fished slowly and haven't had any luck. Also tried a rat l trap through the grass and a jerkbait fished along the edges. Any suggestions as the water continues to slowly warm up?

Absolutely, I'm a big bladed jig guy and have a bunch in my boxes. Here are some of my most popular colors. I only really throw green pumpkin and some kind of black n blue. I also throw white and chartreuse colors in ponds/lakes that have no shad in them. It's up to you to see what works in what conditions and water clarity, but yes black n blue and green pumpkins are a must for skirt colors! Hope that helped!

My apologies everyone for not clarifying on the phrase tandem in the post, for me it's always been the classic willow in front and the small colorado blade in the back, that was what I was referring to, some guys said you're better off with fishing a double willow this time of year slow and others say a tandem willow/Colorado is a better alternative.

What's better for early spring in clear to stained water? A double willow fished slow or do it all tandem blades? I usually fish Colorados this time of year but I'll be fishing more waterbodies that are clear to slighty stained. Or does it not matter what style I throw as long as it's fished slow ?

I can't relate I live in NJ. I miss open water...

I haven't caught a bass since October 15th. I went fishing that friday afternoon and caught 6 bass and later that night sadly a family member of mine passed away from illness. All my follow up trips after that have been skunk after skunk, it kinda spooked me out to be honest that before my relative passed the fishing was amazing but right after it just completely shut down.

Suspending jerkbait fished slow would work best for you! Maybe even a flatsided crankbait?

It's part of the game. I definitely lowered the amount of times I got skunked this past season from experience and change of tactics but sometimes there's nothing you can do about it. The fish call the shots some days. In my opinion we need to get skunked every once and a while. It makes it fun and fresh and you get to brainstorm what to do right next time you're on the water.

I kept busy this winter and it saved me from madness, it was 50 degrees today in NJ so we're getting there. It's almost over fellas...