Luke Barnes

How did I just now find this thread?!?! Ive always been a multi species angler but really dedicated 2021 to bass. No cats or crappie, just bass and some nice sunfish. But I'll go through my gallery and resize some of my biggest catches from other species. I just love to fish and if you see me on the bass threads, I'm getting pretty frustrated with bass fishing so I may break out the crappie jigging rod and the cat rods and of course the camp chair and rod holders! Those are some gorgeous slabs. I want to dedicate more time to crappie this year.

That was me in 2021. The wacky just clicked and I never looked back. Also I'm jealous that you have such a nice lake so close. I have many ponds that have different makeups to them close so that's what I have to experiment with.

I like night fishing in the summer and caught some of my biggest bass on top water at night. Ive actually had decent success with a ned at night so I should try a worm. I think a black and blue Cut'R would work ok. That would definitely help with just feeling and not even line watching.

This was my goal for 2021 and not am I so glad I did. I have so much confidence in a weightless wacky rig now that it wont get left home.

That's my plan after talking on here. Stick with the basics and what I know works. Regain confidence and add in a new technique that i already have everything for. As far as senkos, 2021 I really focused on the wacky rig and it paid off. Its a straight up fish catcher. It will stay in rotation indefinitely.

Thats the plan!!! Get out on the water and have fun and catch some fish.

I wont lie I hate getting skunked and second guess every single decision made that trip so thats why i try to be the best at it I can be. I know its a hobby and relaxing but I also put alot of pressure on myself to catch fish.

That sounds like a great idea but work, kids, wife, house, adulting in general gets in the way alot so I try to maximize my time when I hit the water.

Something that always comes in handy is rope and i would imagine boaters always have some sort of it, but for bank anglers, like me, a length of cord or rope is good for a tourniquet or shelter making in a pinch. Those nylon fish stringers are good for this and if you're keeping fish it serves double duty.

That's part of the reason I lost confidence. I fish ponds that are pressured most of the time so its a challenge for sure. A three bass day is fantastic for me.

Through the suggestions I am going to pick up my Ned rod and not put it down until I feel better about it. I know they get bites so I'm not worried about the lure or presentation, and just work on feel and watching the line. Its my top producer so I will use it every chance I get to get my confidence back then work on the split shot rig. But this year I am not going hog wild buying the newest latest greatest bait and focusing on fishing, not lures.

I never knew there was such a thing. Sounds pretty interesting. I want to fish a split shot rig but ive heard it is one of the hardest to tell you have a bite. I hear over and over how effective it is, not sure where or when, but that it's a solid technique. But if i can't tell i have a bite I doubt i will catch much and get frustrated.

I also get carrying more on a boat than on you walking the bank. If you get stranded in the middle of the lake you might want more than just going to a local pond.

That's what I have been doing, but with chatterbaits and flukes. But my catch count went way down not throwing more finesse and being able to throw a t rig anywhere and everywhere.

So with the wacky I got better at line watching. I should do that with the ned and t rig? I dont actually know how Ned himself fishes it, I just do what I think works. Well I did anyways haha. I know it's such a mental thing because I had so much confidence with these techniques and they worked but now my mind says use something else or you won't catch anything.

I stopped throwing them and when I went back to using them I would get bites but not detect it until it was too late and I swung on nothing. I hesitate because I cant decide if it was a bite or not and so i stopped throwing my best fish catchers.

Ned Rig catches everything for me. Besides largies ive caught bluegill, green sunfish, channel cat, crappie, and snagged a shad. About crapped myself when I was throwing a super spot and had a big walleye latch onto it. That was my first toothy fish and I was worried about getting bit. Sauger on a paddletail, channel on a Rage Blade, crappie on a rage craw. But still no carp and I want to catch one to add to the list!

I have one and only one new thing I'm going to do and that's swim jigs more instead of chatterbaits. I fish pressured ponds mainly and I'm thinking and hoping a swim jig will be more subtle and get an extra bite or two. Other than that, I'm going back to the basics.

That makes alot of sense because I was doing best on t rigs and neds when I was crappie fishing more. But bank fishing for crappie got frustrating so I stopped. You may be onto something with this.... But this is why I havent given jigs or Carolina rig/split shot rig any time. I'm worried I'll waste all day fishing it, have bites, and not be able to tell. I feel I could be missing out on fish.

I always have a sharp knife, sanitizer in the car, and an emergency space blanket. I'm more worried about falling in and being cold and wet than getting a cut or catching a hook to the hand. Especially this time of year, hypothermia will kill you quickly, a cut isn't an immediate threat, so that's how I see it.

I got better at line watching throwing a wacky rig. That was the one take away from 2021 for me. I threw the wacky for the first time and threw it alot so I learned to watch for anything in the line. I need to convert that to the ned and t rig I guess. Because these three techniques have been the most consistent fish catchers for me when I quit experimenting so much!

If I had a boat I would take every last thing with me. But being on the bank in getting tired of taking it all and using 2 rods. But I always, ALWAYS, say I wish I had such and such with me or maybe they were biting this and I brought that. Its all mental with me haha

Ive been reevaluating bass fishing this winter and I'm in the same boat. I have 8 dedicated bass rods, sometimes I keep one rigged for catfish and drop it to 7. But 3-4 are the primary catchers and the othera are situational. I hate it because one of my nicest setups is my frog rod and reel so I use it for big jigs and umbrella rigs as well. But I'm thinking I'm going to cut down to 4 that I take and the others will sit until I get the right conditions. I get tired if taking all of them walking the bank!

Two years ago was the best fishing year for me so far. I started around 2017 so I'm still new to bass fishing but I started with simple techniques. Texas rig and ned rig were my staples and I got confident in them. But in 2021 I got experimenting and playing with new techniques and barely threw anything that required feeling a light bite. I also caught way less and smaller than previous years and thought to myself, I need to go back to the basics of what actually worked best but my confidence is shot. I barely pulled out the new rig rod and suffered for it. How do you get your confidence back with something that you knew, but set aside for a while and lost the "touch"?

Something ive paid more attention to is texture of the bait and maxscent has a different texture, finish, and feel to it that I could see not always being the best. But they sure do work, but I'm of the belief that maybe I would have still gotten a bite on a different lure. But I still use them and like them. Good action on them I think.