pdxfisher

I have not seen Amped Outdoors listed here but that is what I use in my kayak. They have a really wide selection of batteries. They seem to be high quality at a medium price. I am really happy with the battery and charger that I got from them.

Wobbleheads (with a football head) and a creature bait are a good choice in the rocks out here in the PNW. I don't throw a normal jig as much but it seems to work when I do.

Fish can only hear upto a very limited frequency range, no more than a few kHz and most less than 1kHz.Their hearing has less frequency range than humans. I don't think it is physically possible for fish to hear sonar. Here is a paper on the subject of fishes hearing range. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7051002/

Out here in OR the bass in each river are in different stages. Water temp difference of two biggest rivers is about 6 degrees. The fish I caught on Saturday in one river were post spawn. That same day a guy I know fished the Columbia and was catching big fat fish ready to spawn.

Thanks! No monsters but good size fish are rarer in the Willamette compared to the Columbia. (Which is why I fish the Columbia when the wind allows). On a red hot day I have caught a 100 bass and I think the big fish that day did not quite make 2lbs. It is fun fishing if you have your expectations in line with the fish size The section of the Willamette I was on is probably about a 1/4 mile wide and mostly 20+ feet deep. Most of the humps and reefs are at least 5-6' deep but there are couple of really shallow ones in the middle of this big river. They take the navigation buoys out in the winter and put them back in the summer. I thought they would have done it in time for Memorial Day weekend but I guess not. That section of the river is dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. All anyone needs is the Navionics boating app and they would be fine but I guess sometimes you have to learn from your mistakes.

I hit the Willamette for the first time in nearly 2 years. I was not sure what to expect but it ended up being a beautiful day on the river. The water conditions were perfect. A good amount of current and probably about 5' of visibility. The wind was anywhere from nonexistent to creating a light ripple (the wind forecast for the gorge scared me away from there). I was worried that it would be really crowded given that it was memorial day weekend but the parking lot was only 20% full of trailers by the end of the day (that really blew my mind). The best part is that the bass were nice and hungry and I caught more decent sized fish than normal for the Willamette. I was on the water by 5:30am. A bass boat was already pounding the Tualatin cove but I still decided to fish the water they had already covered since there were lots of fish splashing around the surface. I did not get a sniff nor did I see them get anything (they may have before I launched but not when I was there). The water temp in that cove was 67F. The funny thing is that during the day I saw quite a few bass boats race past me down the river and setup on the point at the mouth of the cove. I am not sure if anyone got into them but that spot saw a lot of fishing. After that fruitless effort I decided to fish my way upstream. I was cycling between the jackhammer stealth, stick bait, jerk bait and Ned rig. After about an hour of fishing I finally felt something grab my Ned rig and I set the hook. Fish on, or rather I should say minnow on. That smallmouth was all of 8" long At least the skunk was off! The water temp in the main river was 63F. I continued working my way along the shoreline thinking the fish should be up shallow and spawning but that did not seem to be the case. About 20 minutes later I missed a hard strike on the jackhammer stealth. I circled back through the area with a jerkbait and picked up my 2nd smallmouth of the day. It was all of 10". At least it was bigger than the first fish. At that point I decided to abandon the shoreline game and fish the midriver humps that are prevalent in that section of the river. The first hump I fished was a small one and yielded nothing. I got to the second hump and was working my way across it with my jackhammer stealth when WAM!. A really hard hit and a fish with some weight. After a brief tug of war I landed a really chunky ~3lb pikieminnow. Dang! At least it was a fun fight, especially in the current. I then moved out to the main hump/reef that dominates the middle of the river. I was working my way along alternating between thejackhammer stealth and a stick bait (sammy) looking for schooling fish chasing bait. That ended up being the deal. The funny thing is that most of my section on that huge structure came from a fairly small area. There is a point near the shore and it pushes the current sideways across the hump. The bass seem to really like that spot when there is decent current. I got my first nice fish on the reliable jack hammer and it really told me what was going on. That fish was probably at least 17" and only weighed 1lb 13oz and was skinny as a rail. Definitely a post-spawn fish. I was not expecting the fish to be so far along so early. For the next 5 hours or so I beat on that general area, mostly alternating between the sammy and the jackhammer stealth. I occasionally threw other things but those were my staples. I picked fish up by both blindly casting over that hump and by racing over to schooling fish. Nothing is more exciting that seeing smolt frantically leaping with huge splashes and swirls all around. When I got there in time I was rewarded with a nice topwater smash. I missed quite a few fish on that erratic stick bait but they really love hitting and coming back for it when they miss. I don't think fishing gets any better than that!! Most of my fish from that spot came on the sammy but at one point I decided to tie a Huddleston 68 trout lure on my new crankbait rod and heave that around for a while. The second time I picked that rod up I got my best fish of the day. No monster but a respectable 17.5" bass that only weighed 2lb 4oz. I think the skinniest fish I caught was a 17" bass that weighed only 1lb 15oz. They look so different from the prespawn tanks I was catching on the Columbia last month, but at least they were hungry I did lose a bigger fish (it felt really heavy) that smashed my sammy when I launched it near some schooling action. I got it most of the way to the kayak when the hook pulled out. I was reeling the sammy (which was still underwater) when another bass grabbed it right near the kayak and immediately came unpinned. I looked down in the water and there were at least 10 really good-sized smallmouth swarming under my kayak but they quickly vanished without letting me catch one. Talk about rude When the bite slowed on that spot I decided to fish my way upstream to see if I could find another hot spot. I occasionally would get a bite or catch a smaller fish but I did not find another concentration on that big hump. I am sure they were there but I did not find them. I worked further upstream to some other humps but they did not produce anything noteworthy. Occasionally I would catch a small bass but no size, no schooling activity and no concentrations of fish. I did notice that the current on these upriver smaller humps was a lot less. I think the river has a lot more deep water around those humps (more cross section) and thus slows down to keep the same volumetric flow. At some point I realized the fish must be wanting more current so I went up closer to a reef that is downstream a short ways from Rock Island. There were a ton of fish on that reef. I had lots of back to back fish and tons of strikes on the sammy. The fish were mostly smaller but a few decent ones including the leaping fish from the picture above. That fish was also chunkier at 1lb 15oz and 15.75". I did try the shallow reefy stuff up closer to the narrows but the current was really ripping. I did not get bit there. I also briefly fished one of the Rock Island sloughs but after catching 2 dinks I figured all the good sized fish were likely done spawning and out on the humps where I did most of my damage. Speaking of damage I saw 3 boats smash into the the one super shallow spot below rock island The channel markers are not in yet and folks who did not know the river were flying into the rocks that were probably no more than 1' deep. That is in the middle of the river. I tried to warn the 2nd two boats but they either did not understand me or just ignored me. The three boats I saw hit were fortunately aluminum. They all hit really hard and I am sure dented their bottoms but if those were fiberglass boats they would have cracked them for sure. That was all in about a hour window. I am sure there were plenty of other folks finding that reef during the rest of theday. Eventually I was pretty whipped and headed back at the ramp. I decided to stop back at the magic spot from earlier in the day. I fished it with the jack hammer without a sniff. I was just about to head in when I figured I would toss the sammy a few times even though it was sunny and glassy calm. That resulted in my last fish of the day and my second biggest (2lb 1oz). Great way to end a wonderful day on the river. I caught a lot of dinks and I did not catch any pigs but I caught enough 16 to 17.5" bass to make for a really fun day. I ended up with 26 smallmouth and the one pikieminnow on the day. I would guess a little over half came on topwater. Mostly the sammy but I did catch a couple of whopper plopper which I through when ever the wind kicked up a little. I like the plopper when it is choppy. They still hit the sammy but my hookup ratio just becomes really terrible. The plopper is easier for them to grab since it is not erratic. I did put in a long day (10.5 hours) so it was not on fire all day long by any means. I have an hour lull in the morning and probably a 2-3 hour lull in the afternoon before I found the second hot spot. However, when I was on the two good spots I found the bite was pretty good and steady. It was a blast chasing down those schooling fish. I did not always get there in time but that kind of action it really gets the heart racing. I am bummed that I did not get video of my best fish. I thought I was l recording when I caught it. I got this really cool picture of me holding that fish up with the Huddleston along its side. You will just have to close your eyes and imagine that Here is some video from the day.

Yes. I am really happy with that color. I feel safe and visible.

Sorry that your video days are over. It was fun watching you catch so many nice fish! At least you went out with a bang, that was a beast of a smallmouth.

With a hot, breezy and certain to be insanely crowded weekend coming I decided to get a ahead of the game and take a day off of work to hit Hagg lake. I got to the lake early and was fishing by 6am. The day started off cold with temps in the 40s. The really great thing about a cold morning is that it makes it really easy to discover that your waders have a leak - my lucky day I started out fishing along some weed edges and after cycling through a few different moving baits I caught my first fish of the day on a wacky rigged 4" senko. Just a dinky smallmouth but it is always good to get the skunk off early. I decided to stick with that lure for most of the day, occasionally trying to force a moving bait on them but with very limited success. Even though tossing a senko is not my favorite way to fish it is a lot more fun than not catching them. After a couple of knot failures (I don't know what I was doing) I finally connected with a good fish and man are they fighting hard in the warmer water (60-64F). It was nice 17.5", 2lb 9oz smallmouth. Not a giant but a solid fish. That was my best smallmouth for the day. I ended up catching a total of 18 bass, about 1/2 largemouth and 1/2 smallmouth. Most were caught by fishing a weightless, wacky rigged 4" senko painfully slow in 1-6' of water. I would occasionally pick up a moving bait and fish it when I just couldn't take it any more but eventually I would resign myself to tossing that senko around. About 1/2 dozen were dinks and the rest were all well over a pound. I did catch one on a vibrating jig, one on a swimbait and a couple on a Ned rig but the wacky rigged senko was definitely the deal. The day started out with more smallmouth than largemouth but starting in the early afternoon it was mostly largemouth. No giants on the day. My best fish was an 18" 3lb largemouth that came out of about 1' of water. I tossed the senko up shallow thinking that I would work out a little deeper into a more productive depth when the line just jumped. I set the hook and it was game on. A nice little fight on that spinning rod in the shallow clear water where I could see the fishes every moved during the fight. I am just a little bummed that I did not get it on video. I had forgotten to delete the footage after my previous trip and so the camera filled up and stopped recording around lunch time. I suppose there is a way to delete some of the videos off the camera while I am on the water but I was not about to waste time trying to figure that out while the fish were biting. I did take a picture of that fish. It humped up a little when I took the picture but was a hair over 18" when lying flat. Not a big fish but a solid one. Overall I ended up with a handful of largemouth over 2lbs, but only the one smallmouth was over 2 (although I did catch a 1lb 15oz as well). That size fish on the spinning rod really give a good account of themselves with plenty of fish jumping, although the 17.5" smallmouth definitely spent the most time out of the water. The frustrating part of the day is the number of fish that I missed or lost after a brief tussle. A lot of the hooked fish felt really solid. I am not sure what was going on. I would hook a fish, it would peel some drag and then pop off. That was one of the reasons I kept trying moving baits. Fishing so painfully slow and then losing multiple fish in a row was almost more than I could bear. A really nice thing on the day is that I was about leave around 2pm when the wind died and it became glassy flat. It just felt so nice out on the water I decided to stay. The weird thing is that the largemouth bite really picked then. Usually I like a little ripple on the water but on Wednesday it was like the largemouth were waiting for the breeze to die down to fish in earnest. I think part of my success might have been because it became so much easier to fish that weightless senko. I did not have to use my paddle to hold my position while trying to fish that weightless bait. Plus the kayak is really stealthy and I don't spook the fish even in the shallow clear water. Overall it was a good day. If I had done a half decent job of landing fish that bit I could have easily been over 30 bass but some days are just like that. Here is some video from the first part of the day. Thanks for reading (and hopefully watching).

I have caught my best smallmouth of my life this year (21.25", 5lb 14oz) and others over 3lb on a jackhammer stealthblade. I never caught a fish on it before this spring but it is one of my favorites now A second new to me lure that has produced this spring is a wobblehead jig with a creature trailer. Other approaches that have been working this spring are rattletrap, Ned rig and a drop shot.

Was that the TBF tournament out of Hood River? The results for that tourney were impressive. I am really amazed to see that largemouth. I think of the Columbia as a smallmouth fishery.

Kept in costant contact with the bottom. Dragging it along. For mid column I would tend to throw a swimbait on a regular jighead.

... for my buddy. I got my ears pinned back on Saturday as my regular fishing partner caught about 25 bass and 3 huge pikieminnows. I managed to scratch out a meager 8 bass. My buddy quickly figured out that the bass were out a little deeper. I stubbornly (nice way to say stupidly) kept insisting that the bass were going to move up shallow any minute. I watched him catch fish after fish on soft plastics while I stubbornly stuck with moving baits. He was quickly had 10 fish to my none. I finally gave in and started fishing slow and deep but my heart was not really in it. From that point on he still outfished me 2:1. Nothing over 2lbs for me and nothing over 3lbs for my buddy. I did eventually catch a small fish on a vibrating jig but that was my only fish caught on a moving bait. The only redeeming aspect of the day was that I finally caught some fish on a wobblehead jig. That is one of my buddy's favorite lures but I never fished one long enough to get a feel for it or catch a fish on one. In the past I would make a half dozen casts and then put it away. Lack of confidence and lack of success are joined at the hip in fishing. On Saturday I just stuck with that lure starting midmorning. Probably fished with it 90% of the rest of the day. I caught 5 of my 8 bass on it so I would say that I am now a fan. Definitely more interesting than fishing a drop shot or a Ned rig in my book - especially in the wind and/or current. I am still quite a novice with it but I stink at it less than I did at the start of the day. That is what you call progress I missed a lot of bites and almost even had my rod jerked rod out of my hand once. I am so used to fishing with an open hook where the fish do most of the work in hooking themselves. Early on I set the hook on a lot of rocks and carefully jiggled my wobblehead free from some bass. Doh! That improved as the day went on, although even at my "best" I still missed more than I should have. I will now fish that lure more often and hopefully improve my skill. Just to round out the report I did not get a single bite on a crankbait, jerkbait, rattletrap or a swimbait even though I did spend a fair bit of time with each in my hand. Fish were out in 12 to 20' and seemed pretty tight to the bottom. Bite was great (for my buddy) early and then picked up again late in our day. The wind blew us off the water around 3pm. When there are hydrofoil windsurfers doing circles around you it is time to call it a day! My buddy had a great day and I caught as few fish as I deserved

I have been doing great here in OR (Columbia river) for the past 2 weeks with a 1/2oz jackhammer stealthblade with a paddletail trailer in a shad color. Water temp has been 45-48F and the fish have been in 6-8' of water. Got my PB smallmouth this past weekend on this.

Some days are just special, days when your luck is flowing strong and you feel invincible. The day started off great, when I got to the bridge of the gods the attendant was on break so I started out with a $3 savings. I should have guessed at that point that it was going to be a special day I got to the ramp by around 6:15 and was launched about 25 minutes later (I am dreadfully slow getting set up in the morning). My buddy was already on the water fishing a spot we had pulled 10 fish off of the week before. I hurriedly pedaled over to him expecting a stellar report but was instead me with the disappointing of no bites at all. We fished that spot from up shallow to out deep for about an a hour. That was not the start we were looking for so we finally gave up on that spot and started testing other waters. We were starting to get a not so great feeling for the day. Someone on shore asked me if I had caught anything and I said "Not yet but it is that part of the movie where the tension is building". Just a short time later, chucking and winding, I finally connected with my first fish of the day a nice 2lb 7oz smallie. I was stoked not just to catch that first fish but how aggressively it had struck. There was no mistaking that bite. It even managed a half-hearted jump. That gave me confidence that the fish were around and we just had to find them. We kept moving along and covering water. A short time later my friend had a hard strike that bit the tail off of his swim bait. That is really weird because we both throw Zman swimbaits and they are nearly indestructible. A cast or two later I had another solid strike and landed a respectable 1lb 15oz smallmouth. My friend then had another swim bait get its tail bit off. That was really bizarre. If I was in PA I would said it was a pike or muskie, maybe it was a walleye. Once again while he was re-rigging I got my 3rd bass of the day (and my smallest of the year) but still a fun little 1lb 5oz fish. After a few more casts without as strike I put down my jackhammer stealth (which is what I caught those first 3 fish on) and picked up my rattletrap. My first cast with a rattletrap and BAM, I had a hard strike and I told my buddy that this was a good fish. She started coming up like she was going to jump and I jammed my rod down into the water to keep her from succeeding. After a tough battle I slipped the net under a beautiful 3lb 9oz smallmouth!! My adrenaline was now really pumping. A few casts later I picked up another small 1lb 5oz bass. The interesting thing is that the spot we caught all those fish from was nothing special. It was 6-8' deep and had next to no rock on it. I am not sure what was drawing the fish to that spot, but can't tell the fish were they are supposed to be. We then hit a little lull and decided to get moving again. We started moving along looking for another pod of fish. After a short stint of that with nothing to show for it I decided to circle back and re-fish some of the water near where we had fished earlier. That turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. I had switched back over to the jackhammer stealth and was covering water when I felt a monstrous thump. I reared back on the rod and I did not move that fish an inch. It was like setting the hook on a boulder. Immediately I could tell this fish was a beast. I leaned on the that fish so hard and could barely budge it. I think I reeled my kayak to the fish rather than the other way around. I would gain some line and she would rip it back out. I am not even sure I was breathing at that point. When I saw her for the first time I really freaked out. I new this was a monster. I pulled her towards my tiny trout net and scooped up nothing but water - I had missed. However, today was a special day and my good luck would not be denied. I pulled her back to the net and barely was able to get that big girl in the net. I was just stunned by the size of that fish. It was the biggest smallmouth I had ever seen. I put her on the scale and she weighed in at 5lb 14oz, just one meal away from being a 6lber!! That was a personal best for me. I kept her in the net in the water and awkwardly pedaled over to my buddy. I had forgotten my measuring board and I really wanted to know her length. My buddy handed my his board and I measured her at 21.25". Definitely in the pig category. I did not get a very good picture of her (I forgot to have my buddy take a picture with my digital camera) but here she is: I think you get a better appreciation of her size in the video. After that fish we both went back to where I caught that beast and went back to fishing but did not pick up another fish from that area. I decided that circling back was the order of the day and went back to where I caught my first fish and picked up a nice 1lb 13oz bass. The funny thing is that after catching that big fish I thought of it as a tiny fish. The bite had definitely slowed but we kept chunking and winding. Eventually we worked our way back close to where we'd had our best success earlier in the day and were just chatting while we fished. I kept switching back and forth between the rattletrap and the jackhammer stealth. I made a really long cast with the rattletrap and had just turned the handle a few times when I had another really hard strike. I set the hook and yelled to my buddy that I another big one on. That fish was way out there and I carefully worked it back to the yak and slipped the net under a 3lb 5oz fish!! That would be my best fish most days but today it was only the 3rd largest. When it is your day it is your day. My only mistake was not buying a lottery ticket on the way home After that fish I went for a pretty long time without any action. I tried to focus on the kind of water we had success in but I just could not find another bite for quite a while. I have to admit that by then I was probably not fishing my best. I just kept thinking back on those big fish I had caught earlier. When I finally realized that I was not giving my best effort and decided to try to get my focus back. I pedaled down to one of my favorite spots after watching a guy in a bass boat fishing it for a while. So instead of fishing the spot where I normally would I went downstream a bit to where it shallows up a bit to get into the 6-8' magic depth of earlier in the day. I kept throwing the jackhammer stealth since it seemed like it was the bait of the day for me. The funny thing is that the spot just felt fishy to me, and I had not had that feeling in a couple of hours. I really focused in on the vibration of the jackhammer as it scraped over some rocks when I had another solid strike. I quickly landed a 1lb 12oz bass and got myself back in position. A couple of casts later I had a huge strike that just knocked a ton of slack in my line. I could not believe I missed that fish. On the next case that fish (or perhaps another) smacked the heck out of my jackhammer and I could tell this was another good fish. After a nice tussle I slipped the net under a 2lb 8oz smallmouth. I was sure I was going to really start slaying them in that spot but that was the end of the action. Around then the wind kicked up I told my buddy I was going to start heading back and just hit some of the areas where we had success earlier in the day. We fished a few spots without any luck when we got back to the magic morning spot. I ended the day catching a 1lb 12oz and another 2lb 8oz fish from that spot. It is weird that the last two spots that I caught fish from both gave m a 1lb 12oz and then a 2lb 8oz. That was it for me. I ended up with 12 bass for the day, which is solid, but the quality was insane. My best 5 totaled 17lb 12oz which is over a 3.5lb average all topped off with that personal best 5lb 14oz monster. Interesting observations from the day. I did not catch a single fish this week from a spot where I caught fish from the week prior. The water temp was a couple of degrees warmer (around 47-48F) and the visibility was probably about 2-3' except where one creek was flowing in and there the water temp was 44.5F and the visibility was at least 7 or 8'. All my fish came from 6-8' of water. Now in all fairness that is where I fished since they biting there. My buddy did catch one fish deeper and that was a nice 3lb 11oz beauty. I did not even get a sniff in deeper water. This was also the first time fishing for smallmouth where I did not even pick up my swimbait rod. My buddy through a swimbait a lot during the day but that jackhammer stealth (and the rattletrap) really seemed to calling the fish. The one interesting thing is that they both have a very high frequency vibration. My buddy did not do nearly as well with a normal jackhammer. I am not sure why that high frequency buzz was the deal on Saturday but I am just glad I lucked into it! Here is my video for the day:

Awesome!

Thanks guys! It should just get better and better :)

I hit the Columbia river on Saturday the 8th with my regular fishing buddy. We both had been watching the weather forecasts like a starving man eyeing a donut waiting for a weekend with fishable wind. We were both super excited as Saturday approached, checking the forecast every hour for days. We could not believe it, the first bass trip of the year was at hand!! I got to the ramp a a little after sunrise and my buddy had launched and was fishing. I felt like I was moving through molasses as I tried to get my kayak ready. The first trip of the year is far from autopilot for me :) Finally I has able to get everything how I needed and roll my kayak down to the ramp. The wind was out of the East, and while not insanely strong, the river is completely unprotected from the East and there were small waves even with the modest wind. I did not care though because I was going fishing!! I was excited to see that the river had good visibility. With all the rain we have had I was worried it might be a bit murky. I launched and quickly pedaled over to where my buddy was fishing and he told me he had already nailed 3 nice smallmouth. I picked up a rod that matched his technique and we both fished hard for about 1/2 hour without any success. Since the wind had picked up since I arrived I thought perhaps the fish had moved shallower and decided to toss a swim bait in a bit shallower water. That turned out to be a fortunate choice and I nailed my first bass of the year!! Not a monster but a solid fish. I pedaled back up from where the wind had blown me while I weighed the fish and on the next cast I caught my second bass of the year. I thought "oh man, I am going to be on fire today". Clearly I have little gift for seeing the future :) I did not get another bite for a while and switched baits multiple times before landing my 3rd bass on a lipless crankbait. Then came a lot of casting with nothing to show for it. We tried a couple of different spots and decided to try and divide and conquer. I lucked into a 4th bass on my trusty swim bait while exploring an offshore rockpile. Then another long lull. Lots of casting and pedaling but the river just felt like a desert. There is that feeling you get when it just seems like there are no fish left in the river. It is an emptiness that all fisherman pick up on from time to time. The only good news was that the wind died down and I went from shivering to comfortable. We tried drop shots and Ned rigs without success so I went back to the old swimbait and finally coaxed my 5th bass of the day. I am not sure what really changed but that fish really energized me and made me start fishing like I meant it again. I decided that perhaps I need a bit more calling power than just the swim bait so I switched to a vibrating jig (jackhammer stealth). Now I watch guys on TV slay fish with these things but I have never had much luck with them and probably have never really given them a fair shake. I decided I was going to suck it up and just throw that thing for the rest of the day. I really enjoyed the buzzing feedback in the rod from feeling the lure working and kind of fell into that magical zen I occasionally achieve where I feel like I am really one with the lure. We moved to another rockpile and I felt like I had a strike but missed it. Then I hooked a nice fish but it pulled the hook after a short battle. My buddy caught one on a swimbait and I hooked up but lost that fish as well. My faith was being tested for sure but I just stuck with that lure. After not having any more action after that brief flurry my buddy decided he wanted to leave but I thought I would fish one last spot on the way back. He was just hanging around chatting when I felt a really solid thump on vibrating jig and my rod took on a deep bend. After a brief battle I landed my best fish of the day. A 2lb 7oz bass. No monster for sure, but finally landing one that lure really boosted my confidence. A few casts later I caught another 2+lb bass. Unfortunately the bite died at that spot. My buddy headed in but I wanted to keep fishing so I headed upstream past the ramp. I once again fell into that special zen mode where I could feel that lure vibrating in my very soul. I fished a handful of spots where I was sure I would get bit - but didn't. Finally I got to this tiny nothing looking micro point and landed my last fish of the day. I ended the day with 8 bass between 1lb 10oz and 2lb 7oz. Definitely not on fire yet but that was a respectable day in my book. It was enough for me to have a big smile on my face as I pedaled back to the ramp. I can't wait to get out there again!! Here is some video from the day:

Water I am fishing is brush that is in 25-30' right now and will be in 50+' later in the winter. By spring it will be over 60' deep. I use wacky rigged senkos in the spring but not in the winter.

I don't own any jigging spoons. Do you have any recommendations? Preferably cheap ones

Thanks for the tips. I had thought about a jigging spoon but I am already hanging up a ton with a drop shot and the CR. Maybe I can try that near the brush rather than in it. I have tried a wobblehead with a craw trailer without success. Maybe I just need to stick with it longer.

I fish a local lake several times during the winter. The fish are mostly in brush along a creek channel in 25-50' of water (spot gets deeper as lake fills in the winter). There is not much other cover in the lake. The spot is pretty snaggy. My success has come on either a drop shot or a Carolina rig but I am looking for other ideas. When I lived in PA in the late fall up until the ice formed I would usually fish a jig'n'pig exclusively but I have not had much success with that out here. I have tried a wobblehead the last few trips without any success. What is your goto winter tactic?

Thanks A-Jay! Now I just have to land a keeper kidney

I hit Hagg the day before Thanksgiving since it is a nice, not too strenuous way to get out on the water. I got to the lake a little after sunrise and was fishing before 8am. It was very foggy, eerie and quiet. There was a light wind swirling the fog around. I decided that I would start the day by fishing for bass. I went over to my favorite spot and on started fishing a drop shot. On my first drop, I felt some weight and then a tug and a snapped my rod tip up and felt a decent fish!! After a brief tussle I was able to haul a nice 2lb 9oz largemouth. I thought, "Oh man I a going to be on fire today!!". Of course, that was a liar fish. I spend about 3 hours total fishing on an around that spot and only landed one other dinky bass. Eventually I decided I would give trolling for trout a go for a while. I broke out my trolling rods and started slowly pedaling my way across the lake (towards Sain creek arm) and then made a left turn and headed towards the dam. I had just left the no-wake zone when I had a good hit. I plucked the rod out of the holder and slowly worked the trout in. As I went to net the trout I saw it had another line tanged in it, my other line (I had the 2-rod license). The trout was a nice one 14-16", I did not measure it just eyeballed it. I got the two lines untangled but when the trout had pulled the other line into my rudder. When I reeled that other rod in the lure got stuck on the rudder so I pedaled back to ramp C and got that unhooked and I was back in business. During the time I was dealing with that mess the wind picked up a bit (blowing from the dam) and I was shivering and cold. I figured I would troll up to the dam and troll in the wind shadow of the dam. That ended up being a bad call. Over the next 3 hours (troll to the dam, troll around for a bit and the trolling back) i caught one dinky little trout. To add insult to injury the wind did a 180 and was not blowing towards the dam (so getting out of the wind was a fail). I trolled most of the way back to the no-wake zone when I caught a nice trout (thought I was recording but realized I wasn't when I released it). Also, the wind died down and the sun even broke through. Things were starting to look up. I quickly hooked up again and again but kept losing the fish right at the kayak. That was a bit frustrating but it was really fun finally having some fast action! After a short while I had another takedown and landed another decent trout (probably about a foot long). I just kept trolling around the no-wake zone and getting bit. I missed most of the bites but I did land 2 nice crappie which is always a fun bonus catch when I am trolling for trout. At that point it was almost time for me to leave but I figured I would try to focus on crappie for the last 1/2 hour. Apparently the crappie only like me when I am fishing for trout I did not get a sniff fishing a crappie jig in that last 1/2 hour. All the trout and the crappie were caught on my favorite rig, a 1/24oz roostertail with a trailer hook and 1/2 nightcrawler threaded up the trailer. I think if I had just stayed in the no-wake zone I could have had a banner day but I still had a fun day. Having the best action to finish the day always helps erase the memory of the long fishless periods from earlier in the day. In other non-related to fishing news I am excited that I am finally on the transplant list!! I am still hoping that I will just miraculously recover but knowing that I am accepted onto the list definitely puts the mind at ease. The other good thing is that I felt pretty strong all day long while fishing. My bloodwork is not improving but I have to believe that feeling better and stronger has to mean something good. Well, here is my usual terrible video from the day.

I believe that bass change the coloration to whatever they feel gives them a predatory advantage. A rule of thumb (that is not absolute) is that bass in muddier water tend to be paler and more washed out (since they are harder to see with that coloration in those conditions). Bass in clearer water around rocks and scattered weeds tend to have more coloration (striping) to help disguise themselves. Fish under docks and weed mats tend to be dark to blend into the darkness where they are lurking. I am not sure how quickly bass can change their pigmentation. I certainly have caught plenty of fish that violate what I stated above but I would say that most fish follow the above pattern. I always think that a fish that violates the general rule of thumb is one that recently changed areas and has not adapted yet. I may be completely wrong but that is my experience.