DitchPanda

Well call it karma..bad luck...or revenge of the fish gods. Here I was throwing shade at war eagle today for not being durable. Went out tonight throwing a booyah...hooked up on a biggun..like 5+...she comes up jumps and here comes my bait flying back at me. I think how did she come off I got a good hookup and kept nice pressure on her. Reel up and oh god its just my blades...wire broke and the head is gone. I'm sorry fish gods...I take back everything I said...please oh please don't let me lose anymore good ones. In all seriousness it was my fault..it was a bait that had lots of fish to its credit and had been bent back into shape who knows how many times. I should have retired it and just got a new one out...but you know how it goes its hard to stop throwing a bait that keeps producing. I had caught a 4 on it less than an hour before that. Honestly I can't even remember the last time I had a wire failure...been a long time...I usually lose the bait to a snag before that happens.

Depending on what you call big I can say that most of my big fish...lets say 6lbs and up came from cooler water. This year I've caught 4 fish that size...3 6s and a 7. All 4 of those fish came from water under 60...2 from water in I'd guess the 40s. My PB of 8.75lbs came years ago in late April or early May so high 40s or low 50s water. Biggest I've caught the past 3 years came in November of 18 A fish I estimated around 8lbs. You can see a pattern. For reference I live in Northwest Iowa so I am used to brutal winters and lots of time chasing fish in cold water. I've got two lures I feel confident in for cold water big fish...A jig and a spinnerbait. I've caught and seen lots of bigs on those two lures...more than all others combined I'd say. They just have that drawing power from big fish in cold water. Swim baits are one that I don't throw but obviously they have the reputation for a reason. My biggest piece of advice for targeting big fish is fish in bad conditions. Most of my biggest fish have been on windy overcast often times rainy and often times chilly days. Be out there when other people won't go...something about those conditions..be it lack of pressure either barometric or fishing wise that gets large fish to let there guard down. Another thing is don't buy into the whole its to cold or to early scrap other anglers try to feed you. My 7lb bass came April 5th this year on a lipless about an hour before dark...water was maybe 45 I'd guess. Funny thing is I caught her,kept her alive had my girlfriend come out to see her and let her go. A guy that day told me the bass won't bite...its to cold.

Absolutely...100% without a doubt. Keep posting man...when you feel able. You are an inspiration...your strength is incredible to see. God bless and wishing you many more great cups of morning coffee.

So tonite I went out for 2hrs and went back to basics...A spinner bait and a Texas rig...no more of the 5 or 6 rod crap. I also decided to stop chasing the fish feeding on shad as I haven't had much success with that...instead focusing on hard cover. I managed 5 bites..1 I wiffed on..but I caught a 2 a 3.5 and a 4 ...also lost one that looked o be 5+. Sucked to lose A big but at least I had a shot...also catching 3 nice ones felt good.

No plans really fishing wise...but will I buy stuff anyway? Absolutely. I may buy a couple new reels...one for my frog rod and one for the new spinner bait rod I don't plan on buying but will end up doing so. I may upgrade my truck...was going to this year but life happened.

Every time I'm throwing one and I hook one over 4 I just worry the entire time about the bait failing. That sucks. that's an impressive endorsement. I will give them a shot.

That's a pretty bait. Wish I woulda seen this 10 minutes ago...I just placed a Tackle Warehouse order.

Yeah that would be funny...but in that moment I'm not in a creative state of mind. I'm more in a now I'm annoyed and don't understand how in the hell a stranger could ask me for something as if we are friends. I had a guy ask me for a fish years ago...I tried to be polite and tell him if I catch something besides a bass he was welcome to it..without missing a beat he said if I'm not keeping it then he should be able too regardless of my thoughts even if I catch it. Then he called me a d*** and stormed off. Last time I was even polite to somebody about it.

I really like the cheaper booyah spinnerbaits I've have great luck with them. For a pricier bait I love Nichols. I used to use strike king alot but for some reason I don't throw them near as much anymore. I know that people love war eagles and I have my share of them...my take on them is sure they catch fish but they have to be about the least durable bait made. I know there is a trade off because you want some flex to the wire to give it more vibration...but the wire shouldn't be broke loose from the head after 1 small bass. I've got some $6 booyahs that have dozens of 2-5lb bass to there credit...war eagles don't last near that long in my experience.

Anybody throwing these? If so what are your thoughts? I'm a spinner bait junkie and I'm looking to add something different...especially for dirty water

Only thing you can do is get the police involved...you don't want to be the guy that swings on an old man with a cane. Especially if he has an issue of some sort...which sounds entirely possible. I've been approached by people while bass fishing. Catch one...hey that's a nice fish you gonna keep it? No. Well can I have it? No. They usually get pissy....that is there problem. Like mentioned before I'm here for recreation not to feed my community. Want some fish to eat? Buy gear and learn how to catch them. Poor and hungry? This is America...we have food stamps, WIC, and plenty of other social programs so get on one and buy some fish.

I used to hunt so I get what your saying. But in this case I think your comparing apples to oranges...you go out knowing that killing a deer takes lots of time,preparation and luck. Even then its not a given. This time of year when the water temps are dropping and you can visibly see bass feeding on shad you don't expect to be empty handed for days on end. At least I don't. This same time last year we had high water and a small overflow pouring into the pond...so the bait and bass were stacked in and around that moving water. Had several days I caught 20-25 bass in a few hours. The past week I've caught 3 and lost 1.

At what temp do you guys start throwing cold water cranks? I'm talking mainly stuff like shad raps, frittsides and custom flat side balsa cranks.

Its hard not to share with you guys..the frustration of the skunk is something we can all relate to. I heard it said once that any fisherman that says he's never been skunked is either new and has never been fishing or is a liar. I tend to believe that.

Well I went out and redeemed myself slightly. Got out for less than an hour before I got rained and lighteninged out. Managed a decent large mouth, a decent pike and missed a 3rd bite. Just took a little bait change.

My biggest this year was a 7lb large mouth back in April on a chrome blue back cotton Cordell super spot. My pb was 8.75 lbs on a white twister tail fishing for crappie..I think on 2002 or 2003.

Same thing happened to me skunk Friday and Today...got a 3lb large mouth yesterday or it would have been a skunk fest weekend.

Been a long time since I've gotten skunked twice in a week at my local pond. I'm not sure its a time of day deal...as in I'm there at the wrong time or what the deal is. I've been trying mornings...there is plenty of bait up shallow...water temps are close to 60...I can't figure it out. Tried 3 hours this morning...threw spook, Spinner bait, swim jig, flashy swimmer swim bait,weightless fluke and Ned rig. Never got a sniff. Maybe I just suck?

I always thought the smell in BANG attractant was crawfish...didn't know it was Sex Panther

I've never used the bandit square bill but the bandit 100 is an excellent bait.

What size eagle claw are you using on the 3.75 size!

I'm currently throwing swimbaits on an owner flashy swimmer but am looking for a plain non under spin option. I'm using the eco pro swing shad 3.8 and strike rage swimmer 3.75 for baits...what hooks do you recommend for these? Before anybody says anything yes I know I should be using the keitech swing impact fats so don't start!!

I've caught bass on a spinner bait...a few days later same fish on a green pumpkin swim jig...second time it had antennae in its throat. Which means in 3 days this bass fed on bluegill, shad and Crawdads. I'm not sure if the diet is 8% or 80% craws but I will say most bass are 100% opportunistic. My 4 biggest bass of the year...3 6s and 1 pushing 7 came on a spinner bait, chatterbait, jig and lipless. Those numbers alone show that the top end fish in my area eat shad,gills and craws. Alot of guys agree that a jig is one of the best big fish baits...many say its because they represent crawfish although they usually look just as much like a gill...but I think its more about the big profile representing a large easy meal.

Bandits have a pretty thick bill like the kvds do so if you pay attention you shouldn't mess them up.

I used a lighter but held it a long way away from the bill...waited til it started to discolor and bent it with pliers. A heat gun would work better but I don't have one.