MGF

I just came from the river and it's low and clear...almost what it should be in late summer. We better get some rain or we won't have a river this year.

Similar situation...I haven't been going out. It's been real windy and, with night time temps down in the 30's, it's cold for most of the day. I never get much fishing done in the spring...it's one front after the other and the worst of it seems tp come on my days off work. I had ice on the truck windshield when I left for work this morning. I had a parka on for most of the morning at work. I'm off now but feel like I had about enough of the great outdoors for one day. LOL So now that we've established that I am not an expert at catching bass in the cold of spring I look forward to reading the responses. I have a mostly shallow weedy lake I've been wanting to get out on. Here's what I have tied on my rods now...1- a TR on braid and a heavy rod. A rage structure bug is on it now. 2-A weightless stick worm could go wacky if the weeds aren't too thick. 3,- a swim jig. 4- a bladed jig. I usually only carry 4 rods. A few other presentations are always in the back of my mind but I think everything is going to revolve around the weeds even in this lake.

Yes, they even sell weights made to be used in just that way... like this https://www.fishermanswarehouse.com/product/lindy-ez-tube-weight

Radar showed rain scattered all around the lake. Like I said somebody a little more ambitious could have fished. I've only been fishing a WP for a few years. Two years ago I did real well on a 90 in the river. Last year I don't think I ever caught a fish on it. I have a new 75 that hasn't even gotten wet yet.

High winds or rain whenever I'm not at work. I just went out ti hitch the boat and it started raining on me as soon as I stepped out the door. LOL 55 F with a light rain... a more dedicated person would fish but 55 F and wet isn't for me anymore. In other words I'm still close to zero for the year.

LOL he isn't asking how to catch shad but rather how to catch bass that are feeding on spawning shad. I don't have much experience doing it so all I could do is regurgitate what I've heard and read.

What part of the world? I don't know what could skin a duck's head like that.

Scotch.

The bulk of my diving was in a dry suit. Both of my dry suits are equipped with an "overboard discharge valve"..no "warm fuzzy" for me. Vortex spring cave system in Florida has a room that we used to call the "Well Room". The reason it's called that is because a foot valve of someone's well pokes right down through the ceiling. I'm not the only one with an overboard discharge valve and there's no way to hold it through a long dive.

I don't do it and I don't care what anybody else does in their own boat. I guess it was funny/entertaining when Jimmy Huston did it on TV. Folks doing videos or TV today are NOT funny or entertaining when they do it. Who first used the term "bigun"? Mark Zona almost pulls it off. Everybody else I've heard use the term is just irritating...really irritating and gets turned off. It's almost as irritating as the view from a chest mounted camera.

Most of my fluke fishing is in my river where the current is moderate and the water usually less than 4 ft deep. 2-3 ft is probably the norm. I fish them on braid to flouro. The leader is long enough that all the braid is going is providing a good casting long lasting base. Given the conditions I sometimes want the fluke to sink a bit faster so I put a little piece of a nail weight into the bait. The caffeine shad sinks faster but I tend to reach for the zoom first anyway.

I rely heavily on weightless plastics in the one pond that I have to fish...but I have thrown a weighted TR into flooded grass on the bank when the water was high and caught fish that I otherwise wouldn't have. I've also swam a 3'8 oz arky head when there weren't too many weeds in the way and that got smashed too. I think you need to switch things up some.

I bought a new stock of curly tails this winter...Mr. twister and Kalin in 3, 4 and 5 inch. The weather has kept me off the water but my only bass so far this year came on a TR 3" white Mr. twister grub while fishing a really blown out small river from the bank. Years ago a grub on ball head or a small road runner was a staple. I kind of got away from it but I plan to start using it again.

I'm not far from you and I wade the Tippecanoe, the Yellow and eventually I'll get to the Kankakee. There is E coli so you don't want to be drinking it. Open wounds are a concern. I get a lot of cuts and scrapes from work and I stay out of the water if any are "open". Once closed over I've never had a problem. I've been wading, swimming and scuba diving these waters for a very long time. All that said I usually just wear jeans. They're heavy when wet but they offer some protection from brush piles or whatever else you might run into...and they're handy since that's what I wear for everything else. Not to say it's the best but I usually wear wet suit boots because I have a bunch left from diving or an old pair of cheap tennis shoes. The wet suit boots don't really offer much protection. Someplace I have a pair of dry suit boots that I keep meaning to dig out and use. I used to carry a small bag of tackle but I never had any luck keeping it dry. Now I usually just travel with what I can stuff in my pockets. If I need something more I have to hike back to the truck.

I might be the only one but, other than as a jig trailer, I haven't used paddle-tail swim baits much. I played with them on a keel weighted hook some but I didn't stick with it for very long.

Only once when I was a teen I happened to be on a rental boat messing around with a fly rod and a popper when a bunch of gar started chasing stuff including my popper. Had several on but didn't land any...those tiny hooks just didn't hang on to them. It was a crazy time.

I only have one bag of zman zinkerz but they don't float. I usually fish a wacky rigged worm weightless except in the river when I want it to sink a little faster. I put a tiny carpet tack in each end of the bait.

I've never used it for fishing but I have a folding tripod stool with a shoulder strap that I've used for deer hunting. I doubt that it weighs more than a pound.

There are current breaks that you may not recognize. Current is reduced near the bottom or wall. Even more so if the bottom/wall is an irregular surface...rocky. Fish find places where they can hold with very little effort that we may not realize are there. I think the fast riffled water also provides O2 and maybe some relief from summer heat.

My father was born in 1938 and I talk to him almost daily. He started fishing again in recent years after a long lay-off. I was born in 59 and you're right. To the young old is old and many just aren't interested. I'm sure there are exceptions but I don't see many giving much thought to the history that's right in front of us. I was lucky enough to know great grandparents who were born late 19th century and grandparents born prior to 1920 and parents born in the years leading up to WW2. Even though I spent a lot of time with some of them I still can't help think that I didn't ask enough...only because I didn't know what to ask at the time. I think back on accounts they gave and have questions that I just didn't think of at the time. Of course it's too late now.

I've never used any but so many people swear by it that I finally purchased some. All I saw in local stores was some Berkley gel and Yum spray so I guess I give it a try.

Most of my smallmouth fishing is in one local river but I catch a LOT of smallmouth in fairly strong current where there are no visible large breaks or eddies. This is generally a summer thing but can be a lot of fun. Two years ago we were drifting through a shallow fast section where I wasn't planning on hanging around. I saw something chasing bait, casted to it and caught a small bass. I dropped the anchor and started catching larger fish as the school activity heated up. I sat anchored for 90 minutes and caught a nice bass almost every cast. It continued until my wife got hung up and talked me into going after it.

I guess I just missed it...things have been crazy around here lately.

Another vote for the small marabou jig. I've caught everything on them including one of my biggest channel cats and my biggest carp. LOL

I've never had a problem with line twist using a straight tailed worm. A also fish them weightless and with a split shot without problems. Actually I also fish a TR single tail grub without line twist problems.