PressuredFishing

Perhaps it should be called, instinct bite, based on why they strike the lure, perhaps curiosity, hunger, or annoyance

A better terminology could perhaps be, instinct bite, and why they ate it, so sense bass have hands they may pick something up out of curiosity, I have seen bass pick up pebbles and leaves on the bottom of my clear water lakes, perhaps that strike isn't out of feeding but curiosity, or when a bluegill is in a bass bed, the bass doesn't want to eat the bluegill, but herd it away. I guess what I'm saying is bass bite things because they don't got hands, and they may bite things out of instinct rather than for hunger.

You have 3 different types of bites 1. Bass hitting a lure because they are hungry, (schooling, or on bottom) 2. during the spawn, Hitting a lure to defend their fry/eggs. 3. Reaction strike, hitting a lure because they could not control their instinct to lash out at something even if they did not want to A reaction bite is usually defined as a strike from a bass out of well... their instincts. So for example, fishing a squarebill over rocks and banging it off of a rock can trigger a basses mind to hit it even when they dont want to, if that makes sense. Or if a chatterbait is buzzed right in front of them on a laydown, they cannot control the urge to strike it down because it annoyed them or something. To be honest I dont fish this way much, and still have a lot to learn on it. I would say reaction bites and getting bit because they are hungry are two different things completley. For instance if bass are schooling, I would usually call that a reaction strike because I did not make them hit it, they just where in the mood to eat. Reaction strikes can even come from non-moving baits such as a jig or t rig. Hopping it off the bottom can surprise them and just pick it up out of instinct, or flipping a punch rig into grass can trigger a bite as it falls fast by them because its just an instinctual bite. alot of "Powerfishing" Pros such as KVD heavily relied on reaction bites. The fish didnt want to feed alot of the time, but they didnt want that lure in their faces either.

White works fine for night fishing, the lure creates so much racket they will be able to find it.

Well alot of colors work, If you want in depth, white for your jack of all trades, translucent for clear water, black for overcast or in low light conditions or even just different color from white. Chartruse for when bass are super aggressive, and chrome for when bass are really keying on baitfish, like fall. Colors you really only need. White, jack of trades, Translucent ghosty colors (only if you have clear water lakes) and silver, if you have schooling bass. Its pretty much same theory as spook colors or popper colors, also for size it depends on the forage the bass are eating and the biggest you can get away with depending on water clarity. NOTE, TOP COLOR DOES NOT MATTER AT ALL, ONLY THE BOTTOM OF LURE! (unless its translucent colors, then it will apply to a certain extent)

Yeah, the biggest bass I've seen in the past two years caught was a 13 pounder, max, maybe bigger have been yoinked out but from reading. I remember butch brown caught a massive one on a hud, but that was long long ago. R.I.P Dottie, forever in our hearts at Dixon

Depends on water clarity and structure, thousands of different lures, really any moving baits can work

Very interesting, I will try this, thankyou for extra details!

man that sounds really fun to have a partner, Its in december and I will have to see if plans go ary. Bigbear is every low at the moment I have noticed, such a bummer but its one of those things because of our drought Very Very interesting, Thats very similar to my situation, thanks for your time! VERY interesting, I will have to not turn a blind eye to the riprap. I will try these techniques, its just one of those wierd lakes that goes against the rules.

Interesting, I will have to give shallow hard structure a try because there is alot of shallow riprap banks! I think hopping a dropshot around it or even trying a float and fly could be very effective, thankyou for the ideas! I will try small swimbaits as well It is very similar to big bear, just more rip-rapy banks.

I have fished this lake a few times, primarily for panfish and trout. I have been studying the topography around the lake and trying to figure out the best spots and plans for bass fish. It is going to be in december in the dead of winter and my plans where to fish the deeper parts of the lake near the dam and around it, just based on theory. what would you guys do? I have heard rumors of bass sitting in shallow riprap 5-10 feet of water year round, is this true? should I try long riprap banks that are shallow in the dead of winter? or just stick to the deeper water? its going to be hard to buy a bite here but, with 3 full days, a balacalva, and gloves, I think I may be able to squeak out a small pattern. what do you guys think?

Not quite sure how to clean it or what it is, if it's soft plastics I would put them in a separate baggy, same with lures because I have found bass don't hit lures that have been cleaned with bleach wipes/cleaning solutions. I am sure you can clean majority of your stuff, I just think you may need to cover the scent of the lures with something else because I have seen bleach and chlorine play a factor, especially when I fish with a lure I threw in the pool

Sorry to hear that you can't fish as well, hope u get well

Yes, although a write a short just of water temp and what the fish where doing that day, and where

There's a osprey at our local lake, 20+ft clarity, during the spawn it was well.... not fun for the largemouth I'll say that.

Yeah early morning summer bite is great, afternoons are slow and heat isn't fun.

thanks for this information!

Interesting, I will have to give it a try

I am blessed to live on the west coast where bass fishing is amazing 9 months out of the year, and the 3 winter months are slower but fishable. The one thing the northerners have over me is that they don't have to pay 10 bucks to fish a lake lmao

I'm a long ways off from retirement, life gets in the way of fishing alot. I love fishing from my boat, don't get me wrong it's amazing, but someone who may only have 2 hours spare time each day, I'd rather fish twice a week for two hours off the bank fishing points and dropoffs, than once a month taking the boat out. Also casting in the backyard has been of great pratice. Hope you enjoy retirement, you earned it.

Hi there, was looking at the d shad, have you tried it for dropshotting? I like zooms the most, other than the tails being bent sometimes, they just have good colors and work

Thanks Tom, will try this spring! interesting, I have never heard of springs before untill watching a video for nose hooking flukes, I will try it!

are the rumors true there are SMB up in the eastern sierras?

I use custom poured trick worms that have amazing colors similar to roboworm, but they are expensive, I was wondering if I could use a cps spring like I do on a fluke nose hooked. Thanks for your time!

I'm actually writing a form post as we speak about "bass fishing and money" and how materialistic the sport has gotten.