BrianMDTX

Granted, not all fishing, even bass fishing, is the same. The vast majority of the waters I fish for bass are ponds with water clarity of maybe 2' at best. So 99% of the bass are caught sight unseen. I was and still am a huge bowhunter. Deer are either heard, seen or both. You know there's a deer there when you get ready to take the shot. But these bass? No, it's a different story. That line could start out running slowly and it could be a dink, a decent 2 lb'er or something much bigger. Or it could take off like a bat out of hell or just simply stop cold and the result could be the same. It's the "unknown" of what I may set a hook in that ramps me up. And unlike deer, who I may set myself up for a better shot opportunity than others due to scouting, great stand location and placement, etc., I rarely have any impact on making the deer get close unless they respond to a grunt or can call, rattling antlers or scent. But pretty much every bass is caught due to my lure selection and the presentation I give it. And I am still learning a lot! So, umm, yeah...I enjoy it!

You and J Francho both brought up motor oil. I’ve never tried that but I think I will.

Not as bad as Mercurochrome!

I like it as it’s versatile. When it’s overcast I hook it so the orange side is down, and when sunny so the green side is down.

It’s a struggle at times! I have to take my time.

Not sure if it’s weird, but I’ve never seen anyone on BR mention this color other than me. And it’s my top producer. Watermelon with Copper Flake/Orange with Red Flake #956.

My eyes aren’t good enough for tying knots in 4 lb test!

Welcome to BR! At present I’m fishing ponds exclusively. I’m currently running either 12 lb YZH or 10 lb Berkeley Big Game on my baitcasters, and two of my spinning rigs are spooled with 6 lb Berkeley XL (my other spinning rig will be getting respooled with 20 lb Seaguar Smackdown Lime Flash Green braid with a 6 lb FC leader). If you’re using mono, IMO 6 lb is more than sufficient. I just caught this 5 lb’er two days ago on 6 lb XL on a Daiwa Procyon MXF rod and a Shimano Sienna 2500 reel. if you set your drag with a scale or by dead weight, set it for 2 lbs. If you set it by feel, it should start to release line without much effort. IMO, I’d rather add drag vs letting it off when fighting a fish.

I don’t know if he was still actively posting by the time I joined BR as he doesn’t sound familiar. But he sounds like a heck of a nice guy that will be missed. RIP, ON.

Bluegills, yellow perch, pumpkinseeds, channel cats, white perch, black and white crappie (fresh or brackish water); flounder, sea trout, bluefish, spot in the Bay or Atlantic. Never caught a striper. How odd for living in Maryland. Plenty of blue crab though! Going after yellow perch during the spawn while migrating up streams is a great memory. Looked like you could walk across them.

So far in 2021 it’s a Zoom Trick worm in Pumpkin. Just over 5 lbs.

How far was the release point from the nest?

Well that’s a good thing as that’s the pond I fish!

I like the look of that color. Zoom Tricks are one of my favorites for weightless TR’s.

Medium. If I need a MH or above, I use casting rods.

I’m seeing what your seeing. Every bass I’ve caught lately has been deep (as deep as an 8’-9’ pond goes) and slow action and soft bites. But I have not caught any true dinks and one was a shade over 5 lbs. Yes, the egrets and herons are feasting in the shallows on small bluegills. But no bass in the shallows for sure.

Kinda what I figured. If the bass population doesn’t seem to be affected, it probably doesn’t hurt if you C&R. This will be my first year fishing seriously during the spawn (I was late this spring and didn’t know my bass from a hole in the ground at that point lol). I know I could see bluegill beds as they are shallow. I think the bass beds are deeper and water clarity is such you can’t see them at all. I’ll have to see what happens.

If you wear the fingerless gloves with the flip mitten top, wear a thin liner glove first then those, and put a hand warmer in the flip top. That’s what I wear during cold weather hunts. My liner gloves are Cabela’s Camoskinz. You need a liner glove to keep the hand warmer off of bare skin.

If you make a bomb cast and hook a bass, after you land/boat it and take pics, measurements, etc., you release it. Right there. Where does that bass go? Right back where you caught it? Stays where you release it? Who knows? I’m wondering what happens when you catch a bass during spawning season. If it’s a male and he’s guarding the bed, will he return to it? If it’s a female, where does she go?

I don’t remember the exact model, but it was a Zebco Quantum spinning reel with rear drag and some finger trigger gizmo. I loathed that reel. It would always snap backwards before I could close the bail and cause a lot of line issues. Funny thing is I had it for years and just threw the darned thing away a few weeks ago lol.

I think you are spot on. Some anglers really know how to work a specific presentation better than others. I’m seeing that with the Ned rig lol.

I lost a Ned rig yesterday as well. And two Neko rigs. So far I’m batting 0.000 on the Ned rig. Just doesn’t seem to be my cup o’ tea. Caught a 3.5 lb’er on a Neko the day before so losing two hurt. As far as your Ned rig woes, when you say you threw the same stuff, was it exactly the same? Same weight head, same bait and color, same line (weight and color), same rod action? All those things can make a difference. In the end, the hardest critic is ourselves. But fishing should be a pleasure. Sometimes my best days are with little or no catches. Gives me a chance to try a lot of new baits!

I have to admit-I tire of pushing the soft plastic back up the hook. I’ll have to try this.

It’s actually my preference. I’ll cast spinnerbaits and crank ‘em in, but “cast and reel-cast and reel-cast and reel” is not my main style. I’m much more a slow and methodical angler.

Today was a soft bite day, and a &$%#^*! losing baits to snags day as well. I lost two Neko rigs and a Ned rig...all on the same snag. Shame on me. I missed a few bass on those soft bites. Two on the Neko and one on a weightless Zoom Trick worm. Only caught one all day. But it weren’t no dink so all is good! That bass hit a Zoom Trick worm hard and ran hard. It was worn out when I landed it and only fought it for maybe 45 seconds.