LrgmouthShad

@AlabamaSpothunter I felt like Pat Brown fishing a frog through heavy timber a little bit ago but probably looked like this guy

Fish move so fast in the spring. I often find you have to be prepared for anything. Things change so quick, you might be on one pattern in the morning only to find that it completely empties out by the afternoon. I quite like points outside of major spawning locations during the prespawn. I will look for places that can accommodate many bass spawning and then locate the structural elements that lead up to those locations. Repeat as necessary. You probably have spawners already. The last few trips, I found fish where it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for them to be. So... be flexible. Bring a variety of outfits. You might need them.

Without a doubt, this dandy from a tiny NY reservoir I used to bank fish all the time. The reservoir is deep, clear, and rocky without much cover to speak of. I planned where and how I would catch this fish. A warm front hit the state mid-march of 2022. The reservoir thawed and got to a temp of 50 degrees fast. I hit the tail end of the long warm front when I returned from a spring break. The day I selected to fish was heavily overcast with light wind. I like these conditions for a prespawn single bladed spinnerbait bite. The water was so clear, I figured I had to wait until it was nearly sunset to get the optimal darkness to fool the larger bass with a spinnerbait in that clear water. I fished a jig for a couple hours prior and caught small fish. Then, as soon as it neared sunset, I brought out a spinnerbait I had recently built. It was a zorro short arm with a black lumaflex skirt with blue tinsel and a discontinued Zorro metallic blue blade. I've since lost this spinnerbait. I got the parts from an old-timer. It was one of the best spinnerbaits I've ever used. I started throwing this freak spinnerbait around a large overhanging tree where I knew that bass or one similar would move up to to stay protected from preying birds. It wasn't long before that fish bit not too far from the bank. The fish jumped three times before I hauled it up on land. A few people walking the street came by to congratulate me and one took my photo. Weighed just over 6lbs... good bass for up North but unlike some of the freaks I've seen on here.

I definitely should have used a bigger rod…. Even with just 1/8oz heads that sucker was heavy. Those little guys add up in weight fast…

Nice. I think you will really like it.

I am a complete novice to the Alabama Rig. Someone gifted me one and I figured it's about time to get it wet. I am looking to fish 10-15ft with about 4-5ft water clarity. I would really appreciate suggestions on jig head weight and swimbaits you like to use. Any other recommendations are welcome. Fish on....

Sho does!! Paid for themselves many times over

Lews Carbon Fire 7’3” Heavy for the rod. I don’t care that it’s from DSG. It’s a great frog rod. Your choice on the reel.

Started playing around with those recently. My only question is: what is it doing? It looks like like a barrel-chested chicken rocking back and forth trying to swim

I like throwing them into wood cover too

Tiny bass aside, I find myself tossing a crankbait more and more. It’s just so easy to look at something and think “yeah a crankbait should go there.” It’s getting to the point where I probably toss a crankbait more than a spinnerbait. This is problematic for many reasons. The crankbait monkey may be worse than the spinnerbait monkey. Changing hardware on the baits, tuning them, getting 2-3 different rods to throw the variety of crankbaits. This is entirely problematic.

BIG BIG

I always knew I was a duck hunter

Invisx is great cranking line

I effectively filter information to determine what is helpful and what is not

Love it!

Beat me to it! Yessir! Fish bit a spinnerbait the first cast today and then completely ceased to hit it despite being on the money with my casts

@AlabamaSpothunter @Rocky998 standing timber is synonymous with TX. The area in that photo is covered with it. He is sitting next to the last visible standing timber before it becomes fully submerged. Seeing big trees in 60ft is not uncommon around there. We fished a lot of timber today

Today’s catch of the day is this Floridian shivering during a Texas cold front holding a 12 bass. 12 ounces. We caught small ones today. I picked up 3 more. Where are the bigger fish???

First trip in TX this year because I’ve been busy. Turns out they are still biting a jig. These bass have no style, man. They just wake up, eat jig, go to bed. Caught a few small ones and missed a bunch unfortunately. Here’s the best one at just under 3lbs. Happy to be back on the water 😎 #returnoftheshades

Gambler burner craw 1.5oz pegged with a flipping hook for punching

🤣 No consensus. You already know. Like most threads, everyone gave their opinion based on their own experiences according to waters and seasons they are familiar fishing. We all try to find an answer or two that we think our bass might relate to. Trouble is they can’t read… dang that’s kind of a problem….

I’ve got reels from Abu, Lew’s, Shimano, and Daiwa. I like offerings from all of them, but my favorite reel has to be the Abu Winch. It’s not close either

@BrianMDTX same thoughts as you