LrgmouthShad

I almost picked senko FishTax. But it would be a sad sad summer if I couldn’t have an ol monster on a heavy t rig

Should be a crime to limit a Texas rig to this…. 10” black ribbontail with 1/2oz weight for me, unpegged. 5/0 offset round bend hook.

Rage Lobster Yamamoto Flappin hog

Y’all catch fish?

^ The NC fishing was not good while I was there. It will get better

Oldham Jigs Watermelon Pepper Chartreuse is a great color in clear water with some vegetation or cloud cover

I think I am starting to understand them. I’m paying attention to how they float or sink and how they sit and twitch. The problem is I like fishing lures around cover so I’m tempted to do crazy stuff like try to pull them through laydowns. I need to try some more inexpensive options like the H2O brand

If you look back to some of my trip reports from 2021-2022, I used a spinnerbait almost all the time. The NY bass I fished for were aggressive. They loved a spinnerbait

I fish a lot of different lakes and ponds in a year, on average, so usually takes a lot of lure categories to catch 80%. Probably 8 or so right now. When I lived in NY and fished ponds, a spinnerbait alone was catching 80%

Jerkbait Dropshot Frog Swimbaits

I don’t have have any

Anyone considering heading to this one? I may make it out there

Yeah, there’s an argument for both sides. Someone that is really good at flipping bushes would probably much rather the water to be high. Look at the 2021 Bassmaster Classic on Ray Roberts. That lake was flooded in June and they put a whooping on the fish. I would rather the water to be low on a lot of the places I fish. A bog in Maine is so much different than a big reservoir in Texas anyways.

Low water consolidates fish into predictable places. In 2023 when my home lake Stillhouse dropped gradually to over 20ft low, the fish set up on channel swings and at the end of main lake points. I could run points all day and catch fish. When the water level came up due to severe flooding early this year, they scattered. It also nearly eliminated the hydrilla. In a few short months, the lake resembled nothing that it was before. Water level fluctuations are just as important as any other conditional consideration. Of course, the level fluctuations tend to be pretty pronounced in TX.

Building character one skunk at a time lol

On the public lakes I think I am up to about 40 hours with no fish

Post em up! Better get busy! Except for you Northern folks, I guess.. dang. Uh, well, at least there’s Tackle Warehouse

For the second year, Coda Apex jigs in 3/8 and 1/2oz were effective bass-getters. Some offerings from Terry Oldham and Siebert Outdoors were also effective. For trailers, the Yamamoto Flappin Hog and Rage Lobster made some big waves in 2024. Standard rage craws, zoom z craws, and zoom z hogs remained effective. Rapala DT series and BX Brat series kept the crankbait season alive. The Megabass PopMax is easily the best topwater I have tried. It is great in the late summer and early fall. The Megabass 110 Jr +1 donated one six pounder The zoom ol monster was a summertime staple on a 1/2oz Texas rig. It also terrorized bass after dark. The Stanley VibraWedge in a color I believe they call ghost shad was integral to me catching several spinnerbait fish in clear water back in March.

Merry New Year ya filthy animals

I think JigFishin has fished a spinnerbait or two

Jake and I broke the skunk yesterday 🤙🏻

As far as baits go, crankbaits and poppers were better this year than in years past. Jigs and Texas rigs remained effective this year. I fished a spinnerbait a lot less this year but they still were effective. For a top “technique”, I will have to say cranking timber was my best technique this year. Couldn’t get bit on a spook, though that is probably operator error. Won $1000 fishing a kayak tournament on Lake Fork back in November for a big fish as the first tournament I’ve fished in. That was on a DT-20 in disco shad cranking timber. In 2024 I made some new fishing friends and branched out a lot - fishing many new baits and learning new ways of catching bass. Overall a satisfying year.

Completely agree that chartreuse and white performs differently than solid white, which are both great colors. My guess is that it’s a shading deal. Chartreuse might look like white but what shade of white?

If you are having trouble catching, you are not alone. I’m at five consecutive skunkings averaging about five hours a session in NC