LrgmouthShad

Small pond with no cover? Geez..... I'm fishing somewhere else.

- Original story redacted - I've been caught in some crazy weather before. Nothing like some of the stories ya'll have on here.

I like to be on the water on Saturday morning. Doesn't always work out that way, but hey, that's life What's your funnnction? This response has been programmed into my mind. The words "conjuction-junction" are a "trigger" , if you will. This trigger, while infallible, is not intended to be abused. Please do not abuse it, else I may malfunction and repeat the phrase "conjunction-junction, what's your funnnnction?" in my mind for at least 48 hours. Thank you

Best of luck to ya A-Jay ? Catch some fatties This one's easy for me. Going to improve fishing offshore utilizing a buoy system. Careful graphing and boat positioning.

Sure, I think that works and so does other methods of setting the hook. @WRB’s method of hook setting seems great and I would be wise to listen to him. I’m just saying… the objective regardless seem to be to get slack out of the line and set the hook with decently enough pressure. But slack is the real enemy, IMO. That is where I can mess up. I swing hard in case I fall short of the pressure I need, but my efforts are in vain if there is slack. I use Trilene Big Game because there is only one thing I have to do right with that line: set the dang hook and keep pressure.

Yeah but where’s the fun in that? ?. Lol. By the way, I went in reverse. Started with braid and changed to mono.

If anything, I miss fish either because I yank too soon or because I didn’t set the hook properly. If I yank too soon, it can lead to a slack-lined hook set. If I feel solid pressure and then yank the hook, I usually do fine. Reeling down helps. The roof of a bass’s mouth seems pretty tough

Uh yep I yank pretty hard. I don’t think it is causing me to lose fish. But I use stretchy monofilament most of the time, so there’s some counterbalance.

Uh you can throw it on a medium, sure, but you might have to lob it just a little and why throw it on a medium if you have a medium heavy available? You'd get more casting distance too and I like a medium heavy for spinnerbaits anyway unless they're really little with fine hooks.

I ain't done yet! Me and the kayak made a rare appearance on the water on a weekday. Today was a rollercoaster of emotions for me. Day started off rough, but I was still in high spirits, because, well, I was going to fish today. Then I get to the pond and the wind gusts were ridiculuous and often sustained. For a while I was just trying my best to stay on target. And also for quite a while I was only only catching small bass on a swim jig. But I was convinced that the swim jig was my best option today and my best shot at catching a big one, so I stuck with it. Later as the wind started to settle down and I get my wits about me, I catch a decent bass in a wind-protected area near some rock. In my head I'm thinking, "Duh!". So I start looking around for more similar targets. Now, there is a bank I hardly touch on this pond because I don't think I'd ever caught anything on it up until today. But on this particular day, it just looked right. Little rocky bank, out of a Northern wind, and in close proximity to deep water and the dam. It looked like a decent place for bass to stage for the spawn too or do their actual spawning. I make a dozen casts or so there, and I see an absolutely huge swirl soon after my jig hits water. In my head, I'm telling myself "Don't panic, wait until you feel pressure." I timed the hookset perfectly. Then the fish makes a flop and I see how big it is. I'm fishing in heavy cover, just a bunch of lily pads, not all of them alive. I've got a big fish in heavy cover, so I start pulling with all my might on this fish. Surprisingly, it was enough. Get her alongside me and I scoop her up. I'm shaking. Get a quick pic and... my scale is dead :(. But I believe this one was very close to my NY PB. Around 20.5" with really big girth. I calm myself down and then just keep fishing, and then catch a few more decent ones on the same bank. Really amazing day. I just had to stick with it. I'll be back for more soon! Also, my facial expression are priceless in this one; I have no idea why. I was keyed up the whole day. Energy on high.

Oh my goodness!! Hawgs!

Jeans and flip flops in mine. Not in the kayak, mind you.

Two hours and 37 minutes. I set a timer on my phone.

Today was pretty good. Caught maybe a dozen bass and a boat load of pickerel, one of which was almost 20" long. One bass over 3lbs. Used a swim jig and spinnerbait as a one-two punch at the first pond I fished, then moved ponds and started off throwing a spinnerbait but later switched to a freaking whopper plopper. @Deleted account told me I should try a big plopper this time of year so I broke it out. I actually tried selling off both of my whopper ploppers but I've still had one. So I tie this thing on with not a whole lot of confidence. Chuck it around, start thinking it sounds pretty cool like I remembered from the last time I threw it like a year and a half ago. Start thinking I should throw a spinnerbait... POOF. Bass blows up on it. Then I catch another, and another, and another. Maybe these things do work. I keep throwing it, make a second pass on the same area later on in the day and I had a huge explosion on it. I tried winching the fish in and it came off in grass. I was heartbroken :(. Then I fish a little more and call it a day. I've been sharing photos of lures that I've been using recently but unfortunately all my stuff is still in the truck right now so I can't show em yet. I'll add them later. The biggest fish I caught was on a spinnerbait. I'll show the eight bass I photo'd quick.

Ya’ll, very sorry, and I hope my message brings you not grief over loss but rather loving memory of time spent together.

Been using BANG anise and crawfish. Dunno if it’s helped but at least the anise smells very nice. The crawfish….. not so much ?

I got y’all covered. It’s Mother’s Day. Give ya mama a call ?

Any lure

YES! I first started to fish truly dirty water at the pond in my profile pic. It can get absolutely nasty. The best lure in that pond, regardless of water clarity, is a senko. I have tried many, a senko catches them best there. Or some type of weightless worm. Throw a double colorado spinnerbait in there and they will not touch it. Throw a Texas rigged bait in there with a lot of commotion and they won’t often touch it. They will track down a senko that has no weight hitting bottom, seemingly hardly anything to attract them. The underwater world is quiet A bass knows its way around I read somewhere that a bass can track down a plastic worm in pitch black darkness. A foreign angler once beat KVD fishing in muddy water using transparent plastics. Alright, that’s all I got

So incidentally today I had one of those accidental skips. But this one was particularly nice and I was using a rage menace as a trailer. So that got me thinking. I decided to mess around and test out skipping a Zorro short arm with a rage menace trailer. It is definitely not the easiest lure to skip, but I could do it without too much headache. Had to tighten things up quite a bit on the baitcaster, but I could do it fine after a dozen tries or so. Might want to check it out!

I have a singular whopper plopper left because I couldn't sell my other one ?. If you insist; I tied it on. Ain't got spooks. Not exactly diverse in topwater abilities.

Okay gotcha. Still in NY here and will be for a while longer. Back on topic, I will not be throwing any baits I don't enjoy tomorrow ?. Riggin up a spinnerbait, swim jig, frog, and..... undecided

Good to hear . How far are you from me? I'm actually rigging up right now as we speak

Lol! Occasionally I get a little excited... maybe it's because tomorrow looks like a good spinnerbait day if I can make it out there.