PressuredLakeFisherman

yup its tough, and the population of socal is HUGE, which means those gen clear bass are heavily pressured, its a perfect storm for lockjaw bass IMO. personally I have found traveling out of state or even to lakes a few hours a way I catch 5x more bass. its hard fishing but it is what it is, we also got huge bass

Okay I will try some jelly worms!

All the time, I have waders for chilly weather but in the summer wearing flip flops and cargo/sports shorts is never a bad option. just dont wear shoes if you are going to be out for a long day because it will make your feet blistery from wet socks rubbing

okay I never thought of tubes! I will have to pick up some Will try some of my realistic craws, thanks ! Fair enough, I live in california and many of our lakes are heavily overfished, given my name. I have found downsizing tends to get more bites, although not as big, at least you catch fish. On a typical weekday I see 30-40 boaters on the water, and weekdays can have even a hundred. When those fish see the typical 6 inch worm they get a little picky, or baitshy. If i lived in texas or flordia I would always through large baits I never thought of texas rigging a ned bait Plus Zman makes super strong plastics that wont tear. I may try that on beds because they kept picking at my lizard tails and worm tails

Yup when you look at all these different rigs, they all have one thing in common, a jig head and a soft plastic/skirt. As long as you are throwing something that gets down to the fish and can slowly bounce on or near the bottom, your probably gonna get bit. sometimes they may be a little shallower or deeper, or Sometimes they like it faster or slower, but they usually will hit it

First bass I ever caught was on a junebug ribbon tailed worm flipping and pitching bushes in relativley clear water. (I had caught a small dink before that on worms in a creek but thats live bait :).

Okay Will look into those, thankyou!

So we all know bass are a little bit sluggish after the spawn, and while I love throwing heavy weights into cover sometimes they just don't get chased or bit. I was throwing a light 1/8th and 1/16th ounce weight on a straight tail worm into light cover, and did pretty well. What other baits would you recommend? I was using a zoom trick worm. There are so many different straight tail worms out there its kinda hard yknow

Hey I went out today with just a spinning rod, light line and a drop shot and caught more fish than I have ever caught. Was fishing really realistic drop-shot baits like a peanut butter jelly or watermelon and it was a blast. Caught them transitioning out from the spawn

Yeah I was reading this and good fish finding equiptment and sonar has completley changed the game. Back in the 60's 70's and 80's when my grandfather fished he used to Tie a super heavy weight with no bait on his local lakes and feel the whole bottom of the whole lake every trip, and he didnt even fish. He mapped it out on paper and marked where rocks where, humps, weeds, and transitions. He was an amazing fisherman and I thought that was a really creative way to figure out where structure was before electronics where a thing. I dont have electronics and will use this method to this day in lakes. I should show you some of the cool maps he made sometime

When to use a weight vs weightless Weighted: Deeper water (To get the bait down to fish faster), Heavier winds, (To feel for bites because its hard to watch the line run off with 10mph winds or so). For flipping and pitching heavier cover to get that bait in there (Some thicker tulies, some thicker grass matts, anything to help it punch down a little deeper. Finally a faster presentation. You can start your day off with a heavy 3/8th weight on the bottom and hop a craw fast, and if they dont like that fast go to a senko slower if water aint to deep. If the wish will be biting stuff fish something that goes faster ya know.' Weightless presentation. (Colder conditions, post frontal), Shallow water or if you want a slow fall fishing. Slower presentations. if there is a really snaggy bottom you can avoid it with a weightless senko, E.G a ton of wood branches the weight wont get wraped up in that, the bait will sit on top of it. if there is little wind so you can watch your line. hope this helped, and you can always mix it up

Well the fact of the matter is, they just aint made like they used to be and its really just manually closing them extends the longevity of the reel bail mechanisms. Its sad. If you want a really smooth closing reel that closes automatically look no further than the Dam Quik. Its a 100 year old reel but the old school bail mechanisms where made specifically to close automatically instead of manually. (You actually cannot even manually flip them unless you disengage a small bar, which makes them a super smooth bail flip. You can pick them up at garage sales for like 30 bucks and they are all steel bodies, I have one in a trout size (1000) (My grandfathers) I wish he was around to fish with me but ww2 was a nasty event as we all know. Nevertheless enough of my rambling they just don't make em like they used too.

Okay yeah I live on the west coast and am just nervous about catching a tank and him pulling me into who knows what but Im sure i can try a 5wt in some more open water Okay awesome I will try those clouser minnows and maybe some rat patterns! I will also use my 5wt and my reel does have a pretty nice drag so u can back it off quite a bit so they can peel without giving them too much. Awesome will try these pattersn thanks!!!!

Wow thats so cool! When fishing your streamers do you use sink tips or full sinking lines? I got a few but was just curious if I should use those or my WF floating fly lines. I also love dry fly fishing who doesnt lol! I also have a few pete poppers that I can try with some floating line and I have caught panfish on them but never bass, but id give it a try! Thankyou so much for your time!!!!

Ya know before I started bass fishing, I trout fished, and I often fly fished. To be honest I never fly fished for bass because you need a different wt rod and I was always nervous they would snap my dinky 4-5wt trout rods but, does anyone use this method for gen clear lakes? Also, what flies and patterns do you throw, streamers? those worm patterns? Also do you fish sink tip lines, as I would imagine you would have too in some situations?

My opinion on pfluger presidents as I own the standard AND the XT model. Are they the most smooth reels, no. I will be honest and say they are not smooth and the handle will not turn indefinitely like a buttery smooth Diawa. However, I bought mine knowing this, and bought them for their durability. The build quality is very tight and while they aren't the smoothest they are extraordinarily tight feeling in the gears which is very good and I have dropped both many times. In terms of the XT versus the standard president you get a carbon handle which cuts down on weight, a cork grip which is just cosmetic, and aluminum internal pinion gears. To be honest the brass vs aluminum pinion gear debate can go on for a while and to keep it simple aluminum gears weigh less and will be fine as long as you are not tighting your drag down 100 percent and horsing bass out of cover with 12 pound mono on that reel. (Because aluminum gears may give doing that). Personally after owning two I would purchase them again, but Diawa also makes 10x smoother spinning reels like the regal LT for 60 dollars, just be sure to take care of it because they arent as durable as the presidents. (Being the graphite being cheaper in exchange for better internal gears). Finally I think the bail mechanisms on the pflugers are by far the best compared to diawa's, as they are crisper. If you keep your Diawa reel in a nice pouch and dont drop it you should be fine, but if you are nervous and looking for a workhorse go with the president. for the most part the XT is just cosmetic with a better weight. They are also having a very good deal on the pfluger president XT LE which is a special model that they do occasionally that is the XT but on sale for 50 dollars, which beats out any other spinning reel in the pricepoint. Very hard to get your hands on one though but they are even more upgraded than the standard XT and instead of a cork grip you get a rosewood grip! Just cosmetics i know but its also 30 dollars cheaper so thats nice. Anyways hope this was helpful but you definitely got alot of options, I just wouldn't recommend a shimano unless you plan on spending 300 for a Ci4 or something because alot of their budget ones like the Sahara have a poor graphite frame and only have 4-5 bearings. Could not agree more, They arent as smooth as they used to and while it is night and day difference being a Diawa Regal vs a president, I think people buy the presidents not for smoothness but durability in the frame, thick wire bails that don't bend out, tight gear internals that wont pop out, and the crispest bail mechanism on the planet. Plus their $49 president XT sale cannot be passed apon.

I hear you, that makes alot of sense. Even the pros have somewhat slower days I guess lol. Being humble is something I try my best to do, Even if I go out and catch nothing or a small panfish sized bass I try to think of what I did wrong and improve on it. Thanks so much for giving your time in helping me out! Yeah its crowded back to back with bass boats and shore anglers, I hear you and try to go after my college classes in the weekdays. Thanks so much for your time as well replying to me!

Very interesting words! I will start trying lighter finesse lures more!!! Interesting, I have never tried large swimbaits before because of the price but that is a very interesting way to catch them Okay I will try this as well as it seems to be reccomended alot! That makes tons of sense as the fish can probably see us as well!

Thanks, I will try this and that makes sense by reducing visibility the fish cannot see as well either! thanks so much! yeah the wind has been pretty bad here as well Yeah, Compared to when I first started I have been getting alot better at finding where the fish are at by looking for cover and depth, Id say the most annoying part about my lakes is they are crystal clear but have a ton of weeds 5 feet below the surface. If you punch those fish can see it clear as day and if you dropshot sometimes you can barley get your bait down there, Its difficult but im trying to figure it out Wow thankyou so much for this information and that is facinating! I always wondered how those bass got here and thats interesting that DFG planted them. Thats also interesting how they adapted to crystal clear water! I will read up on your horizontal jigging method as well and read up on finesse swim baits! Thankyou so much for the vast array of information and I found it very interesting that they also stocked panfish in the lakes!. Thanks so much for this help and I will give it a try Yeah I could but most of my lakes dont allow it

Being in southern California, and for that matter all of California, It seems many of our fisheries are crystal clear and HEAVILY pressured. I have gone to many of them, and always am just baffled at how smart these fish have become. As I watch the bank bass boats are floating by fishing over each other from time to time, and many shore anglers huff the bank. I have come to realize that while I love "Power fishing", It does not work well for my bodies of water because everyone and their mother seems to be throwing a square-bill or a spinner-bait. There have been some days where I dont even bother to take a bait casting setup and just take a spinning rod with a drop shot or small soft plastic jerk-bait because I just know I will skunk if I don't put the time in. The worst part is even texas rigged soft plastics and many drop-shot plastics are very hit or miss, one day they the bass love a Roboworm in 6 inches, the next they wont hit anything but a really small 3 inch clear shad color fluke. I was wondering if any of you fellow anglers have tricks for these heavily fished clear water reservoirs because for me it is just a pure challenge. This could be bait colors or profiles that may give the bass something different to see.

I bought one just 2 weeks ago, Its a long story but bear with me. Right out of the box it seemed like part number 48 (the paper washer) a peice that is sitting on the cap on the other side of the handle was jagged and missing. I contacted customer service and they are terrible, Its back and forwarth back and forwarth and its 2 days for every responce, being MLK day+the weekend there was a 5 day wait in between all of that. Spooling up line was another issue, When I put line on it flew off of the reel and got wraped up constantly under the spool. Sense I know my way around a spinning reel decently I could manage it but for the new angler that would be annoying. Finally I soaked the line in some warm water and it helped, but it still was giving me tremendous problems. Another problem was when I was out on the lake I caught a small 1/4 pound bass, and then a panfish sized bass and it started squeaking every now and again. I am finally returning it after fishing with a week because customer service sucks, I got a part that seemed broken or damaged from the start, the line doesnt twist on the spool, but constantly falls underneath and gets wraped around below it. (This is brought up even more when flipping and pitching, do not flip or pitch with this reel, you have been warned. Roll/side casts are deplorable as well and cause line to wrap up under the spool) And finally the reel is starting to sqeak catching 2 very very very small bass. (My conclusion) Well it did seem like a nice reel out of the box, It isnt the smoothest but for 24 dollars it was reasonably smooth. Also the antireverse was very crisp and your handle would not slip backwards. Finally the graphite body and aluminum spool seemed rather durable, but the reel just is for looks and not for use. BUYER BEWARE, dont buy this reel, it has given me tons of headaches and customer service doesnt even bother to help so just refund straight through amazon. I do have their sword2 fly reel and that is very well made and of quality value, but this, dont even bother. Id rather fish my zebco 33 than this peice of crap!