softwateronly

Work went away for me last week, so I was able to get out and spend hours in the cold and rain for fish instead. Lots and lots of fish, not many big girls, but loads of decent bass, and accidental pike, crappie, sunfish, and warmouth. Most were jig fish, lots of jerkbait fish, couple handfuls of spinnerbait and swim jig fish, with some big baits and popper action too. I also ran into a nighttime feeding frenzy, 5-6 fish in 15mins at 2 different times on the same large windblown flat, forgot how much cloudy half moon heightens the feeling. scott

If you know where 6" bass hang out in a small body of water with presumably less forage, there's a good chance that at some point in time, the big girls will be hunting those fish. Might be worth throwing a 5-6" swimjig/swimbait / GP jig-beaver/grub at the deeper structure or cover that is near that area. scott

My PB this winter was an eye opener for me as well. I was slow rolling a 4" swimbait on a flashy swimmer, sometimes contacting the bottom. I could just barely, sporadically feel the tail kick at this speed. Working a tight area between 2 docks and a marked brush pile, my line goes sideways quickly and before I can reel down, I feel the tick, then see slack. I change angles and rework the triangle knowing there's an active hungry bass, next thing I felt is momentary nothing. Missed her again. This happened one more time before I really reacted to the faintest first nothing or oddity. Set it, had a heck of a fight and got a bit lucky. What I learned is that the biggest bass are most likely to be felt as nothing, that nothing can certainly mess with your head when "bites" are far and few between. scott

What a bag from a small pond even with the lost giant!! Well did. scott

My 904 is my first Gloomis rod, expectations were pretty darn high. For the most part, they have met or exceeded them, but sensitivity is the one where I probably had over hyped it in my head. When using my favorite sized weights, I find the Steez AGS my most sensitive, very closely followed by Adrena and Conquest as a tie. I guess what I'm trying to say is they're all relatively equal and excellent in my hands, but one is quite a bit cheaper. I've never seen one, let alone fish one, but I've heard there's a big jump between the 4&5 power in Gloomis. scott

Hey man, welcome to BR! Maybe what you're saying is true, but my opinion is that bass will eat craw baits even in waters with few to no visible crawfish. I've been fishing a lake in MI for 14 years now that has water visibility over 8' and I've never once seen a crawfish, dead or alive. Jigs are my top producer of bites on this water. In a over simplification, I do think bass have times that they concentrate their feeding by either focusing up or down in the water column. I also have seen my jig bite dramatically change when I adjust my rof, size profile, and either a no action or heavy action trailer. If you're positive you're fishing craws where the bass are, maybe experimenting with the above will change your outcome. scott

I am in complete agreement. The 6'11M+ and 7'2H are my favorites currently. scott

I have the Steez 7'2H power pitch, fortunate to buy it used, on sale, at ALF. Love it for those weights, super sensitive to me and has an action I prefer for being able to use the rod to shake my way slowly through the weeds. Small negative, in my hands, it likes a heavier reel, I'm using a Bantam(I know, the humanity). scott edit: I missed the football part, the power pitch is my favorite for grass. I prefer longer rods for football jigs and would use CNQ 904.

You'd probably be fine with either, but I would lean to a 3.25". scott

I think you're absolutely correct and it's often overlooked. scott

Username does not check out. scott

White back Shad, Brownie, Albino. scott

I reel spinning with my left hand and switched to baitcasting relatively recently. I chose lefty and the transition was super smooth for me. I see no downsides now that L hand reels seem just as available as R hand. scott

If you think the bass in your lake eat panfish, I'd recommend also adding a 3/8-1/2oz swim jig w/ one of the paddle tails that both @EWREX and @DinkDreams are suggesting. It's a nice compromise between the better hook up ratio and weedless - ness between the ball head and Gammy screw lock. I personally feel comfortable with dirty jigs swim jig in alabama bream or crappie as an all rounder. Warmer water, gambler EZ is also a tough bait to beat for action, price, durability. scott

I'm partial to alberto to join braid to 7x7. And for some reason my old rigging days means I tie a bowline similar to this style to my bait. Works for coated or uncoated, but I'm pretty sure a bowline is @ 66% knot strength at best. scott

This excellent advice, that has been given before, put me on fish today. Bass had dropped back from the flats and were willing hair jig eaters today on a cold and windy day. scott

I'm learning when to use it as well, but my best success last year was using it like a crank in weedy areas, rubbing scrub grass, between clumps of thinner stalks, etc. I also did ok cruising within a foot or two of bare bottom breaks and tracing them out on a longer cast. My best day with it was on a different lake to me, and it was a mid column type deal, but that was a one time event so far. scott

If the braid fouls the trebles, 2 or 3 bobber stoppers will help keep the line from slacking out in front. scott

I have a Conquest 904 and 18 Ban and 20 Met. The 904 is a little better balanced w/ the extra 1.3oz of the Bantam, but still slightly tip heavy. Ended up w/ the Met on it because the Ban weight had an advantage on a rod that was closer to neutral. scott

25.25"L 18.75"G in mid Feb this year, down in NE TX. Caught it on a 100mm white ice R2S D walker on an owner flashy swimmer.

4 power dobyns is what I usually use. Hook up ratio has been very good if the hook is sharp. The bites have never been super subtle, so I'd pick the 4 power that is most comfortable in the yak. Good luck! scott

I think the keitech underspin, especially if 3.8" or less, was a good choice. I would have stuck with that for awhile using various retrieves. Slow bottom bouncing, mid water slow and steady, and reeled as close to the surface as possible. I also think flipping a finesse jig and compact spinnerbait would have been appropriate. Flukes seem more like visual baits to me and water clarity might have been the issue. Personally, it seems like your lures couldn't compete or stand out from the real thing and size and location in the water column sound like possible culprits. One thing that's gotten me over the years is fish busting the surface doesn't always mean topwater is the ticket. A lot of times the baitfish are being followed from deeper, trying to escape, so I like to work below the surface and in your case all the way to the bottom, in case that's where the hunting starts. Overall, it sounds like you and your son had some bad luck. scott

One thing that's confusing for those located in the upper midwest is that for the most part, we fish natural lakes. Most bass pros and articles talk reservoirs. Secondary points in creeks or channel swings are examples of structure we rarely encounter. But the info behind it is similar across the country. For me, locating spawning locations is the most important thing because you can work in either direction in time from that spot. In general, I look for flats in protected water that are 12' or less. Bottom composition and transitions are important as well. So once I locate what I think will be a spawning flat, I like to check the first set of breaks leading up to that flat. I look for sharp and or irregular breaks located nearby that lead to deep water. I also search out the gradual slopes closest to that sharp or irregular break and the spawning flat. The closer all these features are to each other, the more promising the spot. Usually, this triangle holds fish in some capacity throughout the non ice season. Jerkbaits do best for me above the bass, which part of the water column needs experimentation. So in this case, I'd fish parallel or slight angle to the sharp irregular breaks and fish the gradual breaks either uphill or downhill until I determine which depth I'm getting bites from. If I think the bass are feeding on the flat and the flat is shallow, I'd probably switch baits to a 3-5" swimbait. The running depth, flash level, and jerk/pause cadence require constant tinkering in my opinion. In general, water in the 40's means deeper and longer pause between groups of jerks. Warmer water is generally faster and shallower. I like ghost colors for clear water and sun and holographic colors for clear water and overcast. I don't have much experience with water clarity under 6' so I can't offer much there. Hopefully, this helps your prespawn fishing in some way. This link will help you search for the spots on your water. https://webapp.navionics.com/#boating scott Here's what the breaks look like on my water....

Usually, it's the next one I want to buy. scott

I have a DSJ hitch, Spro 8" swimbait, and an Ima 7" fluke glide that haven't caught yet, but they've all barely gotten wet. I usually get hard headed and beat a bait to death when the conditions should favor it. It's possible that these don't get bit this year if I don't make some time for them before the spawn. scott