T-Billy

Chatterbait. In the dark.

The man is an amazing shooter and a class act.

The struggle has been real for me with the esox this spring. Actually not just me, everyone I've talked to has had a tough time of it since March. Things seem to be coming around though. The weed beds are coming along nicely, and the muskie are transitioning off of wood, and setting up on them. They're still not very aggressive but they're beginning to chase baits a bit. A friend of mine caught one, and raised two others the other day on a chatterbait I made. He's a nice old fella who's lived on the lake for 40yrs and has been a big help to me getting started in this pursuit. It makes me happy to see him catching fish on baits I made and gifted him. I had a mid 30's come in hot on a Medussa today. It went round the 8 a couple times, but wouldn't commit. Then I missed one on a Cowgirl. It knocked a bunch of slack in my line, and by the time I caught up it was gone. I caught the chunky 32" pictured below by dangling a big redear on a quick strike rig about 4' below the boat. That's one thick little ski for post spawn. It's built like a late fall fish.

I love pitching brush like that. Bushy stuff like that, especially if it's still alive and leafy, or choked with weeds, is some of my favorite cover to fish in summer. Bass love that overhead cover.

All that flooded brush....

2024 night ops are officially underway. No bigs, but decent numbers of these guys running the inside weed edges. Got started at 02:30 this morning. @A-Jay, I thought of you this morning at 03:47. Didn't connect, but I got a bite that startled me so bad I got goosebumps. Given the lake and location, I'd wager either a small muskie or a big eye. I don't know the reason, but my hook/land percentage isn't good on those super hard bites. My theory is that they have it so tight in their mouth, that it's hard to move the bait in their yap enough to bury the hook good. Dunno, it always leaves me wondering how the heck those fish didn't get hooked. Anyway, the night bite should only get better from here. In a couple weeks we'll have lots of topped out hydrilla beds up shallow, and the girls will be getting over their post spawn funk and come shallow looking to fatten up on spawning gills.

Right backatcha brother!!! That's a given since I caught the muskie bug. I love fishing for them in the dark too. Every time I hook a good one at night, there's a "oh crap what have I got myself into" moment. 😂

3. I'm always looking for big's. After four+ decades of catching them, a pile of dinks doesn't excite me. I'll wade through a pile of dinks hoping to run into a big, if a finesse presentation is what's required to get bit, but that's not my preferred way to go about things. 4. I enjoy catching them the way I want to. Sometimes to a fault. I made my first pre-dawn launch this morning. It was a scouting mission, night operations don't usually start until late May or early June. The weeds are up early this year, and water temps are also a few weeks ahead of schedule, so I thought I'd see what's going on before the lights come on. The first weed bed put 6 small LM in the boat in about 30min. I bailed on that to go fish some rock structure until daylight. Nothing going there. Spent the rest of the morning checking spots. Lot's of fish shallow, some on beds. I now have a game plan for the wee hours of tomorrow morning. It'll be all about the flippin stick and the chatterbait rod from now till fall. Two of my favorite ways to catch 'em, and both baits are top shelf big bass producers. 5. I'm always happy to share info with folks, and enjoy helping them get on fish.

😂 It's actually pretty good. I've been eating this breakfast regularly for a couple years now and really haven't burned out on it. Several different flavors of yogurt. If it makes ya feel better, I had waffles and bacon this morning. 😁

I roll with "Two Good" greek yogurt and a handful of almonds four or five days a week. Lots of probiotics and protein, only a few hundred calories, and low in sugar. Good stuff, especially for the gut. 8 cup pot of black coffee is a must, 7 days a week.

Awesome trip Dwight!!! Congrats!!!

^This^ I'll add, you want to fish fairly vertical. No bomb casts, you want to keep your line angle between 45 degrees and vertical. Your bait will come through much cleaner than if you make longer casts.

Doing my best to make @Team9nine proud this morning. 15" on the nose. Caught it on my flippin rig pitching laydowns. My best crappie in several years.

I got myself into a dinkfest again today. I don't keep count on days like this, but I had a pile of 23 torn up Sweet Craws when I got done, and I caught another dozen and a half or so on a tube. The little 3" Venom stubby tube caught the best of the day 3.89# pictured below. It was the only one over 2#. Dunno where the girls went, but the shallow wood and chunk rock are loaded with bucks. Surface temp was 62 this morning before the sun came up, and we're headed toward the new moon. I imagine the gals should be showing up soon.

ABSOLUTELY!!! 😁

I like mono/copoly for finesse presentations. It's more abrasion resistant than light braid, and I think in the proper diameter it makes light baits move more naturally.

This gets pushed hard in the muskie world. I think there's something to it, but not always. I've seen fish suddenly turn on around moon rise/set and overhead/underfoot often enough to believe it has an effect, but it often seems to make no difference in the bite as well. I get out when I can, and if I happen to be there when a lunar event goes down, I try to be on a good spot when it happens.

Try starting with a beaver type bait if you have any. If you don't, then get some. 😉 I like to fish it with fairly sharp "pops" most of the time and let it fall with just a bit of slack line. Sinker pegged. Lizard are another good option in spring. I'm a fan of the Big Bite Baits "Yo Momma" when it comes to beaver type baits. They sell them on their website in 100ct bulk packs. Actually on sale right now. The 3" size will get you both numbers and size. They advertise it as 3" but it's actually 3.5".

Bears poop in the woods. So do I.

Happens here in OH sometimes too. They get super spooky when they're up that shallow in clear water. A TRD bug on a 1/8oz jig head, 6# mono gets em biting for me sometimes. Other times I've had them run from that little thing like it was the Boogie Man when they see it.

As long as they're still eating them, keep throwing them Katie. You're bog bass aren't seeing a ton of pressure, plus some baits, especially soft plastics, don't rattle and flash etc. and give off a bunch of negative cues. Bass won't get conditioned to them and quit biting. Think about how long bass have been eating worms, and jigs, and tubes. They're all still top tier producers in heavily pressured waters after decades. In your shallow weedy waters, that Keitech rig and a T-rig are two baits I would always have tied on, ice out till ice over.

Shallow sun baked wood and rock with fairly close deep water is where I'd be looking.

My wife says I'm already a Major Dickason without adding this stuff. 😂 We pee in the lake... A LOT!!!

A big bowl of oatmeal keeps me full for hours, and keeps a warm breeze blowing inside my bibs in cold weather. 😁