casts_by_fly

My clippers have a big split ring through them where i hang them on a tool caddy. Makes a handy weight for tying a bare hook. And i need the clippers to trim the tag anyway.

@Bird - I’ll see your picture of one and raise you one more! Went to the same lake i fished on Friday with a plan of cranking some more. Despite the freezing air temps, the water warmed up 2-4 degrees since Friday so I thought i might be in good shape for shallow cranking. Nada. The open water fish were all floating around though so I would find a fish that looked like it might be a bass and cast to them. I spent a little while doing that but all were crappie. Got a half dozen just by picking off the first one that hit at a spot (there were plenty around). Never did figure out where the bass are sitting but 2# crappie are everywhere.

Our wirehairs have been equal opportunity clingers. When we got the first one we were told that they are Velcro dogs and that is definitely the case. Ruby would sleep under the covers. In the night at some point she would walk up the bed and tap you on the head so you’d lift the covers for her to get under them. Agnes just has her spot between us and uses my wife and I as bolster pillows. Ruby was a screamer- one time someone stepped on her foot and we thought she was dying. If you grabbed her (especially an ear or paw) she’d wail. Agnes just has to tell you about everything- when she’s happy, when she needs something, when she’s excited, you name it.

A wobble head if you have rocks like Pat said. I carry them up to 3/4 oz and that weight with a rage bug will sort you out down to almost 20' at a decent speed (deeper than you normally would be throwing one to cover water). Fish them like a crankbait. A texas rigged rage bug will cover water. Vary the weight for depth but a 3/8 oz is good for 10' fished modestly fast. Bump to a half if you need to get down to 15'. Cast it out, let it hit bottom with a couple second pause (fish will follow it down a lot to inspect it), give it a short hop of a couple inches, give it a pause, and then work it back with the "hop, hop, stop" where each hop is a foot or so and the stop is a half second pause. A cast can take 30s to a minute. You don't have to cast every 4' down the bank when you're trying to cover water- just hit the most likely looking spots until you find a few fish and figure out what they are doing. Then when you realize the fish are tight to cover or in a particular depth range you can target that more thoroughly.

Has he gotten clingy and mouthy yet? ;) We've had wirehaired V's. We are on our second one now.

Growing up I fished out of carpeted boats mostly. In the kayak it was the molded boat plastic plus foam decking material. I have carpet now. I really like carpet generically. It's soft on your feet and knees, quiet, etc. I like to fish barefoot at times and carpet is nice for that. That said, so is foam decking (like a seadeck material). If I was buying from scratch that's what I would have picked for all the reasons Gim mentioned above. But I bought the floor model and I have no regrets about that. You should have seen my lure pile as recently as yesterday and that was only after 4 trips this year. It's still bad, but I at least put the 2 dozen things that were on top back in the boxes. And Hydrogen can carry a lot of weight. Until it doesnt....

If you’ve got water willow in a lake that doesn’t have grass otherwise, I know where I’d be fishing. Water willow will pull bass even in lakes with other grasses. When it’s the only thing going? Game on. Depending how thick it is where you’re fishing, you can run a spinner bait or swim jig through it pretty decently most of the time. Thicker than that and a Texas rig or pitching jig will get in and out of it and a frog over the top if they are looking up.

can't wait to see the first one. Sunshine and 60 degrees will get things warming up quickly. I don't envy your wind forecast though. Looking at the trend over the next week in coastal maine, no two days are alike aside from 'plenty' of wind. The direction swaps 180 degrees almost every day so no consistent wind to push the warm water around.

depends on the boat a little and what space you have to work with. The Ego extending net is nice. My dad uses it in his smaller aluminum bass boat. His is the S2 slider with the rubber bag (I forget the hoop size). He is less mobile for bending over and jumping around the boat so the longer handle (when extended) let's him stand on the front deck and net fish alone. I'm stilling using my folding yakattack leverage net from when I had the kayak and I like it still. Extra large hoop (20" square roughly) and the offset arm brace is nice. But I can drop to my knees on the back deck to net them (or hop into the driver's seat). It's maybe a little more specialized than needed for a boat, but I had it and it still works well. Either way, the rubber net bag is a must for me.

There isn't one. Many, many threads here and to each his own.

wow, that's a dark one. Mine have been similar- shallow but bellies on the bottom. Last night was the first time they have been more than a bit active. Last couple trips before you just felt a mushy weight on the lure but last night they were properly eating it.

This isn't necessarily true. In clear water where light is penetrating more than the 2' trolling motor depth, the sun is warming the bottom. So if you're in 4' of water in a lake with 6' visibility then the sun is warming the lake bed and in turn the water along the bottom. In order for water to heat up from light (radiation technically), there needs to be something in the water to absorb the energy. Clear, deep water doesn't absorb the light very well. Particular matter does whether it is silt, algae, tannins, or anything else suspended in the water. Also, you have mixing. If there is wind (or other current) then even the surface warming that is happening is getting moved or mixed into the rest of the lake. So while it's technically true that the surface was warmed, that warmth was moved away from the surface. This is very possible. The easiest way to warm up a lake? Pump a whole bunch of warm water into it. I have one nearby (big, cold, clear, deep) that has water pumped into it to fill it. The main lake was 42 degrees on Friday but where they are pumping it in was 47. My dad's home lake is fed by a wide, shallow river in the mountains and when the rain or air temp in the spring is cold like it is now, the upper part of the lake is colder than the dam area. Neither of these have to do with compass directions though, it's just the flow of water into them.

@PhishLI - that's a great chunk. I see your fish are dark like some of mine are (lake dependent). The ones last night had absolutely black backs and down the top third of their bodies. That lake is a silty dark bottom, shallow, and lots of avian predators so it makes sense that the fish would get dark and the light colored ones wouldn't survive.

It was a good night out. This is the lake I started the year with a 4# fish and the lake that I am told a 7# fish was caught in last year. If you tell me there is a 7# fish in a 35 acre lake that I can fish with the boat you have my attention.

Have you had strong winds out of the north? The wind can blow the warmer surface water across the lake and make a couple degree differential. Is the south side shallow and dirtier? Dirty water and shallow water with dark bottoms will absorb sunlight faster so clear, deep water will normally warm slower.

My evening plans were cancelled and the wind forecast was for 10 mph dropping to zero by 8 pm (much better than the 15mph+ today during the day). Went out to the pond sized lake I’ve been enjoying the past 6 months. It’s small enough that I did 2 slow laps of most of the lake in 4-ish hours with some stoppage time where the fish were hanging out. In all my trips to this lake, I have never caught a fish on a spinnerbait and i have never caught one along the dam. So why not start with a spinnerbait on the dam (it was tied on and the water/wind was just right for it). I made it a couple casts before the first one ate it. Made the first half lap chopping and changing lures that should have worked but they only wanted one thing tonight. I tried a few different ones- colors, blade options, etc but the basic old chartreuse sexy shad on an Indiana/colorado tandem was the thing. A dozen angry bass just ate the snot out of that lure. They were hitting it like it owed them money. Nothing big, just a bunch of 11-14” fish on a sunny evening. Can’t beat that with a stick.

a 2005 charger probably isn't lithium compatible (they charge to a set voltage of around 14.4V for lithium but 13.4 or so for lead). If that's the case and you already have a lithium compatible charger, it looks like you need to run two chargers. Make sure the onboard is disconnected from the lithium battery and just connect it each time. It's a pain, but it if works then fine. You can maybe change out the terminal connections on the lithium charger so that it is easier for you each time. The Noco Genius for instance have removable battery end leads where you could put ring ends on it and then leave the end portion on the battery. Then just plug the end of the charger into that when you get home.

I think I see a difference, though it is marginal. In theory, there is nothing in the way of the line of the hook point when you pull. When you are pulling on an EWG, the fish's mouth has to get inside the gape of the hook which is inside the line between the hook point and eye. A straight hook has a much more exposed hook point that can grab on top any flesh it finds. That said, I can't think of a single fish I've lost in the past 3 years on a texas rig and I've fished both styles (and a round bend offset eye hook) in that time.

In the ice out temps (sub 45) for largemouth, I find it is very hit or miss based on the conditions. I’m sure you know where the fish are. Go where you caught them the last time you were out. If there is grass there they will be using it. If it is green all the better. if it is the decaying type, then skip it. Pad stems are a pretty good bet as they are still living and where they are so thick that they are tough to fish in the summer the stems are eminently fishable now. So find the ‘thick’ stuff. If you get a sunny day (or better, two in a row with consistent wind direction) they will slide up into the shallows. This time of year is the only time of year where I am chasing a water temp. If it is 2-3 degrees warmer just a hundred yards away that’s where they’ll be. The wind will blow the warmer surface water up into the shallows so after a sunny day fish the side that the wind is blowing into. For baits, find the one that works for you. A vibrating jig is my early season bait, but I really like 45-50 degrees before I start throwing one. KvD loves a paddle tail crawled across the bottom in ice out water temps. It’s not worked for me, but given your history with them I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the bait for you. And lastly, every day on the water is a bonus, fish or not. Until the water hits 50 degrees I consider every fish a bonus. Keep it safe, and enjoy the fresh air and soft water.

What rods are you comparing it to as your baseline and what are you using now for that purpose? That will help calibrate what you like. Also, what weight baits? A 3/8 and a 3/4 need different rods ideally.

I’m sure you’re going to get a bunch of replies and probably a bunch that are specific for that lake. I don’t know you’re lake, but I know the position you’re in. I’ll be short in my suggestions. 1- Understand bass and what they are doing. Cold, warming prespawn, on the beds, post spawn, shad/bluegill spawn, depths of summer, fall feed up, chilling out for winter. There might be some other phases that are specific to an area (herring stuff maybe?), but this is the gist of the life of a bass. Temp, light, day of the year, will all influence them some, but figure out the phase (and where they do that phase) and that will get you pretty close. 2- Pick a couple baits that are efficient for the water you fish and that you have confidence in. I have a lot of grass and pretty clear water (most lakes, most of the time). I need baits that can get through it that cover the water column. For most of the year on most of my lakes, a vibrating jig, a swim jig, a buzz bait, a Texas rig, and a neko will get over, under, around, and through the cover in most situations. Figuring out fish is about covering water, finding them, and then picking them apart efficiently. Some people love a square bill and a drop shot but neither play much for me. 3- You alluded to not knowing what fish you’re looking at. The best way to learn is to find them and catch them to find out. I don’t see many fish on side imaging (bait yes, bass no). I look for structure and bait there, and then drop in live imaging to look for fish. Maybe make a second pass with DI full screen to look if it is fish. I’ll rely on 2D to see if it is fish a lot. With FFS what I’ve learned over the past 4 years is that you can have a pretty good guess after catching a bunch of fish of different types. Best way to catch them? A 3-4” minnow dropped on their face. In water with 2’ visibility or more, they can see that minnow from a ways off and if you get it just kinda beebopping around near them they won’t refuse it. And everything in the lake (aside from maybe carp) will eat a little natural minnow that is on their nose. I keep a 1/8 oz 3” mooch minnow rigged for just this purpose. A 10” crappie and a 15” largemouth can look strikingly similar on FFS. Crappie have a wide profile and make a strong return. Big ones look like dinner plates on the screen. Other fish are different. HOW the fish cluster on the screen matters also, If they are any more than 2 high (top to bottom) they aren’t bass. So get to know your setup, your screen size, what size your bait or a fish looks like, and keep the settings (depth/distance) the same until you’ve gotten used to looking at them. After enough visuals and fish catches, you’ll get a pretty good feel for what is what. And in the mean time, you’ll catch a bunch of fish (bass or not) and have a good time doing it.

Yeah, that’s a beautiful chunk of a fish. And the best part? Now you know she exists in that pond…

@herder - depends on the direction. If it is coming parallel to the long direction of the lake it’s going to be a long day. Perpendicular to that and you are okay. But there isn’t much of anywhere to get out of it. @A-Jay - funny you say that, I was just thinking about it this week. I was thinking about finding one that fits between my seats and this is just going to accelerate that.

@gim - it was a red eye shad and he hit it right at the boat with maybe 6’ of line out. I saw the whole thing disappear in a blink and I thought it was a goner. The only thing stopping the fish from inhaling it further was that the rear treble that caught on the outside of the mouth. The front hook was burried in the tongue. I barely got it out (again, rear treble saved me) with my pliers (need to get a set of extra long now). So not only did he slime everything, he bled everywhere on my basically new carpet.

Good Friday was good to me. Took a last minute day of work when I saw the wind forecast. Went to the big lake figuring for some topwater smallies, but of course the water was 43 degrees when I launched and the wind was blowing 5-10 (not the 2 mph forecast). I made a go of it, but after 90 minutes I was cold and so were the fish. Packed up and went to the other lake nearby that’s 15’ low and it was 52 degrees and zero wind which was much better. I motored to a finger and as soon as I slowed down the Xplore lit up with fish and bait everywhere. Did the jig and minnow thing for a bit and managed a couple 2# crappie so left those fish and started cranking the rock banks. First cast was a 3# largemouth. I picked and poked my way around the lake with crankbaits, lipless, and a spinnerbait (there was some wood around) and caught 3 largemouth and 2 nice pike. I decided to go back where the bait was and see if anything on the FF was bass. Didn’t catch a bass but did manage a few more 2# crappie (they were everywhere) and a 7# hybrid. A dozen fish after the start I had was more than enough for a nice day.