JackstrawIII

So sorry to hear that. Prayers for a quick recovery.

I think I've been under-tightening my drag, but I won't go crazy with it. Thanks all.

Not one of the finger lakes, just a smaller lake in that area 👍🏻 And sounds like I just need to crank that drag down and let er rip. How do I know if I’m over-tightening the drag? Can I damage it by going to tight?

Hey, quick question for you all. Was on vacation this week and spent a considerable amount of time fishing a relatively small, heavily weeded lake in the Finger Lakes area. Caught tons of bass and had a wonderful time. With that said, the most consistent bite I found was topwater over the heaviest weeds and slop in the lake. Many time, I’d hook into a fish, and feel the reel handle spinning uselessly (drag slipping) while trying to horse the fish out of the weeds. I could thumb the spool and just pull, but couldn’t actually reel the fish when they were in the thick stuff. I use a Tatula SV for my frogging since I like to skip them under docks and such. I tighten the drag by “feel” so it’s tight without feeling like it’s too tight. Max drag is 11lb, but I’m probably 1/2 to 2/3 of that. Here’s my question, which of these is true: 1. This is exactly what’s supposed to happen. Thumbing the reel is normal when fighting fish in heavy cover. 2. I need a reel with a stronger drag because thumbing shouldn’t be necessary. 3. I need to tighten the drag on my reel more. Or maybe something else? I caught a bunch of fish, but there were 2 times when fish got off the line when I got stalled on my retrieve and they got buried in weeds. Just thinking through options on how to prevent this. Thanks all. Ps. Caught my PB this week. 23.5” and just over 8lb. On topwater no less. And my wife happened to be with me when it happened. Blessed.

You can melt the noses with a butane lighter and they'll heal up for reuse.

Skipping or light baits = Daiwa SV (Tatula, Zillion, Steez... mild to wild) Chuck and wind presentations = Shimano Curado If I could only fish one reel on all my rods, it would be a Tatula or Zillion SV in a 7.1 speed.

Don't have any Falcons, but guys on the internet seem to like this rod. The Head Turner is also highly regarded. I could make some recommendations that would outfit you nicely in Dobyns Sierra rods... but can't help much with Falcon. Welcome to the forums.

Yeah man, that 715 is a good stout stick. I'd use it with braid for frogs or with fluoro for heavier jigs. It's definitely geared towards heavier techniques.

Absolutely.

I've not used the Phenix rods, but I'm a huge fan of the Dobyns Sierra and Kaden series rods. They're amazing rods and a really great company to work with.

I'm very good at catching weeds with crankbaits. Bass, not so much.

The only time I've seen people use those around here is for trolling.

This. I also like a strong power, but slower action rod for fishing heavy cover with braid, close to the boat like pitching and flipping. The strong power gives you the ability to pull fish out, but the slightly slower action helps you land the fish and not actually "rip lips".

Same. The battery ones blow through batteries in no time. Corded is better for any jobs near the house. I buy "yellow", by the way.

Yes I do, but Walleye is #1 and Perch is #2. After that, Bluegills and Rock Bass are tied for third. Not sure what the rest of the interwebz are saying, but they're wrong. Rock bass is excellent.

Nice, looks like a good dinner right there!

No need to downsize below 6. That's plenty small for the gills you're looking for. Try fishing deeper. At least here in NY, the bigger gills can be found in deeper water this time of year.

These are all great answers and my experience mirrors them. The easiest I've found are poop baits and stick baits. Jigs and t-rigs are doable with the right setup. Any baits that are flappy or floppy are very hard to skip.

After struggling for years, I finally feel like I can skip with pretty much any rod, as long as it has a Daiwa SV reel on it (Tatula and Zillion both work).

I don't think I've ever caught a fish on a curly tail worm... I just never, ever fish them. My original impression was that "big worms" are for deeper water fishing, which is something I don't really do. I want to explore the use of big worms for shallow fishing. Jar says it's his: Are you using a pegged weight in heavy cover? Or an unpegged weight in open cover? What about you other guys? How do you use a worm in shallow water?

Fishing different baits, depths, and types of cover.

My wife would love to chime in on this question... How long? Too long.

This is very well said. Very interesting. I've heard several pros say the same thing. I fish mostly natural lakes and bays in upstate NY, most of which don't really have much "current" besides whatever the wind is doing. I have noticed that fish "sometimes" stack up on the downwind side of things, but it hasn't seemed consistent enough that I'd call it a pattern. With that said, there's probably more current in my lakes than I think. I agree with you. Bites can be had any time of day. Ha. Indeed.

This is so cool. Well done sir!!

In my days of bass fishing, I’ve experienced many situations in which the bite has gone from 0-10 or from 10-0 very quickly, for no apparent reason. Decided to go an impromptu experiment this evening. I fished my pond for about an hour, with zero bites. Instead of trying to chase bites, I decided to stay in the normal place where I know the fish are, and fished the same lure for the entire time. After getting zero bites for an hour, all the sudden I got 6 bites within about 10 minutes, using the same exact presentation as before. I stopped due to the mosquitoes also getting active… but the change in the fishing results was dramatic. It would certainly seem like the bass were there all along, but just weren’t ready to eat until a certain time, for whatever reason. I won’t claim to understand it, but it seems like the whole “bite window” thing is real. Incidentally, this increase in bites actually did line up with what was predicted on the Bass Forecast app, which I’ve been evaluating throughout this season. Coincidence? Maybe… but maybe not. So, what do you all think? Do you put stock in the idea of the bite “turning on” during certain time slots with any semblance of predictability?