Pat Brown

Yeah absolutely - I think basically this time of year it's hot and there's lots of....stuff...in the water - stuff is also dying so there's lots of rotting and decay and fungal and bacterial blooming. Then you've got 12 inches of rain pushing Lord knows what into the waters I fish. Then add to that the fact that I caught some big very floppy bass with very sharp lips ripping up my hands - biting really good in a nasty spillway. Well yeah it was a perfect storm. Debby's revenge! 😂😂😂😂😂😂

Hah! I get cuts every day too but I've never had a septic infection. Apparently it is not unheard of for people who handle fish.

Yeah if they're biting something - I'm sharing with everyone and telling them where to throw it. No fun not sharing. 😎😎😎🎣🎣🎣

All I fish is pretty basic and old school. I fish jigs (skirted jig and craw or chunk or a jig head and worm)/soft plastics(Texas rigged or Carolina rigged or drop shot or weightless)/plugs (crankbaits/poppers/spooks) /minnow baits(Jerkbaits)/vibrating baits(lipless crankbait)/buzzers/spinners/frogs (buzzing and hollow) 99% of the time. Ain't much more old school than that. I feel that these are pretty well known though.

I think you're doing it right. Throwing things you have confidence in and assuming you aren't in the right area are both wise as opposed to going wild with bait selection. Only things I'd add to your repertoire are a horizontal presentation like a buzzbait/spinnerbait for 'searching' as well as some finesse/weightless plastic compatible gear for when they are on that deal.

@gimruis Really nasty infection with open wounds and stuff. Had to get on antibiotics. Don't get dirty water and fish slime in your little cuts and dings on your hands kids! Have to keep them clean and dry until they fully heal which could take a while. Hopefully won't need another round of antibiotics.

Never did bad in clear or dirty water with a shad pattern! I like black chartreuse when it's really muddy but 90% of the time I use a transparent shad pattern even if there's no 'shad around ' for water clarity from gin clear down to 1 foot of visibility. Generally speaking - crankbaits seem more situational and work best when it's windy and fish are very active and most importantly when fish haven't seen a ton of crankbaits 😉

Tried and True baits? 1000% Tried and true locations? 1000% Presentation is where I get them to slip up and I pride myself on trying to fully appreciate and exploit the nuance of making my baits dance in funny ways they ain't seen 😉 Why? Because I am of the mind that certain baits always work with certain conditions and I got that dialed in pretty good depending on how the fish are setting up on my lakes. No point in messing with it when it works.

Got some *catching* up to do 😏😏😏😏 Got some fish on my Bobby's Perfect Frog in the 'Hot Mess color yesterday middle of the day bluebird skies. Ultra fun. Missed two huge ones and some buzzbait bites but we had a great time. GoPro batteries ran out and sadly didn't capture the action this time. Got on a fun jig bite at the snotty pond the other day with Jake. They also wanted the golden shiner frog in the shade. And some nicer ones on the golden shiner scum frog in there too 😎😎😎😎 A speedworm fish to round it out. Smashing success came out on the big lake! Had a really solid day on the boat with this 4 lb 12 oz kicker on jigs off of deep timber. Jake went back to school today and I'm counting down the hours til his bus gets home and we can get a line wet after chores and homework. It was a fantastic summer full of bass and memories.

I don't even consider the temperature the season anymore here in NC. It's 60 in January and 50 in August plenty! 😂😂😂 The waning daylight hours is all I need to see. We fallin' 😎🍂 Honestly - these little warm fronts that typically accompany the fall emerging are definitely your friend when it comes to fishing - ride the wave. 🏄🏼‍♂️🏄🏼‍♂️🏄🏼‍♂️

I think you're lucky to live somewhere the oxygen levels and the temps and the fishing pressure don't put fish on the verge for 1/2 of the calendar year (also the best fishing months not coincidentally) and also being that neither of us encounter a lot of fish in 20+ foot deep water, we don't have a lot of experience with barotrauma. I don't begrudge people fighting fish at all - I just echo what I've heard fisheries biologists who study tournament fish death stuff and relay it on podcasts etc. AND I hear a lot of people who voice concern for their catches on here. I've definitely lost my fair share of giant fish messing around with them instead of getting them in the boat and I don't play that game anymore for sure lol.

Yeah for me it's more about the bite but if I land it and I get a good fight out of it also I'll take it. 😎🤙🏼 The fight is often what kills fish more so than catching them around beds or on forward facing sonar or anything like that. They aren't meant to fight a line and rod and reel and hook for long periods of time. And they will kill themselves trying to get off. My goal is to get them in and off and back in the water quickly and safely and I consider outsmarting the smartest and biggest the reward. I will say I've had some epic fights with some big largemouth bass but nearly had heart attacks every time because it's usually inside of a tree or around a bunch of rocks and I've lost more than I care to count!

I think the hardest part of night fishing for some people is that they're more cover oriented sight casting types during the daytime and that does not really translate well once the sun goes down. I find at night I do better slowly working structure and it's good to develop those skills during the daytime first because they're the same skill. I'm not saying you can't Target cast in the dark at night because you can and I do and that's often how I catch fish but those fish are just as spooky and difficult to catch at night as they are during the day and you're just a worse caster LOL

Bigger fish are also energy conservationists and in general they learn where Something that they like to eat spends the winter time and they're not far most of the time - day or night, cold or hot. The gizzard eaters follow the gizzards. But there's other big bass on every Lake. 😏🌝

A watermelon seed and a white flukes.

It's pretty much cold here now. It was in the 50s this morning at the pond with @FishTax and Jake (we could feel @LrgmouthShad and @IcatchDinkswith us in spirit)which for us hot blooded Southern boys is like stepping outside into a refrigerator. We all had sweaters on!

Oh yes indeed! Well done!

I think most has been covered here but I'll add my 2 cents. It sounds like your primary issue is you've never had even a single bite dragging the frog or worm across the pads: To me that sounds like how I retrieve my frog or worm once I'm done working the bait. Maybe instead of dragging across the pads, try lightly popping in place and into openings in the pads with lots of pauses. Same with a worm over the top etc. Bass seem to generally be more apt to chase something down that's sneaking by or seeming to struggle a little bit. Things whizzing by them at light speed often get ignored for an easier meal because they are energy conservationists.

@ol'crickety honestly let's just make it 1990s WWF in boats. Last fisherman standing take all. One day tournaments. 😂😂😂

I don't think it matters if it exists and people want to use it, let them - maybe even allow it for pre fishing so you can dial in the bite and presentation during practice or whatever. That seems fine. I don't think it's evil or needs to be illegal. I just think every sport needs limitations and maybe we found a good place to limit competitors to make it more about deep level bass fishing mojo and less about technological expertise or something. I do agree that what comes next and whether BASS has any plans at all to limit technology are more concerning at this point than people using FFS. That cat is pretty much out of the box - it just diminishes the professional sport to me, personally. People should use it if it's fun for them - for fun fishing. 👍🏻😉

Shoalies are supposed to be incredible fighters. Like if a largemouth fought like a smallmouth. Well done sir! I'm sure you had a great time!

Not that they need my viewership or support - after this season - I'm thinking I'm tuning into something else. I just feel like the points Clark Wendlandt makes are exactly how I feel. Performing at a pro level is supposed to be hard and the feats pros accomplish are supposed to be incredible. I think technology has crossed the line where it's ruining the professional sport. To each their own. People can kick and scream and say it will be boring without it blah blah... whatever. I mean how can Chris and Cory Johnston sit there and hand each other fish all day without FFS? 😂😂😂. They can't. I'm over it.

Cover/structure within the grass. Deep edges/shallow edges/flats/steep drop offs/in-flowing water/ brush/stumps/rocks/logs etc that are hidden in the grass. Denser patches/sparser patches. Sometimes on lakes where it's all grass the key is finding the not grass. Sometimes on lakes with some dense patches of grass they can be in there but will only be biting when the wind is blowing into the grass ever so gently activating the shiners - and even then they'll still be holding tight to their favorite piece of cover within the grass on most days. Stuff like this seems to be important.

I mean - it's been really fun but reading other posts in here - I'm not trying to rub it in. 😂 Lotta bass caught on a frog since first week of May. Plenty over 5 lbs. I'd be a fool to complain about that! A frog bass is a thing of beauty. Biggest I got into during the proper hot months were a 7 lb 8 oz on a frog and a 7 even on a mag speed worm with a nice little pile of 6+ lbers - so nothing mega giant this summer but that's just fine. Winter's coming. 😜😜😜

I just use the 3/4 oz brush jig when I want a fast fall vertically! Gets the job done and then some 😎😎😎👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻