Pat Brown

I caught fish on a buzzbait in December, January and February this year. I know to some folks this isn't a big deal but I had to prove to myself that in the winter bass don't burrow into the mud and go to sleep for 2 months and by golly those fish did that! 🤣🤣🤣

I brought a change of clothes. #prepared

Had to go to a funeral back in Durham for a friends mother and after the processions we hit a friend's private stocked pond and I caught a 5 lb 8 oz donkey on a 7 inch swimbait (thanks @deep for the inspiration !) I've been helping him cull big sunfish and smaller bass and it's nice to see a healthy girl like this in here. It's always funny when you catch a fish THIS size on a big bait: The Zaldaingerous swimbait definitely gets bit! Got some of the new 6" whales coming to try because they're a great price and I love the smaller ones!

Most of my big fish on a chatterbait came letting it fall to the bottom and then lifting it up slowly and letting it fall! I've never done particularly well fishing it in any other way but I am open to the possibilities.... I mostly fish a swim jig or a lipless instead 90% of the time nowadays but I still carry a chatterbait around with me at the pond just in case.

Yeah I think it's just how they were made in the early days and it's kinda 'authentic' but beyond that probably no benefits.

They are very sharp and very strong but kind of brittle/'hard'. They tend to break before they bend. The biggest advantage for me is how light weight they are. Can help make a bait float that otherwise sinks or suspends.

Yeah I am trying to learn to be serious and casual. Serious about the fishing when I get to do it. Casual about the failure that is sure to come most of the time pursuing giant bass. The good thing is I have enough success to keep me feeling like it has a purpose. It takes some major mental discipline though and I'm learning that balance all the time. Great post @deep .

They are spawning everywhere and have been for months BUT they have been way more 'waves' of fish that slide up and back and it's way more confusing than years where the spring is warmer. On the big lakes it's not the way it was last year with seemingly every fish on the lake on bed at once. It's more like the little areas that SHOULD fire first are firing and the rest of the lake is slow to catch up as the water progressively stabilizes in the low 60s. I have been catching pre spawners, post spawners and bed fish all month on ponds and lakes all from the exact same areas. They're just kinda all over the place and in many different stages.

I generally go for the smaller size but I like the magnum when the water is dingy or when I'm trying to fish it weightless like a topwater.

I like to fish til 1 am in the late spring but that bite seems to get less good in the later summer!

My favorite 'night' to fish happens just before the dawn. I set my alarm clock for 4 am starting in about July. Topwater in the pitch black before the first rays of the sun are seen can put the fear of God into anyone. It's spectacularly electrifying. You feel all of what makes humans animals firing at once. You get so tuned into the rhythm of what's happening around you at night. It makes you a MUCH better angler IMHO.

In the spirit of Woody's 'fishless water' I thought it would be fun to try the inverse. Any good stories about water that 'shouldn't have any fish in it' that is loaded with fish? It seems like you pull over to use a rest stop in Florida and make a cast into a stagnant puddle next to the highway and stand to catch the fish of a lifetime. In NC I see guys catching insane fish out of Walmart retention ponds! (Makes note to fish more Walmart retention ponds in 2024). Whatcha got!?!?

How about the opposite? What about when you catch big fish or a fish at all in places that seem uninhabitable and definitely are not being stocked etc? That's more fun. 😎

Well I shot a man in Reno..... just to watch him die. I tied my bait on with a new knot.....just to snap it off. 😂😂😂😂 I actually try new knots every year. I really like Miller knot, loop knot, Palomar knot, San Diego jam and double pitzen. I also know the Alberto and double uni knot but don't do braid to leader much. This year I will probably try the old FG knot just for fun on a spinning rod but so far haven't messed with it. Overall my most used knots are Palomar with braid (buzzbait or frog) and Double san Diego Jam on mono. The Miller knot is phenomenal when you want a super finesse presentation and don't want the knot visible at all.

Toss up between the Shimano SLX and the Daiwa Fuego. I could go either way and be a happy camper. If I'm gonna be dropping some money I'd go Curado or Tatula. I also have a soft spot for 13 fishing reels because they're cheap and seem to work well and fit my hands. The inception is a killer reel for the money.

The storms and cold fronts have definitely knocked big females many steps back and when they're knocked back, they're also tight lipped I find. The little males that aren't very spawn oriented also tend to fall back and hold. Eventually very soon we will cross that threshold where the night time lows no longer allow for this tom foolery and that will probably be May-ish this year. We have had plenty of frost on the ground in late April growing up so I'm thinking this is just one of those types of years.

Yeah I mean they definitely work but we don't always see what they are revealing. Bass are pretty dang good at trying to be unseeable in a variety of ways.

Awwww jeeze we like Matt Stefan and Fish the Moment/Jony Schultz and those guys use FFS plenty and Jake just digs the hat and the jerky. No FFS hate here...mostly indifference but I can't say we disagree with all of RB ideas about technology necessarily - he just maybe needs to let it go and accept that people are always gonna disagree and then he needs to go catch a big bass or two....does the soul good. He's a great angler and teacher - when he's not ranting about FFS. Sorry hopefully not derailing positive thread here. Hooray for catching bass and cured meats. 😂😂😂

It's nice to see the old and new faces alike and a landed bass is a cause for celebration in my book! Yesterday it got soggy but we still got some in there. ☔☔☔🎣🎣🎣 This morning I skipped it because it was positively soaking but maybe after work.... Here's yesterday evenings haul: Saw some mega giants hunting the crappie Jake ended up catching one of, but couldn't do much besides annoy them and make them leave 😂

I did manage on worth writing home about this morning! I like catching fish of all sizes but im always looking specially hard for them bigger ones on account of wanting to understand them and such. Shame the sample size annually for my research isn't what I'd like but it's the yearning that keeps me learning. Fishing is fun regardless!

Probably changes every day but today my favorite: Jerkbait: Berkley Stunna Squarebill: Strike King KVD 1.5 Lipless Crankbait: Strike King RES 1/2 oz Shallow crank: Strike King Hybrid Hunter Medium crank: Berkley Frittside 5 Deeper Crank: Strike King 6XD Spinnerbait: Luck E Strike Redman Spinnerbait Buzzbait: Nichols Reflex 1/2 oz Finesse Jig: Siebert Sniper 7/16 oz Swim Jig: Siebert Grass Jig 1/2 oz Casting Jig: Siebert Brush Jig 3/4 oz Football Jig: Siebert G2 3/4 oz Soft Swimbait: Bass Mafia Zaldaingerous 6" Hard Swimbait: Savage Gear Shine Glide 7" Craw: Rage Craw Swimbait trailer: Storm Largo Shad Chunk: Zoom Super Chunk Ribbon Tail Worm: Berkley Power Worm 10.5" Beaver: Missile Baits D Bomb Minnow: Zoom Super Fluke Stick Bait: Yamamoto Senko Finesse Worm: Zoom Trick Worm Grub: Rage Menace Lizard: Zoom Magnum Lizard Probably missing something but all these are pretty great.

Eclipse bass: Mostly a bunch a little guys like this. It was pretty cloudy during the good part. Saw lots of animals out and about which was cool! Saw some new bigger females moving up to spawn on the evening of the new moon which was cool. Got some good warm weather coming this week that should really help lock fish in and maybe even draw some bluegill into the shallows.

Sounds like a really really good learning day and you learned a LOT. I fish with my 11 year old son. Every day is a learning experience but we learn how to be better prepared every time we go out. You'll be prepared next time. 😎🎣

Topwater is your friend in thick vegetation. Weightless plastics and very heavy weights can help with presenting the bait in ways that are more likely to get bit. I'd try a floating worm 😎😎😎 Where do you cast?: holes in the grass or more sparse areas. Near main lake structure (points/flats/cuts/ditches) and this time of year I'd be paralleling the bank every few casts just to keep em honest.

Hey it's Danocaster! Welcome to the forums! You make great guitars! 22 in 3 hrs ain't bad! I only managed 5 in 2 hrs and no big ones but the animals were all buzzing around at the pond.