bp_fowler

Yeah, I was looking at the 7’2” M/M for shallow/mid cranking. For the 7’4” MH/M I was thinking more along the lines of deep cranks, chatterbaits and traps. Never fished a glass rod before but it’s not a deal breaker for me.

Looking at purchasing a few new rods. I was looking at St. Croix Legend Glass Rod in the 7’2” Medium Mod. and the 7’4” MH Mod. However I noticed that they also had rods in the Legend Tournament line that were almost identical as far as the listed action line/lure weight rating (listed as the “Finesse Glass Cranker” and “Power Glass Cranker”). The Legend Tournament is $45 dollars more, other than that what’s the difference between these two lines?

For sure I’ve noticed the longer days. I’m thinking I may have been overly optimistic stating that I would be catching bass again later this month. Since I moved back to Ohio from Texas I’ve been spoiled with mild winters. Not this year though. Funny you mentioned buzzbaits. I’m retooling my set ups to this year to focus on a handful of techniques. The one big hole in my plans is that I have no topwater. Depending on how certain things shake out, buzzbaits may be in the rotation.

Right now I’m using a Tatula 7’ Medium Regular. It was designed for shallow cranking but I have thrown up to DT12s without much trouble. At what point do I need to consider a longer rod to facilitate keeping deeper diving Crankbaits in the strike zone? How long should it be? Looking to get 15ft and deeper.

Well, as the consummate junk fisherman my plan is actively limit the number of techniques that I use this year. Previously I had gone a bit crazy trying to do a bit of everything. Well as Bruce Lee once said: “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times” So the goal being to simplify I’m going to keep it to the bladed jig, jig, t-rig, crankbait and wacky rig. In this same vein I’m planning on sticking mostly to ponds I’ve fished previously. This will probably be tougher since I often will forgo the familiar in favor of the novel. I guess we shall see. As another famous fighter once said: “Everybody has a plan until they get hit in the mouth”

My first fish in 2024 was caught February 15, in 2025 my first catch was February 27. I’ll spilt the difference for 2026 and say February 22.

Terrible news, I will be keeping his family in my prayers. RIP Tom.

Sensitivity, if I want to feel the bottom or the vibration of my lure.

These were the big winners for me in 2025 -Bladed Jig (usually 3/8 in a Shad pattern) -Casting Jig (various brands and weights) -Texas rigged craw (Rage Craw and UV Speed Craw) -Choppo 90 -DT 6 -3.5” Coffee Tube (Rigged Stupid) -Wacky Rigged Senko -3” Crush City Mayor on a GLF underspin -Ned Rig

Decided to hit some of the other ponds that I’ve been neglecting of late. Results have been somewhat mixed l, which is a nice way of saying I caught a bunch of dinks. I did however catch a few decent ones pictured below. A Crankbait (DT6) sandwiched by two underspin fish. The first two were caught in a small shallow dirty and weedy reservoir, one up shallow by some wood cover and the other burning a crank over the tops of dead and dying weeds in the lower end. The third was caught holding tight to an outside weed line.

I copied your homework. Seriously though I always thought of the underspin as a summertime thing but it’s been my most productive lure this fall.

I lose a ton. I’ve very rarely had a jig that I’ve bought in the beginning of the year make it through an entire season. I lose them less often now that I have a canoe and can maneuver close enough to work them free. The exception are football jigs I very rarely lose those.

Fished a new pond today. Very shallow and clear + blue skies equaled spooky fish. As such I figured finesse would be the way to go. But other than a few nibbles from blue gills on the Ned, no dice. Tried the under spin and that did the trick. Tried some other moving baits, vibrating jigs, spinner baits, rattle trap…nothing. So I rode the hot hand and caught 10. You can see how clear the water is in this photo.

A bass boat outfitted as described by the OP would not be of very much use to me in my home waters. They are simply much too small. Of the eleven bodies of water within a 30 minute drive from me, only 2 would allow me to even run the big motor at anything above idle. Which to me removes the single biggest advantage of a bass boat: mobility. I can’t say much about FFS as I have no experience with it or any sonar for that matter. Maybe it would help maybe it wouldn’t. That being said, a proper bass boat would certainly be useful for me to fish big water. Lake Erie is a 3 hour drive and I make a trip to MacGregor Bay on Lake Superior every August. Not to mention the Ohio river as well. I think it would help in those locations for sure.

Fished yesterday morning after work, hoping to get in on a bite before the system had passed ended up getting soaked to the bone with only a few dinks to show for it. Today I wasn’t expecting much with the post frontal conditions and all. I came with both spinning rods rigged and ready figuring I’d have to finesse ‘em. The Ned was up first and I quickly boated 3 and lost a 4th. I was excited because after weeks of nothing but dinks I caught a few decent sized fish. A cloud deck moved in so I would try something a little more aggressive. I tied a Choppo on to the only casting rod I brought and added a few more fish to my tally. Unfortunately I lost almost as many as I caught with the Choppo including 3 fish that blew up on it on a single cast! At first I thought it was because I switched line from 12# Big Game to 10# Trilene figuring it may have had more stretch preventing me from getting good hook penetration. But on second thought I lost fish on the Ned and the under spin (two different rods) so it was probably operator error on my part. Speaking of the under spin here’s some of those fish. Finished the day with 13, lost 9, 4 of which were bigger fish. Guess with all the dinks I’ve been slaying I must have forget how to boat the bigger ones 😂

Like the shoulders on these two!

It’s in the AEP, so it’s possible you may have fished it before.

New pond today. Caught 32 all smaller fish. Might have picked a pond that was too remote and probably overpopulated as a result. Oh well, did find a derelict boat also.

Decided to go deeper into the AEP this morning. Took a bit of risk trying to fish new water this late in the year, not to mention trying to find a pond I’ve never been to in the dark. Fortunately I scouted out an old service road that took me right to the waters edge. I went back for my canoe and then a third time to grab my gear. All that work was for very little pay off as all I could catch were a bunch of dinks this size. Since it was light out now I pushed further into the woods to another pond I had spotted on Google earth. That one was a little bit better as I caught two slightly larger fish but still plenty o’dinks. I lost what felt like two decent fish as well both my fault, broke my leader knot on the first and was waaaay late on the hookset on the other.

Early morning fishing today. Caught 5, all were up shallow next to weeds or wood. 3 with the wacky senko, 2 with the underspin. Best fish

Had a day off today finally, slept in. Took the canoe out for the first time in a while. It was raining steady and I got soaked completely through within about 10 minutes of being on the water. Caught an even dozen fish, unfortunately no big girls. Used a combination of Texas rigged craw, DT6, and an under spin. Still no luck with the Buzzbait.

@Bluebasser86 Nice job! Some more hardware to add to your collection.

First, a there are few things to consider while fishing from the green side. Before I leave for a fishing trip I will attempt to find depth charts for that particular Body of Water. I will also check it out on Google earth, and the local weather forecast for that area. If I have the time I like to get eyes on the place beforehand as there’s often little details that photos and maps don’t show. This can tell me a lot about the ease of access. More on that later. The weather obviously plays a big role. Wind speed and direction can help me choose what lures I use, which bank I want to start at or target. I’m not going to go too far into this as this has been beat to death already. Next is the terrain and vegetation. This is where that ease of access I mentioned earlier comes into play. It can matter a lot because the easier the bank is to walk, the more water you can cover. The more water you can cover the more fish you can put your lure in front of. At a well maintained public lake or pond you maybe able to walk the entire perimeter of the body of water, while at the other end of the spectrum something like a strip pit pond deep in the backwoods, you may only be able to fish from a handful of spots which means I’ll usually spend more time picking apart everything within casting distance. The vegetation/terrain can even affect things like what clothing and footwear I’m wearing. For example if I’m going to have to hike over rough terrain to get where I’m fishing I’m going to wear hiking shoes and pack light. Maybe only one rod and a fanny pack with extra lures and/or soft plastics in a zipper baggie, a handful terminal tackle in an old film canister, and some spare line. On the other hand if I’m at the nice public pond I’m probably wearing street clothes, tennis shoes and I’m bringing all my gear/rods, although I may leave most of that in my vehicle and I can run back there and grab what I need when I need it. Now after all that comes the actual fishing part. I will always try and approach as stealthily as possible. When I first started out I don’t take this that seriously but after seeing giant bass take off from right next to bank more than a few times, I learned my lesson. This is why it helps to fish like during hours of darkness or at least low light. Not because I believe they necessarily bite better but because it’s harder to throw a shadow and spook the fish. I will still use slow and deliberate movements while close to the bank. I will make a few casts from a distance in order to check the immediate area around where I’ll be standing on the bank. I have on several occasions caught fish this way. Granted depending on the vegetation/terrain you may not be able to do this. If there is any obvious cover/structure within casting distance I try and target that first. Next I’ll make casts parallel or as close to parallel to the bank as possible. If there is another linear feature such as a weed or shade line I’ll cast along that as well. Lastly I’ll fan cast around an area before departing. Usually this will be approximately 3-5 casts depending on nearby vegetation which may limit where and what direction and/or angle you can cast. Also if I’m carrying a second rod with a follow up bait I’m might use that here. After that I’ll move stealthily to the next spot, if possible no further down the bank than I had previously presented my lure. Often times I have no clear path along the bank to my next spot. That means I’ll have to repeat the process from the top. Speaking of which the times that I do best are the times that I’m able to stay mobile and cover water from the bank. The more you can do this, the more potential fish you can put your lure in front of, which in turn means more strikes. It’s a numbers game really.

@Swamp Girl That bass is a…