bishoptf

I need to fish a fluke more often but have more questions if you don't mind. First question is do you fish it un-weighted or with a very light weight? What kind of conditions does it seem to be most effective, like yesterday was overcast and gusting to 20 so on the wind blown side it was pretty rough. More that I think about it, I probably should be fishing a fluke much more than I am which is 0 right now.

Yeah I get and I guess why I still struggle. Lake is pretty clear, 4ft if visibility, no grass per say but in the spring gets algae growing on everything which I think keeps the lake clear. When the water warms up the algae burns away. It does have water willow which is dead right now and lots of brush piles. Couple weeks ago I guess they were staging in the brush piles since i caught a bunch there but not catching any in the deeper brush piles. You list some other things to try, I need to get better at keep trying other things, fluke, swimbait, buzz bait etc. it was over cast and windy yesterday and maybe a buzz bait would have been something to try. Thanks for the info...

This^^^ one if the lakes that I fish at is on 60 acres, maybe some might even say its a pond, lol. Just trying to get better at figuring things out so I can catch more fish. I tried deeper brush piles with cranks and shallow with spinnerbaits but never could really figure things out. Some appear to be starting to spawn at least I have seen a couple on beds which I chose not to target. I know whacky rigs are popular but feel like i have to slow down to fish it. Still have so much to learn about how to figure things out.

Thats what I have been throwing lately just not a lot of takers today, wednesday it was pretty good today not so much. I feel like I should have some additional things that I can continue to cover water at a decent pace, thats why I was asking.

Man there are some bummer threads out there, yeah I'm talking to you @AlabamaSpothunter with the impalement thread..I can't stop thinking about it...but going to try to keep this purely fishing and blood free. I am trying to get better at figuring out what, where and how when I get to the lake. I have 2 fairly small community lakes and you would think it wouldn't be that difficult to figure out where they are and what they prefer but still have so much to learn. Right now were are in pre-spawn and spawn conditions, lakes have warmed up to around 62 degrees. The question for these current conditions what is your favorite lure/bait for covering water and to help figure out what and where they are located on any given day. I had four rods on the deck today, spinnerbait, bladed jig, and 2 different frittside's. The only thing that I had some luck was with the spinnerbait but keep thinking that I need to try something else since I think I should be catching more fish. Lets here some suggestions as to what else you can use that covers water and helps find them.

Just wanted to say that i went back and watched the latest flint davis youtube tournament video and his seat already had the seat cut on it so that appears not to be from the accident. For whatever reason it almost appears that the nitro logo was cut out of the seat (min 4:40 of the latest video). Just thought I would at least pass that along. Really sad day all the way around.

Yeah i had a pintail minnow on it to bulk it up buts its not a big one, it might be 4".

Yeah I get it seems like I have been doing more fishing then catching so far this year

She was really shallow, probably less than 2ft, first female Ive caught this year. Everything else has been males, lots of males. I circled back to that spot about an hour later but no joy...will for sure I fish it from here out, lol.

Yeah thats no problem but man id be lying that I don't think about it...lol.

Nah spinnerbait single hook is sharp, all the small fish hasn't seem to matter. I think it was just one of those things when I reached down and she jumped one last time she threw the hook. I touched her but just wasnt able to lip her. Like A-Jay and everyone mentioned, just need to use my net more often...the other day caught a 10+ catfish with a crankbait i'd have no issues with those coming off, lol.

There was no boat flipping in this case, medium action rod and just wasn't going to happen. Thats probably on me also since I am re-doing my rods and reels and probably should have maybe been throwing on a stiffer rod but I was able to get her to the boat and it was just when I reached down she shook her head....is what it is, obviously some slack when reaching down etc.

Yup, glad it's not just me but for me it really stays with me....when the fish shook the spinnerbait it just froze for a split second like they do and I tried to grab her tail and poof she was gone...it's been such a grind lately and even today was a grind, weather has really slowed the lakes from warming up and bass just appear to be scattered. Lots of males but very few females until the one today...one side of the lake is much warmer than the other...more rain coming so not sure what it will be like after the weekend...thanks for the encouraging words!

I know most have been here before but I have been fishing pre-spawn which seems forever since the weather has been like a yo-yo this year and struggling to catch anything size wise. Today started pretty slow just more dinks but water temp has been creeping up and while it started bluebird and calm it became overcast with a little wind towards late afternoon. I was really starting to grouse about not running into any decent lmb so far this year and bam, wind blown flat off of some deep water up shallow near the dead water willow I hooked into a decent lmb with my spinnerbait. Had her all the way to the boat and knew she was 5+ and reached down to lip her and she jumped and shook her head and back into the water she went minus my spinnerbait...sigh. I just really wanted to weigh her and see how big she was....and the back end of the boat sits my net, man that stings. Why is it that the 2-3lb never have an issue, its always the larger ones that obviously wasn't stuck good enough. I tend not to use my net when by myself since I find it cumbersome to try to get to it and fight the fish but I think I need to just do it since if I had she would have been in the boat. I also need to re-think maybe having a stinger hook on my spinnerbaits, I tend not to use them either since I like to through into cover and the stinger hooks seem to get caught up way more. Second decent fish I have lost this season the other one was on a jerkbait early in the season...been doing this a long time and I don't think it ever gets easier loosing a fish. Thanks for letting me rant

BaitWrx A-rig clearance 25% off...

I fished them just a couple hours ago, they have a lower rattle sound vs a trap or cordell spot but seem to vibrate like normal. It was very windy, gusting to 35 in my face so kind of hard to really judge but they seem pretty nice to me. The new jerkbaits look pretty nice also, as nice as the Academy ultimate jerkshads but will need to see if they suspend and action.

Nope I guess since there are not many guesses I will reveal...wallyworld aka Walmart Ozark Trails. This is the new 2025 version the old version last year looked more like SK red eye shad. The hooks are really nice, look like eagle claw laser sharp trebles. The store I was at didn't have a lot of colors but would be nice to know all colors available. At least at my store $2.78...:) They also have some new jerkbaits that again look really nice, going to pick up some of them and take a look, again for $2.78.

Looks that way, I wasn't even sure what it was a copy of. I thought it had the face of a war pig but the backend differed but does look like a good match.

Good guess but not correct.

Looks like one of them, clearly a copy if the black magic paint scheme but not 6th sense. Just thought this would be fun ..

Picked up a couple lipless today and was really surprised at these today so I thought it would be fun to name the mfg...haven't fished them yet but plan on today..

For me its LMB since the lakes only have LMB, well the smaller lake does have some SMB but they are pretty rare if caught. Went out today and oof, water temp is mid 50's now and its still a tough bite, one keeper and 2 shorts. Threw a lot of cranks today and caught one early and thought that was a good sign but a lot of throwing and not much catching. Just not sure where they are staging or if they are on the main lake still chasing shad, some of coves in the back are 57 degrees but they haven't started moving up from what I can see. Just not sure what else to do, maybe next time I will slow down and work some lay downs with jigs, lost at the moment.

Thats the different thing with this lake no vegetation at all. Not a vig fan of ffs but i do feel like when the bass are roaming could at least help you to know where they are, right now I have no idea.

Not usually I have a z19 but one of our community lakes they dropped and have been fishing some from the bank waiting for the bigger lake to warm up. Went out yesterday on the bigger lake, three dinks, one crappie and somehow managed to snag a huge grass carp with crankbait. Just not sure where the big bass position when they are not shallow, we have TONS of gizzard shad, so thick in places that fishing a jerkbait and you snag some...lots of bait.

LOL i will cast a nugget or whatever will increase my chances...its not a large lake but it's tricky to catch the bigger bass at least for me.