10,000 lakes Bassin

Yeah the boat has been in the garage for me for a couple weeks, winters coming quick and hunting season is here.

I’m not a huge smallmouth guy by any means but I stumbled into a couple nice ones last week while largie fishing and can’t stop thinking about it. It’s been too long since I’ve got into a bunch of smallies I want to target them specifically. I figure that most guys would point me towards fishing deeper rock structure or points etc. My question is what about the last bits of green grass hanging on? My water temps are mid forties now and will be dropping soon. Is the grass worth a shot or should I just look for that more standard rock structure? Side note, but If I’m looking for the rock what depth would be my best bet?

Yeah I fill like this could be a big issue.

Fishing your own way, finding your own pattern, this is something that I need to get better at. Anyone can go online, YouTube, fishing magazines, this find someone telling you how to catch fish. Your buddy can tell you where they were biting last weekend, the guy at the boat ramp can tell you how he caught a 25lb bag, and I think this all gets into your brain whether you realize it or not. I feel like this can be really detrimental to your fishing. I can’t remember where I heard it, but something I heard a while back stuck with me. It was that if you copy somebody else’s pattern, the best you could do is fish as good as they were, but most likely you’re going to fish worse than them. Do you have any advice on how to just clear your mind and fish, without trying to chase a pattern from someone else, or even an old pattern of yours? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

I know this is a stupid question but I’m curious about running some 20lb fluoro on a zillion. I never, like never use straight fluoro or mono, I can’t tell you the last time I spooled a reel with anything but braid. Im considering throwing some 20lb on a zillion. Will 20 pound be way too big for a smaller reel like that? I’m picturing using it for chatterbaits.

Lots of people are gear junkies like that and having all the different baits in the perfect colors is half the fun for them.

If the bass aren’t feeding on shad, and the bluegill are deep, what are the bass eating? Are you saying that the bass followed the bluegill out deep?

He ties to 30lb mono leader although.

I normally don’t worry about it, granted I can’t cast as far as some. I use braid as a mainline so that helps.

I was able to grab 5 for $25 bucks. I don’t frog fish a whole lot so that should last me a while.

Wow I’ll see if they still have them.

Terminator frogs? I just saw a few at my local store for $4. Should I grab a few?

Could you use a HD for everything even like jerkbaits and stuff. I mean I know you wouldn’t need to but would there be any disadvantages?

So there no drawbacks of the HD like casting distance etc?

Would you recommend a HD for frogging? I’m wondering how much of a difference the HD makes

After buying my first JDM zillion I think I spoiled myself. The bait monkey talked me into buying at least one more by the start of the season next year. I’m wondering if I can hold off a little bit and maybe wait until the middle of this winter or next spring to buy one or two more? Would it be silly to wait and maybe miss out on the crazy low prices we can get right now?

I was just thinking about this topic being that I’m switching from kayak to boat fishing. In a kayak I set the hook full power for everything except treble hooked baits because you pull yourself toward the fish a good amount. In a boat that hookset ends up being way overkill.

Interesting day on the water. Water temps started at 47 and warmed up to 50. Fishing was great, I got a bunch of fish around 17” and one 18”. Me being an idiot got in the way of the fishing. I completely blew up my main reel, I recked the one prop I had in the boat, and probably all wrecked the impeller in my motor.

I know one guy that says he catches em pretty good on a certain lake on early ice, I’ve never fish out there with him though. Do you have any go-to spots you look for when you’re trying to find those young of the year sunfish? I’d guess they be up pretty shallow? Maybe check big points or bays first?

Where are you headed if you don’t mind me asking?

I know we have a good population of shiners in some lakes around here. I appreciate your help, I’ll look on a lake map and see if I find some of those key areas you pointed out. I think I’ll stick it out and try to catch them later into the fall this year than I ever have. I might change my mind when I start to freeze my fingers off but for now I’ll keep with it.

It’s getting chilly up here! We’ve had a few nights down into the twenties and almost all of the leaves are on the ground. I was on the water a week ago and the water was around 55 so I’m sure it will be much colder now. I’d love some general advice on how to stay on the largemouth as the temp keeps dropping. I’ve had decent luck around some scattered green grass, but I’m sure lots of that will be dying off soon if it’s not already dead. Where do I look now? I’d assume around hard cover of some sort but that can be few and far between in lots of the lakes around me. What depth zone should I focus on? Will they still be up shallow or are they starting to move out deep? What could be some key baits? Thanks!

What handle would you recommend for the standard Zillion?

Thank you!

I picked up a JDM zillion SV TW this summer, and I’ve used for everything from jerkbaits to frogging. Well the bait monkey convinced me I need another zillion so I’m trying to decide between the SV TW or the HD model. Id assume for stuff like frogging and flipping you’d go with the HD, and for stuff like cranking and fishing chatterbaits the standard model would be the way to go, but my question is for stuff in between the two. What about for light pitching and casting jigs in the 1/2oz to 3/4oz range? What about for swimjigs? Will I reck a regular zillion fishing it in these situations? Thanks