Rucksack

Heavy rains and flooding?

I'm not from your area, but I fish while traveling a lot. This is what I do. You're never going to replace talking to your local tackle shop. Go in. Buy something. Ask for some advice. They'll put you on fish because they want you to be successful and become a loyal customer. This is truly the best way. Apps like fishbrain are great. People post spots there, often times much to the locals' dismay. So make sure you're on your best behavior and leave the spot better than you found it. Google maps is helpful too. I've found lots of small water this way. If it's a neighborhood pond doubly be on your best behavior. The local HOA is probably paying for the water and they may ask you (rightfully) to leave if they think you're going to be a problem angler. I like to pick up trash when doing this and make sure I'm clearly visible, so I don't look like some weirdo lurking in the bushes. Last bit of advice. Do. Not. Tresspass. Seriously don't. That's how things escalate. If it's private land, ask nicely with no expectation of being granted permission.

What a weirdo. It's never just cheating in a fishing tournament. If he's willing to do something that underhanded and bizarre, I can guarantee he's doing all sorts of other stange and foul deeds.

I've caught fish in that range (4-5 lbs) in local residential ponds as recently as a few weeks ago. I'm pretty regularly shocked at the size of the fish in relation to the water. Probably good stocking and maintenance to thank.

Totally agree. Spent some time in Finland where it can get brutally cold. The less I tried to fight it the easier being outside became. I did get overconfident (was young and dumb) and ended up with mild frost bite on my hand while on the Russian border and my finger tips are still numb years later, so there IS a rational limit like you're saying. 🤣 In terms of fishing, I'm out there in all weather. I don't ice fish just because ice over in NC is like a thin sheen and not real hard ice. My wife is from Michigan. There's some really high end ice fishing shacks I've seen. I'd be in those all winter if I lived there.

I've been living for the year in the Northern OBX and can give an update on how things are currently fishing. I split time between salt and bass fishing, but I'll focus on bass here because that makes sense for the forum. There are absolutely high quality bass in the Currituck Sound. And yes, that seems wild that you can catch them in the same location you can pick up flounder and blue crab. It's got to be a fairly unique ecosystem. The sound is shallow, grassy, and flat with the occasional deeper spot. I don't have electronics, so I target bass off structure like duck blinds, points, cuts, and docks. I have however caught plentiful large bass just fishing random flats with a bladed jig. They also pile up in some of the back coves near Corolla. Water access is limited. The Whalehead has a public boat launch though. There is excellent small water fishing scattered in various well stocked ponds. As they're private residential ponds I don't feel comfortable putting them on the Internet, but use Google maps and start investigating some neighborhood ponds north of Duck and in Corolla. If you want some surf fishing or inshore salt charter advice I am also happy to post on that.

Pretty much this. Once they're wrapped it's more or less game over without a ton of work. I fish laydowns a lot. It's about controlling the fight the moment it starts. No time to "play" the fish, they'll wrap themselves very quickly.

Welcome! I hope you enjoy it. A great place to be as winter comes and we can't be on the water as easily.

It's been Hurricanes and Nor'Easters pretty constantly out here on the Outer Banks. We're settling into mid 50s, but it's hard fishing salt or fresh with 30 MPH+ consistent winds (not gusts, I'm talking all day unceasing blows) and gaint waves. I bought a 12 footer surf rod that can throw up to 1 lbs of weight, but we'll so how much I want to get pummeled. When the weather lets me, fishing is great salt side and should be very good fresh for another month. We'll see how many opportunities I get with the gnarly weather though. I'm probably driving my wife insane with how stir crazy I get when I can't fish.

Chartreuse is the juice.

Not every place has big bass. You might be fishing in a location with a lot of small bass, which have stunted themselves out due to overpopulation. It's always good to fish some new water, give that a try. Lots of good advice on getting a bigger one to bite. I've had good luck with big bass on squarebills and soft plastic flukes. Try those near ambush points. Big bass are both a numbers and presentation game. There are fewer of them than little bass, so your ratio will almost always favor the smaller side. They have also usually survived because they're smart and have learned common fishing lures mean danger, so throw something they haven't seen in a while. But again, I don't know where you're fishing. Never discount the null hypothesis. There might just be no/very few big bass where you're fishing -- particularly if it's small water.

If it makes you feel better, I had a bass snap my St. Croix travel rod last week. Cost more than your lure. Felt like an idiot. I was horsing a big girl up onto a raised dock without a net and SNAP. Turns out five pounds of angry bass greatly exceeds the 3/4 oz the rod is rated for.

Interesting. I wonder if it's a growing season thing. North Carolina has few seasons on recreational fish, just take home catch and size limits. Exceptions are badly damaged fisheries like Flounder and acute management calls like on spotted sea trout that had their spawn this year greatly reduced due to a freak cold snap. I do find it specifically curious on bass, because bass seem prolific and able to just outright dominate spaces. Just finished a podcast listen with some of our top state fish biologists and they talked about how even after massive fish kills (hurricanes, etc) bass quickly bounce back here without needing to stock. If anything our issue in NC are bass are so prolific they stunt themselves out due to overpopulation. But maybe small mouths are more fragile or shorter seasons make the population more precarious. Maybe it's those darn pike.

I'm shocked it's not a steeper drop off. I make video games and my first job in the industry was analysing player retention data. It was not unusual to see 30-40% player loss after the first couple sessions with the game. They quit and literally never came back. No, they didn't finish. They simply moved on. One of the biggest reasons they quit was user friction. This could be difficulty, the need to find other players, getting confused by a mechanic, really anything you might imagine that made it inconvenient to play. That drop off rate was for a digital experience you can do from your couch. Fishing requires you to go outside, deal with the elements, deal with animals, deal with people, contend with potentially dangerous situations, and it can be super daunting to get decent at if you're starting fresh. I think that number actually points to fishing being a great hobby that retains a high number of people DESPITE all of it's friction points.

Update. Walmart discount has been my primary source. I still plan on building my own over the winter. My loss rate is really going down as I figure out what to do. Now a squarebill is lasting me an average of two morning outings. Thanks for the advice. Cheaper cranks are giving me more confidence to throw them and catch more fish

I've been fishing them a lot lately. You've got the basics. Lots of advice here about trying to find objects to bounce them off is great. An additional two retrieval tricks. The first is do a start stop retrieve as you bring the lure back to you. Crank for a bit and pause. REALLY lay on the speed when you start your retrieve back up and then just as quickly drop down to your normal retrieval spees. That'll cause the crank to jerk or zig-zag suddenly which has a similar effect as deflecting off hard cover and will get a reaction strike. Secondly, when starting your retrieve, crank quickly to get your lure down to it's intended depth. Another bit of advice that's worked for me. Fish the smaller cranks. In the water I fish that drives the bass crazy. I think a lot of people aren't fishing those smaller crank baits.

Welcome! So glad you've connected with fishing! It sounds like you're off to a great start.

Thanks for the clarity. I get why that would be frustrating. There could be a lot going on here. The first is you could be fishing unproductive or dead water. That's a whole other conversation. A couple observations. You've got a LOT of gear. Multiple specialized rods, a boat, and electronics. It sounds counter-intuitive, but I think that's part of the issue. All of those elements have their own individual skill ramps to get productive with. I say ignore the electronics and drop down to a single rod and presentation you're going to work for the entire trip. Get really good with that and catch fish routinely before you add another element in. Crankbaits are awesome this time of year, for example, so maybe start there. You write you cast several time before moving on. I say really work your cover and spots a lot more. Really force yourself to slow down. Try tripling your number of casts before moving. Focus on really picking stuff apart. Finally I don't know how you're handling your boat, but engine noise can spook bass so can getting too close to where you're casting. Stay further back and really throttle down as you approach. Also, if you're playing music turn that off. Same goes for your casting. Really work on quieter presentations, as silent as you can be. And a guide who you hire with the understanding that you're trying to get learned up on some techniques could do wonders. I have learned a ton each guided trip I've booked! PS How am I finding fish? That's a huge other conversation. I did a lot of research on bass behavior. I look for birds, minnows, and ambush points. I take into account the current weather and the previous few days weather. I use zero electronics. But I think the general thing to just ask yourself is "if I were a bass trying to ambush a fish, while not getting eaten by a bird myself, where would I be?" and look around to see what matches that description. Narrow points. Old trees. Overhanging cover. Docks. Lillypads, etc.

Exactly this. Are you catching fish? If so, you are objectively not terrible. Can we all improve? Of course, that's what's awesome about this hobby. I'm better now than I was six months ago and I'll be even better a year from now. I don't know your actual situation, but if you're comparing yourself to what you see on YouTube, TV, or social media then you're dooming yourself to unhappiness. That footage is them editing down days of fishing to the coolest few minutes and/or them fishing stocked lakes that see few anglers. You intentionally don't see when they skunk, miss bites, or get hung up. And, that's not because they want to just entertain you. It's perfect fishing because it's meant to make you feel bad so you buy the products they are sponsored by in hopes of being like the highly manipulated footage you just saw. They got sponsored because that process works and moves product, even if you're aware of what's happening to you. Only compare yourself to who you were yesterday or the last time you went out. And, maybe close friends you know that genuinely want to help you learn. We also all have bad days on the water. This morning I snapped my St. Croix rod trying to horse a big bass onto an elevated deck. It made me mad. It doesn't make me terrible, does make me wiser and gives me a fun story to tell over drinks.

Love you caught that gorgeous fish with your family and a greatful attitude towards what you have access to. That's a triple win. Congrats!

I too am a St. Croix guy for the same reasons, except they're not right up the road from me. They also feel the best in my hands. Welcome!

The first time I threw a caffeine shad. It just felt "right" on the line in a way no other fluke had and pretty quickly started producing good sized bass. It's also pretty snagless and I fish snaggy places. It's become my confidence bait that I pick up whenever I'm getting skunked.

I didn't know this. What a bummer. Never been there, but some how latched onto the name as a kid from the Carolinas and always wanted to visit.

Ah, a fellow salt and fresh water switch hitter. The ocean out here on the Outer Banks is ALWAYS trying to kill you in a kayak, which is why I mostly surf fish. Kayak is for sliding onto neighborhood stocked bass ponds and the sound side for me.

That's a great idea. Never considered it. Is there a good resource on matching hook size to blanks?