AverageAngler

Congrats on the fish! Have you found out anything new from your one lure challenge so far? Anything about time of day when it's most effective or wind speed?

Went out on sunday for two sessions, had a real fun time. For the morning session I returned to the site of the lost 20 incher, and I got some of my revenge. Three bass on topwater for the first hour of sunlight, then none for three hours before a buzzer beater on a texas rig in submerged brush. I saw a group of bass feeding on an elevated grass patch surrounded by weeds up to the surface, and my popping frog managed to coax them to bite. The biggest one pushed 3 while the other was a 1.5 and the other a D I N K. Four bass on a hot summer morning is a good trip in my opinion. I almost had a panfish grand slam too but I was missing a white perch; I got a yellow perch, pumpkinseed, bluegill, and a black crappie. My second session involved a lot of driving around and not finding any parking. I went to my initial spot but had no place to park the car, so I did the reasonable thing and drove an hour the opposite direction to a totally different lake. The gamble paid off though because I landed 8 alongside some big bluegills. The sun was high and the temps were hot; water temps pushing 86 in the shallows there. I managed to survive the wake boat and pontoon boat militia and patterned most of my fish flipping soft plastics under the shady part of docks, both under and beside. I got two of my larger fish on a popper in a grassy cove around the last hour and a half of sunlight. Nothing crazy regarding size - most fish hovered around 1.25-2 lbs. Overall a fun weekend filled with great memories with friends and family. Also fishing...

I tend to go gremlin mode when I'm out and forget to even drink water, but having a bottle on deck is a non negotiable for me. Sometimes if I know I'm going to get exceptionally hungry I will bring a pack of jerky, but I will usually just eat after I'm done. There's nothing like eating finger food while smelling like fish slime.

The whiplash shad has been a killer bait to switch it up from my regular fluke fishing.

Went out Saturday evening and had a pretty good day, lots of pressure at this spot I went to but they're in there and they get big. Stuck a 4.7lber on a texas rig way up under the trees, my biggest of the year. Landed two more using the same method and lost two more. Even with the fog and clouds they were tight to cover, none of my bites came further than three feet from cover. Sunday morning I went back to a spot I went to last month but got informed that the boat ban they never inforced had changed. Kind of a waste of a morning but not so bad since I got to experience a peaceful morning and got to be productive when I got home. I got out for my afternoon session at my favorite river and learned what a difference two months can make! In April the water levels were 3-5 feet high and it was nigh impossible to find fish since they were spread out, now the water levels are low again! There was also a large tournament in the morning so I got to fish some water that had a lot of pressure from earlier. I got into a school of crappie and white perch to help improve my morale but I had a real tough day getting anything going. My only bites came from a buzz toad but they weren't committing to it. Right as I reached the sunset the fishing picked up and a healthy 3lbs bass destroyed my plopper. About twenty minutes later right before I packed my bags I had another huge blowup. After about five seconds on the line I tried to both maneuver the fish and drop my anchor, but I fumbled with my anchor and gave the fish just enough slack to shake off my lure. Absolutely heartbreaking since the fish was big, at least a 20 incher. Next weekend I am definitely going back; while the lows are low here, the highs more than make up for it and I want my revenge.

Went out on Friday with my uncle on the salt despite the wind advisory, but we kept it safe by fishing in the river protected by the marshes. We fished the outgoing tide and trolled a tube and worm for our fish. We landed three, two over slot and one slot striper. There was a whole lot of nothing except for a 45 minute time window where we and the three other boats around us hooked into the fish. What's concerning for me was the complete lack of schoolies and bait, which according to fishing reports has been the theme this season so far. If we missed that window then we would have gotten skunked. Has anyone here experienced similar situations this year regarding the stripers? Saturday was a chill day, no fishing, but Sunday I went out both morning and evening. The morning was filled with distant thunder and rain, but cleared out for the last hour I was out. Went out for three, caught two 1 lb smallmouth bass. One was caught in 10 ft on a jerkbait off of a ridge, and the other was caught dragging a dropshot off a ledge in about the same depth. Water temps were 74 degrees, getting warm! The evening was way windier, almost 30 mph gusts. I went to the legendary sunken forest to try fishing it before the weeds choke it out too hard. Maybe not the best choice but I am stubborn lol. Slow day but I landed three, the good news was that I landed my biggest lmb of the year so far - a big headed 19.5 incher on a toad. The key was targeting openings in the mixed vegetation when the wind settled. Overall a pretty good weekend. I might try night fishing if the daytime keeps slowing down however, any tips from our nighttime anglers? I've done it once or twice with little success, I plan on going during the upcoming full moon.

I agree with this observation. One river I fished a lot last fall with great success rose around 5 feet this spring and now it's incredibly difficult to find anything. There's just way too much cover to reliably find them and it's more trouble than it's worth when I could just go 10-15 minutes in any direction for more reliable water.

Cape trip this weekend, hit up two ponds, one brand new to me and the other I fished once ten years ago. Friday was at a pond I've been researching for a while now, and all my research paid off. I got incredibly fortunate with conditions lining up perfectly alongside a raging cicada hatch going on. I caught 17 bass, 4 yellow perch, 2 pumpkinseeds, and 2 pickerel in total with the biggest two bass topping out at 3.1 lbs each. Average weight around 1.5-2 lbs. I had a blitz early in the morning and must have landed 9 or 10 in an hour. For my level of fishing this was the best I've had in years. Topwater frog was the ticket, with a texas rig being my follow up bait. I could have had 30+ fish too but I both lost and missed hooksets on so many fish I lost count. I also lost a 25+inch pickerel at the kayak too on a swinghead. An absolutely insane day by my standards. With the cicada hatch going on the fish were all fat and plump, very unlike the skinny frame they should be at now with the post spawn, very fortunate! Water temps 71-74 with winds 4-7 mph Northeast. The quadfecta of bluegill beds, wood/submerged vegetation, shade lines, and boat docks were the key; if these conditions weren't met I wouldn't get bit. Saturday I weaseled out 2 hours before dinner, this time at a pond I fished many years back, I landed a 4 lbs largemouth then on a smoke colored tube, but this time was very different. Conditions did a 180 from Friday - from sunny and gentle winds to rainy and windy. I caught two dinky yellow perch on a jerkbait and managed to get a couple chases from the biggest school of smallmouth bass I have ever seen, but no commits. Disappointing but I mean I can't complain with the day I had earlier. Water temps 71-70 and winds 11-23 mph Northeast. Sunday I had a couple hours at the local river when I made it back home. I focused on ultralight fishing and landed a bunch of redear sunfish and some small smallmouth bass. Fishing has been hot recently. Hope to see some good fishing this weekend when I hit the salt.

I feel like it depends on your ability to travel. I found that when I don't have access to my car and am trapped in the same two places nearby I definitely get tired of it.

I found it to be awesome for the smaller fish that school up in my home waters, and really good for multispecies ultralight fishing, but I haven't caught any bass larger than 2 lbs on it. The stock hooks are really weak though, so I concur with the previous comments on having a good drag system.

Not sure how ethical it would be but I think it would be such a cool study for researchers to experiment with different forages to find out the growth rates for both smallmouth and largemouth bass.

Went out this past Tuesday on a new body of water; I've been making it a mission to explore more this season. I must have went 0-7 on hooksets with the frog before finally starting to land them. Caught 5 in total with most coming tight to cover in very shallow water, around 0-2 ft. My key to success was bending out the hooks a little. Normally I do that with all my frogs but the one I was using was bought this year and I got a little lazy, won't make that mistake again!

This weekend I was only able to get out on Friday but I for sure made the most of it. 7 bass and 4 perch were landed over a beautiful evening at a new lake. While the water temps were on the lower end for post spawn activity, the time of year is right and all my bass were caught using traditional techniques - topwater, soft jerkbait, and jigs. I covered a lot of water but focused mostly on choke points from shallow to deeper areas and was able to find most of them close to cover adjacent to bluegill beds.

2025 has been my first full spring of hard fishing and it definitely was not what I expected. March was terrible, but I fared way better in April and May. My fortune came in waves, One week of trash fishing followed by a week of lights out action. Moon phases didn't really matter for me like I thought it was going to. Last summer and fall the moon phases absolutely factored into my success but the past few months was honestly the opposite. Both the full and new moon were not good fishing but the in between stages were awesome. Gosh there is so much to learn. 😅

I use painted because I like the pretty colors...

Don't like: Kastking reels - Tried them out when I wanted to expand my gear collection to specialize in my favorite techniques. It turned out to be a mistake as I lost so many fish from drag slipping to my casts petering out and spooking the fish. I only go name trusted brands from now on. Senkos - My ego can't take the fact that it really is that easy to catch a bass on them. Definitely my character flaw but I do judge when people brag about catching big bass and I find out that all they use is a senko. Do like but unpopular: Mismatched color combos - One of my go to bladed jig combos is black and blue with a green pumpkin/watermelon red craw trailer. I use it even in dirty water and it works just fine. Music - There is a time and place for music while fishing, most times I enjoy nature sounds, but occasionally some good tunes with some good friends leads to great memories. Fish don't really mind either; boat sounds and swimming happens every day.

I would consider this the same for Massachusetts as well. The state pin program I feel like is a good way to decipher what is considered big in your state.

Went out twice this MDW, Friday and Saturday. Friday was a great multispecies evening. Water temps hovering around 60 degrees with heavy clouds and light rain. I wanted to avoid the cold water runoff from the N O R E A S T A so I hit up a clear pond with no water inflows, and it paid off well. 1 small lmb, 2 good sized perch, 1 nice green sunfish, 4 brook trout, and 1 tank brown. Most fish were caught on the 110+1 jr, and I got a couple on the finesse swimbait. The fish finder I got this winter really has been putting in work, large schools of perch in about 10-25 ft of water was the area to target. Without it I would have been blind casting and caught maybe 1-3 fish. Saturday was busy as I was running errands, but I locked in and managed to get a healthy 5 hours from 3:30-8:30pm. I hit up a very well known pond near me. I had a bad spring there but the pics I saw on social media proved that there was still potential. 4 bass was honestly better than I expected, especially considering they were all fat and healthy 3+lbs post spawn shad munchers. 2 on a squarebill in 4-7 feet of water ticking the top of the submergent grass. I also got my first ever bass on a magdraft, she hit it on a shallow grass flat right off the main island in the middle. Right before I took the kayak out I flipped the trees by the boat ramp and snatched a skinnier but still very nice bass. Overall an awesome weekend. This is absolutely the way. I think everyone should invest in something like this. It always hurts me when I see a picture of someone holding a donkey with dirt all over them or if they look like they've been put under a heat lamp all dried up.

Absolute unit of a laker! Oh my goodness. Pretty sure a 21" LMB is a pinner, hope you got a pic of the measurement. Congratulations!

"Heyyyy guyss and welcome to T A C T I C A L B A S S I N" "Folks at home.." Legendary channels It goes without saying how much the BassResource youtube account and website has influenced everyone. G O A T.

NDYak Angler!!! Both for my enjoyment as well as for the growth of fishing on the internet. A lot of the viral muskie catches you see on instagram and other social media are from his channel.

I used to be strictly tackle warehouse until recently, now with the lack of good deals I decided to branch out to other sites like Omnia. Shoutout to the wish list, it's a great way to shoo away the bait monkey for at least a little bit. It's like making a new spotify playlist and then never listening to it.

On days where I plan on fishing for a long time, the wind absolutely is taken into consideration. When the winds are on the higher end, I tend to switch places depending on the direction it's going. River sections that span east to west are more fishable for me on my yak when the winds are coming from the south, and sections that go north to south are better when the winds are going east or west. North winds I usually stay home lol.

From the bank like 1-2 hours, but on my yak anywhere from 2-8 with some breaks to move my legs on the longer days.

The livetarget frog is my confidence frog by a long shot. I have the spro frogs and booyah pad crashers and they're great but the plastic on the livetargets are softer and I just have an easier time walking them. Most of the time though if I'm fishing a big mat or thick pads I just hop it along, which the livetarget does fantastic too. Like the other comments said I find it more effective to barely twitch the frog in order to get it to walk. This means I'm going way slower but any time I'm walking it's for a small area I'm targeting. If I want to cover water fast I'll either tug the frog along or use a toad.