JonB2

This is precisely what I was referring to in our PM when I was saying “too many people catch a few fish and immediately think they figured it out”. That’s modern fishing and the internet age. There’s still just something to be said for real, live experiences over simply watching YouTube or reading a website and running out copying that. As much as this over saturation is annoying, it still allows mindful anglers with “good” knowledge and skills the ability to slip in quietly behind internet hero guy and catch 5 bass from the spot he just left. I dig that vibe and while I’m not out to be the best, I’m still out to be better than you 😎. Stay hungry and you’ll always fish hard; fish hard and you’ll always catch fish

I ran big game for half my season and never had any issues. It’s not the most abrasion resistant but it’s very solid in that dept. I’ve landed fish on a “textured” leader, but it held up. P-line cxx, trilene xt and maxima chameleon or ultragreen are thicker diameter, but very, very durable mono for leader. Maxima has gotten very high priced though

Well, I guess the obvious question is why limit yourself to the same ol’ spot? I’ve been on this site for a couple months and you’ve never mentioned any other water. I have 3 rivers I hit regularly, but two are my main rivers. If I wanted, I could travel elsewhere and will in time, but for now…I’m not running out of action or size. As far as line size and pressured fish…hard to say. If it’s high angling pressure…they could associate line with danger, but it’s more likely cadence or bait profile. Certain sections and certain times of the summer, I’ve saw clear hesitation on senkos, but not all the time. Lots of tourists and googans use stick worms around me and it shows. One thing I’ve noticed is if a bait type gets popular, everybody uses it and claims it’s the best. Well, fish get used to seeing shape and profile. Same with color. I’d try and figure out the brands, styles and colors you feel fit your fishing and your fish. You will simply fish better with max confidence. I almost feel like you’re trying to maximize a situation that can’t be maxed

Back in June, a 3/16oz black/blue bitsy bug with a black/blue flake or okee craw paca chunk was on fire for post spawn largemouth for me. On fussy days, green craw bitsy and gp paca were viable as well. Also caught some big ol’ rock bass on them lol

Did a little kayak float down my green bass river and got a handful of scrappy fish. One was a brawler and really threw me for a loop; looked like a situation you’d have with a hot steelhead, not an angry largemouth! Per summer usual, plenty of rec traffic to once again prove there are no “quiet week days”. This causes me to often fish faster than I’d like or cut short my spots hit. I got a couple dink 10’s, and a half dozen good keepers. Texas rigged beavers got three 15-16” in the sun and I fished my way back with the Big Senko picking up three more @17”, @18.25”, and @16” to round out the day. This will be my last update for a little while. I get to fish a lot this year and my waters are obviously not hurting for bassin’. I’m quite interested in seeing how things pattern into fall around me

@Swamp Girl Well well, just checked the mail and my small order of new smallie candies are now ready to be deployed…pretty excited!

I love crawfish imitations as they’re consistent and always on the menu. Plus big fish seem to bite them. I really love them on a skirted jig, but a good t rigged craw ain’t no joke. No doubt wider, floppy claws are best. I’m very anal about getting my craw on as straight as possible to get the desired scoot and glide I look for

People always rag Vanish, but I use it all the time for fall steelhead and if it handles them; it’s handling bass. Rocks, wood, gravel beds, mussels combined with the speed and power of fall steelhead are gonna test leader line quick like. I don’t break off much, but do pull hooks sometimes

It’s a mindset. Once you get “it”, you know it…whether you’re aware or not. People forget there are weekend guys that can and would hang with pro fisherman. It’s just not everyone’s bag to tournament fish and while you may be competitive on the water, it’s not “that” serious to you. I can’t overstate confidence in all things fishing. Like I’ve said before, if people could be in my mind on the water, you’d likely laugh at my mindset. I’m forced to fish mostly smack dab 9-5 or 10-6 most every trip, so it’s forced me to be better than average if I don’t wanna be another shore casualty who just stands there and doesn’t make any adjustments. You HAVE to believe YOU will figure out something even if others haven’t. I always always fish this way and I very rarely get shut out

Without any detail about your water, I would honestly focus acutely on making a great presentation over worrying about line size. When fish aren’t biting, “wrong bait or too heavy line?” seem to be instant thoughts. I fish from shore, in areas with lots of angler and rec traffic. It gets tough on congestion days, but a good cadence with a good bait in proper cover is gonna get bit. I’ve been running green 14lb trilene xt lately for largemouth and 12lb sensation for smallmouth and they’ve both bit well in the midday sun and good fish too. Have confidence and BE DIFFERENT!

I can’t find anything wrong with any fish pictured, I’d take’em all. River smallies are just different and man do they pull!

Nah, all good. Sometimes I word thoughts incorrectly or don’t mean as worded

Yessir, an old iPhone too lol I had a chance to fish today again, and obviously jumped right on it. I basically repeated the same as 3-4 days ago and fished midday into afternoon. It was a very slow, quiet start, but I’m definitely improving on my bass game in various ways. I have only had to make subtle changes and have been disciplined on staying with good bait choices and not overthinking when it’s not happening as I expect. Today, once it clouded up, they fired up good. Got into double digits…barely, but size was the name of the game today with big fish taped@ 17”(2), 19”, 19.25”, 19.5”, 20.5”. Rest were 14-16” and one dinker 10”. Casting jigs were hot today with two others on standard sized senkos and one on a Ned. Big fish were all on the casting jig which is typically the case for me

Fair enough, no worries my man I’m gonna spend $26 on a spool of 12lb invizx and use it on my M caster for smallmouth. Current, rocks, wood, weeds and mussels; it’ll be a good test on performance. I don’t top water fish almost at all, but I wouldn’t be worried about that anyways. Casting jigs and Texas rigs will be what I run on it. I’ll be honest after a few trips and will not hesitate at all if I’m wrong. Stay tuned…

Huh? As a lifelong steelhead fisherman in Michigan, I cannot agree with this at all. I run nothing but mono for steelhead and I’ve fished summer runs in 90* heat, as well as winter fish in -12* base temps and it’s never failed me. Maybe all these years of light-biting steelhead on mono has made it different for me with bass, who knows

I’ve never really bought into flouro much. Used to be a huge steelhead fisherman and tried it off and on, and always went back to Maxima Ultragreen for leader. At this point in my life, I can catch as many chromers as I want and never use flouro. I feel the same with bass, however I always fish what feels right for my waters. I’ve played around all summer and have settled on low stretch, strong mono for casting jigs and t rigging. I get tired of leaders and just like how mono feels and fishes. In the end, your confidence will tell you what to run. A confident dude with mono probably pound towns a paranoid guy with flouro all day, everyday IMO

@MIbassyaker Thanks man, I enjoyed it greatly. It’s my favorite river in this state and is full of big smallmouth with the occasional bonus largie. Felt great being back on her again!

Shore fished this afternoon in the heat, but it ended up not being too bad out. Sun/clouds mixed and a steady SSW breeze made the 90* day tolerable. I did a quick 5 hour smallie run which I haven’t done all summer since I’ve been getting into the largemouth. I’ve caught smallmouth all my life, but mostly on bait. I landed 6 solid river bass that averaged 15” with a 19” and 21” as big fish. I also lost 4 and missed a couple. They were lean and mean, but this continues to be a strange year of slim bass. I got the biggest on a 4” black senko which I threw to give a decent leech look and it worked fine. The best bait by far was a bitsy with a chigger craw. I hooked something big that eventually busted 10lb big game leader, which is what I got my fish on. All but one came on the M caster save for the big girl on the ML spinning rod(of course)

I keep a loose, rough count in my head, but overall don’t really care. Numbers are too subjective and a 6 fish day could be really solid in some fisheries, while in others, 20 is slow. I fish mostly from shore and am probably creeping up on 300 nice bass since late April, I could never keep a clicker or exact numbers because that points to ego imo, and I’m not interested in that. I take pics of fish I consider good sized and some that are just nice looking or great patterning or whatever reason I see fit. I love photography, and I LOVE fishin’

Well, I’ve ran braid and mono so far and don’t mind both. With jigs and Texas rigs…man, I’m liking tough, low stretch mono right now for some reason. I whacked a bunch of fish on jigs with braid in June and early July, but the feel of mono suits me atm. I do have 20lb braid on both of my 7-3 casting rods for the heaviest cover I’ll fish. My main rig, a 7’ MH has 14lb green trilene xt mono and man, it’s so fun going toe to toe in some good weeds with it! I drug a mean, big-headed 19+ and 5lbs of weeds in on it the other day and there was no issue. My three spinning rods have 10-15-20lb braid on them. Simply go with what you really like the feel of and what keeps catching you fish. Confidence above all else my man

@N Florida Mike I feel ya man. I know where a big one lives where I fish and I’ve had her out twice, but haven’t put a hook to her yet. First time she shot out her lair five feet and I simply farmed her and watched her wake torpedo back to her tangled lair. Next opportunity I just threw out into the shore slop behind her castle and drug it out quick on the surface and she waked right out after it, but wouldn’t commit to the open. Her behavior and the spot she’s living all say big fish…

Most guys go a bit lighter lead with braid so they only snap the mono/flouro and not a section of braid in the water. For me, growing up fishing steelhead, it’s natural having a heavier mainline and lighter leader

I know, it might come across a little whiney lol. I’m just raw and simply write what I was thinking/feeling in the moment. I didn’t catch a bunch of bass at all, not even double digits. I was just mentioning those were the ones I did take pics of. I have a few scenery shots, but get a little leary of Looky Lou’s

Bite days are when the day just feels alive. Frogs are heard, turtles are poking around, gills are popping, and you can see bass around and there’s chasing and blowups; just feels like it’s a day of activity overall. Some days everything is stale; quiet, panfish just sitting around, no bass activity etc As far as numbers or success; I have no idea what kind of waters have 100+ fish days, but I’d likely avoid them mostly. I stay happy because I stay hungry because I stay challenged. I’ve noticed in my 43 years that lots of people get good, then get jaded and lose the original simple pleasure of fishing. I’m not out for the biggest or the most ever; I’m just out to catch fish period. I’ve had a few 20 fish days on the little pressured river I fish, but despite the frustration here…leaving after having a solid day and a few good fish just feel’s different because you know it ain’t “luck”. I have zero ego and am very humble…but few things get me going than fishing behind someone and pulling fish after they just hit that spot