JonB2

Weekends…are terrible. I can’t believe the thought process of some people. Anyway, fished around 2.5-3hrs before I just had to get out of there. My first spot I actually got to fish gave up two good smallies, another solid keeper and a mixed handful of dinkers. A texas rigged 4” senko in baby bass took every fish. A dark watermelon variant and 1/16th ounce t-rigged morning dawn roboworm never got bit.

Well, most dudes act tougher than they really are, so a macho name is needed to keep them moving. I just look at the color and if it makes sense for my fishing, I get it. I don’t pay mind to color names much. Hype is something I avoid heavily.

Good work ol’ top…I always dig your style

I lost a 21”+ smallmouth bank banging yesterday and it sucked. It was a day maker, but they win too. I’ll have more opportunities at fish like that, possibly larger, from the bank throughout the season, so I’ve already moved on. Surfaced and tossed it right at my feet…ouch!

I agree with others that a 5” senko is a great starter bait for bass. Easy to use and generally always effective. I don’t wacky rig much, but a weightless texas rig is money. Falls slower and is way more weedless. All you need, especially to start, is #’s 234, 301, 021. Those 3 colors are HIGHLY effective and cover all water conditions. Everyone runs for 297(green pumpkin), but don’t sleep on 301. My all time favorite is 234 with zero hesitation. Try these and get yourself some confidence, feel, FIRE and off you go my man

Shore fished my favorite river and it was pretty slow. Weird year, wish my reports weren’t lame

I steelhead fished hardcore in pressured ass Michigan forever and rarely ran a flouro leader. I had a good rep as a steelhead machine. Maxima Ultragreen all day, everyday. Use what you feel most confident in. If everyone listened to hype and pros; we’d all be doing the same things. Be your own angler and use your own mind and experiences to find what you like. I have zero flouro on any of my 15 setups for bass. I have braid on my spinning rigs though. Hybrid and Big Game on all my casters. I haven’t had a situation I felt I was missing out.

I think in the south, since water doesn’t truly get cold(40’s-50’s), it can be very staggered and unpredictable. I’ve saw southern dudes on YouTube saying things like “I still haven’t saw any bedded bass”. Here in the north, our fish have a considerably shorter window and as soon as it lines up, they go. I do feel a lot of bass bed in hidden and/or deeper areas than most think. I’m always bummed when prespawn is winding down and it’s bed city. I usually switch to panfish then, as they’re in prespawn at that point. I can’t do bed fishing, just not my style. I saw a giant pumpkinseed on bed a couple weeks back and while I was truly curious how big it was; I left it be as there was no challenge presented.

lol, hey..sometimes you can’t escape them. I like you bro, different style dude

I wasn’t aware I had a reputation to moot, I’m more in the background I’d say. I know you don’t like rockies, but they’re another panfish to me and I like them all

Bass fished for the second time in recent weeks, bank fishing a big river in the city and it was poor overall. Post spawn is not setup at all yet, but I did land two keepers, a couple dinks, lost three nicer fish(one took me to the woodshed), a rockbass and a walleye. I was also bit off by a pike. No spawning catfish smoking jigs and sliming everything was a telling sign that it’s still early on the backside. Every fish came on a black or black/blue 3/16oz bitsy bug with a cleanup craw. The eyeball smoked it

An 1/8-3/16oz bitsy bug with a trimmed skirt and rage Ned bug trailer is highly effective for finicky bass

I have Hybrid on multiple casting rods and mono on the ones that don’t. I currently only have braid on my spinning rods. Nothing has flouro on it.

Really can depend, but if I’m hitting fish and then it drops right off…on to the next. I don’t typically try to “clean out” a spot. I catch what I do while the bite feels there and when it drops off a bunch…move

Fished a short while to clear my head and hit my favorite spot for the first time all season. Conditions were trash and I didn’t start fishing around 11-1130, but I got one good female to go and felt it was good enough

While the site was down, the cut I had been doing well during prespawn had slowly transitioned from the end of the staging phase into the spawning phase. Persistent chill and cold fronts with steady northerly winds kept temps up and down…so bass acted accordingly. I don’t bed fish, but near the end of the prespawn into the early spawn when they’d back off but hang near bedding areas…I had some good bites on Texas rigged creatures, especially a pit boss and d bomb. I also caught fish on senkos, but didn’t use them much, and jigs which stayed consistently productive. The deeper edges of flats or outside edges of thicker weeds were best. I had two good runs on two different trips, a sunny day bite when they really turned onto a gp pit boss and cloudy/windy day when a gp d bomb caught fire in the afternoon. Nothing better then figuring out that bite! I also included a good fish on a 10” worm lol

I don’t run them much, but did get my first couple chatter fish earlier in spring. There are lots of videos and lots of reading showing to use whatever expense you want. The original out caught the pricier versions in several videos. Some it got outfished. It was variable as fishing always is.

I like texas rigging. If I can’t run a jig, gimme a texas rig in heavy cover. Just bare bones, old school MHF with heavy mono and a t rigged power worm in summer slop just screams “bass fishing” to me…I love that type of thing!

It’s not better necessarily, but more enjoyable to some for easy reasons. Most people use one thing forever, so something new suddenly becomes amazing. I never used any casting tackle until I got into bass fishing and found it fun. I also still get down with my spinning rigs just the same. Don’t buy into “better” any further than face value. I have a bfs setup and after catching fishing with it…it’s just other combo in the lineup.

I’ve been learning c rigging myself and like to peg my weight. I leave 2-3” of separation for “play” of the sinker, but it keeps it tight and compact for casting. Shorter leader also helps with casting, but always run the leader the fish dictate. C rigs are cool and I’ve found I enjoy the bite while fishing them. They definitely work and STILL have a place in bass fishing.

I get what you’re saying and agree. I still like fish talk my man, and seeing what others run is interesting. That crank bite sure is fun when it’s rocking!

I tried flouro last year and the start of this year and just don’t like it as a mainline. Bass fishing is all about touch and feel for me and I can’t stand the sag of flouro hanging down to your bait. It has a clunky, springy feel working baits. I much prefer mono or Hybrid which is a great comp. I like braid as well but mostly on my spinning rigs and a couple casting. I didn’t mind straight flouro cranking though.