JonB2

I’ve done fine on plain gp, but I really like a gp w red/green flake tube. Black, white and goby hues are pretty solid as well

Did a midday float today and it was nice. Gusty NE winds, but that direction has been good to me this summer. Didn’t set the world on fire but managed 8 keepers and probably a half dozen dinkers(they made a comeback!) overall less fish kicked out, but they could be around the next bend. Size wasn’t bad, but no big fish. Believe I had an 18-18.5” for big fish, but mostly thickening 15-16” with maybe a 17 in there. Small baits were best with 4” senkos and 1/8oz bitsy bugs being best. I also caught a fish on a Texas-rigged roboworm. Jigs were cold until I changed from a finesse trailer to a 3”ish stick worm trailer which had action. I always enjoy when your experience and intuition detect a bite before your brain believes it lol

I like senkos, I just tend to be mindful of being bait dependent. Even though they’re so ideal for where I fish, I don’t want to be a “I only get bit on one bait” guy, that’s all

It’s been a tough go for me lately with high sky, flat water and just super nice day after day. I’ve saw a good-good amount of really nice bass, but they’re wary and pretty moody. I had to resort to a 4” senko on 10lb with my M caster lol. Jigs were dead, which I thought was goofy. I got a real good fish, but d**n are there some big fish around right now. I got a few dinkers, but they’ve lessened significantly. Most fish are quite rounded right now. I took a pic of a 15” keeper, but a lean little thing

“I'm old, slow, and creaky” Agreed! Lol

Good chunky fish @Jonny15678. I spell my name the same way my man lol

For the record, when I put sunglasses as my high-end item, I didn’t mention I’m talking $5 YUM’s from Wally lmao

My sunglasses are my best high end purchase; I see everything with them and they’re readily available. If I forgot my sunglasses at home for any fishing trip, I’m really not feeling great about that

Yup. That’s how I was getting my fish yesterday mostly. I was using a bitsy bug with a small finesse trailer that would come into weeds, so I’d pop it hard out of them and often when it would become clean bottom again, I’d get bit. Sometimes I’d have to pop it multiple times out of weeds. It’s a nice feeling when your jig tears free, falls to bottom and gets thumped

So I fished today and got a good solid fish and I’ll be damned if I hadn’t caught her twice already! Head is unique and distinguished, but I also noticed her pelvic fins have a certain look and yeah, I’ve got her 3x now! I got her on a 7” speed senko, Texas-rigged pit boss and an 1/8oz bitsy bug/ finesse trailer. I always find this kind of stuff pretty dang cool. She was in the same deeper, weedy hole the first couple times, but had moved upstream a good distance to my June hot spot Aug 07 Aug25 Sept 24

Bank fished for a few this afternoon in windy/rainy conditions. It was raining lightly when I started, but I was able to ditch the coat shortly after the first fish. Got 5 smaller keepers and one big mama, with maybe 4 dinks. I also lost a big fish that’s still bothering me because it felt like a weird kind of loss. I used my spinning rods today and am glad I had the MH along with the M. Weeds are thinning steadily and have browned and weakened considerably, but that big fish got me down in them and it took some hard effort to get her. My drag was less tight than it had been because I figured the weeds were not a concern as much; wrong. Probably could have slack-lined and got her to swim out, but I had 10lb xt leader, so I just tightened down and pulled. Jigs ruled the day by far and I’m very happy I can run them again as that’s my favorite way to get them. There are some BIG bass lurking around, but they’re tough

Yeah, I know better than to kick fish, then turn right around and fish them. Not ideal and often turns them off for later even. I was already expecting them here as I saw them last trip, but there were more bigger fish this day. I even waited 10 minutes or so after landing one to allow them to settle as they often are predatory-curious when it’s just a fish struggling versus a human fumbling around. I want to keep the mostly horizontal fall the Freeloader has, so I’ll keep it Texas rigged weightless, but may try a 3/0 weighted screw lock. I had a good bass follow a retrieved senko in, but stall when I stopped it. So I put the Freeloader on and gave it a go. I understand your reasoning on lighter gauge hooks from your perspective. I’m a skinny guy, but very strong. I have to be disciplined on hooksets because I’m trying to do as minimal damage as possible. I’ve lost fish this season because hook didn’t penetrate plastic; oh well lol

@Swamp Girl I didn’t use any weight, but only because my weighted hooks were one size too small. The spots I used it with success were 2-3’ flats off the main flow with thinning but still viable weeds clumps. I could see several nice fish laying tight to bottom right in these weeds when I floated down, so I purposely kept it moving so I could creep back up later when they’d settled again. It worked as I pulled 4 of my 5 big fish in this area. They seemed to perk up as the day went on and moved up out of the weeds I noticed when I was fishing. It’s funny sitting there while an 18” bass comes patrolling in, looking at you like “does that belong here or not?” Lol

Hope I’m not getting annoying, but today was great. No numbers, in fact only five keepers and five dinks, but man, I got on size again. First one was bucket mouth, but really scrawny. After that it was thick, stout fish that fought real well. When they’d get near the kayak, they’d power off with authority and really push some water. The big ones jumped often today, but I kept them pinned. I did lose a few fish, but the wind made it difficult to feel bites at times. I fished a new bait to me, Crush City Free loader and of course senkos. The free loader got two big fish and both ate that thing. One I had to cut the hook, but no blood and much better chance of survival. Cold front conditions with gusty E winds and rainy/cloudy/sunny skies. My time is limited as I saw the first few salmon of the fall, but I’m gonna get on these big fish while I can. I really went into stealth mode today, I was impressed…might’ve been near Swamp Girl level lol

If they don’t bite the mainstays, and then they don’t bite any kind of good switch up; they’re not biting at that time likely. When I kayak fish my river, I typically use a couple different baits as I pick my way down and then on the paddle back up, I throw a senko all over and into spots already fished. Senkos are money on this river simply by design and you can weedless fish them anywhere and simply cast, let one wiggle down along cover, in cover or near cover. I often fish flooded/undercut grassy banks and my main strategy is to purposefully overcast slightly into the grass and lightly wiggle it free so it plops nice or just quietly slips into the river and any active bass is almost guaranteed taking that presentation. I haven’t saw another angler do this and I keep any edge I get tight to myself on the river. I’m old school and we don’t share lol

Took the kayak for my first float since last week of August and it was a great run. Went to the hog trough today though, should’ve been an indicator when my first fish to hand was 20+. Ended up with 11 keepers and the usual few non photographed dinkers. I had seven 14-16” fish and four 19-20+” today. Did my usual midday and as often, the fish up was better then the fish down. I prefer up anyways as I can glide and slide in quietly. Got fish on jigs, T rigged creature bait and of course, stinkos. Senkos took most; jigs took biggest overall and two of the four larger fish. So happy I can run them here and there again! Last two big fish were back to back on senkos. On one, my line was draped over some strands of grass on shore as I was fishing the bank(big bass been marauding this shoreline in low light) and when I saw my line pop, I watched for the slack to start pulling through the grass lol Man I like fooling these big bass, they’re not easy at all

It appears you’re overthinking this my man. Use whatever flouro has the same diameter as 8lb big game or just use 10-12lb flouro which will likely be near that 8lb big game diameter. You can still have a low diameter but higher breaking strength with flouro

Mine often come in from the Great Lakes in the early spring to spawn in my small, weedy river. There’s also a shallow(5’@deepest) lake that sources it. I’ve caught the gamut in the same areas this summer. June was full of predictable lean, lanky fish. This stayed persist into nearly August. I did get very fat fish in June and July, but during peak summer it was lean or normal, boxy largemouth. My guess is the leaner fish gained weight back to a point of health and recovery, but with the effort and warm water metabolism; some just couldn’t gain any bulk. That will change this fall for sure. My fish are also always near current Lean/lanky bass: Normal bass: Fat Bass:

I’ll rough up a yomomoto double tail trailer on the tips and front section of body a bit to change its look and hue a bit. I can’t remember where I saw that, probably Randy, but it was just to create minor realism and color breakup. Like a textured look instead of smooth “fresh” plastic. Also a little bit with a senko occasionally

Did a quick bank fish in the same area today and while slower overall, still some nice action for very high sky and straight E winds. I saw 3 pike(2 good ones) and 5 bowfin! The bowfin will surface and leave a big boil right in the middle of slack water weeds. I also had a weird first in hooking a fish on a senko wacky rigged, and losing it only to pull another (hookless)senko out of its gullet with my hook! Likely the reason I lost that fish. This is why I often take “senko breaks” lol. I finally was able to and got fish on jigs here again. My first couple were goodn’s

Bass fished on a whim for the first time in a while it feels. With the warmup, I wondered how my river was faring. My last trip was two weeks ago in the middle of that steady cooldown and things had changed drastically. I was worried the outmigration had begun, but today eased that worried thought. Bass in good numbers and set up as they’ve been all summer mostly. I did see several good fish and lost two nice fish; one big. They’re down in the thick weeds and flooded shoreline vegetation during midday and come cruising later day. I went simple and easy since I didn’t know what to expect and senko fished with two spinning rods; M@wacky and MH@texas. Got a handful of keepers, and a good spattering of now football dinkers/ smaller fish 10-13”. Felt d**n good to bass fish again, not gonna lie!

Green pumpkin with red/green flake is my favorite. You don’t really need an extensive selection of colors for tubes; naturals with a few white/pearls and maybe a black/blue flake for good measure

A white twister tail grub is great as well

Dang @BluegillsTightlines, close call! I’m going bass fishing for the first time in a couple of weeks tomorrow, but went looking for coho for a little bit today. I decided to try something I was quite sure would work and indeed it did. This fish saw that little red wiggling menace, turned on it and zeroed right in! Bass baits for salmon, yessir. I knew a 1.0 squarebill would work, but it might be a little secret for me