JonB2

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

FishUSA.com is solid and popular

NE MI, sunrise side

Well, fall is here for clear and with that comes a change in pursuit for me. While most of my state is chasing chinook, I’m after the much better coho and Atlantic salmon. Fresher, and bite way better for way longer. Plus, both species are much prettier. It’s still early for Atlantics, but coho are starting and are a real fun bite. They’ll chase right to shore and smoke a lure at your feet or simply stop your bait two cranks out in the middle of the river or pier! I just used my 7’ M cranking rod with moderate action as I felt my fast action was pulling hooks on these early fish(they have a softer mouth still). I could bomb a lure as far as needed, especially if the wind wasn’t direct

Haven’t bass fished much as change is upon us here in MI and it’s on us fast! I did get a bass though while coho casting…

If I had to pick just one bait that I plain enjoy using, it’s a skirted casting jig. A few simple color combos, a variety of trailers, and you can catch bass all year unless conditions prevent it. I just really love slinging one out there, letting it sink and pull-pull-pause…pull-pull-pause..thump!

@king fisher That’s called “mottling”, as I’m sure you know. Bead fishing steelhead has went crazy in Michigan(Great Lakes period) and the fish are getting conditioned because people are so limited and bead-dependent ; it’s all they run. There are literally people who only use a centerpin and beads under a bobber; that’s it. Never any other tactic, method or bait. Always a bobber/bead, all the time, all season. Bobber+beads=boring to me lol! It’s gotten to the point I find it embarrassing to have a bead even tied on. I can’t state enough how against fads I am, but I’ll let myself take a shut out of it means I’m not like everybody else I see walking around with the “hot bait”

@OldManLure You’re correct, but I just realized I had gotten ahead of myself and forgot a portion of information lol. It should have read that I “tried a chigger craw first and got a 17” bass on my first cast”, then it slowed and clouded up…which is when I decided a quick jig color change was needed and the pumpkin-green flake took fire. Sometimes my mind gets ahead of my typing! I have gotten a couple smallies on the jig/stickworm combo, but that’s been my confidence trailer in the weed-limited areas I can run a jig in recent weeks for largemouth

I’m in the camp of color isn’t everything, but it can be something. It’s likely multiple things for the reasons fish get color selective, but they certainly do. I’ve had little things just as the op’s title reads make a difference this season multiple times. I had a nice largemouth flurry on a green craw bitsy bug with an orange double tail grub. It was sunny, wind blown and a brownish murky stain. As soon as I put an orange grub on, I started getting hit. It was a quick flurry, but was worth the little change. I also recently had a smallie trip where a subtle change again quickly changed my fortunes and on this trip, it triggered bigger bass. I was running a green craw bitsy with a 3” gp senko and not much happening on that. It started clouding up and before abandoning a jig, I put a pumpkin-green flake bitsy on with a 3” gp chigger craw and hooked a 17” bass on my first throw back in. I ended up landing 19”, 19”, 19.25” and a 20.25” on that switch. So don’t obsess over color, but don’t be ignorant of it either

Johnson Silver Minnow with a black pork frog or chartreuse twister tail grub for a trailer 👍

Just switch it up and see what gets bit. I’m going on a kayak float tomorrow to green bass town and am gonna have a Rage day to start. One rod has a Rage Craw(which has yet to be proven to me), and the other a Rage Bug; both t rigged with 3/16oz tungsten weights. I’ll likely stinko my way back as I often do, but who knows…maybe I’ll get a little crazy and throw top water for the first time all summer 🤷🏽‍♂️

Another thing you can do is simply undersize your estimations. That’s how I typically approach fish size, I’ll guess low just to be on the safe and humble side of things. You simply have to remember it’s modern society and it’s the internet; both full of ish!

@BluegillsTightlines Don’t even sweat that at all man, seriously. It happens and look at the bigger picture; you’re still getting excited and having enjoyment. All I can really say is **** that dude, he probably doesn’t even catch fish. Plus, the biggest talkers are the smallest walkers…

I mostly fish my mood, and what sounds fun that day. I also fish midday a lot, so I’m usually pretty methodical. That being said, I generally get what I get and move on if no further action after a few more casts, unless it’s a really good spot and I strongly feel a change up will get a couple more. I also fish rivers and my spots aren’t big and gonna hold 10-20 bass. I remember one morning in June I pulled 5 nice fish off one log and thought “that’s a money spot”, and it was for awhile. Weeds have made it logical to keep it moving atm unless warranted otherwise.

No down time here in Michigan, but I’m always…always playing with my fishing stuff. Nearly every day. I’ve had rods rigged for a trip a couple days in advance only to change them twice before settling on something before I actually go haha!

Love it! When I got into bass fishing hard this spring, I went right to the (to me@43) “classic” “old school” 7” Berkley powerworm. It’s gotten plenty of nice, solid bass this summer. I grew up in the 90’s and the power worm was a staple then. I started this season with the black and Motor oil from my youth, but ended up settling on two colors; Electric Grape and Blue Fleck. Purple is my confident, go to color with soft plastics for largemouth I’ve found. It works nearly all the time and very, very rarely doesn’t. So purple power worms it is for me

@Dwight Hottle I can agree with this 100% I also approach plastic worms and creature baits similar or Texas rigged senkos. Smaller hook is more action. A standard 4.2 sweet beaver creature bait is a 2/0 ewg for me where I see almost everyone else using 3/0 and even some guys using 4’s! A 2/0 ewg or screw lock hook is perfect for t rigging standard senkos imo. Good bass don’t play games generally, so if I get a solid thump..I don’t wait too long and a smaller hook is plenty to grab them in these instances and reduces gut hooks. I do feel many people are a little worried about missing fish or skinning them and play it safe with a larger hook. A 2/0 is a standard for most of my soft plastic fishing; An exception is when they’re really eating senkos, I’ll drop to a 1/0. Full sized brush hogs and 7” senkos I use 3/0; 10” worms 4/0

I killed big, prespawn smallies for awhile on paddletails this spring. Jigging started slowly, but a 4” white or natural colored paddletail on an 1/8oz(3.5g) tungsten round jig was money. I got incidental post spawn walleye too, but they don’t count. Those bass would mow those paddles right down and were often a quick “tick” and you better react! The quality of fish was superb

Some real nice bass being caught all over looks like; change is happening! @bp_fowler Nice mouth shot with the spinnerbait; I take shots like that as well, but haven’t used them much lately. Shows size well in your case In celebration of “finally, YOUR last weekend up here in force” Day, I had an alright bass, but fun bluegill trip. I really love good sized, clear water bluegills around weeds. Rive rgills especially can be so beautiful. An 8’ light action rod with straight 4lb and reds/1” gulp minnows took mostly 8” fish with maybe an 8.5” or two in there. The real thing about these fish is their impressive girth. A good fish here is seriously stout and thick. I have a 9” hand span which is pretty big for a skinny guy, so it takes a nicer gill to fill them. For the record, I didn’t keep any of them

I just use a classic tube head and have no issues running braid/leader on my 7’ MF spinning rig. I haven’t thrown tubes much since spring, but did get a 20”+ smallie on one the other day. That was after we saturated that spot with what had been working well previously

@Lottabass Nice bite my man! I always have so much respect for you old hats that still have that drive and consistency. When I was a kid and learning fishing, aside from my dad…I wanted to be like the old boys I’d see on the river always catching fish lol

You think eh? Something tells me there will be multiple 16-18” green mean bass posted tonight. You know it, I know it, bass resource knows it lol! Be safe little lady, and “have” luck

Nice fishing Swampy, I wouldn’t complain either when you can get green/brown together! This may seem weird, but I can almost tell by the way your largemouth look…they fight well. Bass in northern latitudes seem to consistently have great color and markings

I don’t fish lakes in my kayak, but mostly float a small river. I don’t have much kayak experience, but I’m very physically capable and bodied @43 to handle this type of thing no problem. I prefer paddling quietly back up and into position versus gliding down and doing the same. I have an anchor, but the weeds are too much right now. I typically beach and bank bust, hang myself up in shoreline reeds, slop piled shallow flats or use my brush grabber. I’ve thought about other stuff, but honestly I’m a simple man and my kayak wasn’t bought to deck out like a boat; buy a boat for that. Kayaks are made for simplicity and that’s how I’m using mine. I’ve found maneuvering pretty easy; you can quietly do a tiny circle to swing back and position better. I watch others fish and they’re way louder, more clunky and make way more commotion. I’m naturally a predator as God intended, and I fish like one…