NM_bass_noob

Tell me about it. I ordered the PP8 on Monday (for when I'm alone, or for my son to use), then the Prowler 12 (so we can scoot around quicker and find areas we want to fish) on Tuesday, found a used PP8 that I picked up locally on Wednesday (giving this to my son in law for his upcoming bday), and just placed an order this morning for the PP10. Driving to get the new ones from the closest BPS tomorrow. Got a cheap 4hp aircooled outboard on the way for the really shallow water, a 55lb tm and 110ah battery, and looking around for a 6hp outboard. I'll be waiting around for the right deal on a good running outboard. Apparently I'm trying to build an armada of cheap plastic boats. I know, I know, I could have bought a "real boat" but the portability and maneuverability on these can't be beat I think. From previous boat and jetski ownership I did not want to have to rely on a ramp because no one else could ever seem to get the boat/jetskis off the trailer so I had to do it all. I also wanted something I could 100% easily load/unload on my own for the days I am by myself. Now when I can't be out fishing I'll be "building" these out. And for what it's worth I always have the most fun shooting .22LR compared to my larger caliber guns, and my son's 70cc Honda is way more fun to ride than my bigger 2 strokes. It should be a fun filled summer.

Saturday drove to the lake I'm most familiar with and couldn't access most of the bank due to a lot of rain recently and nasty clay mud. Didn't wanna risk getting stuck so I explored some new areas I'm not familiar with. Hooked a Gar that got off at the bank, and another fish that came off when I was messing with my drag. I kept having hits from I'm assuming some smaller fish. They would hit the lure hard, but I couldn't ever hook one. Tried going smaller and they would only hit the larger lure. That was fun so I played with them for a while. Happened upon some small pools that held Carp. Broke out the Tenkara rod and threw a hopper fly on trying to get one and practice with that setup. Got my presentation down pretty dang good, but couldn't get them to hit. They were real skittish and would dart around with any sort of movement. Fished back at another spot on the lake with no more hits. Sunday tried a new lake and fished the bank hard with no luck. We decided to try one more spot and made it that way. Jackpot ended up on some Bass boiling! First hit drag goes crazy and its gone. Second hit, same thing! Damnit I left the drag loose. Tighten it up, lose the next one. Another hit! jumps at the bank and spits the lure out. Meanwhile my son in law has brought in 4 or 5 at this point. Finally I get hit set the hook and get it on the bank. 1 for Sunday lol. My birthday is coming up this weekend so I decided to get me a little pond prowler. Picking it up Friday! Excited to get out on the water.

Thank you everybody for the warm welcome and advice!

If anyone would like to grade, guide, or school me as I am trying to apply what I am learning about reading lake maps I would greatly appreciate it. I'm not even sure if this is a good quality one, or what other information might be missing off of it. It is Brantley Lake Reservoir in South Eastern New Mexico. We currently are only able to bank fish, and would like to explore more of the lake. The black outline where all the contour lines are I believe is the conversation line, where the lighter blue outside of that is the flood line. As it is at the moment water levels are to the blue shaded areas. It will probably continue to rise a bit. Spots A-F are areas I believe could be good areas to hit this time of year into next month. Current water temps are low 80s, with it typically getting into the high 80s next month. A is marked between two spots that are labeled springs. The second spring comes up when zooming in. There being 2 springs and being close to what I am assuming is the river channel. (Should be good between 2 springs and being close to the channel where fish will be travelling through?) B is a primary lake point with a fairly steep drop running South and West with shallows to the East. (Should be good for Bass coming between the deeps and shallows to feed?) C is a point (not sure if this would still be Primary, or a Secondary) close to the channel with shallows to the NE in what would be a bay or a cove? D same as B. (Would the part of the lake to the West of these two spots be considered a cove or bay? Or just part of the main lake?) E is shallow flats and where the river feeds the lake. (Not sure if fishing should be good here) F a point with a channel. (I am assuming it would be good with the luck we have had at X for the same reasons) Point X is what I believe would be called a creek, even if water isn't currently feeding into it, where we have had the most success catching large mouth and some whites. The last few years we have fished it a handful of times, and while we don't catch a huge quantity of bass, we have yet to be skunked at that location. If I had to say why they are there I would think its because the forage for insects available in the creek with the shore lines on both sides and being close to a deeper channel in the lake. Am I correct in thinking these spots should be productive for us? Other spots that look like they would be better to spend time at?

I haven't considered pegging the weight. I will give that a try. Thank you. Yeah, after thinking about it the next day I realized it was dumb not to throw what they were biting on and trying to get them to bite on what I wanted to throw.

The first day we caught 2 on a mini bladed jig with a grub trailer. The second day got 1 with a zoom utale. My son in law is admittedly a better angler than I am and he brought in 5 iirc on a creature bait texas rigged in the same area we were using the bladed jig. Out of pride, I suppose, I was reluctant to use the same bait he was using. Lesson learned for sure. I think, and I may be mistaken, that my son and I really are not very good at detecting bites when fishing the slower presentations.

Thank you. I'm glad to find an older style forum that is still active!

Hello, everybody! Bassresource comes up in a lot of my searches with seemingly great information and I enjoy the videos on youtube as well so I thought I would join. I am just getting back into fishing after not doing much of it over the last few years with nightcrawlers being what I mostly used in the past. My 13 year old son recently showed interest in fishing so we have been hitting the water over the spring and getting into some decent trout fishing. He has really got me back into fishing again and his PB trout is a 17" Rainbow (didn't have a scale with us), and most rare trout species caught is the Gila Trout. We were trying to complete the New Mexico Trout Challenge with only 2 species left that we will have to travel a few hours to get into. He now wants to start targeting Bass, but we haven't been very successful. After having no luck on a couple of outings to a local small river we hit the highway to the nearest lake to us that holds bass. He got to land his first large mouth this past weekend and he was ecstatic! We fished for 2 days and only got 3 total. I am attempting to look at lake maps to try and figure out what part of our local lake we should target from the bank. Not sure what areas will prove to be productive. It's tough for us to bank fish this man made reservoir and from what I've seen it has very little cover consisting of mesquite along some of the banks and very few larger shade trees. Brantley Lake near Carlsbad in South East New Mexico if anybody would like to help me dissect the map and figure out where we should try hitting. I have a couple of spots in mind but am so new to this I am unsure if I am applying what I have been trying to learn correctly.