I’ve been struggling last few outings.  Fished Saturday and Sunday, including a 4am alarm to launch at first light for almost nothing - even the early morning bite was poor. ?

Caught a couple on a white swimbait Saturday but one was a good smallie and he was gone on the first jump.   Sunday was dead slow for hours so I decided to (finally) learn how to flip.  Caught a 3# doing that yesterday - he sucked the Bandito Bug in on the fall and when I set the hook he took off like a rocket through the weeds past the bow of the boat for about 20ft. I thought I’d hooked a tank before I really leaned on him with the heavy rod and 50# braid to get him turned.  That one fish made my day.  More would have been nicer but everything on the “new” little bass boat is working 100% and I’ve got my health so I can’t complain about the slow days (writing that so I can reread it myself.  lol). 

One of my beloved bogs becomes harder and harder to fish. It's about five feet deep, so where you don't see weeds on the surface, they're just under the surface and the bass use those weeds to shuck my lures and those weeds keep rising leaving me with less and less straight water to play the bass. I did manage to catch 32 and here are few, but lawdy, lawdy, I lost a couple big ones. I'll lead with a pretty pic of the bog:

 

 

 

 

17 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

@ol'crickety I plan on investing some real time in that little under spin doohickey this winter time.  I just know it's a fish catching machine and I feel like when 'not much is going on' in terms of weather or fish activity, that sneaky little critter would get munched by even the pickiest of bass.

 

Do you like to burn them, steady reel em, stop n go??  Heavier or lighter?  I feel like there's a big population of LARGE bass at the upper portion of the Pressured Pond™ (where I tend to not fish as much...lower pond seems more hackable), that ONLY eats tiny shad things all year long and this presentation could be the key to getting one or two of them.

 

I fish them slow, fast, and even hop them on lily pads like one would a frog. There are days when it is THE LURE and days when its incredible action doesn't appeal to them. Be aware that some bass like to swallow it and carry it parallel to your boat, so if you see your line suddenly having a mind of its own and going off on a walk, set. the. hook!

 

Earlier this year, I caught 49 bass one day and it was with the paddletail with an under spin. I was chucking it into the smallest, shallowest openings and bass clobbered it, again and again. Last year, @T-Billy told me to chuck it into reeds and I did just that and landed a 4-pounder and lost another. In short, it's versitle. 

59 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

@ol'crickety I plan on investing some real time in that little under spin doohickey this winter time.  I just know it's a fish catching machine and I feel like when 'not much is going on' in terms of weather or fish activity, that sneaky little critter would get munched by even the pickiest of bass.

 

Do you like to burn them, steady reel em, stop n go??  Heavier or lighter?  I feel like there's a big population of LARGE bass at the upper portion of the Pressured Pond™ (where I tend to not fish as much...lower pond seems more hackable), that ONLY eats tiny shad things all year long and this presentation could be the key to getting one or two of them.

 

Absolutely experiment with speed, but generally Fall and spring I want them going as slow as possible that still keeps the tail and blade going. Otherwise, usually just a moderate speed with occasional brief pauses.

 

Sometimes they can be tricky to match hook to bait size.  The one in the pic is 1/4oz 5/0 Owner Flashy Swimmer with a 4.3 keitech, which seems about right. 

 

Bass in my waters bass are predominantly bluegill/sunfish/yellow perch eaters (no shad), so I like the gold blades, but the Owners are super-easy to swap between gold/silver or colorado/willow.

Streak Day 62, battled the heat....OH My, said 101F in my car. I was able to get out for a little while and get my fish for the day. Just under 3lbs. Fishf or 8/7. 

 

Got it off a Z-man chatterbait witha zako trailer. Black/blue. 

 

Managed to get a couple hours of fishing in between storms today.  Caught a few lil guys.

 

1 hour ago, bp_fowler said:

Managed to get a couple hours of fishing in between storms today.  Caught a few lil guys.

 

 

Your bottom fish doesn't look like a little guy. It's got a sweet belly.

@ol'crickety  that was the first one of the day and also the biggest of the bunch.  

On the backside of a low pressure system today. The rain ended by Noon, and the clouds were still thick, but the wind had already rotated to the NW, and the air temps stayed in the 70s. Numbers wise, it was a slightly above average trip, as I was able to catch 18 bass, but the size wasn't there except for one nice bass I hooked and had on for a good 15-20 seconds through several head shakes, but then lost him when he went airborne. Other than being disappointed, the first thing that popped into my mind was all the recent threads on how to help prevent losing bass when they do this, many of which I chimed in on, which made me chuckle to myself about the irony of the whole situation…and I caught another bullhead, which always makes me smile - lol. He even had “the mark of the heron,” which I thought was rather interesting. Lucky guy to survive both the bird and I ?

 

 

 

It ain't much.  But it's my first fish ever on a buzzbait and at the Pressured Pond ™ no less.

 

Storm rolled through leaving clouds and wind.  Fished an hour after work.  Got 7 blow ups on the buzzbait and connected with this one.

 

My retrieves are 'keeping it just under the surface and gurgling it up occasionally by accident and keeping it just under the surface and then sorta slow plinking it with occasional squeaky acceleration flurries.  Seems all of these retrieves trigger bites.

 

I'm gonna be tossing this thing a lot more this fall as I know it's basically made for the fall.

 

 

Bizzbaits dinner bell with the old rage menace on the back.  Skirtless.

10 hours ago, Jonny15678 said:

Caught many Largies but all about the same size. This being the best of the day, nice way to end it as well. Caugh her on a 3/8oz black n blue Jackhammer paired with a 4.3inch Keitech swing impact FAT sungill swimbait.

 

Gorgeous bass with Drax the Destroyer shoulders, but let me warn you: Johnny Law is comin' for ya!

 

Your bass is even more impressive because you caught her from the shore. 

11 hours ago, Team9nine said:

one nice bass I hooked and had on for a good 15-20 seconds through several head shakes, but then lost him when he went airborne.

 

15-20 seconds is quite a fight. Sorry you lost her. I hate that feeling when they shuck the lure. 

@Pat Brown, glad you got one on the buzzer! One of my all time favs but I use a white skirt and always keep it on the surface 

17 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

@Pat Brown, glad you got one on the buzzer! One of my all time favs but I use a white skirt and always keep it on the surface 

 

I got a white skirt one that doesn't clack that I do more surface oriented retrieval with right now but it doesn't seem to anger the fish as much at my pond.  I definitely will be mindful of rotating styles when they 'should be hitting a buzzbait' but aren't as I continue to expand my knowledge on the technique.  Had some solid hits this morning where I pulled it away in the darkness.  Seems like as with all topwaters, being momentarily patient right after the strike pays in dividends.

10 hours ago, Jonny15678 said:

Caught many Largies but all about the same size. This being the best of the day, nice way to end it as well. Caugh her on a 3/8oz black n blue Jackhammer paired with a 4.3inch Keitech swing impact FAT sungill swimbait.

Hair Police has issued a citation here.  Clean it up Jonny. ✂️

 

Nice fish tho.

4 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Hair Police has issued a citation here.  Clean it up Jonny. ✂️

One of these nights, I'm a gonna come up there and glue extensions in your hair while you sleep...leave the hippy alone - I miss those years.

 

5 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Nice fish tho.

Got that straight...keep up the good work, Jonny - and ignore the square-dude in the corner.

12 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

It ain't much.  But it's my first fish ever on a buzzbait and at the Pressured Pond ™ no less.

 

Storm rolled through leaving clouds and wind.  Fished an hour after work.  Got 7 blow ups on the buzzbait and connected with this one.

 

My retrieves are 'keeping it just under the surface and gurgling it up occasionally by accident and keeping it just under the surface and then sorta slow plinking it with occasional squeaky acceleration flurries.  Seems all of these retrieves trigger bites.

 

I'm gonna be tossing this thing a lot more this fall as I know it's basically made for the fall.

 

 

Bizzbaits dinner bell with the old rage menace on the back.  Skirtless.

Absolutely shocked this is your first buzzbait fish.  Do yourself a favor and get a MegaStrike Cavitron or 6 and run that sucker completely on the top with a rage bug or similar in black/blue behind it.  I get the itch to throw one just thinking about those blowups lol.  Can't imagine with one of your tanks attacking it

 

I have two different cavitrons!  Never gotten a blowup on one yet but maybe they're just so dang popular my fish have seen/heard/felt em.  I haven't had bites on the Strike King head banger either but fished those a fair bit as well.   They seem to hate my dinner bell though so maybe it's the clacking flavor they prefer at my waters?

 

But yeah I find that most days and most of the year, topwater is a big old waste of time but I'm LEARNING to watch out for opportunities to be productive with topwater....

14 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

I have two different cavitrons!  Never gotten a blowup on one yet but maybe they're just so dang popular my fish have seen/heard/felt em.  I haven't had bites on the Strike King head banger either but fished those a fair bit as well.   They seem to hate my dinner bell though so maybe it's the clacking flavor they prefer at my waters?

 

But yeah I find that most days and most of the year, topwater is a big old waste of time but I'm LEARNING to watch out for opportunities to be productive with topwater....

I gotcha.  You may be right.  I don't know which colors you've got but I forgot to say all black is what the fish around me like

10 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

@Pat Brown, glad you got one on the buzzer! One of my all time favs but I use a white skirt and always keep it on the surface 

I'm just happy to see @Pat Brown catch a dink like the rest of us mere mortals!!! 

43 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

I'm just happy to see @Pat Brown catch a dink like the rest of us mere mortals!!! 

 

I bet he used some kind of trick photography to make is look smaller than it actually is.   

34 minutes ago, Woody B said:

 

I bet he used some kind of trick photography to make is look smaller than it actually is.   

 

@IcatchDinks gave him a lesson.

Buzzbait fish number 2 on the books!

 

Jake caught a monster on a morning dawn trick worm off a bridge piling.  SUPER spawned out.

 

I caught one on a creature bait and Jake got a nice one on the old Siebert brush jig.

 

Fun fun afternoon.

 

I'm flattered by all the big bass expectations but I usually catch 100 normal size bass at LEAST for every 5+ lber!

 

It's called fun for a reason!  Wouldn't be fun if they was giants every time!

 

2 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

Buzzbait fish number 2 on the books!

 

Jake caught a monster on a morning dawn trick worm off a bridge piling.  SUPER spawned out.

 

I caught one on a creature bait and Jake got a nice one on the old Siebert brush jig.

 

Fun fun afternoon.

 

I'm flattered by all the big bass expectations but I usually catch 100 normal size bass at LEAST for every 5+ lber!

 

It's called fun for a reason!  Wouldn't be fun if they was giants every time!

 

Buzzbait bite is my favorite bite, probably. Punching probably still my favorite technique and spinnerbaits my favorite lure (it’s confusing), but buzzbait bites so dang fun. That flush when they bite… man

3 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Buzzbait bite is my favorite bite, probably. Punching probably still my favorite technique, when it’s working, but buzzbait bites so dang fun. That flush when they bite… man

 

 

I actually hooked a 4-5 lb class fish on the buzzbait that bent it in half about half an hour before I caught that 2.5 lber later on.   It got off 2 feet from the net. I'm learning quickly to look for big flats with stumps or grass clumps or rocks or all of the above in sort of dirty water in wind.  This is where the buzzbait is probably the best lure to throw.  The shallower the better it seems.

Stuck between two low pressure systems, and afternoon popup storms were the norm. Got out just before the worst of them came though late in the afternoon. Water is showing signs of a light algae bloom, so a little more stained than usual. Bass were biting though, as I got 26 total, all on finesse jigs. Good numbers, but nothing of signifcant size.