13 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

Righty-O, Daddy-O. When the chatterbait bite is hot, fishing doesn't get much more fun than that, especially on straight braid. It's right up there with a hot larger swimbait bite. Ain't nothing subtle about either, but those straight-braid nighttime CB bites are usually violent.

Clearly you gentlemen have never heard of a much funner lure. Please, let me be the first to introduce you. You see, there is this lure called the spinnerbait. It’s quite magnificent 

10 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

You see, there is this lure called the spinnerbait.

I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm currently in therapy alongside @TnRiver46 for spinnerbait trauma. 

1 minute ago, PhishLI said:

I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm currently in therapy alongside @TnRiver46for spinnerbait trauma. 

What??? You too now???? Good grief. We’ve lost our way.

 

You can’t tell me that chatterbait success at night severely outweighs something like a Zorro Short Arm Aggravator. Ain’t no way

1 minute ago, LrgmouthShad said:

You can’t tell me that chatterbait success at night severely outweighs something like a Zorro Short Arm Aggravator.

It's more about the slimy algae here. It just fouls up the blades lickity-split. So frustrating to the point that I question my sanity each time I get the notion to throw one, yet a chatterbait on braid with a fast MH can be snapped which will clear it most of the time.

8 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

It's more about the slimy algae here. It just fouls up the blades lickity-split. So frustrating to the point that I question my sanity each time I get the notion to throw one, yet a chatterbait on braid with a fast MH can be snapped which will clear it most of the time.

Yeah… alright I hear ya. I’ve had problems with algae on spinnerbaits before too. I mean, I haven’t even caught a Texan fish on a spinnerbait yet so for all I know, my spinnerbait days could be few and far between

5 hours ago, T-Billy said:

He didn't leave, but he didn't adjust either. Just kept chucking that spinnerbait. I never saw him catch a fish.

Oh believe me I know several people who are just like this and refuse to adjust even when another strategy/lure/presentation is working.  Its called pure stubbornness.  They would rather catch nothing their way than cave in and start catching fish someone else's way.

11 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Another weird day......but then again not that weird when you account for the "first 15mins rule".    Time after time you hear about and see it firsthand, laying the hammer down in those first 15mins usually means you've seen the fireworks already.    

 

First 10mins, 25yds of bank I got 2 for #8.5........I'm thinking I'm Rick Clunn and about to put a 20-30lb bag together, LOL.   

 

7 fish total for about 3.5 hrs fished.    Big fish was close to 5, second one was close to 4, and the rest were 2-3lb fish.   Still a quality bag, but long gone are those sweet 20lbs+ bag days of winter.   Admittedly, I got Spring completely wrong, but have learned a massive amount.   

 

Something about this D-Bomb seems to make quality fish eat it.   6 fish were on it, 1 on the buzzbait.    Gonna buy several more colors tomorrow and reward the bait monkey.   Then I need a new camera.  

 

I hope I get spring totally wrong like you did when I grow up 

5 hours ago, T-Billy said:

but he didn't adjust either.Just kept chucking that spinnerbait. I never saw him catch a fish.

 

Oh law how I’ve been there so many times 

11 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Oh believe me I know several people who are just like this and refuse to adjust even when another strategy/lure/presentation is working.  Its called pure stubbornness.  They would rather catch nothing their way than cave in and start catching fish someone else's way.

 

My brother is one of those people. I found a stationary school of smallmouth in northwestern Ontario. You'd lower your leech and you'd have a fish, one after another after another after.... I fetched my brother. He'd been fishing tube jigs and so while my boat caught fish two and three at a time, he glared at us, catching nothing.

 

"We have plenty of leeches," I said.

 

More glaring.

 

Five minutes later, "Would you like some leeches?"

 

More glaring.

 

I know, he's a bundle of sunshine.

 

7 hours ago, T-Billy said:

Nice sack of fish my friend. That D-Bomb will serve you well. I ALWAYS have a Sweet Craw rigged on a flippin stick, from ice out to ice over. Rigging it on a snelled straight shank with the hook point buried in the bait allows me to fish it in places I wouldn't dare put a jig. Easily the best big fish rig I've found.

 I love the look of those banks in your top couple pics. Overhanging bushes like that are my #1 producer in the summer. #2 would be weed choked laydowns, the gnarlier the better. LM love the shade and overhead protection they provide.

 The above applies to daylight hours. After dark, a chatterbait around weeds is #1. If they're short striking it, I'll switch to a paddletail swimmer.

Great stuff Tim, and thanks for the tips.

 

The Da Bomb has been a revelation, might have to get a braid setup and get down in the nasty stuff like you ?

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

I hope I get spring totally wrong like you did when I grow up 

Oh law how I’ve been there so many times 

LOL, I've had some quality fish here and there that I'm super thankful for, but I just didn't have a clue how fast and how shallow these fish would go. 

 

Didn't realize short strikes were a common thing in the Spring because fish will just bump baits off beds, so downsizing from a Lizard to a creature gives you that much better odds at them actually biting the hook.   

 

Thought I could just power my way through it with moving baits, until I started literally catching one fish a day lol.    To end last week I think I had a 1 fish, 3 fish, and 1 fish day.   I got tired of telling the neighbor who only throws a shakey head and likes hearing my reports that I only caught a dink ?

 

I suspect all you folks in this thread know more about the Spawn, and Spring fishing than myself.  Winter and Spring were the only seasons I didn't hardcore fish in my previous Bass fishing life.    I feel I stayed with the fish over the winter like Matt Allen talks about so much, but then lost them very quickly once they started spawning.  

 

This place and you guys have been invaluable on my journey, and I have no doubts I'll have a significantly better Spring next year because of the stuff I learned here, and on the water the last two months.   It's just frustrating when you realize you could have been throwing a bait that produces big time but instead you were hard headed until forced back to bottom.  

3 hours ago, PhishLI said:

I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm currently in therapy alongside @TnRiver46 for spinnerbait trauma. 

Show us on the wire frame where the Spinnerbait touched you ?

43 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

LOL, I've had some quality fish here and there that I'm super thankful for, but I just didn't have a clue how fast and how shallow these fish would go. 

 

Didn't realize short strikes were a common thing in the Spring because fish will just bump baits off beds, so downsizing from a Lizard to a creature gives you that much better odds at them actually biting the hook.   

 

Thought I could just power my way through it with moving baits, until I started literally catching one fish a day lol.    To end last week I think I had a 1 fish, 3 fish, and 1 fish day.   I got tired of telling the neighbor who only throws a shakey head and likes hearing my reports that I only caught a dink ?

 

I suspect all you folks in this thread know more about the Spawn, and Spring fishing than myself.  Winter and Spring were the only seasons I didn't hardcore fish in my previous Bass fishing life.    I feel I stayed with the fish over the winter like Matt Allen talks about so much, but then lost them very quickly once they started spawning.  

 

This place and you guys have been invaluable on my journey, and I have no doubts I'll have a significantly better Spring next year because of the stuff I learned here, and on the water the last two months.   It's just frustrating when you realize you could have been throwing a bait that produces big time but instead you were hard headed until forced back to bottom.  

Some quality fish mixed in is better than zero quality fish 

9 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Some quality fish mixed in is better than zero quality fish 

You sir are the silver lining reminder I needed ?

5 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

You sir are the silver lining reminder I needed ?

I have that effect on a lot of people 

@TnRiver46 is a straight up dawg

14 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

@TnRiver46 is a straight up dawg

I thought it was nerd 

Spinnerbaits. yes I do. Fished 7:30-12:30 today, caught 7 bass on 5 different baits, biggest was on a spinnerbait she weighed 5-15. Wish she had eaten 1 more crayfish before I found her, might have pushed her to 6.

2 minutes ago, keagbassr said:

Spinnerbaits. yes I do. Fished 7:30-12:30 today, caught 7 bass on 5 different baits, biggest was on a spinnerbait she weighed 5-15. Wish she had eaten 1 more crayfish before I found her, might have pushed her to 6.

?

 

Really freaking nice man

24 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I thought it was nerd 

Oh right. Yeah, I’m sorry, dork

Still catching Spots on the Ned

5 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Great stuff Tim, and thanks for the tips.

 

The Da Bomb has been a revelation, might have to get a braid setup and get down in the nasty stuff like you ?

You bet. I HIGHLY recommend the Ark Invoker Pro 7'4" Mag HF for an all around pitch'n rod. I have more flippin sticks than any other models and this has become my hands down favorite. It has enough tip to pitch 3/8+ bait just fine, but is an absolute hammer when it comes time to drive that big flipp'n hook home and rip 'em out of cover. It's better balanced and feels more responsive than my 7'6" and longer rods too. I just bought a second one.

Well I got one

Lost two that felt just as big, but they were hitting stupidly subtle today and only on the fall so I didn't set my hook in time. The breeze didn't help the linewatching. Still, keeps the streak alive for now. Had to leave due to sunburn setting in ??

I caught my first 2023 bass! It was windier than I like, about 10 m.p.h., which means more corrective paddling in my canoe, and I fished from 1:00 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. It was sunny too. I went to a lake I fished several times last year and my two best spots produced nothing. So, I went to the windy end and caught nine and lost two. I started the fishing with finesse lures, i.e. a Senko and Ned. I got some taps, but couldn't set into anything solid. Maybe they were panfish. So, I tried a spinnerbait and jerkbait. Nothing. I'd bought a lipless crankbait that looks like a golden shiner and there are golden shiners in the lake. That worked. A rage swimmer that was white on the bottom and gray on top also worked. None of them were long, but a few were fat.

 

It was great to finally catch some bass after watching you guys catch so many. Here they are, with the two lures at the end.

 

I must admit that these are my first prespawn bass ever. I watched a lot of Youtube videos and read pre-spawn articles to learn how to catch them. I had my unpaid consultants too. 

 

7 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

It was great to finally catch some bass after watching you guys catch so many. Here they are, with the two lures at the end.

Those are some very nice bass...and I'm jealous. Ice still on the lakes, though slowly disappearing - and bass season doesn't even open for another 30 days.

22 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

I caught my first 2023 bass! It was windier than I like, about 10 m.p.h., which means more corrective paddling in my canoe, and I fished from 1:00 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. It was sunny too. I went to a lake I fished several times last year and my two best spots produced nothing. So, I went to the windy end and caught nine and lost two. I started the fishing with finesse lures, i.e. a Senko and Ned. I got some taps, but couldn't set into anything solid. Maybe they were panfish. So, I tried a spinnerbait and jerkbait. Nothing. I'd bought a lipless crankbait that looks like a golden shiner and there are golden shiners in the lake. That worked. A rage swimmer that was white on the bottom and gray on top also worked. None of them were long, but a few were fat.

 

It was great to finally catch some bass after watching you guys catch so many. Here they are, with the two lures at the end.

 

I must admit that these are my first prespawn bass ever. I watched a lot of Youtube videos and read pre-spawn articles to learn how to catch them. I had my unpaid consultants too. 

 

Most excellent ! And so it begins…….

2 hours ago, T-Billy said:

You bet. I HIGHLY recommend the Ark Invoker Pro 7'4" Mag HF for an all around pitch'n rod. I have more flippin sticks than any other models and this has become my hands down favorite. It has enough tip to pitch 3/8+ bait just fine, but is an absolute hammer when it comes time to drive that big flipp'n hook home and rip 'em out of cover. It's better balanced and feels more responsive than my 7'6" and longer rods too. I just bought a second one.

I need to start taking a look at these Ark Rods, man. I more than likely wont be getting a flipping stick though. We have different styles. I’m offshore