I love the spinnerbug but I love the buzzer even more!  Underspin has been my go to lately in lieu of the spinnerbait because our water got real clear this winter.  Haven't had enough stain to properly fish a spinnerbait in months.

4 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

I love the spinnerbug but I love the buzzer even more!  Underspin has been my go to lately in lieu of the spinnerbait because our water got real clear this winter.  Haven't had enough stain to properly fish a spinnerbait in months.

Agree on spinner bait! I should listen to you and throw the buzz and catch hogs instead of throwing spinner and catching skunks 😎

11 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

@Pat Brown:

 

 

@N Florida Mike and @FishTax: I actually miss fishing the wind, which I could do when my Lund, anchor, and motors. As I've shared before, my canoe is a sail, being high, light, and wide. It's nearly 16' long, but weighs a mere 32 pounds, so it's a nerdy kid and the wind is its bully. Even the bigger bass bully it (and me), pulling and spinning my canoe. But it you can anchor a heavy boat on a windy shore, you can enjoy amazing fishing. I don't anchor my canoe. I tried. It was dangerous. If I anchor from mid-boat, where I paddle, the waves batter me. If I anchor from the bow, I have to crawl up to the bow where the canoe is narrower and even tippier...in the wind. 

Look into that Power Pole Spike, Katie, if you’re in shallower waters.

 

Same issue getting bullied when we use the Crawdad.😠

@ol'crickety I carry an anchor , but rarely use it. If I can catch a fish or two on a windward shore, I’ll anchor. Yesterday, the bite was so sporadic, I never anchored. A lot of the problem yesterday was the wind direction, which was coming from the Northwest at 20. That and southeast winds are the hardest to fish on my lake…

Picked up a Kastking Zephyr on a decent black Friday deal to try my hand at BFS. I'm primarily interested in using this for panfish, throwing 1/16oz jigheads and similar, so if I can do that and get the ergonomics of the baitcaster, I figured it was worth a shot for the price to see if I liked it.

 

Definitely finicky to get dialed, it's a cheap reel. But it works so far. This little guy was the first fish on it this morning trying to get it dialed in out behind the house. Spooled it with 6lb Seaguar Basix, throwing a 1/16 oz Roadrunner underspin with a 2" grub for a trailer.

@FishTax I wondered at first if  you lived in N Florida because your report sounded a lot like mine yesterday! It was the same front that went through I reckon!

2 hours ago, RipzLipz said:

Look into that Power Pole Spike, Katie, if you’re in shallower waters.

 

Same issue getting bullied when we use the Crawdad.😠

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I researched them and watched some videos, but they're not for me. My canoe is already crowded with six or seven rods and my big net. 

 

 

After Thanksgiving lunch I made it our a couple hours.   I launched at a landing up a creek.  I caught a few micro bass up the creek, but didn't count them.  (when I call them micro bass they're really small).  I went out on the main lake a caught 4 real bass on rocky points.  All on a shaky head.   The lake is still really low.  Only one of the four ramps were open at the landing.  The recent rain might have brought the lake up 6 inches or so but it's still the lowest I've seen it since the Summer drought ~20 years ago.  My Sister in laws boat lift has a couple inches of water under it.  Back then it was ~20 feet away from the water.  

 

@Woody B the lack of rain has been felt tremendously here too.  The super shallow pond I fish is pretty much too shallow for a big fish up by the bank and when the fishing is good/water level is normal it's just barely deep enough for big fish up shallow.  It's been kind of a bummer to fish the pond so far this winter.  On the lake I can get to where they are and catch a few but they definitely aren't smashing a jig on every laydown like they did last November.

@Woody B just keeps catching and catching and catching.

 

@ol'crickety  I barely avoided a skunk today.   I only fished a few hours this morning so I could spend the afternoon with my Dad.   The Bass simply weren't active, at least the ones I could find.   They were hugging the bottom in 15 to 20 FOW.   I couldn't "activate" them with anything.  I tried running a buzz bait over them, then following with various lures, no luck.  I put jigs, shaky heads, ect right in front of them.  No luck.  I tried everything except electricity and explosives.  (LOL)    I was going to have to leave by 12:30.  10 minutes before that I got this fat 18" Largemouth to take a shaky head.  I hate I didn't catch more, but was thrilled to finally see a Largemouth that wasn't skinny.   I considered my trying my recent "micro bass" pattern, but decided I'd skunk before I'd target 8 to 10 inch bass.   I think fishing would be better in the afternoon with the recent colder weather, and water.........but Pat is still catching hawgs before the frost even melts.   I've got some firearm training tomorrow afternoon so I'll be fishing early again.   I went upriver today.  The water is cooler than it was yesterday near the dam and looks like it might be starting to turn over.  I'll go back downriver tomorrow morning and see how that works.  I'll have fun regardless.   

 

@Woody B, I remember one morning in 2023. I must have launched at fourish and was likely fishing until after nine. I'd caught nothing. So, I had paddled back to my car, which was parked on a point, and I heard water rushing out of the bog, so I thought, "What the heck. One. More. Try."

 

And I paddled around the point to where the water was flowing and dropped a wacky worm into the current and caught one bass and I was so proud of that fish, even though it wasn't a fat 18-incher like yours. 

Fished yesterday and caught one on a OT 4 crank and 4 on spoons.

Debating on whether I’m going today or not. Here’s today’s forecast for the town where Lake Shantbenamed is located ☹️

Wind laying down but probably little sun to warm things up.

1 minute ago, RipzLipz said:

Debating on whether I’m going today or not. Here’s today’s forecast for the town where Lake Shantbenamed is located ☹️

Wind laying down but probably little sun to warm things up.

That's a Warm May forcast for me.

Go Fishing !

A-Jay

21 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

That's a Warm May forcast for me.

Go Fishing !

A-Jay

Probably will.👍

Loaded up & heading out the door.

Those are good windspeeds, Tim. I didn't know you ^drive" a chick magnet!

On 11/23/2023 at 11:31 AM, Aaron_H said:

Kastking Zephyr on a decent black Friday deal

What was the deal if you don't mind, I've been curious to try an affordable BFS reel. Any more time on it?

That's it for me!  Last trip out on Thanksgiving.  Just ran to the closest lake for less than two hours.  Five LM with the biggest right at 4lb.  Had a fantastic year.  Looking forward to spring already.

 

 

 

I caught 7 today in a short, cold windy trip.   5 Spots between 12 and 14 inches bookended by pair of 16 inch Largemouth.   All were on a Shaky head.  Temperature was in the low 40's with 25 mph wind gusts.  I was cold.   First and last Bass (the 2 Largemouth) are pictured.  3 of 4 ramps were closed due to low water levels.  (I haven't posted a boat pic in a while.....and I like my little boat)    The other pic is a deer on someones back patio.   Tega Cay has a deer problem.  They've been going round and round trying to decide what to do.  The city wanted to bring in marksmen to kill a predetermined number of them.  Some of the residents thought this was cruel.   They've opted to "shoot them with birth control darts".  (I didn't make this up)   I'm going later tomorrow,  probably 10 or so and fish into the afternoon.   

 

We didn't set the world on fire but with surface temps hovering around 48 after a hard cold front, we were happy to get three on the flashy swimmer!

 

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!

 

I figured it would be slow given the temps & I’m not a finesse LMB fisherman at heart. Odd, I don’t mind whipping out the fairy wands as some refer to them (no offense intended just having some fun) for smallies but baitcasting latched onto me & I sometimes stick to it when the little angel on my shoulder tells me otherwise. Today I think it was screaming. 🤣

 

Got to the lake a bit after 12PM - no rush as temps weren’t quite as warm as forecasts but I am usually more concerned with wind when it’s below 55°, plus the Crawdad (boat) is more or less a plastic John boat so a light breeze can wreak havoc with it. Save a few annoyingly loud hikers with dogs not leashed, I had the lake to myself. Started off just like @TnRiver46 would, with the spinnerbug, while I was cruising through the shallow end of the lake. Zero takers. Slight breeze in my face but not a show stopper by any means. Kept 2 casts from the bank, slow rolling. Nothing. This bank has nothing in terms of laydowns so I wasn’t expecting much. Fished some obvious points for a bit with both the spinnerbug & jig with no hits.

 

Decided to move on down towards deeper water (15’-20’ in this lake) & worked the jig slowly through some raggedy small laydowns & still nothing. Plopped the jig in the same tree where I caught the donkey a few weeks back & thump….set the hook & felt good but was a healthy but long 1-13. Skunk was drowned within 60-90 minutes. Good.

Tossed the jig around this area for a bit with no more takers. Threw the spinnerbug (hearing @TnRiver46 screaming, “Just put that ungodly thing away already!" with each cast) but nothing. Saw a young guy picking up trash so I pulled the trolling motor up & set it for shallower water & went along the bank & picked up some trash in the water & tossed it up on the bank. Told the kid I threw it up there so he wouldn’t have to get near the water. He thanked me, I thanked him & I moved over to a bank with more laydowns. Had one more bite which I think was either a very small bass or panfish. Grabbed my jig & just immediately took off with it. As soon as I was in a decent position to set the hook, it dropped it. Oh well. Just didn’t bite like a quality fish so didn’t bother me at all.

 

Sun started going behind the hills & everwhere I went the breeze was blowing. If I saw slick water, all I had to do was move to it & the wind would change direction. Remember how it was blowing in my face on the way out? Was blowing in my face on the way in. Fished some steeper banks with deeper water nearby sort of half-heartedly. Hands were chilly & I was just done for the day. Was going to just keep getting colder so I headed back to the ramp.

 

Always better than sitting around the house or raking leaves. Saw plenty of gray squirrels running around & chasing each other & heard a few chipmunks popping up in the woods. Pileated woodpeckers were everywhere it seemed - with the leaves mostly fallen, it’s easier to see all the birds & critters. Saw 2 bald eagles (or 1 eagle twice) & 2 hawks. They were on the move & it’s hard to stop, get the phone ready & snap a pic where you can see their colors while running the trolling motor or while holding a rod. When sun isn’t shining their white heads & tails get harder to see.

 

Long report for a meh day but I enjoyed getting out & not coming home smelling of skunk.

 

On 11/25/2023 at 11:22 AM, ol'crickety said:

Those are good windspeeds, Tim. I didn't know you ^drive" a chick magnet!

The old Family Truckster! Was looking for a GIF when Clark was getting ready to dive into the hotel pool with Christie Brinkley, saying "this is crazy" over & over but couldn’t find it.

 

Vacation movies were classics….well, some of them.

I always break the skunk when I quit spinnerbait fishing too! 

9 hours ago, Kites R4 Skyfishing said:

What was the deal if you don't mind, I've been curious to try an affordable BFS reel. Any more time on it?

 

Was just 20% off on Amazon. I just searched Kastking Zephyr BFS (careful since there's a non-BFS Zephyr now). It's the drag-clicker version for 59.99.