June 2017 FLBR BS Thread

Capt. BassinLou · May 31, 2017, 10:11:27 AM

Welcome to the FLBR BS page, this page is for all FLBR club members and for those who follow us to kick back, shoot the breeze, and discuss topics we come across throughout the month. Enjoy!!

Lipripper · June 01, 2017, 07:13:13 AM

Congratulation Tress for winning it again last month

Rick congratulation for breaking the 100" mark I knew you had it in you and your hookup skill just keep getting better

and your staying out of the trees

Capt. BassinLou · June 01, 2017, 07:14:24 AM

Great month of May everyone!!

I have been giving this a lot of thought recently, and for this season I would like the Top 5 qualifiers of each month to share with the group and everyone else who follows us, their key strategy and technique that they felt helped put together a winning pattern for them during that month. This way, I feel like we are helping each other further than reading between the lines through casual conversations. Also, I think this can serve as reference for all of us on what the seasonal pattern was for that particular region of the state. Thoughts?

Deadeye · June 01, 2017, 08:09:54 AM

Guess I barely made the Top 5 so here goes:

The big fish helped me to make the top 5, other than it the rest were just average fish.

I caught the majority of my fish this month by slowly swimming a Zoom UV Speedworm on a 5/0 EWG with a 3/8 Bulletweight through standing pads. Most of the hits came near or at the end of the pads, just inside the first row edge. Several came by stopping the swimming near that point, once I realized that was where most of the hits were coming, to allow it to fall down and they grabbed it.

2nd bait that worked for me this month was swimming a Bitter's Little Swimmer (which is a small sized swimbait) on a 4/0 EWG and with a 1/4 Bulletweight. Most hits came deeper in the pads at the edge of the shallow water/ deeper water line.

3rd was a HB Frog and like the Speedworm most hits came near the inside pad line.

Also caught some on Rattletrap and Flukes.

West6550 · June 01, 2017, 08:20:16 AM

Great job everyone last month. I am off to look at kayaks!

cport · June 01, 2017, 08:30:50 AM

Quote from: Deadeye on June 01, 2017, 08:09:54 AM
Guess I barely made the Top 5 so here goes:

The big fish helped me to make the top 5, other than it the rest were just average fish.

I caught the majority of my fish this month by slowly swimming a Zoom UV Speedworm on a 5/0 EWG with a 3/8 Bulletweight through standing pads. Most of the hits came near or at the end of the pads, just inside the first row edge. Several came by stopping the swimming near that point, once I realized that was where most of the hits were coming, to allow it to fall down and they grabbed it.

2nd bait that worked for me this month was swimming a Bitter's Little Swimmer (which is a small sized swimbait) on a 4/0 EWG and with a 1/4 Bulletweight. Most hits came deeper in the pads at the edge of the shallow water/ deeper water line.

3rd was a HB Frog and like the Speedworm most hits came near the inside pad line.

Also caught some on Rattletrap and Flukes.

Great job on Big Fish for last month, Deadeye. So which technique did that large marge succumb to?

Tressbasser · June 01, 2017, 08:32:26 AM

Most of my big fish this month came on the trusty lake rake. At my favorite lake, which is quickly being developed, and going downhill, the A-rig has been my lure of choice for the past several months. It also played big at the private lake I fish, and I'll be heading there this afternoon to get started, weather permitting. I also had several good fish on a spinnerbait, reeling it through pads, but they were culled out. My biggest fish came from under a dock on the St. John's. Pitched it on my spinning rod (Daiwa 7'0 med. heavy, paired with a Sustain 4000, 30lb braid), 1/8oz. Gama wacky jig. I love this presentation for docks and the outer edges of brush. It also works well in light cover, like sparse lily pads. I save all my used tx rigged worms for use on the wacky. Lost several bigger fish on the chatterbait, 1/2 oz. Zman elite w/ Zman Swimmerz trailer.
For whatever reason, the frog and flippin bites have been off for me for quite some time. But I will persist with both of these until they start to hit again. Until that happens, I'll keep heaving the A-rig - gotta go with what works. I just bought a Strike King titanium, and I'm anxious to see how it works. I'm a big fan of the Yumbrella Flash Mob Jr. , but they break down pretty quickly - broken wires have cost me some good fish recently, but they do get bit.

Tressbasser · June 01, 2017, 08:32:55 AM

Quote from: West6550 on June 01, 2017, 08:20:16 AM
Great job everyone last month. I am off to look at kayaks!

Hippie.

Deadeye · June 01, 2017, 09:31:50 AM

Quote from: cport on June 01, 2017, 08:30:50 AM
Great job on Big Fish for last month, Deadeye. So which technique did that large marge succumb to?

She hit a swimming Speedworm right at the edge of the last pad.

cport · June 01, 2017, 09:33:57 AM

Nice

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SFL BassHunter · June 01, 2017, 09:59:45 AM

I was actually encouraged to try a technique that in the past had only resulted in small fish being caught, and little confidence. The Spinnerbait!
Lou had caught some nice fish on it in the past and I decided to give it a go. I wasn't catching large numbers of fish, but the ones hitting the spinnerbait in May were quality fish.
I threw several different ones throughout the month. Lost a few as well.

The biggest fish 24.25" was caught on an all white spinnerbait, with 2 big willow blades that caused a heck of a vibration in the water. I was working the spinnerbait on the top of the water column making a wake and let it flutter down a few times. One of those times the lure disappeared and I felt what I thought was grass, then it pulled back. That big catch gave me confidence to continue throwing the lure even though it was the only fish I caught that day.
I did lose that spinnerbait on my next outing, but I have another all white one that has replaced it.

A few other good size fish were caught on a threadfin shad colored spinnerbait. This one got me a good one with a keitech style swimbait as a trailer. I also used it trailerless last Saturday and hooked up with a 20" and two other fish that I lost on head shakes. That day the spinnerbait wasn't working on top, so I let it drop and I worked it slow on the bottom. The big girls were all over it. Sadly I couldn't land one that would probably have put the 24.25" fish to shame.

95% of the time I have thrown the spinnerbait without a trailer. On a Savvy 734C, Tatula CT Reel, 16lb Sunline Natural Mono
Also threw the spinnerbait on Saturday on a Fenwick Methods Spinning Rod, Helios 40 reel, 16lb Sunline Natural Mono

A few other good sized bass were caught on the Watermelon Red U-Vibe. One was caught in the middle of an urban canal as I was swimming it up from the bottom. A few others were caught on Saturday after losing those 2 big fish. I decided to work the same exact area, knowing there were big girls in there and they were deep.

Savvy 734C, Tatula CT Reel, 16lb Sunline Natural Mono, 1/8 weight, 3/0 hook
Fenwick Methods Spinning Rod, Helios 40 reel, 16lb Sunline Natural Mono, 1/8 weight, 3/0 hook

One thing I have started to realize is that covering water is important. BUT when you find a fish, work that area well because more times than not that fish has friends. For instance last Saturday all of the fish I caught came from a small area of the lake, the rest of the lake was not productive.

SFL BassHunter · June 01, 2017, 10:03:15 AM

Congrats to Tress for another fantastic month!

Deadeye, great job on big fish! That was a very nice one my friend!

Mike Cork · June 01, 2017, 10:34:59 AM

Great idea and great information

I would have never suspected an a-rig

Capt. BassinLou · June 01, 2017, 10:50:28 AM

Fred, Tress, and Rick thank you very much for sharing your winning strategies for the month of May. From what I read, all 3 of you fished in 3 different ways and were very successful in catching very nice fish. Well done!!

rchiuz · June 01, 2017, 04:20:47 PM

Hmm, I don't really have a technique. It was more like at the right place at the right time.

The big one I got at Amelia, it was just seeing her from the bank. I keep trying till she bit. It was on a stick worm 6 tex rig

The other one from Tropical, it was a chilly morning and not many bites. Once it got around 11 and the water warmed up. Fish was hitting on every cast. Once again, 6in worm

Just lucky in May

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j102 · June 01, 2017, 05:33:06 PM

Thanks for sharing the strategies guys! Good luck this month!

j102 · June 01, 2017, 06:25:14 PM

Quote from: West6550 on June 01, 2017, 08:20:16 AM
Great job everyone last month. I am off to look at kayaks!

Are you getting a Jackson Kayak?

Deadeye · June 03, 2017, 09:36:24 AM

Anybody heard from CCR? Guy went from being in every month and contending for the both the Monthly and AOY wins to lately has been nowhere to be seen.

Just hoping all in OK with him.

Capt. BassinLou · June 03, 2017, 09:40:57 AM

Quote from: Deadeye on June 03, 2017, 09:36:24 AM
Anybody heard from CCR? Guy went from being in every month and contending for the both the Monthly and AOY wins to lately has been nowhere to be seen.

Just hoping all in OK with him.

He's good Fred, he chose to pass this season.

Tressbasser · June 03, 2017, 10:47:21 AM

I was wondering the same thing about CCR. Do you know why he's not participating, Lou?

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Capt. BassinLou · June 03, 2017, 10:51:07 AM

Quote from: Tressbasser on June 03, 2017, 10:47:21 AM
I was wondering the same thing about CCR. Do you know why he's not participating, Lou?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

I do not, but I know he's doing fine. I communicated with him a little while back. He comes on every once in while to follow how we are doing. You guys can always send him a PM if you wish.

BarryFL · June 03, 2017, 05:22:00 PM

Rough day on the river. Water is going down again. Managed to get 7 but the fish were not really eating. Had a bunch come unbuttoned. Didn't photo any under 16in.

Did find a little frog action.

-Barry-

Capt. BassinLou · June 03, 2017, 05:27:30 PM

Man that fished choked it!!

FlatsNBay · June 03, 2017, 06:29:51 PM

Barry, what frog do you like?

BarryFL · June 03, 2017, 07:27:35 PM

Quote from: FlatsNBay on June 03, 2017, 06:29:51 PM
Barry, what frog do you like?

I use booyah, spro, strike king and some live target. The one in the picture is a strike king KVD "woops"y frog watermelon green pumpkin. $ for $ the spro Dean Rojas 65 are my favorites and they have like 36 colors. Most times I like frogs that have bellies other that white. Many brands only have white bellies, so it really doesn't matter what the top looks like. The live target are way overpriced and the paint comes off way to easy. On all brands, I cut the legs to the length of the body and bend the hooks up and out about 1/8in. Much better hookup ratio.

-Barry-