u/Little-Cucumber-8907

This has been my best day of bass fishing since I started fishing 2 months ago. And ironically, the Zman bulletz did most of the heavy lifting. Even with ewg mushroom heads, the head kept catching weeds off the bottom. Switched to the bullet nose with the TRD, and I stopped catching weeds, and caught my second fish minutes later. Hookup ration with the bulletz was pretty good, as the hook doesn’t curve inward unlike other EWG hooks. So I think the bullet is pretty badly slept on. Or at least it was in my case.

It’s not much, but what’s pictured is much better for today than most days. I’m still restricted to pressured spots on the bank, so bites are really hard to come by. I actually hooked up a bass right before the one in the picture, but it jumped and spit the hook right out. I’m so used to hook sets happening for me, as I’ve only started 2 months ago, and topwater with the trebles are what I had initial success on. So since I’ve switched to soft plastics, particularly for neds (and sometimes flukes), I either don’t set the hook or I just yank it right out of the fishes mouth. And I’ve now lost a lot of fish doing that. Anyway, minutes after losing the first, I made sure to send that hook deep in there for the second one (and almost took the fishes eye out, but I was able to pull it out without causing any damage).

If you have any opinion on Zman TRD vs crawlz, please feel free to share. Because I would think a good crawfish bait on Zman bulletz would be a match made in heaven for weeds. But I’ve only gotten bites on the TRD’s, though I use them far more. Bites are way too infrequent and luck dependent to allow for informative trial and error in my case.

I’m going with the straight hook if I’m not worried about snags, and the EWG mushroom head otherwise. I don’t see a point in the Zman bulletz.

At least I know the ned rig can work. But I got completely skunked at the spot I originally traveled to, got completely skunked at a large reservoir lake, and only just managed to pull out the pictured fish from a golf course pond minutes before sundown. I guess that’s what I get for going to a large city and expecting the fish to not be extremely pressured.

It’s a 1/16 ounce (or maybe a 1/15 ounce) jig head, the lightest that I could find in store. I don’t like needles as I don’t know how they affect presentation, but again, these were the lightest jig heads I could find. The lure itself is a zoom. I was using Z Man Canada Crawl, and I did get two hookups with those on 1/10 ounce jig heads without those needles. But I switched to the one in the picture (these Zoom lures a WAY easier to rig straight that those Z Man), and I’ve so far got skunked.

I also don’t really know if I’m working the action right. Usually, I’m just slowly pulling my rod up, then let it sink again and reel in the slack, sometimes pausing between pulls. But I really don’t know if that’s the correct way to work it.

Btw, the first hookup I got with a Ned, I lost it. Thankfully I managed to get the second one today, though it was an 8 inch dink. No more bites for today.

And the first one is likely my new PB, even if it’s unimpressive to most. It’s only my second ever keeper. My first keeper had shit genetics (way oversized head compared to body), and I caught it accidentally trespassing on a private pond. So my first keeper with good genetics. Crazy how much happier I am when I don’t get skunked lol

Last Sunday, I had over half a dozen bass gathered right in front of me, attracted to and investigating my lures. They showed interest in a Senko, two styles of flukes in different colors, and a 5 inch glide. But no matter what I switched to or how I changed up my action, I couldn’t get a single one to bite.

Yesterday was a similar story. After several casts, I saw one following my 5 inch glide, but never biting. Gave up and started fishing for bluegill with worms, and hooked a tiny baby bluegill. I took that opportunity to throw it in as live bait, and finally was able to pull this dink out. So at least I know they are hungry enough to feed. But I don’t know what’s going on with not biting.

Last week on Thursday, I was able to catch a 10 ounce one with my glide in the same exact pond, and that was right before some rain. Sunday was sunny and fair weather. And yesterday was just before some rain came through, which I thought would get the fish in a biting mood.

This whole thing was kind of sketchy. There was a birthday party happening right in front of this gator, and that was why it was there. I was already too close as it was (I was trying to fish), but at least this gator is small enough that it would be intimidated by my size. The little kids, not so much. There was a little boy that got his hook snagged and was getting his feet wet trying to retrieve it, and the gator was definitely eyeing him up. And worst still, some of the kids were feeding it.

I’ve been doubting senkos and other worms, as Texas rig wasn’t catching me anything. But wacky worm got me something in the end when a fluke and glide failed me. Maybe I’ve underestimated the power of a wacky worm.

A total of 8, including 2 small ones I forgot to get a picture of. In my experience, I have never gotten consistent bites with worms. I’ve caught 3 with topwater walkers, 1 with a popper, and yesterday caught one with a Berkley 5 inch glide. I only caught one with a Senko, it was pretty much a fluke. The walkers are my real winners so far, as I’ve also gotten at least 4 bites that didn’t hook up. Though I’m hoping my glide and the Yamamoto 6 inch hinge minnows that I bought yesterday will change that.