Got it - makes perfect sense - I thought you had one of the hook points busted off when I only saw the 1, but you only HAVE 1 - which is smart. One of my favorite frogs is the Sebile Pivot Frog. Has 2 hook and a belly weight, which makes it more likely to get inhaled instead of flung up in the air, and I much prefer the single hook penetration power. Very cool - thanks!

Interesting! So it's just the 1 hook and the other is busted? And it came with a spinner on it too??

Very nice - have you posted a picture of the modified frog / bait you were explaining in the initial post?

Just curious... tight lines!

Very nice!

Hey there Salty Dave - you ever get any good spots figured out by chance? Hope so. I'm still pretty new here so just poking around a bit, seeing what other Illinois Anglers are doing... tight lines!

Hi Robert. How has the fishing been in IL since you posted this? I've been learning more about the state myself, so just curious... have a great week!

Just came across this - the "if the Bud was a Stag" comment hits a little harder now... :)

Ha!

Tight lines!

Nice 'uns!

AMEN!!

Thank you :)

No. Impossible.

;)

Jk, jk, I was just messing with yas!

Did... did we just witness a guy getting a girlfriend from A FISHING FORUM?!

BECAUSE SHE LIKED HIS BIG BASS???

This is the stuff of legend...

Hey broskis!
I've been out and about lately - on the lake, not in front of a screen (thank God!) so I haven't posted much. Been out with the kids working on castin' & catchin' without my help... a few examples of my youngest angler "that does it all by himself" are attached - he was using a method like the one my oldest recently used to land some really nice bass - but he had a bobber instead of a popper: https://youtu.be/xyWl3Z4T3gg

Awesome. Bittersweet. The good stuff.

Question though... I went out by myself a few days ago in the jon boat to a borrow pit I like to fish. The water here is SUPER CLEAR, and this trip, it was also several feet lower than usual (confirmed by the locals). The temp was reading 68°-69° according to my Garmin. I've heard that 70° water can mean post-spawn conditions. I did see several lingering males on beds, but I could NOT get a bite. Well ok, I got 4, but I saw something like 150-200 bass cruising all around me in the clear shallows, down to 15 feet. All sizes. All kinds. NOBODY WOULD BITE ANYTHING.

I had several follows, fish would inspect my finesse presentations just to back off slowly. I tried everything I had, added scent, changed colors, weights... I saw so many but I could not get them fired up.

Is this normal during a post-spawn period, or am I just imagining that? Was it just a tough bite? Like I said, water was low, but a ton of fish chose to stay up shallow and remain visible. They had the option to go deep (this place has steep banks and drops to 40+ feet) but they were just very lethargic.

I've never paid attention to water temps or periods like spawn, post spawn, so any help making sense of this before I pull ALL of my hair out and quit like I wanted to the other day, would be appreciated :)

Thanks!
-AJ

Awesome! Thanks for the tip - last year the lakes around here were kind of "off"... or I was :)

Some of the city lakes that are smaller but have been honey holes had some chemical thrown in to kill the algae - nobody even swims in those lakes, they just wanted them to "look nicer." Well, long story short, all the up-close heavy cover that made the bass "catchable" went away... and it was tough to find 'em within casting distance.

Have a great weekend!