SAshmore39 : Fishing Forum Posts

I’m almost intimidated to fish cold muddy water. We had a major rain storm the past 3 days that brought many of the lakes and rivers up here in GA. How would you approach this situation?

January 10, 2019 07:37:46 PM

Thanks! I’ll give it a shot!

January 11, 2019 01:09:20 AM

G'Day Dean from GA! I've seen you on youtube and glad to hear you enrolled here!

January 11, 2019 02:24:05 PM

How can one breakdown a lake that has a ton of brush piles in a river channel. I have a tournament coming up on feb 9th and know that it’s gonna take at least 15 or 20 lbs to win. Any tips on a late winter early pre spawn bite for GA?

January 28, 2019 05:49:44 AM

We smoked em with a whopping 2 lbs and 9 oz! Only caught 2 that measured out but caught a total of 6. It was tough we got our first bite at around 8:43 in the morning and didn’t get another bite until 1:15 pm with 2 hours and some change to go. We did find that going finesse and having a slow fall is what keyed us in but it aas too little too late. Other than that it was an improvement for me after getting skunked my first tournament ever haha! Next goal is to catch a limit.

February 13, 2019 07:43:18 AM

It was a grind. I learned to start finesse and then go for the big one.

February 13, 2019 06:45:36 PM

I’ve figured out how spotted bass are in a river when it comes to clarity and current. My next event at West Point has a lot of spotted bass and want to know how does one target them on bigger lakes when compared to rivers.

February 24, 2019 04:45:51 AM

I have a tournament on West Point coming up next week and I’m unfamiliar with targeting spotted bass on reserviors. What are some tactics to target them better on reserviors?

March 7, 2019 07:03:17 PM

Thanks for the info! I’ll keep that in mind next time I head there

March 20, 2019 03:29:58 AM
SAshmore39 - graduate
Topic: F-1 Tiger Bass

Has anyone had experience with an F-1 Tiger Bass? From what I’ve read on it is that it’s a cross between the Northern Strain Largemouth and a pure Florida Strain Bass.

March 25, 2019 05:13:27 AM

So I’ve got a tournament coming up on the 20th and after pre-fishing and catching some fish in the clear water, I’ve been able to actually see the beds and the bass in about 5-7 ft visibly. I have tried throwing past the bed with a creature bait on a swing head jig but it seems to spook them and they never commit. I’ve always known how bass will attack nest raiders during the spawn but it seems way tougher when I’m trying to make them mad in the clearer water.

March 31, 2019 06:49:28 PM
SAshmore39 - graduate
Topic: Bass positioning

Is it possible for lakes that have chain pickerel to shift where the bass are located? Was at a local reservior and this lake had a ton of chain pickerel.

April 28, 2019 07:15:40 PM

So I’m into the swinghead football jig, which is something I have a ton of confidence in lately. My setup has been on a Quantum tour KVD Rod 7’0 MH Cranking rod with 15 lb fluorocarbon. My thought behind this was to treat it almost like you would a crankbait that is on the bottom clicking the rocks and wood etc. Yesterday I had a tournament that started fast with that setup but later that morning, I hooked into potentially the biggest fish of the tournament but it threw my jig out (Killed my Soul). I think it was because I either didn’t lay into him enough or was it too much bend/ give in the rod for the hook. What kind of rod would help me hook the fish better in terms of action with a swinghead jig?

May 19, 2019 07:33:49 PM

Thanks for the recommendation! Z-Train definitely helped articulate it and now I know what I did wrong. Gonna beef up my tackle and start throwing the heavier stuff.

May 22, 2019 07:17:38 AM

Here’s the scenario, central Ga Ocmulgee River is super low because we haven’t had hardly any rain, starting to get really hot. How does one go about finding those spotted bass because I can hardly see the current or find deep water where I can access. This is from the shore by the way.

June 3, 2019 06:11:51 AM

That could be too, it is a 4/0 WGH so it needs some power

June 3, 2019 03:06:32 PM

I just bought some Norman snaps and was wondering how long can one hold up before you need to do a direct line tie? I’m a power fisherman and Getting tired of wasting my line and money retying when I make a change to a crankbait.

February 26, 2020 04:21:52 AM

How does one attack water at the mouth of a river that empties onto the mainlake that is chocolate milk muddy? I tried finding cooler water up the river which was 76 degrees when compared to 85 degrees where I launch my boat. This is in central GA where we’re getting rain almost every day later in the afternoon and it’s made the fishing hard to me.

August 26, 2020 01:08:15 PM
SAshmore39 - graduate
Topic: Mental game

How long was it before you finished in the money with a club tournament? I’ve only been fishing tournaments for 2 years and still believe in my ability but have been getting wrecked either (zeroing, catching only 2 barely keepers, guys smashing 15+ lbs to my 2 lbs) I really wanna win but it’s getting me very anxious questioning whether I belong. Any tips on the mental side when things are going bad?

November 29, 2020 07:05:43 AM

Fishing West Point lake yesterday threw me a curveball. The lake level has been drawn down between 5-9 ft, give or take. Looking in the at whitewater and Turkey creek the Largemouth were nowhere to be found for me all I found were spots. My question is will the Largemouth wait for the water level to come back up then spawn or will they still spawn even with the water level down?

March 7, 2021 10:30:20 AM

It really comes with practice, one of the thing I’ve been working on myself is detecting those spotted bass biting a shaky head. There are times where it’s like you don’t even feel then but when you throw something like a texas rig lizard around rocky points where they hang they’ll crunch at it a few times instead of thumping it like their Largemouth cousins. It really takes a lot of practice and getting comfortable with a lure is when you will really understand how it feels when a fish bites it.

March 7, 2021 11:04:40 AM
SAshmore39 - graduate
Topic: Mental game

Update: our most recent event I landed big fish of the tournament and have been fishing with our club President. He’s taught me a ton over the past few times we’ve fished together and it has helped tremendously! I’ve started to stay enthusiastic about a day even when I’ve gone 6 hrs without a bite not worrying about the result. If I lose I lose

March 9, 2021 07:48:54 AM

5 fish limits are not going anywhere.

May 27, 2021 06:08:27 AM
SAshmore39 - graduate
Topic: Pencil Poppers

What is an optimal rod setup for a 1 oz pencil popper for those schooling fish offshore? Also what lb mono do I need to tie on?

June 7, 2021 10:30:53 AM

What is an optimal rod to throw these big plugs on? Length power and action are what I’m looking for. I already have a good reel with 30 lb braid with a fg knot tied to a 17 lb mono leader.

July 19, 2021 06:01:36 AM

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