Bass Fishing: Slop, From the Bank: VFJ20 

Hi, DL. Yes, I spent a bit of time capturing those dragonfly hunters. I plan to do a video on them, because it's an interesting behavior, energetically. I caught them in the act two ways: Identifying which dragons were the best targets, and following them. Or, just setting up a camera at the right location and letting it run. One burned my time, the other, camera batteries. :) Cheers, Paul

Hi, Scott. Thanks. Agreed... almost. My experiences with barbless lures... I went totally barbless for a few years with everything (except lipless cranks, bladebaits, and jigs; Too heavy and compact). And it generally worked. No issues at all with most soft plastics, esp important bc of the likelihood of deep-hooking. I even found I lost very few fish with barbless trebled hardbaits. The exceptions were when I had jumping fish, and this becomes common in shallow waters at the right temps. Second was when I tried softer crankbait action rods. Unless I went up in power, they were just too forgiving. So, I've gone to the micro-barbed hooks that are pretty common now. Doesn't take much barb to do the job, compared to the horrid meat hooks we used to have. The reason I went barbless in the first place. Paul

Thanks, AKA. All the best, Paul.

Hi, Peter. We’ll… welcome! I feel the same; So much more to learn. Thanks, and great to hear you are gleaning some things from my channel. All the best, Paul

Hey, Ed. Thanks. And... yeah, it's been a concern of mine, since I fish public waters so often. If those mouth's get too mutilated, I end up avoiding that water body. There are ways to unhook fish atraumatically, or at least as much as possible. No one ever showed me how to do it. However, my next vid on frogging/flipping/punching gets me into a greater challenge there, with the much larger hooks, and strike detection challenges. Trying my best though and am making adjustments as I go. And thanks for considering supporting TNF. I aim to make it worth our while, and mine -that is keeping the deep content rolling. Only way I know to do the subject justice. Cheers, Paul

Great to hear. Thanks Jerry.

Thanks, Bill. Yes... they are real and are worth looking for. There are places in all waters where fish learn they are most apt to get fed. And C&C can play a big role in how well they get fed, and how well we can cash in. Although those two aren't always exactly correlated. :) That's fishing... you know, when you tether fake food to a line and throw it out there. Sure helps when they are in a biting mood. Cheers, Paul

@@thenatureoffishing7591 I have some big bass theories that I'd like to visit with about sometime

Hi, Bill. Apologies for being late in responding. Lots going on here, not channel or even fishing related. What's on your mind? You can also email me at thenatureoffishing@gmail. Cheers, Paul

Hi, K C. I did, but have since moved. All videos up to this point were shot along the front range. I’ve had a few funny scenarios like that, with bubble gum for carp, and with what we called “plastic bread” for chubs. We only had a small piece of bread so after we ran out a tiny piece of white plastic worm filled in just fine. Cheers, Paul

Thanks, Rudy. Hope your fishing is going well. Paul

Hi, Jordan. Thanks! Yeah, my bent on fishing is pretty detail oriented. Hey, nature isn't simple, and we each can decide how deep we want to go. I happen to be able to nerd out on stuff that... fascinates me. Been doing it so long now, it just doesn't hurt anymore! :) Glad you can sit through such details. Warning: it gets worse! :)) If you haven't already been around the channel, The Nature of Fishing (TNF) has four playlists: -Documentaries that give us a better understanding of the fishes themselves, currently focused on LMB; -Fundamentals that provides important background information, in depth. Info that comes up in our Video Fishing Journals (VFJ’s). -Fishing Tackle Know-How, where we take an in-depth look at the tools of the trade, taking the fish’s perspective into consideration; -Video Fishing Journals (VFJ’s), where we hit the water together and decipher the system, and the conditions & circumstances, in front of us. And to put our knowledge and decisions to the test. Hope it helps in your fishing. Or, at very least, makes it that much more interesting. All the best, Paul

And this is the reason I chose the name LessonLearnerFishing(coming soon, hopefully lol)!!!.., because before you do anything in fishing, it’s a lesson learning experience!!!thx again for the amazing content and educational lectures as well for the serious beginner/intermediate/experienced fisherman!👌🏾(outstanding).

I have a few little pictures of my fishing on my instagram page from the notes I’ve been taking and working with practice!(jordankemp947)...👍🏾👌🏾🎣

@@lessonlearnerfishingjordan7264 I didn't see the Fishing part of LessonLearner on my phone screen! Yes, fishing is a whole lot of lessons learned, often one at a time. There's a quote from a Native American elder that I really like: "My grandmother told me life's path is strewn with little bits of paper. Each one holds a lesson. ... Guess I missed a few." :)

@@lessonlearnerfishingjordan7264 Good luck with your channel, Jordan.

Thanks, OTV. I can't wait to be able to get back to it. It's killin' me! Cheers, Paul

Hi, Mike. Thanks. Paul

Hi, JBH. Thanks. Feel free to share with friends. Cheers, Paul

Glad you like the details. That’s where the devil is, as they say.

Thanks, Jonathan. I don't fish tournaments. It's just not my thing. I don't care who catches the fish, as long as someone does, and then I want to know why! And I'd make a lousy T-angler. I'm too apt to be distracted, doing things that may not pay off til... next year, if at all!

@@thenatureoffishing7591 would love for you to come to Little Rock, Arkansas and visit our little lake (Maumelle) and five suggestions on how to improve the bass habitat. Any interest?

Interested, yes. Time? Qualifications? No. There are people a lot closer to you that could assess your water. I'd start with your regional fisheries biologist. Then there are aquatic resource/aquaculture consultants. I'd definitely check out Pond Boss, a website and forum that has a lot of expertise and discussion.

@@thenatureoffishing7591 But they don’t make quality videos ;)

Hey, Martin. You bet! Cheers, Paul

Hi, OJ. Thanks! I don't disclose locations on-line. Not bc they are uniquely good waters, in fact they are pretty average waters for our region. Instead, I don't want other fishers I share waters with to be concerned that I'm disclosing "their waters". Hope you understand. All the best, Paul

@@thenatureoffishing7591 I completely understand, no worries. Just looks A Lot like my fave area:) thanks again for the awesome content. Super helpful with the scientific background, biological info. Fishing waters with heavy cover is super challenging but hugely rewarding. And like you , I eventually found out that I needed serious gear. 65lb braided line for starters:). Thanks again, and look forward to more content.

Hi, Myles. Thanks! I'm using both spinning and casting rigs, from UL to H over the course of a year. I purposely do not talk brands bc, in all honesty, they are all good -maybe too many choices nowadays! Some of the rigs I regularly use are 30yrs old; Don't need to fix what isn't broke! I did a video on fishing rods (see the Tackle Know-How playlist) but not one on the specific types of gear one might use. Someday I plan to do a video with my take on this. My focus tends to be on the info that's harder to come by. In the meantime, there's lots of info out there on this kind of thing. I'd suggest a web-site like Bassresource.com that has articles, videos, and a discussion forum where you can ask, and search, bass fishing topics. Hope this helps. Cheers, Paul

Hi, jayvee. Thanks. Awesome to hear you had a great day. There'll be more to come. Cheers, Paul

Hi, Joe. Thanks for the nice comment. Glad to hear you can sit through a lot of content. Never too late btw; I think of this channel like I do my 40+yrs of written journals, as an archive of info that can be revisited every year. Things come around again and again, but always with new twists. Keeps us hoppin' it does. :) As to the trailer... It's not made anymore. But, trailers are easy, and rarely is one greatly better than another. Believe it or not, when "skirted bass jigs" first appeared I used them sans trailer, and caught a lot of bass on them. With SBs, my biggest concern is having the trailer destabilize the bait, causing it to roll. You could easily make the type of trailer I used in this video by cutting a tube bait in half lengthwise. A Flippin' type tube would be best as it has a solid head. Tubes cut lengthwise also make great drop-shot baits, btw. Hope this helps. Cheers, Paul

The Nature of Fishing Thank you so much! Appreciate the advice Do you remember then name of it? I’m curious to look it up to see what’s on the market that looks like this. Thanks again so much Paul!

@@joepartipilo1584 Hey, Joe. No, I don't. It was a Cabela's offering I remember, a good... 15yrs ago? It was a tube-like bait, with a slotted centerline to take what they called an "Insider Jighead". It had an anatomical head and plastic eyes and came in good baitfish colors. But, I found regular tubes have a better action. It's been relegated to trailer duty since. Best I can offer. Paul

Hey, Phillip. Awesome. Just what I hope to offer. I was always frustrated reading articles and watching vids where people don't provide the kind of detail that we need. I understand why: It's darn labor intensive. But, I can't do it any other way. I'm not doing this just to "have a YT channel". And thanks for considering my Patreon support page. It may be the best way to gain support for this kind of in-depth content. Paul

Hi, BT. Bass can hunt day or night. If there is a tendency it's to be crepuscular, that is, early morning and evening. And night time can be a great time to catch them, esp during the summer. But they can make use of many prey types in many habitats and times. That's why we fisherman love them so. :)

@@thenatureoffishing7591 true, thanks!

Hey, Kevin. Great to hear. Fishing, successfully, is just not easy. At least in my experience! I wish I could answer it all in one video! But, that's not the way it works out there. Big world. Even one pond! Paul

Hey, Corey. Me too! It's going to be a while yet, though. They take a long time to shoot, review, script, edit, and polish. Such events are seasonal too, so if I miss something I literally have to wait a year to pick it back up again. I've got enough video shot now though that I have a decent archive to draw from. But there's much more to be captured, or upgraded. Wish me luck in that end of my "fishing". Right now I'll be focusing my production work on some fish catching related material I am dying to cover, but still focusing on what's going on on the fishes side of the fence. Cheers, Paul

Hey, Kevin. Great. Thanks! Here's to hoping... I'm not going to be able to grow this channel the usual YT way, posting every day. Thanks, again. Paul

Hey, BN. Yeah, things can get slow when things get hot. One good reason I decided to spend some time in the dense cover. Next VFJ is on punching/flipping that slop; Going in after them. Cool you found a good smallie, not out in the main lake. There may be more. Paul

@@thenatureoffishing7591 hey man, haven't had comments pop up on notifications lately so just now saw. Sounds like another excellent addition to the fishing journal. And yes, the large smallies are always a plus given their fight, amazing at the differences in the two species. Can't remember if it was Wired2Fish or another channel from a company like that, but noticed they had a vid just the other day on just how different the species are between the black bass, something many often tend to not focus in on as much. Pickwick is kinda rare in the fact it is so far into the South, yet still a place where tournaments, that allow the different species to be weighed, can be won with either or...just depends on which you can find and the size. I've had larger largemouth, but you can easily catch smallies that outweigh the normal sized ones in your livewell. Take care and yet another excellent presentation...hopefully you'll get to do some fishing when it picks up in the fall before the extreme cold moves in, though with all the rain we have had this late in the summer it might be another factor to colder air moving in faster.

Yeah, the species share a certain amount, but they differ in the details. Neat that there are other species too, like Red-eyes and Guadalupe's. Very cool.

Hey, Trevor. Thanks. Appreciate that. It's the only kind of content I know. There's just too much going on out there. And, the devil is in the details. If that's the way it is... then that's the way it is. Who am I to argue with the big guy upstairs. :) Cheers, Paul.

Thanks, Roland.

Thanks, Jamie. Yeah, I like those little buggers. Appreciate every one.

Hey, MD. Very cool that we fish similar waters. Theres something about trying to find bass in heavy cover. Congrats on your catches. Paul

My pond is either on or off, I can tell in 20 minutes if it will be a good day catching or a casting session. I have not caught many small fish at all. Thanks again for the informative video.

Yeah, I've got ponds like that. Sometimes I figure it out, sometimes not. One of the goals of my VFJ's, and esp this summer's journals, is to show that there are different ways to catch bass in every water body. And give some explanation as to why this is. It’s largely because bass are such capable multi-role predators. Not all the bass are doing the same thing at the same time. If one thing isn’t working another might. From our side of the fence, it requires versatility; being able to meet those bass where they are. This summer's journals focus on a certain pond type: shallow densely vegetated. We then focus in on a particular pond, and start to pick it apart. That is, get a deeper understanding of what’s going on with those fish. We start (with “Slop On Top”) by expecting/asking the mature bass to come up to the surface -to chase. Then, in the next one (I’m editing now) we go down and get them! Two very different approaches, technique and tackle wise. Point is, there are almost certainly other options in any given water. Just have to find them, and be versatile enough to take advantage. Hope you get to see them. Cheers, Paul

Hi, MT. Dunno really. But I actually chose a CO bladed bait. I wanted it to throw a good surface wake. That SB has a spoon body as well, a bear to cast in wind, but it moves slowly and pushes a good wake. It's my favorite broken-cover SB and a big fish magnet bc of the wake it throws. I suppose you could get a similar effect with a willow bladed bait, if you bulked up the skirt and trailer, and probably blade size. Willows were designed to produce less resistance to fish deeper, and or faster. Also to add flash. Lotsa ways to modify SB's, (and other lures), though. Hope this helps. Paul Oh, you might have been asking how that spoon-bodied SB would perform with willows? Not tried it. Likely get a bit less buoyancy and bit more speed from it. But, I want that SB to bulge the surface. Killer. It's an if it ain't broke kinda thing for me!

@@thenatureoffishing7591 I agree and completely understand your perspective. Thank you so much for not only replying, but doing so with detail. You're the most educational fisherman I've had the pleasure of viewing. Proud to be a subscriber and very grateful for all the research and knowledge you share! 🎯 Always impressed!

Thanks, joN. Sure hope I/we can get this channel off the ground. Paul

Hi, uy7. You know... I dunno. I've not messed around with scents much. Worth a go. Paul

Hi, BCB. Thanks! Great to hear from a kindred soul. :) Well... the afferent branchial arteries (paired) join the ventral aorta just before the first gill arch -possibly beneath the tongue, although I don't know how far forward they run. To stick the aorta, you'd have to be behind the tongue. Not a common stick, considering that most larger gap single hooks ride up in most baits. These things do happen. I actually lost a fish, to a deep stick, in a VFJ coming up. Some methods are riskier than others. I took the fish home, and... that fish provided and opportunity to learn about that water body too, as you'll see in VFJ24. Hey, these things happen. Angling is, after all, a predatory act. With care and knowledge we can minimize damage. Don't beat yourself up over it. Stay happy! It's good for you. ;) Paul

Hey, Pete. In the spring I expect bass to be willing/able at about 55F. But... there's always "buts": Anglers have reported topwater catches in colder water. This probably has to do with vulnerable forage of some type. Interestingly, I have seen pods of bluegills rising to midges in water in the low 40s! Again, vulnerable prey. But, I'm not so sure those bluegills were as vulnerable to the bass then; At least I've yet to see bass chasing 'gills near the surface in such cold water. My 2 cents on this one. Cheers, Paul

Thanks, Aaron. I need to add some other ways for people to support me. Monthly payments, and signing up for something, is not in everyone's wheelhouse. Since I'm a one-man show here, my time is directed toward production. The business end of things, which are critical, is another whole job. Thanks for the encouragement. Cheers, Paul

Hi, Tyko. Very cool. Glad to hear you are getting in... appropriately deep. Jump on in, the water is... pretty darn cool! :) Can't wait to hear how things go. Always neat to hear from other anglers. I just can't be everywhere! :) Paul

HI, DIY. I'm in Colorado.

For those reading comment: ABA is short for Applied Behavioral Analysis, and it is often described as the "gold standard" for autism treatment. Fascinating thought! Autism may just be something we all share at some level. In other words, it may run deep. Just a thought... although I'm not qualified to run very far with that idea. :) Interesting anyway. Paul

@@thenatureoffishing7591 lol, I was actually referring to a different A-B-A..the Swap test.where you went from one "A" lure the tried with "B" lure and then back to "A" lure.....forum.digikey.com/t/part-failure-vertification-a-b-a-swap-method/701

@@unionse7en Ha! Of course. You got me runnin'! Easy to do. :) Yes, that kind of A-B-A can help us chip away at those mysteries down there. Paul

Hi, Jeff. That spoon is probably 50yrs old. I have no idea who the maker is/was. I have lots of old stuff I still fish. But the Johnson's Silver Minnow is still available and is a good spoon. I've been planning to put up some affiliate links, as people are asking. I just have to get around to it. Not sure how much revenue it'll bring, since I'm not talking high end stuff like the marketing types focus on. But, as a service I think it's a good addition. Paul

Hi, Christopher. Yes, that was shot in summer. Paul

Hi, Martin. I'm using two GoPro's: One on my chest and one on my hat. The one on my chest I wear high, nearly under my chin, so you can see how I'm casting and retrieving. The one on my hat is to capture casts landing, fish jumping, and allowing us to see down into the water better (I also use high transmission polarizing filters). It's a pain wearing, and monitoring two cameras (sometimes more, actually), but my goal is to make these Video Fishing Journals (VFJs) as though you are right there fishing with me. BTW: VFJ stands for "Video Fishing Journal" My channel is called The Nature of Fishing, or TNF. I have three playlists: Documentaries, Video Fishing Journals, and Tackle Know-How. Docs focus on fish behavior (LMB right now), VFJ's we go fishing and put theories to the test, and Tackle Know-how covers important tackle considerations and mods. It's killing me that I don't have more time to put into this channel. Working on it. Cheers, Paul

@@thenatureoffishing7591 thank you so very much, I also wear 2 Gopros 7 Black like you do but I haven't learned how to edit or post my videos on RU-vid. I want to learn because I also catch a lot if Top water footage with my cameras but I really need to learn how to edit these videos. Thanks again and great stuff my friend.

​@@kobe34081 Good luck with it Martin. I could always do the photography, and the fishing, but not at the same time, and do both justice. But GoPro's make is like having a dedicated photographer with you.

Hi, Aaron. It's called the Grass King spinnerbait. If there's a downside to it, and maybe one reason why SK says they won't be bringing it back, besides production cost, is that the spoon body can pancake in the air, shortening cast distance and even causing backlashing in casting reels. But, once out there, it's a super-weedless big bass catcher. There will be a hole in my arsenal when I lose my last one. That said, I'm sure I can make it up with something. Just haven't had to go there. A "why fix what ain't broke" sort of thing. I searched them on-line and the only ones I found were on a Japanese site. Seems someone over there is hoarding them. I'm guessing that of those that were sold, they were either pitched in the trash for causing backlashes, or are being lovingly coveted. Paul

I think my mic is too close. Will check on that. Thanks.

Hey, Travis. In short, yes. BCers simply provide more torque. For certain presentations, I went to BC a long time ago, when I started bulging spinnerbaits (like in this video). Burned/bulged SBs are a lot of work for spinning reels. Not that there aren't spinning reels that can handle such work, but BC is simply more efficient where direct drive power is needed. In heavy cover work, the work is in hook-setting and reefing fish up and out of trouble. This can be true of frogging, although those fish are already "up" to some degree. Where BCers are nearly requisite is in flipping and punching, truly heavy duty work. There the wear and tear will show up in your tackle, and your own tendons! My next VFJ (21) is about this and I'm calling "Jungle Warfare!", for good reason. I have used large spinning reels for this a bit. One, an inshore saltwater Daiwa of decent quality, I literally snapped off a handle shaft reefing a bass up and out of trouble. I'm a spinner guy too. But, for some things, I'm a BCer guy too. Cheers, Paul