 Good morning from the tailgate y'all Got a great night's sleep last night just rolled up the bed roll it was still We've got a little bit of overcast so do right now, but I don't think it got below 63 Derees last night. I mean it was just like I had a blanket draped over the top of me And that was it not really feeling like the full uncle Herschel breakfast this morning So I'm just gonna grab my little my tea Three-striped meal and we'll hit the water Let me hear you sing silver bullet. Yeah It's a gorgeous morning much better than yesterday Bo ramp parking lot is full As it should be all right. We're gonna start on the bank. I fished the first day at the very end of the day and caught some fish on Here's what is really exciting that I noticed yesterday afternoon They got warm The water temps got into the low 60s and when that happens Bass starts to move up and at least start thinking about bedding and that's exactly what happened I saw dozens of male bass cruising up in the shallows and I think because it was not very cold last night though some of those will probably stay up there and What typically happens is you're moving bait bite better in the morning When you get those warmer temperatures in the afternoon Then you start getting on that soft plastic kind of more subtle bite because those fish are up there cruising They're thinking about spawning. They're not really thinking about eating But in the morning you still get some feeding activity So I'm gonna start with some moving baits and then I'm going to transition into some plastics as the sun comes out But I think this bank that I fished And caught some fish on it'll probably have a lot more fish on it that are Thinking about coming up here into this pocket and spawning. So Let's grab a rod Let's get it bent All right, what to start with Actually not gonna pick up the the old lippy to start That little cruiser there three foot So I'm gonna pick up a five jig and just get a feel for if these fish are going to Oh, I just got a bump first cast First cast might I think that's my first bite on a vibe jig in days I just want to get a feel for if these fish are gonna eat a moving bait or not Water's really calm. There's just Not a lot of movement Water has dipped back down into the high fifties, but Yeah, yeah, that might have pulled some fish out This is that time of year where the literally just go back and forth from like their staging spot to their spawning spot warming up Pulling back, but it really was not that cold last night. So I Suspect we'll we'll still see cruisers up here if we really want to look for them this little point. It's very telling It's gonna be very telling It's a good clue because I Know there's gonna be a fish on that Question So I'm gonna pick up a dart watermelon red If you ain't got watermelon red darts you need to get some Next couple months. It's gonna be a big player. It's like, oh, that looks so good. I can't stand it Just floating in front of my face Let me go give it a lick Just had one eat it eat it at the top. I wasn't rolling But I threw all the way up there on the bank that fish Come on swiped it Okay, it's February I got to keep reminding myself it is February is not March, okay, I know you saw fish cruising but They're not locked. I don't have to hit the reset button on today I got to remember the still morning what I saw yesterday afternoon, but when you're sleeping in the bed of your truck, I literally have no cell phone service to Look up weather anything I have to think about is bass fishing and I've seen bass cruising up in the shallows and remember the last 20 marches of my life Yeah, but the big go I walked out Widowmaker down here. All right. She'll also start it out With the soft plastic jerk bait, I think that is going to be a big player today As the sun comes out and if it gets calm, but right now It's all in the fire department try to hose one Wind is already coming down. Just it's setting up for one of those days where you just sit in a cove and drag a plastic And that's how you catch a big one Whereas yesterday and the day before it was you know 20 30 40 mile an hour winds and All you can do is throw a moving bait I thought my line was wrapped around my tip the fish just has it so deep in its mouth that my braid is rattling It's just it's just braid on teeth You're not even that big you're just Hungry When they're eating a bait like that guys, what are you gonna do? What are you gonna do? They're absolutely choking it. Look at that Look at that fat. These are great healthy fish out here I'm so confused because the braid was just making a weird noise like it was wrapped around my Rod or something. I'm just gonna retie this Just had it so deep and you can hear the connection is so strong with braid that you can hear one That line is like wrapped or doing something and it sounded like it was wrapped around my guides, but it was smooth And I knew the fish wasn't that big. I didn't think it had it that deep, but it had it down his throat And it was the fish's teeth grinding on the line that made that sound This feels like a better fish Good fish Barely hooked though. Got my shirt Got the fish hooked him under the chin, but he popped it. Oh my gosh. See you, darling Now they're just starting to slap it that one hit it so hard the freaking slack in the line We're just slapping at it now I think I'm gonna switch up switch up to a swim jig Got him on the dart and came back. That was a good call right in the top of the shnout I think that fish just slapped he slapped my trap And I just quickly threw that dart back out there and see if he would eat it and it did I Think it was the same fish same same spot. I think that's probably gonna be the thing is Going a little slower with the plastics I can just tell that first one absolutely choked it, but I've had three other bites One I barely hooked And the other two just they knocked it they slapped it, but they didn't eat it Chew, baby Man, now a chunky butt bass on this grass slide is just Awesome Yeah, that's a big and oh my god it came off But I was that I thought had it down his throat I could feel the line I don't know what happened. I was stuck goodness gracious y'all. There's some pigs up in here We'll switch it up Things have definitely changed over the last couple of days and we're starting to get that just sunny warm calmer weather And they are not eating that lip lists like they were and I'm gonna start throwing Some soft plastics because I know there's there's a lot of fish in this area and You know, they've been beat up a little bit, but also it's just the conditions They're starting to think about moving towards that bank a little more and doing their spawn thing That water is getting warmer And it's just more still and when you have sun and the calmer conditions and that water is over 55 That's when I really start breaking them out. So I got a wacky rigged lunker log rigged up here with our our wacky rigging hook as well our gold series wacky rigging hook when the fish start moving up around the banks and They start cruising get those cruisers a weightless South plastic jerk bait is awesome. So I've got The dart rigged up with a four-ot hammer hook 20 pound fluoro on a go-to rod and then I'm throwing the luncher log on a spinning set up and just get a lot more distance with it and That's braid and I've got a 15 pound fluorocarbon leader on there. So I'm gonna toss this around We're getting a little bit of wind but not much and see if I can pull some of these These fish that are sitting here off the grass line because we're just slapping that that lip less and they're not eating it Like they were first cast with the wacky rig. I just lost about four pounder. I'm just working that lunker log Over that grass top when it sink down Twitching it up. I can feel it getting stuck in that grass a little bit. That's fine Got him. Oh, yeah, that's a biggin. That's a biggin on the log Gonna jump. Oh, yeah, you got that little finesse hook in ya. Oh, you got that little finesse hook You're trying to get that out Just go ahead and try to get that out. Oh, that works out for ya. A little chair right here Face, thank you. Thank you very much five pounder. Oh my gosh, lunker log Just switched up colors too. Wacky rig. That's my favorite color right there guys Green pumpkin blue That is a fatay That might be one of the fattest healthiest fish I've caught all season Absolutely gorgeous There you go. Oh, yeah, so the wind has really started picking up and it's all I can really do is cast that wacky rig behind the boat Got a spot locked cast it in front. It's you know, it goes like 20 yards. That's it So I am gonna switch it up and throw a swim jig as well But I want to show you guys this hook So this is the wacky lunker hook and it's it's got a little bit bigger gap on it then like another finesse hook Like a drop shot style hook like this one This is the Primo finesse hook. So this is what I would throw if I was throwing like a Drop shot or if I wanted to wacky rig something really thin like really thin profile But mostly for drop shot and this is the perfect size right here for the lunker log that One ought not size one one odd now the way this is right here I want you guys to look at that this will sometimes happen and that's how you miss fish That will get kinked up. It'll still happen it even if you are using those keeper bands But that keeper band that I'm using right there just lets that hook sit perpendicular to the to the bait itself and Get better hookups if it doesn't get tangled up it can it can still get tangled up You just have to keep an eye on it. But if you rig the the hook directly into the plastic It closes that gap more and it allows more room for air So it can get folded in on itself or the hook can just get jumbled up in there So the way I have it. It's very exposed gets hung in the grass a little bit But just give it a pop since I got the braid on there and feel it and I can pop it out of that grass So you're gonna fish grass with wacky rigs. That's a good setup to have I'm gonna switch up to a little swim jig to and throw that around so I've got a half ounce Grass hero. This is my favorite color combo right here the black and blue with the white It's weird. I know but cut a lot of fish on it. I've got this rattling chunk on here Which is also great, you know, it's a little dingier water. I can hear that But I'm actually gonna I'm gonna switch out this color right now I don't know. I'm kind of feeling just the full Bluegill experience and going with a choby-crawl As a trailer look at this little nasty biscuit right here That rattle chamber on the rattling chunk is at the very end so it allows you to Use it as a jig trailer and not go through where that rattle is just perfect I trimmed up the skirt just a hair It's good stuff right there. So I'm gonna swim that through the grass a little got it on a braid set up with a soft tip rod Let's see if we can get another one Rod just started vibrating. I got one more spot. I want to fish before I go But it's just It's not what it used to be Play as the plastics thing, man, but with this wind it's just tough Oh my gosh, it's a peanut Little peanut, but you had me fooled that little pee literally peeing. I think this is how she's gonna leave me right here eye and dry Blowing me away that last hour fishing it just spanked me all Got blown around with the wind high sun came in bite shut off And it was not happening all the fish I saw cruising up in the shallows yesterday had dreams about It just wasn't going on Old faithful Fairfield. I've been coming out here for Gosh since my college days, but really the last five years Had a lot of good days out here, but I would say this time this year It's been the best as far as size wise goes The they used to run a power plant out here and the water was always warm and then they shut it down And I think after they shut it down it got even better the grass was like less thick was more fishable And I don't know if it just got better or it was easier to get those fish, but It was good by Fairfield Miss you so much See Ben's just trying to do everything you do Oh little Rugrats. Oh yard yard squirrels. We missed you. We missed you at the park Yeah, it doesn't feel good to be back back with the life over here It's always good to come home. It's good to come home kids are in the yard wife is here to greet me with With a hug With a little kiss with a good yeah hug and a kiss I was out there alone just sleeping in my truck Actually, I tell you what I was I was alone too. I wasn't with anybody. You were with the kids and the chickens I Was actually not alone on this trip guys because I ran into So many of y'all whether it was at the Buckeys on the road Boat ramp at the campground Uh, it's so awesome to see you guys out in the elements. That's always amazing to me How many of y'all watch my channel and um, that was really cool to see See folks on the lake and at the campground All right, y'all I am going to sign it off. I'm gonna spend some time with the family Put the silver bullet away for the next dangle. I think I'm going with crappie fishing next After seeing those bass swimming around in the shallows just got me pumped. I gotta get out there Try to get that three pound crappie. I know they're gonna be on bed somewhere dad go It's gonna be exciting so subscribe to the channel So you don't miss a single dangle and any other outdoor adventure y'all Smash that like button and I'll see you on the next one