Crestliner2008

I just love the action on these old lures. When I finally put down the jerkbaits, tubes and the drop shot, I'll troll very slowly with the electric. Just fast enough to keep the flatfish gyrating, but not listing to one side or the other. Great on smallmouth bass! Just a tad tedious to fish.

We've been having a lot of rain here in the northeast as well this spring. Lakes are really high. I've been having some luck fishing the flooded brush, in 2' - 4' of water, using a texas-rigged fat ika. Trouble is, you have to do a lot of casting to various spots. No telling exactly where they are without hitting everything. One thing for certain, they are shallow, under these conditions. JMO!

I'm assuming that you've caught/seen big bass there before, right? That being said, I'm also assuming you are fishing from a boat and have a quality sonar onboard. I'd start by looking deeper over the second or third break. Yeah, I know you said there wasn't anything down there, but there is. You just have to find it. A one or two foot break is sometimes all that's required to hold a bass....especially after a penetrating cold front. Also, have you ever marked any bait balls? If you can find bait cruising around the same locations, you will usually find bass there as well. When you do, try presenting a drop shot. That's about all I can come up with. Good Luck!

I posted this same question with folks on a localized fishing forum and got some great answers. Now I'd like to see what you folks, nation-wide, have to say: With all this talk about swimbaits, I keep getting more & more confused. First it started out that swimbaits were huge, heavy 8" - 10" composite lures, requiring heavy musky tackle to throw. They were originally developed - I believe - in CA for the really big bass in a few of those deeper lakes there. Now, I hear that soft, paddle-tailed, shad type lures are classified as "swimbaits" as well. And I've even heard that some 3" - 5" hard and/or soft bodied baits being advertised the same way! What gives here? What is a swimbait? To me, they are all just plain ole' crankbaits....period! Unless someone here can shed some light on these old eyes.

I use their natural colored trout worm on my drop shot rig. Very effective! Have not only caught SM bass, but rainbows, lake trout and salmon. Oh yes.....white perch love 'em too!

Pinch down the barbs. On top waters, you may loose a few, but who cares? I guarantee this one action will significantly decrease fish injury. Also, carry a can of Sprite soda with you. If the fish is bleeding, pour it in it's mouth. The soda will close the capillarys and and enable quick healing.

Went down to a local pond this afternoon to do a little shore fishing and picked 3 nice LM. The pond was heavily stained from all the rain. Got them all on reverse-texas rigged Fat Ika.

Even though you have a cold front, it won't affect all the fish the same way in a lake. Some will always be able to be caught. You've already received some great suggestions above. I'd just add that (assuming you have a boat with electronics on board) you need to focus on specific structures where you find bait balls. Slowing down and downsizing your presentations is a fine approach. Hard jerks (with long pauses in between twitches, not jerks) will pay off. My next presentation would be the drop shot. Don't forget tubes either! Fished on a split-shot rig, these can be deadly during post cold frontal conditions.

I love 'em all! I always keep a Jitterbug or two in my box. Same with the Johnson spoon. These spoons make for some great slop fishing! The sinking flash in the pockets are just dynamite! Never had much luck with the Flatfish, but then again, I don't troll much anymore and these plugs were designed specifically for that kind of presentation. I keep one or two of these in my box as well. They look so darn GOOD in the water!

Other than top water fishing and/or slop fishing, I use fluorocarbon. All other presentations will benefit from this sinking, low stretch line.

I'm not fortunate enough to fish the more temperate climes you folks are in - as well as some truly great smallmouth waters. However, I do pretty well on our reservoirs up here. Smallies do not all spawn at the same time. Rather this period can be stretched over a month or more, depending on the depth & size of the lake. If they are in the spawn right now in your lake, you should be able to get them shallow with hard jerks, Senkos or jigs. If you don't fish the beds (I never do!), you can always find some fish at the first or second break. In this case, use your sonar, find bait and put a drop shot down. You'll get bit.

I agree that a wacky rigged Senko is/should be your go-to presentation. Try to match the color to the bottom color. In your case, probably green pumpkin would fit the bill. And, if you haven't already tried it, use a drop shot from shore. Can be great when they're not co-operating!

Are you fishing from shore or boat? If by boat, use your sonar to map the lake and find the structures and bait fish. Once you do that, you should be able to put together a game plan to start catching. If you are only able to fish the pond from shore, focus on points and sharp cuts which are close to deeper water.

Fish only those structures that you know attract fish for one thing. Focus on slow and even finesse type presentations. Cast many times to a spot. Take your time and you will catch something. One important think; when the fish are stressed (post cold front, high pressure) and you believe they are holding down & close, the approach to your spot becomes extremely critical. Slow down before you get close and sneak in quietly. Try a jig & pig, Senko, drop shot or shakey head. Good luck!

One more thing to add to your arsenal - a bottle of Sprite soda. When they start to bleed, pour it in the fishes' mouth. Tightens up the capillaries and reduces bleeding dramatically. I know it was during a tournament, but have you seriously tried fishing with barbless hooks? I think most folks don't realize that they will catch just as many fish with the barbs crushed down, as they will with using fully barbed hooks. And it's a lot easier on the fish. JMO!

This past Thursday I launched without first making sure the plug was in the boat!

The only hooks that I keep the barbs on anymore are the ones I use for drop shotting. With this presentation, the fish are hooked in the snout 99% of the time and if you don't have a barb on your hook, you'll lose a considerable percentage of the fish you hook up with. The rest of my hooks all have the barbs crushed down. I'm strictly a CPR fisherman, so if I lose a fish (which actually is very rare), it's no big deal for me.

Talk about bringing back memories! I use to use double bladed spinner baits way back in the '60's. The Shannon Twin Spin (bucktail) was one. Excellent drop bait. You could walk down a ledge with one quite effectively. You just don't see this design sold anymore. With the older models, the connect for the split arms, was at the eye tie. I may have to buy a few of this "new" design and give it a whirl!

I use the wiggle rig with about 50% of my drop shotting presentations. Started last year and find it particularly effective for the both SM & LM bass. I use the DS swivels on each end of the spectastic cord (bungee); attaching one end to the drop line and the other end to my sinker. If you try out both the standard DS and the altered one with the wiggle set-up in a clear pool or lake, you will such a dramatic difference, that it's almost a no brainer! However....the reason I carry both is that sometimes the fish prefer a more subtle action to the worm (sometimes no action at all!). Then I use the standard DS rig. If I start really finding active fish, then I switch to the wiggle rig in order to get the attention of the bigger bass. Works for me!

You can have structure with no fish....but you will never have fish with no structure. As far as the ability of your FF to detect fish or not is dependent on the pixel count of the unit. Also, it depends on how you have your unit set-up. If it has options of ping rate and chart speed. If these are available for adjustment, set the ping at max. and the chart speed at 75%. That should ensure you the most detail for the particular unit you are using. Hope this is of some help.

Jebus Christ! I use punny 10# braid.. call me a sucker for light tackle.. and light line. I tend to agree. Unless I was fishing where I knew there was a chance at a bass over 10 lbs.. Fireline of this breaking strength will lift the tree stump out of the water! 90% of my open water topwaters are tossed on 12# mono - Trilene XT.

I've been using the Gamakatsu weedless finesse hook for 2 seasons now with no problems in heavy cover. Just because the weed guard is a bit flimsy, doesn't mean it doesn't work!

No matter how you cut it....nice way to start and/or end a day out on the water! Congrats!

I've been eying them as well. Should work great for LM in the weeds. They seem to have it all...the length of a worm and the tail & body of a tube. We'll see.

Floating or not floating, or somewhat floating - what do you really think about those audacious colors! Like chartreuse or merthiolate (bright red-orange)? I bought some of these packaged under the name of Shaw Grisby. Have used them on a shakey head a few times, but never caught anything.