Suspendingjerk

YES! I catch the majority of my pond bass with a 1/8 oz beetle spin.

Beware the bait monkey.... Hes real. Honestly I would focus on soft plastics. Very versatile group of lures. Can fish them in almost any situation with a wide array of techniques. I also really like the suggestion of an original rapala floater. Those things PRODUCE.

I'm using a 1/2 oz lead weight. The whole bottom is pretty well soft in my pond. I know where where all the stumps and submerged trees are so I have a hard time forking over the cash for tungsten. I have had some pulls where it felt like extra weight on my line. But I attributed that to my weight digging into the muck. I know hooksets are free... But I have mild ocd. And if I jerk and there is no fish there... Well then that just messes everything up in my mind and I have to recast . So maybe a lighter weight?

Thanks for the reply. I would describe a t rig bite to feel as you have said. And if that is the case then I am getting no bites on the c rig period..

Perhaps I'm missing the bite as well. If it feels any different from a bite on a t rig I could be missing them completely.

So I have a spring fed farm pond about 3 1/2 acres I've been fishing for the past 13 years. And just recently have been trying the Carolina rig out. I usually throw something t rigged, a jerk bait, weightless plastics, spinner etc . What I've found is that when I'm throwing a c rig my bait is dragging the bottom. I've always thought that the whole point of the c rig was to suspend your plastic above the bottom. I've tried the drag your bait and pause method with no dice. So I've tried raising it up and letting it fall like a t rig also with no results. Any tips? As much success that I've had with a t rig I just "knew" the c rig would produce just as good if not better. Am I going to have to find some plastics that float in order to suspend then off the bottom?

Man that sucks. I use p line on two of my reels with no problems. Have to lube the knot before tightening it. Hahahahha

Great post. I've been thinking about going barbless myself but I don't feel like the confidence will be there.

Hey man thanks for the info! I have 12lb sauger red label on my other rig and have yet to have that happen on that. The ultra lite still perplexes me. Then again that line is getting kind of old. But it also happened with a clinch knot I tied.

This. I find at the very least I have to spend 200 plus for something I am comfortable and confident with. Atleast for a BC.

I grab the lip FIRMLY where the hooks are not. A lot of people will grab the fish by the body. I have always heard this is not comfortable for the fish. Don't know how true that is but I have always lipped my fish.

Ya know. I've been fishing for almost 20 years. And I'm just now figuring this out. Haha. My whole life I've been so worried about what to throw. But this past year or so I've been trying a few new things. Things that my confidence grew on very quickly. And just the fact that they were new and out of my comfort zone has shown me how important confidence really is in fishing.

I had my 12 lb p line break the other day. Was t rigging a Berkeley worm and had pulled in a few dinks. Little later I tossed to the outside of some brush. Felt a hit and watched my line start moving. Went to set the hook and the d**n line failed right above the knot. Had tied a Palomar on it too. Maybe I tied it wrong? Just started using that knot recently. An hour or so before that I was tossing a little 1/8th beetle spin on my ultra lite and had caught a couple nice crappie. Few casts later felt a strike and went to set the hook and the knot itself outright failed. Was using a Palomar on that rig too. Couldn't believe it didn't fail on the 1lb plus crappie I was catching before so. Sorry I don't have any advice to offer just thought I would share some misfortune of my own to maybe make you feel better. Haha.

Good advice so far. Only thing I'll say is maybe throw something a little heavier than a 1/8. You mentioned a lot of vegetation and something heavier will get your bait through all that mess.

For top water presentation I feel the color plays little if any role. I believe the fish are keying in on the water disturbance and action rather than the color. Having said that, since the water has warmed up here in southern IL I have been killing with any spook I throw!

Watermelon red flake is the best producer for me. Usually a twitch twitch pause. Sometimes I use slow pulls of the rod tip and let it die.

Sounds like the lure to me. As expensive as spro lures are I would call/email the company.

I always forget my bullet weight when I'm tying up a t rig. Then I just fish weightless :/

That's a mule in your pic man!

Love the hospitality here. Thanks guys!

Hello everyone. Long time lurker here looking to join in all the discussions. I'm 24 years old and have been bass fishing since I was 5. Pretty much all ponds and very small lakes. All the large lakes and rivers I have fished have been for cats. I mostly fish a 4 acre pond tucked away in the woods on my parents property. I have a quantum energy pt (believe it's a 2010 model) on a 6'6 MH rod with 12 lb saugaer. Also have a Diawa tatula with 12 lb p line paired up with pretty much the same rod. Also love to throw beetle spins on my cheap Shakespear UL. Mostly throw soft plastics t rigged and of course jerks, if you can't tell by my name. Looking to expand my knowledge and make some friends along the way. Tight lines!