FatBoy

I've posted this before, but I couldn't resist showing it again. My son's first bass...

I've been in this situation too...and haven't had much luck. What I THINK is going on is that the bass are really keyed in on that particular food source, whether it's the dragonflies or the fish feeding on the dragonflies. They're going to ignore everything else while they're so focused on one particular thing. The best lure would be one that mimics the dragonflies or the smaller fish eating the dragonflies. Just a thought...

I read an article about the silver minnow somewhere recently, so I picked one up last time I was a bass pro. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. I'd love to hear any hints/tips from y'all.

Now that's the kind of thing I was looking for. And that makes a lot of sense. That might work really good on this flooded quarry I fish once in a while!

Depends on what you mean by "area." I rarely make more than 10 casts from a single spot before I move down the bank. Sometimes that move might be only 5 steps, sometimes 50 ft. If I'm targeting shoreline cover, I'm constantly moving to the next piece of cover. If I'm working a drop off that's only a few yards off the bank, I'll make a cast (maybe two), then move down the bank 5 feet and try again. If I'm working a spinnerbait, crank, or even t-rig further from the bank, I'll fan cast the area from one spot (8-10 casts), then move down the bank about the length of one cast and start again. Think about when a guy in a boat moves down the bank pitching to stumps or combing a grassy flat. He's moving CONSTANTLY. You can move as fast as I do and still be way more thorough and methodical than a guy in a boat.

Conditions have been tough around here lately with all the heat. Then we had a cold front come through, which made it more tolerable but still tough. I fished a flooded quarry yesterday morning. Clear water, surface temp right around 80, overcast skies. I expected to find find bass along the steep banks, but no luck. At one point I marked a huge school of bait fish on my sonar (most likely shad in this lake) with a TON of bass around it (could have been crappie, but some of them were awefully big for crappie). The sonar marked them at 9-14 ft in 18 fow. They were out in open water away from any structure I could identify on the graph. I couldn't get any of them to hit anything I threw. Given the conditions and depth of these fish, what would you have done?

Thanks for all the info. I'll have to spend more time with the ikas...when it cools off that is.

Hello, my name is FatBoy and I'm a senkoholic... Senkos are definitely my go to bait. I also have tried the fat ikas but with way less success. To be honest, though, that's because I haven't given the ikas a fair shot. I usually try for a short time and then switch back to the senko since I'm more confident in those. My question: Are there situations or conditions where the fat ika works better than a senko? Is there ever a time when you're not catching them on senkos, but they'll hit the fat ika? And if so when? What should I look for?

Fishing in streams is different. Cover is still important, but the current is the key. You want to look for pools where the water isn't moving or is moving slower than the main current. A lot of times that'll be at a bend in the stream or right up against the bank. Anywhere that's deeper, the water will move slower. Bass will be in the slow water where they don't have to fight the current constantly. They will usually be positioned facing upstream waiting for prey to come downstream with the flow. Sometimes you'll do well by casting into the moving water so your bait gets carried into the slack water. Other times, you can cast right into the slack water. A good all around choice for streams is a small tube rigged on a slider head or t-rigged with a light pegged bullet weight. Good luck!

I've people say to t-rig em and swim em back. I haven't used them a lot yet, but I've had some luck rigging them on a ball head jig just like a grub. Guess that would be a good option only if the vegetation allows it. But maybe that's just the ticket on deep structure?

I dont get what is so embarressing about that at all. The large yellow or white rooster tails will catch lots of small largemouth bass, crappie, and panfish. I have 3 rooster tails that I take with me often and throw them on a light action rod. Also I once caught a 16 inch largemouth bass on a rooster tail. That was a shocker. Yeah, I said "almost" embarrassing ;D A rooster tail just seems like cheating I guess. But it's almost the only thing I can get my 11 yo son to throw. He's even caught several small catfish on his "lucky" sliver rooster tail. And a friend and I were hammering smallmouth out of a small subdivision pond on rooster tails late last summer. I only got small ones, but my friend stuck at 17 incher. Rooster tails was the only thing they would hit. And they would only hit if we were sitting down on the bank; I think they could see us if we were standing. Go figure.

It's almost embarrassing to admit it, but the guaranteed skunk buster for me is a rooster tail. That'll always catch something.

Most trips I average 1 per hour. I'd kill for one of those 10+ fish trips some of you are talking about. 100+ in 5 hours? Wow!!!

The shank is going to come out the bottom of the tube. Buy with the wide gap and the flat section just before the barb you'll be able to skin hook the point. So yeah it will be weedless-ish

Does it look anything like this? That's a Mr. Twister G-Grub. I've seen similar things from other companies. They're usually called a leech by most companies I think.