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.

Well, actually mattm, RW recommended the 2.5 lb on the drag because the yozuri hybrid ultrasoft #6 test to about 11 lb.

Well, some would say that bigfoot is "well documented." And I've seen videos of ghosts and UFOs.... I don't know what your father saw, but it was not an evaporated fish egg. ***CAUTION: SCIENCE LESSON*** When water evaporates, water MOLECULES go from the liquid state to the gas state. They can't take anything solid with them. The water becomes "dissolved" in the air in a sense. Next time you have some time to kill, take a dish of water out in the sun and spend a few hours staring at it as close as you care to. You will NEVER see even the tiniest drop of water come out of the dish. The water will be in the dish, then a while later it will be "gone." Any solid, like a fish egg or even the smallest speck of dust, will be left behind in the dish. Where's Cephkiller? I know he'll back me up on this one. ***END SCIENCE LESSON*** Coming back to the original question, I'm willing to bet someone stocked the pond. It could have been the developer. Or it could have been someone else in town who saw this as a potential new fishing spot and decided to take matters into his own hands and brought a few bass from somewhere else. I know a guy who likes to do this. It can create some pretty good fishing during the few years while a subdivision is going up (or until the secret gets out). There are a lot of subdivisions in my town built around a pond. But there's one subdivision in particular that's not very old but the pond holds some huge fish. I know a guy who caught a 29" striper out of there. IMPOSSIBLE you say!?! Well, it turns out that this particular "pond" is not a retention pond built for the subdivision. The subdivision was actually build around a flooded quarry pit. It's supposedly as much as 50 ft deep. It's the best kept secret in town, so don't tell anybody.

Ummmm....no. Sorry. I've never heard that one. But I guarantee you it is physically impossible. It is possible especially when small tornados suck up water including some fish. What goes up must come down! Read this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3582802.stm OK, but that's a tornado. I would even believe that it's possible for strong winds to carry eggs and possibly small fish. But that is not the same thing as evaporation.

Ummmm....no. Sorry. I've never heard that one. But I guarantee you it is physically impossible.

Thanks for all the tips everybody. I am definitely going to use RW's method to set my drag. And I'll be paying more attention to nicks. It was an expensive lesson (emotionally at least). But hopefully it's a lesson I only have to learn once.

Yeah, I've got the little bass hunter. But sometimes when I've only got an hour or two to fish, beating the bank is the only way to go. That could have been the problem. I'm pretty sure I tied a good knot. But I was fishing around a lot of these weeds and lilies.

I need some advice BAD!!! I catch a lot of 1-2 lb bass around here, but when I do hook into a 2+ lb fish my percentage of getting the fish in is bad. I lost a 4+ lber this morning. Here's the story... I was fishing from the bank in a small pond. Senko, 4/0 Gammy EWG, yozuri hybrid ultrasoft #6, St. Croix MF 6'6" rod, shimano stradic reel. Made a cast to an isolated clump of weeds about 20 yd to my left and 8 ft off the bank. Saw the line move and set the hook. Fish on! It immediately dove into the weeds I cast to, but I kept steady pressure and she came free pretty quick. The fish made a run for deeper water and I just kept steady pressure. Turned around and made a jump and I got my first look...this fish was long and fat! That's when the adrenaline started pumping and I started praying. After that she made a run toward me. I steered her around some weeds and she kept running down the bank toward me and into the shore. So I HAVE to take in line to keep some pressure on her. Well, the result is that she's now at my feet in 1 fow and I only have about 8 ft of line out. But she wasn't done fighting by a long shot. She ran right and left in front of me three or four times trying to turn for the deeper water. I knew I couldn't just haul her onto the bank at this point, so I just tried to keep the line tight without horsing her. Then she turns away from me and gives a big head shake and....nothing. Broke the line just above the knot. I was so mad and shaking so bad I just paced up and down the bank muttering to myself for the next five minutes. What could/should I have done? Maybe my drag was set too tight? In this kind of situation and given the line I was using, should this fish have taken drag? Gimme some advice, please!!!

You idea with the 4" woms may very well work. And it may work well in certain situations. But I doubt it will have the same end-waggling action of a senko. Hey Avid, I'll save you some keystrokes and possible carpal tunnel syndrome and type this for you... ;D You can even wacky rig a super fluke. Try it. You will like it.

Wow, that site carries a lot of unique/rare/hard-to-find/off-the-wall stuff. That one's going in my bookmarks!

Thanks, ghoti. This sounds like a great technique! I know a lot of guys here talk bad about the buzz frogs. But I've been on record several times saying that they work better under the surface than on top (though I've never tried it exactly like you describe).