Dorado

For Ponds, I’m referring to the cheap Strike King Bitsy Bugs. If I’m bank fishing, I prefer throwing cheaper Jigs because I get hung up frequently. On docks, shake it after it hits bottom, then slowly drag it a few feet. Shake it. Repeat. Those open water sandy areas were 100% on the initial drop. For Ponds, those lightweight finesse Jigs fall slower which is critical for catching highly pressured fish. Paired with the Toledo Special.

Late November - late winter, the weeds finally start to recede where I live. As an active pond fisherman myself, that's when I'll finally whip out the drop shot from shore. What are you using for your drop shot rigs? Last year, it was all about the Roboworm 4 1/2" straight tails (SXE Shad and Desert Craw). Migratory birds, like cormorants, start to head to our ponds and urban lakes from the north. I'll follow those shad-feeding birds with my drop shot and discovered that catfish and bass are usually on the bottom of those frenzies. Last year, same time, I experimented more with finesse jigs and tiny Netbait Paca Chunks. Those took some decent LMB around docks and areas with sandy bottoms when we had a warm streak. If that doesn't all work, add a 2.5" Gulp! Alive Black Shad to your drop shot and fish it SLOW. For my waters, all three of those methods should result in something during this time of the year. Not a large swimbait angler myself, so downsizing with slow finesse presentations is the theme for my late fall/winter pond tactics. Good luck

I’m bookmarking this article. Answered a lot of my lingering questions. Looks like rocky shorelines will be my first start. Depending on where you live, Fall sounds like it could be dynamite for the Craw bite

I'm already thinking about my 2018 New Year's Resolution and that is to fish with the other 1/2 of my unused tackle. This includes various jigs, crawdad baits (Netbait, Rage Tail, PowerBait Chiggers), tubes, and creature baits (Pitboss,RI Beavers). As a beginner kayak fishermen, my habitual ritual is to find schools of threadfin shad with my Lowrance Hook4 and use search baits like chatters, lipless to mid-depth cranks, grubs, and paddletails. It's been my comfort zone because schools of shad are easy to locate and are becoming more predictable for me to locate throughout various times of the year. Through experience, I'm finally starting to become successful using this technique and it's fun, but I'm neglecting the crawdad "stuff" due to a severe lack of confidence. As a kayak fishermen, equipping these types of baits, what structure, both underwater and above water, do you search for when imitating crawdads? I live in AZ, so our lakes are more/less flooded canyons. If I just stick to those baits next year to build new skills, I'll be more well-rounded and not feel like I wasted $$$ on proven baits that I know works exceptionally for others.

If you said what you quoted very quickly in a rhythmic fashion.........sounds like a rap verse LOL

Live in AZ and my buddy and I caught about 20 total LMB in 30 minutes. This was after paddling around islands for 3 hours until we changed our approach. Couldn't find the schools on my sonar so we had to find other structure. Come to find out all of the schools of shad were congregated around the marina and it was nonstop action. It was almost like we were fishing a completely different lake. You have to move! But once you find them in the Fall, it can be a very exciting window of select feeding frenzies. Threadfin Shad-colored Z-Man Chatterbait with Reaction Innovations Little Dipper in Pearl Blue Shad as a trailer. This combo worked well in the post-spawn period too. Give it a try!

@WDE Nice Channel Cat! What color did she bite on? Just curious. Congrats on a PB

Tom, what trailers do you recommend targeting LMB when you’re fishing hair jigs imitating Threadfin Shad?

I would personally mount that. My eyes are huge right now!

Planning on taking the kayak out this weekend. Going to try for the first time drop shotting some SK Bitsy Tubes (pumpkin with GF and copper watermelon). Thinking of nose hooking these finesse tubes with a small drop shot hook. Any pointers before I try this new technique?

Cool post! You’re giving me a lot of ideas

Squarebill or chatterbait

@fishballer06 Great post thanks. Didn't want to hijack your thread, but I learned something today.

Thanks. What size and style hooks do you use? I reached for a white one the other night and didn't know if a 5/0 EWG or 4/0 Weighted Belly Hook would be suite it. Never caught a bass with a toad before so I was lost.

Would method A be a better technique for rigging Zoom Horny Toads? What style hooks do you recommend?

Perfectly stated. Same

One last tip. Strongly recommend using #4 fluoro

Avoid a steady retrieval throughout the entire cast. Incorporate variety to pick up on the pattern for that particular mode. Close the sale! Mix it up by experimenting with these two scenarios: Kastmaster spoons with a steady to stop and go retrieval draw them in then kill it right when they are getting close to let it flutter down. They will let you know within a couple of chasers if this is the ticket other scenario- start with your retrieval (whatever was working for you originally to initiate the Chase) then burn or speed up your lures with rapid fire twitches of your rod tip to simulate prey knowing it’s being agggeesively pursued. Think of a gazelle being chased by a cheetah (run for your life with misdirected dodges when something is on its arse) when streamer fishing wih with a fly fishing guide, he would YELL at me to never stop stripping my line and twitching my rod tip when a Brownie would pursue the fly. The moment I did that, the fish would turn away 180

I think the trend here in the bass fishing tackle world is somewhat similar to fashion in the clothing industry. Sure, a shirt is a shirt and achieves the core purpose of doing 'xx'. However, a "designer" tackle brand (picking on Japanese manufacturers here) gives the consumer a higher perceived value. This is extremely subjective to the eye of the beholder, kind of like art, wine, music, other pleasures. Social Media might have an influence to this trend we are all seeing. Just my crazy theory: Example, consumer A - I just caught a nice bass off a boring 98 cent grub and don't want to brag about how I caught it on Instagram. However, consumer A might boast to the entire world on social media how he caught a nice bass off a $440 Roman Made Mother Swimbait (For the record, I don't have one - it's called having two small children) !!!! So, ponder this, aren't certain lures trendy though out age? Trends fade, new ones constantly emerging. Famous tourney angler wins and the sheep follow? Conversely, famous movie star supports a brand and the sheep also follow? Is there a certain elitism that some anglers feel for only using premium gear? You can use the Orvis fly fishermen too in this category Isn't there some envy caused when someone shows off an encyclopedia worthy tacklebox? How about collecting every color of lure x for some people too? Sure sounds to me that some of us 'wear' our tackle more than fishing the basics. We all have different styles <--------------(see what I did there?) To conclude, just do you and have fun! Don't get all caught up in all the noise and feel pressured to dress alike. Last thing, spoiler alert, I express these thoughts because I'm guilty of just about everything I just mentioned and am honest about it. I enjoy the sub-hobbies that all flow into fishing, in general, and that includes an insatiable appetite towards buying nice fishing stuff; albeit, at prices sometimes I can't even justify. But I like it and proud to call it a healthy vice................

@Bluebasser86 that was my favorite post you’ve posted so far. Incredible. Glad you shared those pics and I would’ve never thought artificials could claim so many beasts.

I'm finally enjoying the payoffs after surviving a miserable summer of 120 degree weather that forced me to remain indoors most of the time. My cabin fever hits hard every summer, but at least you have ice fishing in Michigan during your winters. I miss that stuff.

What's your favorite tube on the market? i only fish small finesse tubes during the spring,but wish to fish larger tubes at some point

@hawgwash I say this with a decade experience of fishing for channels in ponds. Throughout the years, I've discovered that cats in the 1lb-6lb range like chicken livers, catfood, shrimp, commercial baits, list goes on. Smelly stuff right? When you want to target the channels > 7lbs it's all about cutbait or live bait. Cutbait that is already part of their natural forage is a bonus since it's a scent they are already familiar with. For example, where I live, cut tilapia, bluegill and rainbow trout are the most effective because big cats have already had a 'taste' of these prey items so their olfactory senses trigger memory impulses that sky rocket your odds. Caveat- Oily saltwater fish, like Mackeral, are foreign - true. But, I have caught a couple nice 10 lb channel cats out of highly pressured urban ponds when those aforementioned options got dismissed. For the record, 10-20lb channel cat is considered BIG for my area. It's relative when you say 'big' but I still think my notes could hopefully add some catfish food for thought If you're experiencing trouble with weeds, get proficient with a slip bobber rig. Then, learn how to catch small panfish quickly and efficiently. Catching cats on a huge bobber with a live bluegill is one of the most memorable forms of freshwater fishing.

Fall is finally here in AZ. This 4 lb bass took a Zoom Trick Worm - Candy Bug - tail dipped in Spike It Dip-N-Glow in Chartreuse/Garlic in a foot of water right off the bank. She was busting shad near an inlet Some fun metro pond night fishing!