mikey z

Hey James, what's a couple of your favorite rigs & baits for this purpose? Would you still use the 10" texas rigged worm or light carolina rigged finesse worm?

I have only caught small feisty bass that tear up (literally rip) the banditos, even caught a fat bluegill once. They lasted usually one catch per bait, so I went through about 5 or 6 in 20 minutes before I was like, gimme a break! and switched to something else lol

Have you tried weightless texas rigged flukes yet? Grab a pack of Zoom Super Flukes for about $5 per pack of 10 and some cheap (Lazer Sharp) 3/0 EWG hooks for less than $4 per pack of 6. I've been relying on them on tough days fairly successfully.

Texas rigged or weightless texas rigged Zoom trick worm would get my vote.

I haven't tried it with just a regular jighead, but if you've ever watched Flukemaster on YouTube, I remember him saying that rigging it the way @Team9nine did in his picture gives it a slightly different action, especially on the fall. He said it gives it kind of a swirling action as it sinks. I use a Buckeye Spot Remover or a 6th Sense Divine wide gap.

Cue the @roadwarrior! ?

@Catt Done. wish I could profit from it! ?

@soflabasser I have been fishing my neighborhood ponds for about a year and I have just recently been learning the true range of species besides largies. Black crappie, bluegill, shad, carp, catfish, now bowfin. Definitely gonna invest in a set of grippers for the muds. Thanks!

@TnRiver46 ?I got so close to landing him I got a good look at how he ate it. One of the treble points was dead center behind his top lip all the way through what looked like tough cartilage, same as the bottom lip. I wish I could hook bass like that more often lol.

Reviving this topic because I would actually like to know the proper way to hold these fish without hurting myself. I am absolutely of the opinion that they are awesome fish to catch because the fight is exciting and they are usually big. I want to be able to hold one up and snap a picture! I almost caught what looked like a 10 lb, but he snapped me off right as I was about to land him. I was trying to reach around into my backpack and grab my angler gloves when he did a big head shake and stole my crankbait. His mouth is pretty much permanently clamped shut because of the way he bit down on the trebles, for you guys who are not very fond of them lol... I haven't had any luck searching Google or Youtube on how to hold them when you catch them. All I know is they have razor sharp teeth so lipping is obviously out of the question. But are there any spines or sharp gill plates I should look out for?

Success this past weekend courtesy of the awesome tips found in this thread! 1/4 oz finesse jig with small beaver trailer. 3.75 lb

I can go pond hopping in my very own neighborhood and that's all I ever do really, since I don't have a kayak or boat. I don't have much luck fishing lakes or larger public ponds from the banks. There are 5 ponds in my neighborhood ranging from slightly less than an acre to 2 acres in size with some good target spots like standing half submerged dead trees, a dock, pockets, drain pipes, brush piles, steep drop offs, etc. One of them is a prime spot for hollow body frogging. It gets almost 100% covered in that light green stuff on the surface when the weather warms up and gets loaded with slimy slop. I just haven't been brave enough to spend too much time there because it contains gators that stalk your bait and the banks look like snake territory. I've caught a two pounder out of it though.

So I've been watching, learning and trying, and overall I'm gathering that since they like to bite on the fall so often, an effective way is to make many pitches or casts to a productive target, whether shallow or deep, and work it slowly just for a short time on the bottom by slow drags or subtle hops. Also to pay attention to rate of fall and try a different weight if they're not biting the first one you have tied on. Corrections/elaborations?

I haven't followed the entire thing to a T, but I have used the retrieve technique you described as a guideline when the fishing is tough with good success. One question I've been thinking about recently though: is the idea to have the lure rise a little in the water column and sink back down, or are we trying to sweep it so slowly that it is essentially dragging along the bottom?

I'm not sure what could be the problem because I toss weightless flukes and senkos with the absolute cheapest casting combo possible. It's a 7'0 MH rod. I keep a dirt cheap combo in my car for lunch breaks. I have the settings dialed in so I don't really have to change anything whether I'm throwing the flukes or the senkos. My only suggestion is to practice a slower longer sweep through the air as you cast and try to achieve maximum smoothness. Make sure that you feel the rod loading up on the back swing and it doesn't feel like it's jerking around in the air. Also if it backlashed at the peak of your cast, tighten your brakes. If it birdnested right as you casted it, tighten your spool tension.