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.

My 2021 PB of 4 lb was caught on a chartreuse Rapala Rippin Rap in Mid January, throwing long casts into open water from the bank and doing short yoyos off a muddy bottom. The water temps never really approach freezing here though, probably gets down in the 50s or possibly 40s at the lowest. I really don't have any idea to be honest lol I've been wanting to check the water temps because I've never been sure.

@roadwarrior Definitely! Lure wraps are clutch for treble lures to keep them from snagging random stuff. I like using them as like a "lure wallet" too for quick pocket access.

I just watched a video of a pro (don't remember his name) say that he cuts the front hook of the front treble off as close to the hook shank as possible. He said it snags far less than if he didn't cut it, and said it doesn't affect hookup at all. I noted how he went so far as to say he has a greater opportunity to catch more or bigger fish because he's spending less time trying to free snags and/or tying on new lures and more time actually fishing in good cover spots. Sounds pretty legit, I wish I could report back on my own experiences trying it but, I think I might try that moving forward, seeing that I lost a brand new lipless I just bought the first day I fished with it lol Edit: I think he was specifically talking about lipless crankbaits btw

I use this for jig trailers, I have only caught a couple with it though. I usually snip off a little bit before threading it on

From my experience, the bigger ones are extra lazy and easily aggravated lol. If I can find her, something slow moving but still vibrating, rattling, and/or flashing should do it

Their skirt color called camouflage with a california craw Rage Chunk is basically the only way I get bit with a jig!

Gotta start by saying I'm a novice jig user. That said, with me not having a lot of experience with jigs in general and not being totally confident on things like the best way I should present them, how long my retrieves should be, etc, I haven't had much luck at all except with Strike King Bitsy Bug. The only issue is since they're dirt cheap, the hooks on them rust easy. But you can usually prevent that by taking the trailer off and letting them air dry when not using them.

@Hewhospeaksmuchbull I've had an elite for coming up on a year as well as 3 or 4 originals and the Jackhammer is the only one that I've lost, I'm gonna have to tell that monkey to back off if it takes my Stealthblade too! I'll stick with the elite if I lose this one lol

I've lost it. Let me start by saying I never see Jackhammers at any store. I bought it in December because it was the last one in stock and pretty much the only one I've ever seen. So it just so happened a few minutes ago while casually browsing the fishing section at the store, and coincidentally after having read and participated in this thread today, that I stumbled across a glorious display of many Jackhammers in a variety of colors including the new Stealthblade, which I've never seen in any store period since it was released. I literally said, "why are you doing this to me" lol. I bought one black and blue Stealthblade. All that being said, I'm lying if I say I'm not super stoked to try it! (Please no snags ? )

I was the same way you were and I got it snagged underwater and had to break it off...the first day I used it! Just my luck man... This was in December. The bass here were already getting very lethargic and it's been a serious grind to catch one ever since. But I did manage to catch a 1.5 lb largie on it before losing it. The vibration on it is crazy! It absolutely does perform 100% better than the original chatterbait as far as the blade action starting right away and continuing through your entire retrieve. It speaks for itself when you start fishing with it, especially when you're already a fan of chatterbaits and are able to tell the difference.