Early To Mid Summer Bass Fishing

[TWMstr]

What type of rig should I be using? I have a pretty strong belief that the bass are suspended right now due to a week and a half of straight rainy days. The lake I fish has medium heavy submerged grass, and some sandy spots. Tried a shaky head, carolina rig, and texas rig, and of all three I've caught the most fish on the carolina rig. But that was early June and I haven't caught any thing with one since. I had awesome luck with a weightless senko yesterday morning. Unbelievable with all this rain we've had here in North Carolina. Little help on what the bass are doing right now? Also I'm bank fishing so flipping a jig under a tree or whatever is out of the question. haha. Any advice would be great.

[MCS]

I would try lipless crank, fluke, soft boot tail swim bait like a Big EZ or Swimming Fluke and a keel weighted hook. I also do the senko or rattlsnake weightless and let is sink a little and gently reel is back.

[TWMstr]

Well a crankbait is out of the question due to the grass also. LOL. But never thought or even used a swim bait before. Thanks for the ad.

 

I would try lipless crank, fluke, soft boot tail swim bait like a Big EZ or Swimming Fluke and a keel weighted hook. I also do the senko or rattlsnake weightless and let is sink a little and gently reel is back.

[MCS]

Well a crankbait is out of the question due to the grass also. LOL. But never thought or even used a swim bait before. Thanks for the ad.

 

Not true, lipless work well in grass, fish them all the time here in FL. Rip them free when they snag, sometimes that is when you will get the strike.

[TWMstr]

Wow. I just didn't think it was that easy to fish double treble hooks through thick grass. Guess I'll give it a try.

 

Not true, lipless work well in grass, fish them all the time here in FL. Rip them free when they snag, sometimes that is when you will get the strike.

[TWMstr]

What color crankbait should I use for clear/stained water. Normally I would use green pumpkin colors in this lake, but I know crankbaits are chrome colored with red and all that junk. Help? lol

 

Not true, lipless work well in grass, fish them all the time here in FL. Rip them free when they snag, sometimes that is when you will get the strike.

[RoachDad]

I'm west of you in the Winston-Salem area.  Same problem with rain and so muddy water.  I am doing pretty good with weighless Senkos and topwaters.  Even in the middle of the day.

 

Jitterbug!

[MCS]

What color crankbait should I use for clear/stained water. Normally I would use green pumpkin colors in this lake, but I know crankbaits are chrome colored with red and all that junk. Help? lol

You can get them in just about any color.

The old standby is blue/chrome/orange

Black/silver....check out the Xcalibur XR50 lipless. They have a real gill series that is pretty sweet.

I you look in the reports I recently posted a catch I made with a lipless and this pond the hydrilla is like trees, Texas rigs get hung. They also suspend like you talk about there too.

[slonezp]

We've been getting them all day on bright colored 'traps, swimjgs, and cranks in stained water.  Buzzbaits and poppers during low light hours.

[TWMstr]

How do I know which color will work and what won't? Trial and error I suppose.

 

You can get them in just about any color.
The old standby is blue/chrome/orange
Black/silver....check out the Xcalibur XR50 lipless. They have a real gill series that is pretty sweet.

I you look in the reports I recently posted a catch I made with a lipless and this pond the hydrilla is like trees, Texas rigs get hung. They also suspend like you talk about there too.

[slonezp]

How do I know which color will work and what won't? Trial and error I suppose.

The darker the water the darker the bait or the brighter the bait. The clearer the water the more natural the bait. Try and match the forage. If shad is the forage use a shad pattern if it's bluegills, use a bluegill colored bait. Trial and error. That being said, I believe a well placed bait trumps color choice.

[TWMstr]

Thanks for the ad man.

The darker the water the darker the bait or the brighter the bait. The clearer the water the more natural the bait. Try and match the forage. If shad is the forage use a shad pattern if it's bluegills, use a bluegill colored bait. Trial and error. That being said, I believe a well placed bait trumps color choice.

[MCS]

X2 on what Slone said. I use blue/orange chrome on sunny days, black/silver on overcast.

Or match the hatch, any bluegill/Talapia/pumpkin seed color works here. But  there are no shad in the retention ponds and shad color works too. I also use a rainbow trout jerk bait. So like slone said it is more like where you cast and how you retrieve.......Swim jig is a good one I didn't think of.