Recommended Bait For Our Limited Fishing Hole

[Browns7213]

Hey All,

 

Just joined the forum and my wife and I are brand new to fishing. We live on a small cove on a lake in middle GA with depths ranging from 4'-9'. The lake is man made and varies in color from dark green to chocolate milk brown. We fish off our dock and shoreline and have learned any type of sinking lure that goes below 6 feet gets snagged on the something, most likely dead trees. We've lost quite a few lures getting the lay of the land per se. Due to the shallow depth we have been using some poppers, some Rapala lures that stay between 4-6 feet and some jigs with a bobber to keep them from getting snagged. So far we've only been able to hook one large large mouth, every other fish we have caught has been a blue catfish. There are plenty of bass in the cove, as I see them swimming around the dock, but for whatever reason they are not biting. Can you recommend some bait or tactics that we can try to improve our chances of catching more bass and less catfish?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[roadwarrior]

Both Siebert Outdoors and NorthStar Custom Baits make a great swim jigs. I especially

like the bluegill patterns with a Rage Menace or Shellcracker trailer. Another suggestion

that is red hot right now is the Rage Cut-R worm. Rig this with the tail down and swim it.

Shallow crankbaits are another option. This years "hot lure" is the DT6, but my favorite

is still the Norman Fat Boy (redear pattern).

 

Topwater lures should be coming into play (Zara Spook, Sammy, Pop-R) and if you just

keep it shallow, spinnerbaits should work, too. The MegaStrike Cavitron is something you

should try. We sometimes overlook the old standards. Have you tried an Original Floating

Rapala?  Jitterbug?

[A-Jay]

The Gary Yamamoto Senko is a great way to start out.

There is plenty of info on it here.

 

The first link has basic info and the second is a pathway to so much more.

 

Good Luck

 

A-Jay

 

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing_lures/senko.html

 

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/12401-senko-faq- look-here-first/

 

 

[HeavyFisher]

The Gary Yamamoto Senko is a great way to start out.

There is plenty of info on it here.

 

This right here, very ez to use and ez to catch fish on.

[deadadrift89]

Texas rig a worm or craw.

Also try a weightless fluke.

[frantzracing0]

a jig with a bobber? I have never heard of such a thing

[roadwarrior]

a jig with a bobber? I have never heard of such a thing

 

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/float-n-fly.html

[frantzracing0]

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/float-n-fly.html

 Thanks RW, learn something new every day

[Browns7213]

Well thanks for all the ideas and recommendations, will need to sort through all the fishing jargon that is totally new to us. Will try and answer some of the additional questions.

 

 

Have you tried an Original Floating

Rapala?  Jitterbug?

- Nope. I had these in my tackle box as a young boy, but have not reacquired those 2 lures.

 

a jig with a bobber? I have never heard of such a thing

 - We were trying to keep the jig from hooking the debris on the bottom, had no idea this was actually a technique used by real fishermen

[flyingmonkie]

The stuff you are losing your lures on is the stuff that the bass are attracted too!  Don't avoid it! 

 

Do some quick research on the Texas Rig - it's one of the most popular bass techniques (and my personal favorite).  Endless possibilities, easy to fish, and the gear is cheap enough that you don't get PO'd when you break a line.  That being said, done right, you can fish a T-Rig in dead trees all day without losing it.

[Crestliner2008]

 

 - We were trying to keep the jig from hooking the debris on the bottom, had no idea this was actually a technique used by real fishermen

 

Real fishermen will try anything!

[Browns7213]

The stuff you are losing your lures on is the stuff that the bass are attracted too!  Don't avoid it! 

 

Do some quick research on the Texas Rig - it's one of the most popular bass techniques (and my personal favorite).  Endless possibilities, easy to fish, and the gear is cheap enough that you don't get PO'd when you break a line.  That being said, done right, you can fish a T-Rig in dead trees all day without losing it.

 

Way ahead of you. YouTubed Texas Rig last night and excited to get some hooks and some plastics to try it out. That may just save me thousands of dollars. My neighbor owns a dredging company and suggested he could clean up our fishing hole for a few, okay many thousands of dollars!

[Browns7213]

Both Siebert Outdoors and NorthStar Custom Baits make a great swim jigs. I especially

like the bluegill patterns with a Rage Menace or Shellcracker trailer. Another suggestion

that is red hot right now is the Rage Cut-R worm. Rig this with the tail down and swim it.

Shallow crankbaits are another option. This years "hot lure" is the DT6, but my favorite

is still the Norman Fat Boy (redear pattern).

 

Topwater lures should be coming into play (Zara Spook, Sammy, Pop-R) and if you just

keep it shallow, spinnerbaits should work, too. The MegaStrike Cavitron is something you

should try. We sometimes overlook the old standards. Have you tried an Original Floating

Rapala?  Jitterbug?

Okay after lots of googling last night to find out what all these things are, turns out we have most of them! The tackle box was put together by a guy at BassPro, so looks like he actually knew what he was talking about. We plan to use the Texas Rig and see how that works out this weekend,but one question still remains. Are there baits that will only attract bass and not catfish??

[frogflogger]

A wacky rigged senko or trick worm type or cut a senko in half and stick a light (1/16th) jighead in it and fish any of these on a bobber - very effective - on windy days it is a surefire killer. Been doing this with plastic and marabou for over 50 yrs. still deadly anywhere bass are in relatively shallow water.

[bigbill]

A split shot rigged plastic worm, in black or purple or natural.

I prefer black 6".

[frantzracing0]

Way ahead of you. YouTubed Texas Rig last night and excited to get some hooks and some plastics to try it out. That may just save me thousands of dollars. My neighbor owns a dredging company and suggested he could clean up our fishing hole for a few, okay many thousands of dollars!

 

I would kick him for even suggesting that lol people spend hours looking for the cover (those dead trees you are trying to avoid) on a lake. Embrace it, thats where the fish are

[bigbill]

Some here put old Christmas trees on the ice so we have better structure in the spring.

[Hyrule Bass]

i would fish weightless t-rigs with various soft plastic baits. less likely to get snagged without the weight. fish them slow through the stumps/timber.

[Browns7213]

UPDATE:

 

We tried the Texas rigs and they worked great, but only for a short period of time. I rigged a weightless fluke as recommended on my pole and a weighted worm on my wife's pole. After A few casts I hooked a 2-3 pound largemouth and my wife caught a small catfish. We used the technique described of casting, letting the bait sink, lifting the rod and letting it sink again. But after a few casts my line inexplicably broke near my pole not near the lure. A few moments later the same thing happened to my wife's line. Any idea why this would have happened? Is this fishing technique not viable on our cheap Zebco reels? 

[Wunder]

UPDATE:

 

We tried the Texas rigs and they worked great, but only for a short period of time. I rigged a weightless fluke as recommended on my pole and a weighted worm on my wife's pole. After A few casts I hooked a 2-3 pound largemouth and my wife caught a small catfish. We used the technique described of casting, letting the bait sink, lifting the rod and letting it sink again. But after a few casts my line inexplicably broke near my pole not near the lure. A few moments later the same thing happened to my wife's line. Any idea why this would have happened? Is this fishing technique not viable on our cheap Zebco reels?

Your line might be being frayed for the abrasive underwater trees and then breaking off