Just Throw It, You Never Know & Maybe You Will Get Lucky!!!!

[primetime]

I recently decided to do some fishing after a stressful week, and I met my buddy at a local lake on a weekday so we had it to our selves and this is a good sized lake in the Tampa Florida area that does not get alot of press, tournaments etc. but is known for holding large fish but also has a .8 per hour average according to FWC so it can be tough fishing but some days can be dynamite if the Bass are feeding on the Edges of the Offshore Hydrilla, or crusing the flats and breaks.....

 

One of my favorite ways to almost always catch 1-2 fish is to make a few casts at the marina or boat launch right down the middle with a beaver, craw, of really any soft plastic on a texas rig or weightless...I was shown this trick years ago and it makes sense....Evertime a boat launches they blow a creek bed at the ramp from the outboard kicking up sand, and not only does that give Bass a spot to hide and ambush prey, but if you cast right after someone launches, you can usually get a quick strike or two as the outboard stirs up the bottom and gets the baitfish-Grass shrimp-Shiners-Panfish, crawfish all stired up so the sound of an outboard is usually a dinner bell and I find my favorite bait is a soft craw like the Yum Mighty Craw, Critter craw, or 4-6" finesse worm, or really any plastic that you can work slowly right in and along the creek bed...

 

Long story short, but I had been telling my buddy this trick and he flat out said-" Yea but that is small ball, I could care less about catching a few 1-2lb fish at the ramp, If I am on the water, I want a true shot at a double digit fish or at least something over 5lbs and I doubt you catch many fish over 12-16" working the ramp.....I could not argue as usually the Bass you will catch are going to be on the smaller size but I have caught plenty of 17-21" fish doing this over the years and several fish in the 5lb range so I will take it...

 

As we are idling and getting ready to head out, the ramp of this lake is awesome lookig as it is surrounded by long reeds that line both shorelines as you go out and the water is farily deep 5-8' and does have some potential and this lake is probably the best chance of landing an 8lb Bass with the exception of Lake Tarpon in Pinellas county in my opinion, and possibly something truly huge over 10-12 as it receives little pressure, lots of bait, all the cover and dropoffs you could want, and you can throw a litttle George in 35 foot of water if you choose....

 

Put it this way, always make a cast when you have the urge, and if you think about changing baits as you still have a Large 6" Sassy Shad in Pearl on your Round Baitcasting reel with a 1/2 ouce Jighead from Snook fishing a few days earlier, make that cast and just see what happens.....I literally Cast this huge and heavy sassy shad a mile, had it rigged weedless on it's side with a large 5/0 bass assassin Jig head in red, and I simply cast it a good 2-3 feet into the grass and started to slow roll it.....Bam....8.4lb Bass and we were within 500 yards of the boat launch, and this fish inhales this bait and almost ripped the rod out of my hands....Glad I was rigged for large Snook with 65lb braid, Okuma Cedros, and EVX XH swimbait rod that I ended up using to catch another 7 fish in about 4 hours, several in the 3-4lb range, and the ticket was a pearl or white Ice 4.8" Speed shad or Sizmic shad, I can't tell the difference only the fish big and are awesome swimbaits....Just rig with a bullet weight, weighted swimbait hook, or jighead and fish it like a spinnerbait or fluke, the vibrations are amazing and hits are violent....Anyway, If you have a shrimp soft bait rigged and are thinking about casting it, or maybe another "Saltwater lure" like a Mirrodyne, take some time to throw it for a bit as I have had days where the Exude Fan Tail Shrimp have saved the day in the last few years and I found that bait for Bass by accident.

 

Look it up...Havoc copied it with the Slop craw in my opinion as it barely has any appendages, looks more like a crawfish, comes in cool colors, and has a huge cavity in the mouth for a large rattle, and that rattle in a clear or chartruese bait often is the ticket for flipping or summer days....

 

sorry for the Ramble..Still excited..

[nascar2428]

The places I'm fishing at 8 per hour would be DYN O MITE!! If I can catch 8 in two hours it's been a good session for me. 

[bigbill]

I'm fishing from shore and try to increase my numbers caught per outing. I get to fish for an hour up to two hours. I'm limited due to my health. I was up to 9 bass per outing. I was thinking that's not too bad but my challenge to myself is to do better. You said "bass per hour" I was thinking bass per trip but time can limit me I like bass per hour much better.

 

I throw my ritual of different baits, sizes and colors till I get action. Your right about the larger lures. One day it was bigger shad raps. On a slower day I extent my options to larger baits. We know the fish are there it's just what will trigger them to strike.

[Choporoz]

Sounds like a great fish and a great day all in all....best part of the story.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long story short,..

[Frenchman83]

I believe it is .8 fish per hour or less then 1 fish an hour.