Advice On Tactics Needed

[Vanbassin]

Hi Guys

 

I am fishing a Kayak Bass Competition on the 7th and 8th of February 2015, this will be my first Comp ever! We are at the height of Summer in February in South Africa, the first day of the comp starts mid day at 13:00, what tactics would you guys suggest, lures, set ups deep, shallow etc? Please all assistance would be appreciated!

[Senko lover]

We'll need to know some more info. How deep is this lake? What cover is there? What do the bass feed on?

[Choporoz]

I'm no help, but I do wish you luck!   

I'm guessing that mid-summer here, depending on the water, I'd expect to be prepared to drop shot, shakyhead, and mojo rig -- but then, I do like my plastics year round.

[HoosierHawgs]

If the bottom is hard, I would use a walker and a crankbait to search for fish, then a jig to dissect the area.. If it is soft, I would go with a spinnerbait for searching, and a ribbon tail worm for dissectingm

[fisherrw]

Use a crankbait to locate fish them cast jigs and dropshots to locate them! Good luck!!

[Vanbassin]

Thanks guys,I know little about the lake,it is only fished once a year just for this comp,you cannot access it any other time of year,but apparently the fishing is good!There is also no maps or info on the lake,all I know its got loads of lily pads areas,grassy areas,dried trees and also deep points.That is all I know, so im going in blind!!

[Fishes in trees]

For where I live - mid-summer conditions, my guiding principle is - Low & Slow.  By this I mean I'm sticking close to the bottom and relatively slowly moving them along.   For the most part, I don't deadstick.  If you have lots of lily pads, there are probably some fish underneath some of those pads somewhere.  Step A for me would be to float a wacky senko down the outside edge of the pads, vegetation, whatever was there.  Step B would probably be throwing frogs.  Punch baits might be an option, but I would imagine that throwing punch baits from a kayak could get problematic.   Fishing from a kayak, is trolling allowed?  What is the difference between trolling and fishing a deep bait and getting blown around by the wind?  

 

The more I think about it, where I fish anyway, summer tournaments are won 1 of 2 ways.  Either an early morning top water bite pop-R or buzz bait, or low & slow throughout the day, fishing deeper points and cover.  I don't really know how pads fit into that equation.  I might spend a little time on the pads and grassy flats, especially because some time during the day on most lakes there is feeding action that takes place on grassy flats.  For the most part though, I would probably spend time on deeper points, looking for cover on those deeper points.   Over the past few years, for me anyway, jika rigs have been more effective than  texas rigs or jigs on deeper points with cover.

[Green Trout]

Throw a Drop Shot with a Mustad hook. If the fish breathes on it, you'll hook em!

[gulfcaptain]

Depending, I would fish a frog, a punch rig if I could get away with it and target the denser weed mats.  Especially if it's bright and sunny.  They are going to be deep in the weeds as well as the lilypads. Could throw a rattle trap bait along the edges of the weeds, wacky rig a senko style bait.  Chatterbaits in the grass or better yet a swimjig.  Bottom line, it doesn't matter what we suggest.  You need to fish your strenghts and have full faith in what you're doing.  Good luck.

[atcoha]

Can you link a google map location? I would be very interested to see where you are going to fish!

[Ozark_Basser]

Depending, I would fish a frog, a punch rig if I could get away with it and target the denser weed mats. Especially if it's bright and sunny. They are going to be deep in the weeds as well as the lilypads. Could throw a rattle trap bait along the edges of the weeds, wacky rig a senko style bait. Chatterbaits in the grass or better yet a swimjig. Bottom line, it doesn't matter what we suggest. You need to fish your strenghts and have full faith in what you're doing. Good luck.

This. Find the thickest cover you can and find a way to get a bait in it is what I would think would do best according to what you've told us.

[Fish'N Impossible]

Most of them lakes around here, Ohio, are full of pad fields. Most of our lakes here are only 4-6 ft deep though. In the summer months this is precisely how I tackle areas of Pads.

 

1. On the approach starting 25-40 ft away I cast around the outside lines of the field with small spinner bait.

 

2. closing in on the pad field I start flipping a 1/4 oz black/blue jig with a short trimmed skirt and a sapphire blue chunk (not threaded on just stuck so it freely moves around). when you flip in let it drop to the bottom then slowly lift it to just below the surface and shake it 5 -6 times and let it drop, they will smash it on the fall, no bite pull out and flip again. this is good for about the first 8-10 ft of the pad field.

 

3. Once I am on the pad field I flip a nose weight rigged 4.5" FTC tube as a punch style set-up. Use 3/8 to -1/2oz weight and flip it in the deeper pads. This time you let it fall to bottom then just barely move it off the bottom and shake it 5-6 times drop it down repeat 3-4 times no takers re-flip.

 

The reason I approach this way is the active feeders are located on the pad edges and easy to pick off with spinner bait. If you just roll up to the pads you have spooked a good deal of fish before you even cast once. Using the light jig and free floating chunk does a great job simulating a blue gill sucking off the bottom of the pads and most bass in this area of the pads are looking for bigger meals and this set-up gives them the bulk they are looking for. In the 3rd part of this those bass deep in the pads are generally not actively feeding and more sitting on bottom and resting, putting that tube in their face and shaking it gets you that reaction/ aggression strike. This is how I work the shallow pad fields here in Ohio and it has proven to be very effective through the years. I am sure there are several other approaches but this is the one that works for me.

[ChrisWi]

Throw a Drop Shot with a Mustad hook. If the fish breathes on it, you'll hook em!

it has to be a Mustad though or you're going to get zero bites.