Lures for mucky bottoms

[Ohiopondfisher]

What kind of lures would be good for mucky bottoms in ponds 

[scaleface]

I have never seen a bottom to mucky for a Texas rigged  plastic worm and you cant get any more mucky than Mississippi river bottoms .  

[S. Sass]

I fish texas rigged plastics and jigs if I have to stay on the bottom.

I've found Crankbaits to be a lot of fun when you have a really unpleasant bottom.                                             

[Ohiopondfisher]

13 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I have never seen a bottom to mucky for a Texas rigged  plastic worm and you cant get any more mucky than Mississippi river bottoms .  

This particular pond has a lot of dead alage on the bottom. Do you still get dead alage and muck stuck on the Texas rig?

[scaleface]

1 minute ago, Ohiopondfisher said:

This particular pond has a lot of dead alage on the bottom. Do you still get dead alage and muck stuck on the Texas rig?

I've never had a problem .One place I fish you cant wade in it . You will sink in it  like quick sand and not be able to get out .

[TnRiver46]

Weightless is good when the muck is Gobbing on the bullet weight 

[RoLo]

Surface and subsurface lures 

 

Roger

[Drew03cmc]

Swim jigs are my choice for a lake I fish from shore that the bottom is muddy like this.

[wdp]

Shallow cranks, lipless cranks, swimbaits, weightless super flukes.

 

Oh yeah, and topwaters: poppers, frogs, buzzbaits, etc. 

[MassYak85]

Weightless plastics. If it's the kind of "muck" I'm thinking of I abandon everything with an open hook or sharp corners. 

 

What's real fun is if it gets churned up and suspends in the water. Makes it impossible to fish anything at any depth with treble hooks without your lure's action being completely ruined after about 5 handle turns. 

[jr231]

Yea a swim jig. You can fish it all through the water column. With different trailers , like a single or double tail grub, crawfish , paddletail swimbaits. 

[flyingmonkie]

Many of the ponds in my neck of the woods have muck bottoms.  I try not to worry too much about... just leave the deep diving cranks and football jigs at home.  Several great suggestions above.  I'd add a bubba shot to the list - great way to fish the bottom without being ON the bottom.

 

In a body of water full of muck, the trick is in finding something in the water NOT mucky that the fish will relate to. 

[Turkey sandwich]

If you're having that difficult a time fishing light T-Rigs, rig it drop shot with a standard worm hook and light DS weight or split shot heavy enough to keep something in bottom contact.  A light C-Rig has also produced well for me in similar ponds/lakes. 

[Drew03cmc]

You could fish a light or weightless wacky rig as well, just don't let it settle to the bottom.

 

One other bait I fish a lot in your situation is a Swing Impact on an 1/8oz screw lock swimbait hook. 

[bagofdonuts]

I guy won a big tournament down here fishing a silted in bay using a magnum drop shot. Weight would sink into the silt but worm stayed just above it.

[fishwizzard]

1 hour ago, Drew03cmc said:

 

One other bait I fish a lot in your situation is a Swing Impact on an 1/8oz screw lock swimbait hook. 

 

Yep, my local pond is a very soft mud bottom and this is a great producer.  The lure produces even better rigged weightless on a screwlock hook, but it sinks very very slowly so you cant cover much water with it.  

[Drew03cmc]

I reel mine in slowly so I can just barely tick the bottom now and then. Invariably, I lose one every other fish as they are not very durable.

[fishwizzard]

 

3 hours ago, Drew03cmc said:

I reel mine in slowly so I can just barely tick the bottom now and then. Invariably, I lose one every other fish as they are not very durable.

Yea, but man do they work well.  At least the 4" Swing Impacts are cheaper than the Fat Impacts.  

 

I am going to start swapping in some grubs next time I get into a good bite with the SIs and see if they like them just as well, but I have yet to find a grub that runs as well as the SIs when rigged weightless.  

[Drew03cmc]

Grubs don't respond the same. 

[craww]

Alot of ponds I can fish have the filamentus (sp?) algae and even smaller 1/32 oz tungsten bullet weights can be an issue. My advice if you want to bottom drag baits:

 

-Get some nail weights make sure you bury the eye of your hook in the plastic. Don't have a peg sticking out of the weight. You can get creative. I never like those jerkbait hooks with the lead keel on the hook. If its an erratic bait that you're not necessarily swimming in a straight line you can slice a big fluke and glue a bullet weight in the head. I've also used that on big lizards when bed fishing. No issues with missing bites from a fish picking up the bait and not the sinker; yet it stays in place and looks more natural.

 

-Use heavier plastics such as those made by yamamoto. A 3/8 senko gets down there pretty well so a weight isn't often needed in a shallower pond.

 

- use jigs and jig heads with a vertical, not horizontal line tie. For example I can cast and drag a Booyah "A" Jig in 3/8oz with alot less issue than a Mop jig with its horizontal loop. Virtually the exact same baits but the line tie comes through the snot alot better. In rocks I think a left to right tie may be better, in any kind of vegetation vertical is the deal in my experience.

[TNSkeeter87]

On 1/8/2017 at 7:58 PM, Ohiopondfisher said:

This particular pond has a lot of dead alage on the bottom. Do you still get dead alage and muck stuck on the Texas rig?

If your lakes bottom is extremely mucky I recommend using a Carolina rig or drop shot if your sticking to plastics. Also a soft jerk bait or a wacky rigged worm with both work better. 

With mucky bottoms you want to avoid using a Texas rig. The way this set up works forces the bait down into the muck on the bottom and the bass tend to avoid hitting the bait in this position. This is because they use the power of their gills to suck the baits in and if they tried this with the bait stick in the muck they would also inhale a lot of bottom. This is why most of your hits will come after lifting the bait as it falls back down. 

Because of this you want to keep your bait near but not on the bottom. In this instance I would look to weather conditions and what type of structure your fishing. If it's a windy day or you have current or something similar you need weight to assist in casting and getting the bait where you want it in the water column. This is where a Carolina rig or drop shot shine. Or if there are no winds and little to no current I throw a wacky rig or soft minnow jerk bait. These baits have a much slower ROF and entice the bite amazingly in almost any water clarity. 

Hope this helps and happy Hunting. 

 

Fellow bass angler

20+ years of exp