Pretty shocked!

[Sword of the Lord]

At one of the few regular ponds I fish, I haven been catching ~1-2 pounders all summer on Senkos, various plastic worms, and topwaters. I never pulled out anything bigger at this particular pond all summer. Now for fall, I've been throwing lipless crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and chatterbaits almost all the time. This morning a Rat-L-Trap caught me a 4 and a 6 pounder back to back. I never would have known these fish were here. I'm kind of in awe that they would not take Senkos or big worms all summer, or hell even craws. But throw burner baits and the fatties move. I have filmed at this pond before for a small, closed group, and have often said, "There's no big fish in here, but I love this place because of the vast numbers."

[Oregon Native]

Very nice....hope you and your small group can keep the secret.

[Mike L]

Yep

Whatever you do, be carefull who you tell. 

 

Seriously, there's a lesson to be learned there that we all can get a benefit from. 

The bigger ones can be very particular about what they eat and when. Just because we throw what we know and what we've had great success with, doesn't mean a thing sometimes.

 

We'd be shocked to learn how many times that Senko, worm, craw, spinnerbait etc went right by them, how many times they looked at it, thought about it, then turned and swam away. 

 

Big girls don't get big because they're stupid. 

 

Good Job!

 

 

Mike

[Sword of the Lord]

My small group and I are a closed lipped bunch!

 

Even more astonishing to me is that these fish were not caught in new or unusual spots. I caught them at pretty much my go-to spot at this pond. 

[Bankbeater]

Nice going! I'm always surprised when I catch a nice bass in a pond where I have always caught dinks in. I wonder if someone put the bass in the pond, or if it grew there naturally. 

[Pro Logcatcher]

Before I moved to North Carolina, I would always fish one pond in Ohio. The biggest bass I caught out there was probably about four or five pounds. One of my friends just sent me a picture of him with a 9.12 caught at that pond!

[lonnie g]

congrats ! new things can be challenging, but sometimes they to can be suprisingly fun. 

[Koz]

On 10/8/2017 at 9:37 AM, Sword of the Lord said:

This morning a Rat-L-Trap caught me a 4 and a 6 pounder back to back.

 

Over the summer the only thing I caught on a Rat-L-Trap was a Bluegill. I have no idea why a fish with a mouth that small would hit a big lure like that.

 

So far this fall the Rat-L-Traps has been the top big bass producer for me this fall. Can't wait to toss it again later today!

[wdp]

54 minutes ago, Koz said:

 

Over the summer the only thing I caught on a Rat-L-Trap was a Bluegill. I have no idea why a fish with a mouth that small would hit a big lure like that.

 

So far this fall the Rat-L-Traps has been the top big bass producer for me this fall. Can't wait to toss it again later today!

I once caught a bluegill on a large Smithwick Rattling Rogue. Pound for pound, they're some mean & hard fighting things. ?

 

I love throwing lipless cranks, especially in the Fall. Great for catching numbers & big ones. I even catch the occasional crappie on them. 

[flyfisher]

1 hour ago, wdp said:

I once caught a bluegill on a large Smithwick Rattling Rogue. Pound for pound, they're some mean & hard fighting things. ?

 

I love throwing lipless cranks, especially in the Fall. Great for catching numbers & big ones. I even catch the occasional crappie on them. 

I think i have caught maybe 2 fish on a lipless crank....to be fair i haven't thrown them constantly in a long long time but i keep saying i should try them out again

[wdp]

2 hours ago, flyfisher said:

I think i have caught maybe 2 fish on a lipless crank....to be fair i haven't thrown them constantly in a long long time but i keep saying i should try them out again

Yeah, keep at it. Once you find the rthymn/cadence they want on the retrieve, you can slay em. Most times a burn & pause retrieve works best for me. Other times, they want it pumped up and down from like a 9 o'clock to 12 o'clock position with sporadic pauses. Others times, rip it off bottom & let it sink while reeling in slack - this can be killer in cooler water. And finally, sometimes a straight burning it back works. 

 

Try fishing it around sparse, submerged grass and ticking the top of the grass. When it gets hung, rip it free with a hard jerk of the rod. Sometimes they'll slam it when it rips free. 

 

To me, the best set up for lipless cranks is a 7' MH with a mod fast tip. I use a 7.1 ratio reel. I'm partial to Strike King Redeye Shads - they seem to have more vibration & shimmy down when paused.  I've had some 30-40 fish days with a 1/4 oz RES around shallow grass. And I usually catch a few that'll go 3-5 lbs. Every now & then you'll hook a real pig too. ?