Whats the best way to fish a lagoon off a river where the water is no deeper than 5 feet?

[basshunterman9]

There is a main river near where I live, and there is an outflow of water into a wide lagoon. I've tried fishing there a couple of times, and saw some 5 lbs, but I keep getting small bass. So far it seems the only thing that has been working is a weightless senko. I then tried a dropshot and got much more sensitivity, but the hookset was horrendous. I'm curious what y'all's approaches might be in a shallow lagoon. The water quality is not too great, but I can see movements along the bottom of the lagoon bed. The bass seem to enter and disappear out of sight. It also seems they coexist with the bluegill, even swimming side by side with them, which I found strange. Any tips would be greatly helpful!

[Sam]

Bass will swim around with bluegills and every once in a while the bass will attack the bluegills and have a nice dinner.

 

As for what to throw, you have to experiment.

 

Fish all three water columns with your baits: topwater - middle about 3 feet - bottom, and see what happens. The bass will tell you what they want at what depth.

 

As for what to throw, with dirty water two main options: black and blue plastics or Junebug color plus a yellow. Remember, bass feed by sight first then by feeling vibrations. So dip the tail of your plastics with JJ's Magic or a yellow dye; throw crankbaits with a chartreuse color; throw a black crankbait; go with a shaky head trick worm; try a MOJO rig (poor man's Carolina rig); try a swim jig; don't forget your jigs and pigs if there are any crawfish in the river and lagoon; go with a buzzbait at any time of day; go with a frog; a spinnerbait with a chartreuse skirt; is the main river a tidal river; and watch out for the Monster from the Black Lagoon.

 

Good luck. Experiment. Go with yellow or a dark color; Dye the tails of your plastics yellow; and go fishing.

 

Have you introduced  yourself in the Introductions section? Where are you located is necessary in your avatar as we can give you more detailed input if we know where you are. 

 

And always bring needle nose pliers to remove hooks and watch out for that Monster from the Black Lagoon!  

[The Kawartha Angler]

Myself I'd start off throwing a shallow crankbait.  It's a good search technique to cover lots of water.  I usually catch fish of all kinds on a crankbait.  Sometimes a squarebill for aggressive movement, other times a round bill for less aggressive movement.

Then the good old weightless wacky (since it's shallow).  Or a weedless setup like a weedless jig with a craw type trailer.

Also ... since it's shallow a top water would be something I would try as well.

[Koz]

Shallow lagoons are all that I fish here in SC. The first thing that I look for is any vegetation along the shoreline, even if it's only a narrow strip of vegetation where the bass may be seeking cover. Because I bank fish, I position myself where I can cast across a stretch of shoreline and keep the bait in the strike zone.

 

Sometimes I'll throw a t-rigged worm there, but usually I will start with a spinnerbait (with a paddle tail trailer) or a noisy, weedless topwater like a Teckel Sprinker Frog. If you like to fish a jig, paralleling the bank with one would work as well.

 

Where the river flows into the lagoon there is bound to be some sediment buildup, but moving into the lagoon the basin should be deeper or there will be a channel or two carved out by the moving water. I'd find the spots where the water gets deeper - even if it's only a little bit - and fish those.You can fish your lure from deeper to shallow, shallow to deeper, or parallel along the drop off.

[Drew03cmc]

Honestly, I'd love to have this type of water. Junebug UV Speed Worm, Texas weightless, Booyah Popping Pad Crasher, Keitech Noisy Flapper in green frog, Jackall Rhythm Wave...all produce. Now, where to fish is the key. Key on weeds first. Then wood.

[Junger]

I would throw topwater next to any kind of cover or near the bank.