Lure selection for local tournament

[JediAmoeba]

I am curious what everyone's approach, more or less what tackle they would be fishing in a small local bass tournament I am fishing again in a few weeks.  

 

The water: About 42 acres that is very shallow.  Probably averages 4'.  The deepest spot is about 8 feet but that is a teeny area maybe 100 feet by 100 feet.  Deep holes are about 6 feet.  It is extremely weedy, has mostly grass that grows a few inches from the surface with some milfoil and a few other grasses mixed in...no real lily pads, just some sparse areas of pond weed.  The bottom is super soft and silty.  Basically this is a glorified swamp IMO.

 

The fish: Perch, Pickerel, sunfish, bluegill, bullheads and Crappie.  There are some decent large mouth in here despite being so shallow.  The largemouth are very dark probably from living in the grass and having the sun beating on them all the time.

 

Fishing is for 4 hours in a few weeks, 8am until 12.  So this is the 3rd year I am fishing in it, and it's a lot of fun regardless with the past years having about 30 entrants. You can use electric motors if you want but I usually just take my kayak out and paddle along because it's not too big and I don't have to worry about getting tangled in weeds all the time. They weigh all the fish as we go and take your biggest 5.  The problem is the last 2 years no one has caught 5 fish.   Last year out of 30 people only 4 fish were caught in the cold October rains, that's why it's in September this year so we expect probably 40 anglers.  I won with 2 fish at about 3 pounds last year and 3 fish at 5 pounds the previous year.

 

I fished here about a month ago and caught 14 fish in 4 hours with the 5 biggest being in the 14 pound neighborhood.  These were all caught on 12 different baits. I went last week and caught a total of 0 bass...I lost 4 nice ones because they were just not committing and short striking everything.

 

In previous years I see everyone typically using topwater baits - a lot of frogs and a lot of buzz baits.  Attacking this isn't a lot of fun.    

 

With all the grass and weeds dying off now fishing anything moving is tons of fun.  You spend more time cleaning off lures than actually fishing.

 

My plan of attack is usually start off with spinnerbaits to cover water and get those reaction bites which is usually pretty effective.  I stay away from buzzbaits because they just wrap grass up so bad it's frustrating plus they see them from everyone else.  I pull texas rigs through the grass but they don't seem to be too effective despite throwing rattles in there and beads.  Weightless tex-posed worms tend to be ok but they haven't produced tons of bites.  I have a fair amount of success fishing weedless flukes but they tend to attract more pickerel than anything and that results in a lot of bite-offs.

 

I have gone about flipping and punching jigs and heavy beaver style bites down into the weeds but the bite is very slow and you clean off a lot of weeds/muck.  Plus they bury right down in the muck.  Swim jigs have been very ineffective and seem to do worse for me than anything.

 

What am I missing here?  Should I be flipping a power shot rig perhaps to get the baits into the thick of things but off the bottom?  The weeds are very interesting, they are soooooo thick but there is almost nothing on the surface for about 4-6 inches except for all the strands of grass sticking up that grab everything.  Anything with a treble hook is put of the picture except for a small little 50 foot by 50 foot hole that never seems to hold any fish (nothing ever shows up on my graphs).

 

Thanks for any suggestions.  

[papajoe222]

That sounds like some fun competition. As it's a few weeks away, a lot can change. The weeds will likely be turning brown. If that's the case, target whatever green weeds you can find. Possibly a top/bottom approach using a skinny worm with a tail that won't catch on the weeds and pegging the weight. A Zoom Trick Worm can be worked weightless to target the weed tops and unless working something along the bottom is out of the question, can be used as a punch bait that doesn't require a lot of weight and shouldn't pick up much as both it and the weight have a small, thin profile.

Just something you might try if you're having trouble getting bites.

[zell_pop1]

Try a popper version frog, you could also  go old school with a topwater spoon

[Black Hawk Basser]

Got any Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Worms?  That is a really subtle topwater presentation, and you can always kill it and let it fall.

[Sam]

Match the hatch.

 

What is the forage and best colors to mimic it?

 

Then make your selection of plastics, jigs, and hard baits.

 

The bass will tell you what they want and at what depth.

[jr231]

If you've won the past 2 years , sounds like you got it figured out. 

[JediAmoeba]

11 minutes ago, Yeajray231 said:

If you've won the past 2 years , sounds like you got it figured out. 

Yeah, but I have been helping a few people out by taking them out and assisting them plus I always tell everyone what I use.  

 

1 hour ago, Pickle_Power said:

Got any Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Worms?  That is a really subtle topwater presentation, and you can always kill it and let it fall.

I do - I was also going to try some rage shads but I haven't had luck elsewhere with them.

 

6 hours ago, zell_pop1 said:

Try a popper version frog, you could also  go old school with a topwater spoon

Top water spoon would be interesting.  I have used all sorts and brands of frogs and you would think they would be money, but just don't produce well.  I think they see too many of these lures since it's the obvious choice. 

[fishballer06]

30 boats on 42 acres?!  Woof...

[JediAmoeba]

1 minute ago, fishballer06 said:

30 boats on 42 acres?!  Woof...

Canoes, jon boats and kayaks.  There are quite a few people doubled up in canoes and kayaks too plus some fishing from shore.  It's not too bad.

[fishballer06]

13 minutes ago, JediAmoeba said:

Canoes, jon boats and kayaks.  There are quite a few people doubled up in canoes and kayaks too plus some fishing from shore.  It's not too bad.

Canoes, kayaks, and shore fisherman? How are these guys keeping fish alive for hours until weigh in?

 

We have a lake here in western PA that gets around 40 boats on a 300 acre lake for tournaments. There's only so many spots and there's almost always 3-6 boats at each "hole". Despite winning one of those tournaments, I've quit fishing tournaments on that lake because there's too much fishing on top of one another and in the long run, tournaments like that are detrimental to small bodies of water like that. 

[JediAmoeba]

19 minutes ago, fishballer06 said:

Canoes, kayaks, and shore fisherman? How are these guys keeping fish alive for hours until weigh in?

They weigh as we go.  There are 2 roving weigh stations and weigh stations around the lake.  Makes it easy

[lo n slo]

10 hours ago, fishballer06 said:

30 boats on 42 acres?!  Woof...

was thinking the same thing

[Hammer 4]

Zoom super fluke fished weightless...

[JediAmoeba]

Thanks for the suggestions - Managed to defend my title but was almost overtaken for the largest bass.  I still hate fishing this water...its the most frustrating place ever.  

 

5 bass at a whopping 8.3 pounds with my biggest only being 2.5 lbs.  Lol