Preparing for the day...strategies

[lunkerboss923]

I am a pond hopper. I just get in my car and go. I'll find a body of water if it looks good I'll fish it (if it's public. I don't trespass). Today, for instance, I caught a fish on a swim jig in bluegill pattern with a grub trailer. The bite stopped and I finessed with drop shot in morning dawn color and nailed my second cast. That's two separate techniques on two separate colors. How do prepare for that? I just fished with what I had. 

 

I guess my question is do you go into day knowing exactly how you are going to fish or do you have other approaches. I'll look at the pond the day before or read prior reports on Fishbrain. I can get a good idea, but I'm usually about 50/50 on my guess of lures. Go to the pond the next day, if it's early morning target lilypads with topwater frogs. I like to test the water with search baits like a crankbait just so can see how deep I'm fishing if I have milfoil or hydrilla on my lure I know I'm fishing at least 6 feet if I have scumb then I'm probably fishing 3 feet. I'll fish a drop shot or wacky worm to see if they are biting (finesse fishing is a determinate whether the fishing is worth the effort). It's a crap shoot from there. 

 

Like today I had a bluegill swim jig that I caught a nice fish on. My jerkbait/popper rod I had a bluegill pattern popper, the water was really calm, almost glass thought that it was a perfect opportunity to catch another fish. After struggling, I decided to try the drop shot, I caught a fish on something totally different than a bluegill pattern (pink and purple worm). They wouldn't hit my Rapala jerkbait, but they nailed my Zoom Super Fluke in watermelon red flake. 

 

I can stay up all night rigging my rods, then have a day like today (no rhyme or reason...colors were all off, nothing consistent or even matched.)

 

How do you prepare? What colors work for you based on water clarity. What's all in the rotation as far as lures are concerned. How do you decide what to throw. 

[DitchPanda]

Well for me in my waters it's pretty straightforward. I have 3 to 4 rods usually rigged as such: 1 medium or medium heavy baitcaster with a seasonal moving bait: spring and fall it's usually a spinnerbait or lipless..summer it's usually a swim jig or squarebill. 1 medium heavy baitcaster with a flipping jig or Texas rigged worm...worm more in summer. 1 medium or medlight spinning rod with a finesse presentation: grub and leadhead, weightless worm or Ned rig. Ned rig in very hot or cold water...weightless worm prespawn thru spawn...grub when they focus on shad like now until fall sets in hard. 1 seasonal rod which can be anything from medium casting rod for jerkbaits or poppers...heavy casting rod for frogs....medlight spinning for shad raps. You can get deep into colors and drive yourself crazy trying to match every forage species around you. For me my most consistent ways of doing things are: in hard to see conditions like low light time periods, overcast rainy conditions or muddy water I use black, black blue or junebug. All other conditions I use brown or green pumpkin base to match crawfish or sunfish species...or white base to match shad. One area where I think color matters is very clear water but I don't fish that often around me. Also it matters in topwater it seems...80% of my topwater fish are caught on black regardless of light conditions or prey.

 

[Sphynx]

Depends if I know the water I'm fishing or not, if I'm fishing my home lake yes I put a bit of a plan together,  I generally look at the condition report, water temp, weather etc, and I will focus on the structure and cover I know has held fish before in similar conditions and will often start with baits that have gotten me bit before under like conditions; i.e. if I got bit ferociously on a red lipless during spring last year on a certain grass line, there's a good chance that I'll see if I can replicate the pattern this year,  if it isn't working I'll do what I do with lakes I don't know, which is to listen to what "should" work under a given set of conditions and err on the side of a search bait, and try to cover water as quickly as I can to find fish, then slow down and pick areas holding fish apart with finesse/jig/t-rig type stuff

[Dens228]

I usually know what I'm going to use the night before unless I've never been there. If I have never been there I can usually get pretty close based on looking at the depth map and weather.  There are times I get there and have to switch things up based on water clarity or an unknown change in the weather. 

 

Using yesterday as an example.  I went to a regular spot, a small strip quarry that has clear water. Weather called for sunshine and very low wind.   I was on the water 30 minutes before sunrise and it was fairly windy as well as clouds that weren't supposed to be there.  I planned on starting with a 1/4 oz spinnerbait until the sun got above the trees but with the wind and clouds I figured I'd keep throwing it a bit longer.  I was having a very good day until the wind stopped so I switched to a Jackhammer and starting catching them again.  This was all in six feet or less of water.  Then the clouds left, the sun was higher and the bite stopped again.  So..........I started throwing a Rat L Trap in Sexy West in deeper water, between 12-15 feet since visibility was at least 8-10 feet.  Bam, back on them.  And most of my bites on that were while I was counting down the fall and hadn't even started reeling. 

 

I also tried a jig/craw in the deeper water around humps, islands, and drop offs and didn't get a single bite.  Nor did a weighted wacky rig or t-rig.  They wanted movement and sound apparently. 

[Bankbeater]

If I have fished the water before then I usually have an idea of how to rig up. If this is a place I have never fished before then I try to find information on the web, and I rig up based on what the weather is like. Cloudy, sunny, windy, warm, or cool all have slightly different presentations. 

[scaleface]

Sounds like you do a pretty good job of lure selection . Way past the try everything stage .

 

   I dont pond hop but ditch hop . I only use a few lures . Beetle Spin , texas rigged worm and a top water . Keep them  in a truck compartment for when the urge to go ditch hopping  hits  .

[lunkerboss923]

2 hours ago, Bankbeater said:

If I have fished the water before then I usually have an idea of how to rig up. If this is a place I have never fished before then I try to find information on the web, and I rig up based on what the weather is like. Cloudy, sunny, windy, warm, or cool all have slightly different presentations. 

 

Can you elaborate on your color choices and your techniques/presentations? Clear day, cloudy day, rain, cold, and hot. Just trying to get better. Thank you 

[Mobasser]

For me, much of this comes down to how well you can learn a pond or lake, based on seasonal location of bass. From June to the end of Sept, I catch 90% of my fish on t rig worms. I also use a buzzbait, weedless spoon, and small spinnerbait. If you can learn one two ponds really well, you really won't need a huge amount of tackle. 

After several days of hot sunny weather, and a cloudy day comes, I do better on buzzbait/ spinnerbait, but a rig worm will work on any days. Just fish it slowly.

[the reel ess]

nm

 

 

 

 

 

[lunkerboss923]

7 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

For me, much of this comes down to how well you can learn a pond or lake, based on seasonal location of bass. From June to the end of Sept, I catch 90% of my fish on t rig worms. I also use a buzzbait, weedless spoon, and small spinnerbait. If you can learn one two ponds really well, you really won't need a huge amount of tackle. 

After several days of hot sunny weather, and a cloudy day comes, I do better on buzzbait/ spinnerbait, but a rig worm will work on any days. Just fish it slowly.

I'm just not as confident in Texas Rigs anymore. I'm not sure of the cadence. I used to pop-pop pause pop-pop-pop pause. I'd switch it up too, I just can't get it right. I used to say the same about jigs and yesterday I caught a nice 3 lb bass on a swim jig. I really hate to admit it, because I think the hype is silly, but I have bought Googan Baits and they aren't bad. The swim jig I used was a Googan. 

[scaleface]

15 hours ago, lunkerboss923 said:

I guess my question is do you go into day knowing exactly how you are going to fish or do you have other approaches

I have an idea but the very first thing I do when getting to the water is get a general impression of it . I might be switching lures before ever making a cast .

[Bankbeater]

8 hours ago, scaleface said:

Sounds like you do a pretty good job of lure selection . Way past the try everything stage .

 

   I dont pond hop but ditch hop . I only use a few lures . Beetle Spin , texas rigged worm and a top water . Keep them  in a truck compartment for when the urge to go ditch hopping  hits  .

Cloudy days I start with maybe a blue/black or a brown. Sunny clear days get natural colors. Rainy days get a blue/black or black. I start on top of the water column and go down until I find where the bass are. That’s my rule of thumb but sometimes you can just toss it out the window because bass aren’t following it. 

[DaubsNU1]

Good thread. I fished a lot back in the 90's and early 2000's...but haven't fished in last 15 years (raising two daughters who were big in to sports). 

 

Now I'm back in the fishing game and trying to get things lined up. Have to admit, I'm not much for trying new stuff, so the advice here is good. I tend to get stuck in a rut with techniques, lure choice, colors, etc. 

 

I feel pretty confident with the following:

• Buzz bait, white or white-chartreuse @ dawn or first light. Love the top water bite.
• Blue-fleck 7" power worm, t-rig. I've caught a lot of bass with this set up.
• White power grub on 1/4 oz. lead head. It's my go-to when everything else fails.
• White or white-chartreuse spinner bait. I can work it fast in shallow or deeper water. 
• Rainbow trout Slug-Go. Caught my PB on this set up...8lb largemouth in Missouri.
• Rattle-Trap. Good on bass, pike and musky

If the above are not working, I move to these:

• Jig-n-craw.  Deep.
• "Stinky Rig." Floating 4" worm rigged with light off-set hook, no weight, swivel tied 8-10" up the line to give it a slow sink. 
• Frog on top of grass or pads
• Houdini shad...new this summer, still trying to figure it out...
• Drop shot...again, new this summer.

 

[Mbirdsley]

I always have At least 4 rods on boat. my crank rod, t-rigging/jig rod, spinner bait/square bill/other crank rod, and my mh (acts like a like medium)  spinning set up for either tubes, Wacky rig, or light t-rig finesse set up.  These four I take no matter what especially for fishing big rivers.  Sometimes I may swap out the square bill rod for Another  m/l  Spinning reel. 
 

 

I have 4 other rods that get thrown in the mix.  Like this time of year if I’m fishing lakes I’d bring my heavy punching rig.  So that would give me 5.  I really try not to bring more than 6.  After 6 it just becomes a cluster #%^* and I spend more time swapping rods than fishing 

 

I try to have plan before going out but, it usually evolves throwing everything at them Untill something sticks. If I am short on time I like going to places I know.  If I can fish all day I’ll go to unknown to me  new places and that’s when I tend to bring more poles. as I’m usually unsure of what I’ll run into. 

[Lobocito]

If I'm pond hopping I usually have a specific lure tied on I want to use before I even look at the water. Especially for pond hopping, my experience is that the lure doesn't matter nearly as much as finding the fish and making a good presentation.

 

If I don't get any action in about 30 minutes I'll start rotating though. But I view my pond hopping mostly as a way to work on different techniques because I'm usually very confident I can pull a fish using just about anything from my favorite ponds. Rigging for a tournament or a big day on the boat though involves loading up 8-10 rods with everything imaginable and then throwing a jackhammer all day anyways.

[lunkerboss923]

43 minutes ago, Lobocito said:

If I'm pond hopping I usually have a specific lure tied on I want to use before I even look at the water. Especially for pond hopping, my experience is that the lure doesn't matter nearly as much as finding the fish and making a good presentation.

 

If I don't get any action in about 30 minutes I'll start rotating though. But I view my pond hopping mostly as a way to work on different techniques because I'm usually very confident I can pull a fish using just about anything from my favorite ponds. Rigging for a tournament or a big day on the boat though involves loading up 8-10 rods with everything imaginable and then throwing a jackhammer all day anyways.

I bring 4 to 6 pond hopping.?

[Bird]

Always tie on the night before and usually hang with the gameplan until the bass say.....WRONG  !

 

This time of year will always see the ole reliable T-rig worm after I'm finished throwing early morning buzzbaits. 

[LCG]

I keep things fairly simple. Senkos, baby brush hogs, beaver style baits, finesse worms, and TRD's and Crawz (all in watermelon red for clearer water and junebug for dirty water).

 

Also carry spinnerbaits, a chatterbait, frog, jig, and in line spinner for hard lures.

 

Mostly throw texas rigged soft plastics due to vegetation and cover. Usually bring one spinning combo and one baitcasting combo, sometimes just one combo. I keep terminal tackle for Ned, neko, drop shot, texas rigs, and various weights 1/16 - 1/4oz. And mainly fish small bodies of water with less than 10ft of water. But same stuff works deeper too. 

[Tatsu Dave]

1 hour ago, LCG said:

I keep things fairly simple. Senkos, baby brush hogs, beaver style baits, finesse worms, and TRD's and Crawz (all in watermelon red for clearer water and junebug for dirty water).

 

Also carry spinnerbaits, a chatterbait, frog, jig, and in line spinner for hard lures.

 

Mostly throw texas rigged soft plastics due to vegetation and cover. Usually bring one spinning combo and one baitcasting combo, sometimes just one combo. I keep terminal tackle for Ned, neko, drop shot, texas rigs, and various weights 1/16 - 1/4oz. And mainly fish small bodies of water with less than 10ft of water. But same stuff works deeper too. 

Few name changes on the soft lures and thats my day strategy and the same type water and cover I fish. If a 3" grub don't excite them on a shakeyhead then paddletail Keitech impacts might. Always can fall back on T-rigged trick sticks, true centers, rattlesnakes or some type of creature bait. Colors remain rainbow trout, crime scene, junebug, okeechobee craw, and trophy hunter. Water temps down to near 70 and nitetime temps in the forties and fifties......fall is in the air  Couple fish on Monday choked down 6" creatures so they are starting to feed heavier up here.