Slip bobber rig, cold water big bass

[Mr. Aquarium]

So I’m thinking out loud here.   I was thinking of fishing a slip bobber rig in cold water, pitched to deep stumps. I feel

the bass sit under these big stumps. If a  hair jig slowly falls down in front of them and sits there, slowly twitching in front of them, if it’s 30 seconds or 5 minutes, they’ll hit it. Right?  Am I crazy???? What are some other baits you would fish in such a spot as I describe. 
I’d fish anything under the rig. 1/16 ounce to 3/4. Different weights and size of material for bigger bait fish. 
I live in Massachusetts. I got a pond with really big bass. My buddy has 3 8s over the past 3 years. Biggest here for him is 8.12. 
my biggest is 6.13. Don’t get me started lol. Fish the same baits during the same time of year, but I haven’t gotten my 8lber. It’s driving me crazy that I haven’t broke the 8lbs mark!  But we only fish this spot a very specific time of year for giant bass.  1000s of river herring run up the river.  I’ve had my heart stop and d**n near cried at some of these bass, that nip, follow or stare at my bait. But I HATE!!!!! Let me repeat that. I HATE!!!! that I have to wait till this time of year to get my chance at breaking 8.  Could be a week or a month.  Now the weeds are dying I want to get back after it again for cold water. I do pretty well in cold water, better then my buddy. 

 

Layout-  it’s an old apple orchard.  THERES A TON OF STUMPS!!!! 
very weedy in summer! 
Old creek bed,  river channel snakes it’s way through. Channel gets to 15 feet but along the sides, it’s 3-5 feet very shallow along the edge of the channel.  

These stumps will be surround by 3-4 feet deep but under them it’s a big hole. I’ve marked 8 feet under some stumps. 

[Bluebasser86]

So basically a float-n-fly rig?

[Mr. Aquarium]

Yep’ float and fly but pitched and dropped into structure 

[Hook2Jaw]

Stumps make me wanna throw a squarebill.  I'm glad you've found a method that works for y'all, I've never fished a float-n-fly!  

[Mr. Aquarium]

8 minutes ago, Hook2Jaw said:

Stumps make me wanna throw a squarebill.  I'm glad you've found a method that works for y'all, I've never fished a float-n-fly!  

Even in water in the 40s.  I need to figure out how to get the giants here! 

[Hook2Jaw]

1 hour ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

Even in water in the 40s.  I need to figure out how to get the giants here! 

Awh lord, I live in South Georgia.  Our water doesn't even touch the 40s.  That probably wouldn't stop me from trying a squarebill. 

[Mr. Aquarium]

Oh d**n that’s awesome! Hell I’ve caught topwater bass in waters in the 40s. 
problem with this place is, it’s loaded with pickerle! 

[Luke Barnes]

Ive done a float and fly alot for Panfish and occasionally bass. When I do for bass I use a good size hook and 3.5" Gulp Minnows. Gills will nip the tails off so that's frustrating, but wont hook themselves. The gulp minnows look pretty real, move decently and have the gulp juice that puts out smell or taste. That's what I would do. 

[plawren53202]

Points to OP for creative thinking. I have no idea if this would work but I'd totally give it a shot and see, worst thing that could happen is you just don't get bit on it LOL.

 

As far as possible baits, I think a hair jig would be great. Drawing from my admittedly more limited crappie fishing experience, anything with very slender appendages seems like it would work for this. For crappie, those Bobbie Garland style shad jig bodies work well because they taper back to a very thin tail, like just a single strand of plastic. So it only takes the slightest bit of rod movement or boat motion to get that tail quivering. Lifelike action without being over the top or too in your face to the fish. A hair jig works exactly the same way.

 

I can't think of any off the top of my head but have seen other bass soft plastics that have extremely thin appendages like that.  For instance on the Jenko Tremor Shad,  https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Jenko_Fishing_Tremor_Shad_Soft_Jerkbait/descpage-JFTSHD.html

the tail tapers off similarly to the Bobby Garland crappie baits...though I haven't tried the smallest Jenko Tremor Shads, the ones I have are one of the larger sizes and would be too big for what you're talking about. But the 3.5" might work. But that's the kind of bait that seems like it might work. Or maybe the smallest Zoom fluke? IDK, just throwing stuff out here...but definitely report back if you try this and let us know how it goes!

[GetFishorDieTryin]

6 hours ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

Even in water in the 40s.  I need to figure out how to get the giants here!

If your looking to catch fish out of stump fields in cold water try a TN60 or the new 50s.  You can really beat em down yo yoing.  What I like about the TNs is they sit up on the bottom and you can match just about anything with the colors.  They aren't cheap and I was hesitant to fish them around cover like that at first.  I take the rear treble off and replace the front with a light wire trebles, so if it does get hung I can bend it out and get the bait back 9 of 10 times.  If I cant get bit on the trap I throw a finesse jig or ned rig where I marked the fish and if they don't work I move on and try to find fish that are more aggressive.  You can do the same thing with a blade bait really. 

Tighter swimming cranks will work also.  Ive found the best to be a modified Shad Rap.  I don't want it have that fast float.  I want it to suspend or sink really really slow.  I drill a hole in the chin of the bait add lead and then I throw it in a tank to see what happens.  If it floats I add small amount of lead and test it again.  Every Shad Rap is different so you have to guess and test until you get it right with every bait.  if your going to change the trebles which I highly recommend make sure you test the bait with those trebles on.  Its also important to have the water in tank as close to the temperature of the lake your fishing as possible so the densities of the water is similar.  It can be a pain in the neck to get it right , but its worth the effort in the end.

[Bluebasser86]

16 hours ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

Even in water in the 40s.  I need to figure out how to get the giants here! 

I fish a squarebill with water temps in the high 30's and still catch fish. Get it weighted right so you can really crawl it without it raising quickly or even suspends and creep it through the stump field (basically pull the rod to the side and then reel back to the bait and repeat).

 

A big single Colorado bladed spinnerbait would be something else I'd try in that situation. It wouldn't get you many bites, but you're not fishing for numbers in the winter time.

[jimmyjoe]

   Maybe I'm not understanding the situation correctly, but it sounds like a place where I would jig a light flutter spoon, like the 1/2 oz. Flutterchuck. Constant movement, even very slight, looks to be better than deadsticking.

   If I used a jig 'n' bobber, I'd use marabou jigs.     jj

[MassYak85]

Float and fly is something I wanna try this year. My cold water confidence isn't very high and I've seen people do well with them. 

[Mr. Aquarium]

21 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

Float and fly is something I wanna try this year. My cold water confidence isn't very high and I've seen people do well with them. 

I’d rather fish a hair jig on bottom slowly twitching, but in this situation where the big bass are sitting under stumps. I think I may try it.  Even if it’s a bit bigger then most flies.   Subtle movements of hair and fur right in front a big bass. I’m sure it would hit it.  Just drop it in front of it’s face.  And twitch it! 

[Vilas15]

On 10/12/2020 at 10:56 AM, Jermination said:

are you in a yak on the pond? When the water gets in the low-mid 40s here in East TN we drop a thing down called a Damiki rig(90 degree line tie 1/4 oz vmc moon eye jig head, zman finesse shadz work great) and video game fish them. Hold it as still as you can with the occasional lift up if the fish are finnicky taking your initial offering.

Off topic but i have to laugh at whoever came up with a "rig" name for vertical jigging a standard lead head jig the way fisherman have done for 100 years just because they put a plastic on it instead of a minnow. No doubt it would work though.

 

Slip bobbers are great as well if you know exact the spot youre trying to hit and arent trying to cover water. Adjust the depth until you find them.