Would appreciate some fresh ideas....

[fuzzface]

I’ve been fishing this lake my whole life but I’d appreciate a fresh perspective.   I have a cabin on this lake in upstate NY (loon lake) that I spend time at during the summer.  My boat is a 15’ Boston Whaler SS.  No electronics.  I know where to get at least a few bass (lm or sm) every time out.

 

Last 10 years, thanks to work schedule and 5 kids, I only got about 10 days a summer and would just grab a bag of watermelon Senko and some 3/0 gama ewg and cast the weed pockets and docks that hold bass.  Mostly juveniles and the occasional adult.

 

I will have more time this summer and I’m trying to have a game plan for targeting adult bass.  I’m now equipped with the following:

Dobyns 703sf, sahara 2500, 8lb mono

Dobyns 734c, slx, 12lb mono

slip shot rig (1/8oz brass, beads, 1/0)

wacky (1/0 gama fwg, o-rings)

shakyhead (1/8oz owner)

Texas rig (3/16,1/4 brass bullet, 3/0 straight)

swim jigs (outkast)

grass jigs (outkast)

pad crasher jr. frog

5” Senko

7” power worm

6” roboworm straight

rage craw

rage menace

 

With the above gear, how would you attack this lake?  Any locations jump out?  Tactics? Lake is relatively shallow for upstate NY (it’s a reservoir, not a glacial lake).  Lots of grass (pondweed down to 10-12’, hydrilla, thick pads in the coves).   Tons of recreational boating all day.  According to the last water quality survey, 12-13’ viz,  thermocline at 16’.  Pike and walleye are also present.  Thanks for your time and perspective!

 

[TOXIC]

Dropshot and Ned rig need to be on your list of baits. As for locations, anywhere you have a weed line around drops or rocks.  Might want to add a top water as well.  

[Functional]

Haven't fished Loon lake but have been to Black Lake often. Used to hammer them on a weightless paddle tail fluke, white spinner bait and frogs. 

 

As mentioned anywhere you could find weed beds that came out close to a drop off of a submerged weed bed by an island or secondary point. I'd say 5-10ft was the sweet spots, the water up there is usually cooler. Be prepared though,  we probably caught just as many pike as we did bass with that strategy. 

[CrankFate]

I don’t know? But I think you’re too caught up in the details. Forget about how you’re rigging. Look at what you’re rigging. You have 6 things (3 worms, 2 craws and a frog). So really you’re only throwing a worm and a craw in the water. And a topwater. The rest is just how you’re rigging them and what you’re fishing them with.
 

You can easily have several more offerings. How bout something that swims like a fish? Something that has a hard body and treble hooks? There are so many things you can add here. I use a sewing box smaller than a 6 pack cooler. In it, I easily pack 5 or 6 different hooks. 4 or 5 different soft plastics, 5 or 6 different hard baits.  3 or 4 metals. And my jigs, leaders, sinkers and swivels.
 

To me you got worms. You got craws. You got hard sticks, fat sticks and jointed hard baits. You got hard swim baits. You got metals-spinners, blades, spoons and chatters. And then there’s fish (soft swimbaits). The most underrated offering of all. Focus on a major iteration or two from the worms, the craws, the hard sticks, the hard swimmers, the metals and the fish. Then you basically got everything.
 

Fish them until you find out what works.
 

Sizes, colors, rigging and everything else comes from what the fish want, your gear and how you fish. The rigging style doesn’t change your offering. It just offers it in different locations or with a different movement.
 

I use the rigging style to put the offering somewhere first and then to make it have a certain movement second. Because if your bait isn’t near fish it can’t get bit. A half ***** presentation where the fish are will always do better than a perfect presentation where there’s no fish.

[txchaser]

On 6/26/2021 at 9:02 AM, fuzzface said:

Lots of grass

1) Chatterbait

2) Chatterbait (seriously)

3) Keitech Fat 3.8 or Biospawn with an owner flashy swimmer. Does really well in the weeds, and has a little more flash (willow) or noise (colorado) than the swimjig. 

4) Toad; I like the Keitech Toads. If you get the Keitechs, a 1/8 oz 3/0 swimbait hook gives it a fall rate about like a senko. 

 

 

Some other thoughts:

Intersection of shallow and deep water; depending on the bass season I might be deeper or shallower, but deep (relative to that part of the lake) water nearby may make a difference. My three biggest fish were all within 50 feet of deep water, 4 was 75-100ft , 5 was right next to a weed edge dropoff. 

If you are catching smaller fish, turn around and cast the other direction. It's not a perfect analogy, but it's been helpful for me in the past - by and large the bigger fish are going to run a little deeper, so maybe there's a feature that is out a little deeper than where you are. Fish that too. 

 

[scaleface]

Lots of structure on this lake . Look at those  two humps connected by a saddle . Thats a good looking spot there .

[fuzzface]

On 6/27/2021 at 10:49 PM, txchaser said:

1) Chatterbait

2) Chatterbait (seriously)

3) Keitech Fat 3.8 or Biospawn with an owner flashy swimmer. Does really well in the weeds, and has a little more flash (willow) or noise (colorado) than the swimjig. 

4) Toad; I like the Keitech Toads. If you get the Keitechs, a 1/8 oz 3/0 swimbait hook gives it a fall rate about like a senko. 

 

 

Some other thoughts:

Intersection of shallow and deep water; depending on the bass season I might be deeper or shallower, but deep (relative to that part of the lake) water nearby may make a difference. My three biggest fish were all within 50 feet of deep water, 4 was 75-100ft , 5 was right next to a weed edge dropoff. 

If you are catching smaller fish, turn around and cast the other direction. It's not a perfect analogy, but it's been helpful for me in the past - by and large the bigger fish are going to run a little deeper, so maybe there's a feature that is out a little deeper than where you are. Fish that too. 

 

Thanks for this!  Never fished a chatterbait.  Awesome right out of the gate.  First time out, no dinks, only solid adult bass.  Fished submerged (pondweed, surfacing in spots) weeds in about 7-10 ft of water (edge of deep water).  Used a keitech fat 3.8 as a trailer.  went through 3.  They got torn up! 

On 6/28/2021 at 8:57 AM, scaleface said:

Lots of structure on this lake . Look at those  two humps connected by a saddle . Thats a good looking spot there .

Yup.  See post above.  The saddle was great spot for a chatterbait.  Thanks!  

[fuzzface]

On 6/27/2021 at 10:49 PM, txchaser said:

1) Chatterbait

2) Chatterbait (seriously)

3) Keitech Fat 3.8 or Biospawn with an owner flashy swimmer. Does really well in the weeds, and has a little more flash (willow) or noise (colorado) than the swimjig. 

4) Toad; I like the Keitech Toads. If you get the Keitechs, a 1/8 oz 3/0 swimbait hook gives it a fall rate about like a senko. 

 

 

Some other thoughts:

Intersection of shallow and deep water; depending on the bass season I might be deeper or shallower, but deep (relative to that part of the lake) water nearby may make a difference. My three biggest fish were all within 50 feet of deep water, 4 was 75-100ft , 5 was right next to a weed edge dropoff. 

If you are catching smaller fish, turn around and cast the other direction. It's not a perfect analogy, but it's been helpful for me in the past - by and large the bigger fish are going to run a little deeper, so maybe there's a feature that is out a little deeper than where you are. Fish that too. 

 

 

On 6/27/2021 at 6:06 PM, CrankFate said:

I don’t know? But I think you’re too caught up in the details. Forget about how you’re rigging. Look at what you’re rigging. You have 6 things (3 worms, 2 craws and a frog). So really you’re only throwing a worm and a craw in the water. And a topwater. The rest is just how you’re rigging them and what you’re fishing them with.
 

You can easily have several more offerings. How bout something that swims like a fish? Something that has a hard body and treble hooks? There are so many things you can add here. I use a sewing box smaller than a 6 pack cooler. In it, I easily pack 5 or 6 different hooks. 4 or 5 different soft plastics, 5 or 6 different hard baits.  3 or 4 metals. And my jigs, leaders, sinkers and swivels.
 

To me you got worms. You got craws. You got hard sticks, fat sticks and jointed hard baits. You got hard swim baits. You got metals-spinners, blades, spoons and chatters. And then there’s fish (soft swimbaits). The most underrated offering of all. Focus on a major iteration or two from the worms, the craws, the hard sticks, the hard swimmers, the metals and the fish. Then you basically got everything.
 

Fish them until you find out what works.
 

Sizes, colors, rigging and everything else comes from what the fish want, your gear and how you fish. The rigging style doesn’t change your offering. It just offers it in different locations or with a different movement.
 

I use the rigging style to put the offering somewhere first and then to make it have a certain movement second. Because if your bait isn’t near fish it can’t get bit. A half ***** presentation where the fish are will always do better than a perfect presentation where there’s no fish.

I appreciate the feedback.  I understand that my post made it seem like that’s all I have.  I’ve thrown it ALL on this lake.  But there’s pike and they tear up my hard baits (PB pike 10.25lb 36” on a Bagley crank while bassin, but also my PB 6.5lb bass on a Rapala minnow). I’ve narrowed my focus since pike never hit my worm or jig presentations.  I’m trying to sort out the spots that the apex bass will hang given the competition with pike and walleye.  Boat, two rods, great lake, limited time, and trying to hunt the best of the breed.  Any ideas given the sonar map that I posted?  Thanks!