The Skunk Award Goes To…

[LrgmouthShad]

3 hours ago, HaydenS said:

Gonna go out and swim a ned rig tomorrow. 

good luck brother

[islandbass]

JIGS JIGS JIGS!

JIGS JIGS JIGS!

JIGS JIGS JIGS!

JIGS JIGS JIGS!

JIGS JIGS JIGS! JIGS!!!!!!!!!

 

That Motley Crue song girls, girls, girls goes through my head but I’m hearing jigs, jigs, jigs. 

 

For every year that I still ain’t caught jack with them. This however is going to change. 
 

For those struggling with the ned rig, I’ll trade you. The first cast on the ned rig and I nailed a bass and it was awesome. So I put it on the back burner and focused on other techniques. 
 

By JIG I mean the traditional skirted jig and trailer. Jig head and worm? Check jig head and beaver? Check. Jig and pig? ??? 
 

@PotatoLake hang in there. It took me a long time to finally figure out the buzzbait too. Keep these two things in mind.  You can’t force them to bite the bait you want to catch them on and you also can’t catch what isn’t there. 
 

If a lure is not working, take your mental notes and add them to your memory bank. Then toss something else. You’ve done all that you could do with that bait. The knowledge you’re gaining is incremental and will pay dividends later. 
 

[T-Billy]

I gotta go with a technique instead of a bait. Punching mats hasn't been very productive for me. I spent a lot of time on it this summer and it just doesn't seem to be the way to roll around here. I could catch a few, but it was never nearly as productive as fishing wood that's choked out with weeds.

The biggest benefit I reaped from punching was making the switch from EWG's to straight shank flippin hooks. Having that point buried in the bait vs skin hooked is a game changer. It allows pitching into the nastiest of tangles with confidence. Equally important was the switch from 20# or 25# mono to 40# braid for all my flippin/pitchin duty. That made a HUGE difference in my ability to move the fish toward me on the hookset and keep control of them. There's virtually no place I won't pitch into at this point, and it's paid off big. These two changes allowed me to REALLY up my heavy cover game.

[Chris Catignani]

I'm gonna go with technique too...I totally suck at skipping anything.

[Catt]

Awesome action in the water but not a single bite!

 

 

[PotatoLake]

28 minutes ago, Catt said:

Awesome action in the water but not a single bite!

 

 

I struggle with Keitech style swim baits too on the flashy swimmer, I then switched to the skinny dipper and Little Dipper and I had some days this year that were pretty darn good. I don’t know it the pronounced wag of the Keitech turns the bass in my waters, but the dippers have a tighter wiggle. That’s the only thing I could figure. I caught them on flat calm bluebird skies and windy days, didn’t matter. 

[Log Catcher]

I am one step ahead of @Catt. I used them and had one hit on it. LOL. I don't remember what color keitech I was using with it. I have some Little Dippers. Will have to try them next year. I always had my best luck with the Swormin Hornet underspln.

[scaleface]

3 hours ago, T-Billy said:

Equally important was the switch from 20# or 25# mono to 40# braid for all my flippin/pitchin duty.

I thought about going to a heavier line or braid when fishing sunken cover but I have a hard enough time breaking off 17 lb trilene . I would have to cut braid . Can you break that stuff ?

[jimmyjoe]

19 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I would have to cut braid . Can you break that stuff ?

 

 .... only when you want to not break it. ? ?  

 

   Seriously ...... carry a dowel, wrap 5-6 times and pull. It breaks easier than the test makes it sound because the knot strength of braid is low.          jj

[Catt]

1 hour ago, PotatoLake said:

I struggle with Keitech style swim baits too on the flashy swimmer

 

1 hour ago, Log Catcher said:

I used them and had one hit on it. LOL.

 

It's not just on a flashy swimmers, I ain't been bit on any paddle tail rigged any kinda way. 

 

I kill em on Flukes & Live Magic Shads 

[zpelletier]

15 hours ago, thediscochef said:

This. I never had luck with a ned doing it the way you see in videos, always with the slow retrieve with a stop in the middle if the lure rises too high in the water. I believe that's kinda how Ned himself retrieves most of the time as well. Soon as I did as Ned suggested in a Dec 2019 article on Zmans website I started catching em. Helps the classic Ned to be in clear water; I started using the zman chatterbait micro with TRDs because I'm in stained water everywhere and I needed some flash and noise but still wanted the compact presentation of the ned. Worked like a charm.

funny enough I have read that article. That was the first way I tried to fish it (I had no idea the “proper” way so I guessed) I had no luck so I looked for other techniques and still nothing. 

[thediscochef]

32 minutes ago, zpelletier said:

funny enough I have read that article. That was the first way I tried to fish it (I had no idea the “proper” way so I guessed) I had no luck so I looked for other techniques and still nothing. 

That's odd. Have you tried any of Ned's other five retrieves? 

[HaydenS]

14 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

good luck brother

No action on the ned today.  Replaced it with a Duo Realis Rozante from @Bluebasser86, and caught a few smallies and some largemouth.

[Bluebasser86]

I'll jump on the spybait train. I killed some white bass with one buy they were schooling and probably would have eaten a rock if reeled it through them. No bass though and it wasn't for lack of trying.

[zpelletier]

2 hours ago, thediscochef said:

That's odd. Have you tried any of Ned's other five retrieves? 

Yes and no, I primary fish from shore (which may be part of my issues) and at least one of them is for fishing from a boat. I think another part of my issues may be using too heavy of a jig head. Ned uses 1/16oz and I’ve been using 1/8 and 1/10 because that’s what they had at the store. At least that’s what I tell myself ha

[T-Billy]

5 hours ago, scaleface said:

I thought about going to a heavier line or braid when fishing sunken cover but I have a hard enough time breaking off 17 lb trilene . I would have to cut braid . Can you break that stuff ?

I carry a hammer handle for breaking it. I gotta disagree with JJ on the knot strength. I use a Snell, or a Palomar, and knot strength is not an issue. Most braids are underrated and break well above their advertised strength. I fish Sufix 832. Hands down the best braid I've used. Not the thinnest or the smoothest, but it's smooth enough, has great abrasion resistance, and handles great. That Gore fiber lives up to the advertising.

You could try braid to mono leader. You'll get better feel and the lack of stretch will give you better hooksets and more control over the fish, while still enabling you to break off easier when you need to. I sometimes use a leader when fishing deep snaggy stuff for this reason. I use a Crazy Alberto to connect the lines. With a little practice it's easy to tie, and I've never had one fail. The leader will either break at the Trilene knot, or somewhere between the knots.

The only thing I do different is when I come back out with the tag, I wrap it around one side of the loop twice. It won't budge once cinched good, and I cut the tags as close to flush with the ends of the knot as possible. That makes it come through the guides smoother than leaving even a little tag, especially on the mono end.

[DogBone_384]

On 11/12/2021 at 9:38 AM, gunsinger said:

Jigs in general for me.  I guess I lack the patience ?

Me too… ^^^^^^^^

[thediscochef]

1 hour ago, zpelletier said:

Yes and no, I primary fish from shore (which may be part of my issues) and at least one of them is for fishing from a boat. I think another part of my issues may be using too heavy of a jig head. Ned uses 1/16oz and I’ve been using 1/8 and 1/10 because that’s what they had at the store. At least that’s what I tell myself ha

I am also shorebound so I feel you. I would probably also point to the head weight...I always use 1/16 or 1/32. As shallow as shorelines tend to be a 1/32 works great for parallel movement, 1/16 if you're casting out a bit deeper. You may just have too quick of a fall on 1/10 or higher, I know I've never caught anything on a ned over 1/16 much as I have tried. So you may be telling yourself the truth ?‍♂️?

[BrianMDTX]

On 11/12/2021 at 8:38 AM, gunsinger said:

Jigs in general for me.  I guess I lack the patience ?

I have caught one bass on a jig w/trailer. And that got hit as soon as it hit the water. 
 

But as far as I’m concerned, patience has nothing to do with it. I’m a patient angler with T rigs and apply the same level of patience with jigs. So it’s gotta be something else. Only lost two to snags but I get a lot of fouled hooks in the ponds I fish. That may be a big reason. 
 

So far I’m batting 0.000 on a chatterbait. 

[PotatoLake]

2 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

I have caught one bass on a jig w/trailer. And that got hit as soon as it hit the water. 
 

But as far as I’m concerned, patience has nothing to do with it. I’m a patient angler with T rigs and apply the same level of patience with jigs. So it’s gotta be something else. Only lost two to snags but I get a lot of fouled hooks in the ponds I fish. That may be a big reason. 
 

So far I’m batting 0.000 on a chatterbait. 

If I would posted this topic last year, chatterbaits would have been my choice, but in 21 they worked like a charm. I pretty much only throw them in dirtier water/grass situations. (I’m sure other folks catch them in all types of clarity/cover) It’s a fun bite, if you can stomach it, keep trying.

[BrianMDTX]

That I will. As I have at least a dozen lure types that “never caught a bass” that started catching them regularly. The Fat IKA is at the top of that list. I was ready to deep six them and all of a sudden, I started getting bites. 
 

Let’s face it. All lures will catch bass. Some better than others for some folks. But to have a lure that never catches bass for anyone is a rarity to non-existent. 

[Columbia Craw]

On 11/13/2021 at 5:42 AM, Catt said:

Awesome action in the water but not a single bite!

 

 

Don’t give up on it.  

[Big Hands]

With the exception of going to Texas in May to pick up my boat and fishing for three days on Lake Fork, due to Quagga muscle restrictions that require quarantine periods of 10 to 30 days if I fish somewhere else, I fished all of my days (around 50) on either the upper lake at Castaic, or the lagoon right below the dam. Caught at least a couple of bass every trip.

 

I don't recall this ever being the case, but at Castaic, EVERY fish I caught this year (since January) was on plastic using either a weightless wacky, dropshot, Texas rig or Carolina rig. I tried other methods here including squarebill crankbaits, lipless crankbaits, deep diving crankbaits, jerkbaits, big swimbaits, glide baits, chatterbaits, jigs, jigging spoons, flutter spoons, ploppers, poppers, dog walkers, underspins, a-rigs. . . . all to no avail. And to make this even weirder (to me anyway) is that the bite from May through September (while the lake was dropping 100' often at close to a foot per day) was the best I can ever recall for that part of the year. . . as long as I was throwing plastic.

 

On my trip to Lake Fork in May, EVERY fish I caught was on a crankbait. I tried other methods there too, but the only bait I had success there with was a small-ish crankbait (a simple Berkley 2" gold/red Flicker Shad did most of the damage that trip and they wanted that thing bad - weird). I kept trying but could buy a bite on plastics, and my buddy that has a place there kept telling to forget all the other stuff because that was what they were biting. He wore me out with that thing and I finally had join him. Bass, catfish, barfish, sand bass, crappie and drum were all willing participants.

 

I get home and BOOM, all summer long, it's once again plastics that are working for me. It has been a very good, but strange year of fishing for me. In 2022, my goal is to finally become a jig fisherman.

 

 

[Swampdonkeyfishing]

On 11/12/2021 at 3:53 PM, PotatoLake said:

Whoa, now that is surprising. Were you using Zman TRDs?

I really wish I knew why I struck out on the buzzer. I threw it grass, over flats, next to laydowns and docks. I used every color you can think of. Zilch, Nothing, Nada.

Maybe the water temp/ what time of the year did you throw it?

[PotatoLake]

6 minutes ago, Swampdonkeyfishing said:

Maybe the water temp/ what time of the year did you throw it?

I tried throwing way back in March until the first week of November. So probably 50 degrees up to high 80s of water temp. Nothing. Cavitrons, Lunker Lures, Picasso Dinner Bell. Goose Egg.

I do notice my lures not tracking straight often and I know that's one issue, but even when I get them running straight, still no bites.