finesse search bait for pressured, murky lake?

[07Rapala]

I live a few blocks from a natural lake, Lake Monona, WI, which gets a lot of fishing pressure, and thus the bass are discerning. The water clarity is not good, typically about 5-6', but it can vary. Also, I'm fishing from a canoe with no electronics, other than this fishing map on my phone. Bottom is sand or silt, lots of vegetation in the right depth band (3' to 8', which is mostly coon tail, cabbage, milfoil and algae) which I can find fairly easily and I can usually get close to drop-offs and such with Navionics or Fishidy.

 

After failing with some other presentations, my current thinking is to try a drop shot rig and Carolina rig, as these can keep the bait out of the filamentous algae that covers the bottom in many areas, and drag and shake them, working the outer weed-line. Also, I may try a wacky rig with a weedless hook, either dropping into holes in vegetation, or again, at the weed line. Maybe a frog over top of the thick weeds?

 

But I feel like these sorts of presentations really need to land right on-top of fish to get noticed in this water. And I can really only find the general area of good bass habitat. So I kinda want to use lures with flash, noise or vibration to search for fish, but my experience has been that fish are wary of such presentations.

 

TLDR: I feel stuck in that the fish can't find my lures and/or are wary of the lures that they could easily find.

[WRB]

5’ to 6’ is normal water clarity, everything should work.

Tom

[RDB]

I would remove clarity concerns from the equation…5-6 feet would be considered good clarity in most Texas lakes.  If it were me, I would focus on moving baits and covering water until you get an idea of how/where they are positioning, then you can slow down more targeted presentations.  Vegetation is good but all vegetation is not necessarily good.  They could be on inside edges, outside edges, irregularities, etc., etc.  Just keep moving till you get some clues.

[Basser2021]

2 hours ago, RDB said:

I would remove clarity concerns from the equation…5-6 feet would be considered good clarity in most Texas lakes.  If it were me, I would focus on moving baits and covering water until you get an idea of how/where they are positioning, then you can slow down more targeted presentations.  Vegetation is good but all vegetation is not necessarily good.  They could be on inside edges, outside edges, irregularities, etc., etc.  Just keep moving till you get some clues.

What he said

[Columbia Craw]

Swim jig and T-rigged 4.8 Keitech in a perch color pattern.  

[txchaser]

1/0 flashy swimmer with a 3.3 keitech Fat if it needs to be super finessy

otherwise 3/0 flashy swimmer with a 3.8 keitech Fat

 

You can swim it, drag it across mats, pitch into holes, fish it like a t-rig, etc. 

Do note that you can take the blade off in 5 seconds with a quick twist, in case the flash is too much. 

[papajoe222]

I'm not familiar with  Lake Monona, WI, but I do fish a bunch of the smaller lakes around Lake Geneva.  I only have one question and I'll offer up a suggestion or two.

Are there pike, or musky in the lake?  Their presence will have a big impact on bass location as they will cruise the outside edges of coontail and milfoil along with entire patches of cabbage.  This forces the bass out of the prime weed areas. 

If there isn't too much open water above the weeds, that is a good place to start. If you can, get a jig to drop vertically into the weeds, or use a punch rig.  Lastly, look for other forms of cover such as docks, brush and deadfalls.  

Pike and musky aren't bottom feeders and bass will head to the bottom if there is no where else to escape 

[07Rapala]

Thanks for the input thus far folks. I am a bit surprised to hear 5-6' is normal. My pumpkinseed jigs seems to disappear so quickly! I have always imagined these finesse techniques in the clear lakes up north or Great Lakes. So just "finesse" colors like pumpkinseed, green pumpkin, minnow imitations should be fine? Or should I go a bit darker, but subtile visual lures are still OK?

 

PapaJoe, yes, we have both Essox species. Effectively no open water above the weeds. Had not thought about how pike/musky would effect bass positioning, but it does explain why I catch so few small bass in these areas (not complaining, I just thought it was odd).

 

PapaJoe brings up a question I have had about docks. All our docks are raised a couple feet above the water and are supported on narrow metal poles (they are seasonal due to ice). Are these still good cover? How shallow can they be and still useful to the bass?

[RDB]

1 hour ago, 07Rapala said:

Are these still good cover? How shallow can they be and still useful to the bass?

Question 1…absolutely    
Question 2…so shallow the bass may have ticks

[CrashVector]

A 4" powerbait pit boss with a 3/16 tungsten weight.

[T-Billy]

super fluke, senko, keitech, swim jig, frog.... Lots of good options for the conditions you describe.

[Bankc]

I do well with worms, drop shots, ned rigs, and all finesse lures in my local lakes, which normally have 12-18 inches of visibility.  5-6 feet wouldn't be normal for me, it would be incredibly clear.  Natural colors like green pumpkin often produce for me as well.  

 

But bass become accustomed to their environment.  Clarity, like depth, is largely subjective.  It's less important how clear the water is compared to a different lake, than how much clearer the water is than usual in that lake.  And you're right, you do have to get closer to the fish in dirtier water.  But they'll also hold tighter to cover, which means they're often easier to pinpoint.  One thing I have noticed is that you can't really dead-stick anything in dirty water.  It doesn't have to move fast, but dead-sticking a drop shot, at least for me, never produces anything.  Slowly dragging it or slowly hopping it does, however.  Also, rattles, beads, anything that makes noise or displaces water tends to help.  It's not necessary, but it does seem to get the fish's attention at little better.

 

My point being, these techniques still work, but you have to get a little more accurate with them.  As the visibility narrows, you lose margin for error.  

[WVU-SCPA]

11 hours ago, txchaser said:

1/0 flashy swimmer with a 3.3 keitech Fat if it needs to be super finessy

otherwise 3/0 flashy swimmer with a 3.8 keitech Fat

This my exact "figure out" what they are doing approach on a similar described body of water.

 

[07Rapala]

 

29 minutes ago, WVU-SCPA said:

1/0 flashy swimmer with a 3.3 keitech Fat if it needs to be super finessy

otherwise 3/0 flashy swimmer with a 3.8 keitech Fat

You guys got me looking into this now, funny how its hard to find underspin with smaller hooks, I read one place that recommended a 2/0 for the 3.8" Keitech. That flashy swimmer is one of few with smaller hooks. The options in my box are a 2/0 with no flash and 4/0 with fast. I'm guessing the former is probably best used slower and let that tail move, and the latter faster with a tighter tail wiggle.

[Bluebasser86]

5-6 feet of visibility is excellent visibility for our lakes here. It would be in the top 10 clearest lakes in our entire state ? 

 

I'd try a swimbait or bladed jig along the edges of the weeds, flipping the thicker stuff, or frog over the top of the thick stuff. 

[KP Duty]

A 4" slider worm in camo color would be my choice.  

[Bass Rutten]

I’m in northern Illinois and fish lakes with very heavy pressure and similar vegetation to what you describe and the swimjig is the first lure that comes to mind for search baits. Another option, while not finesse per se, that has done well for me lately are the new zman mini max chatterbaits, very compact with a much subtler thump than standard sizes and comes through standing vegetation very good, add a subtle action trailer for action on the drop or pauses, I like the zoom swimmin’ chunk, any grub will work too. An overlooked use for chatterbaits with an action trailer is pitching to pockets just like you would a jig.

[papajoe222]

To the question about docks. I've found that docks with metal poles for supports will hold bass at their base as many have rocks and small boulders to prevent erosion. The downside to those style docks is that the fish don't relate to the supports the same as they do to wood pilings. The areas under the dock (shade) and the base of the pilings are your best targets.

[Munkin]

This is how you can add a blade to the smaller hooks.

 

Allen 

[QED]

Finesse versions of tokyo rig, drop shot rig, spinnerbait, beetle spin (or equivalent safety pin type spinner) - actually most things can work but the foregoing seem to work for me almost everywhere.

[WRB]

Finesse and search bait is a oxymoron. Finesse is the opposite of searching it’s a precision presentation.

What do you look for without electronics to locate high percentage finesse bass? High % bass locations where finesse presentations out perform standard bass fishing techniques.

Isolated structure elements are difficult to find underwater without sonar. You can located above water structure elements that may continue underwater like points with rocks or stumps that may hold bass not willing to chase down lures.

Island ends are very similar to points and often overlooked.

Bass are fish the evolved underwater and see very well plus they have developed other senses to hear and feel underwater to locate prey to eat. Sight is important, that is why bass have big eyes.

Tom   

[GetFishorDieTryin]

I fish a lake that sounds similar, just much lower viz.  If theres no clouds/wind or rain baits with lots of vibe and flash dont get bit at all.  In open water or sparse cover I've found the Greenfish chibi swim jig with a zoom swimming Fluke jr gets 2x-3x the bites that a larger swimjig gets.

[Bankbeater]

I'd be working a crankbait, spinnerbait, or bladed jig along the edges of the weed beds.  Look for spots where the weed bed ends abruptly, and the weeds form a vertical wall.  There could be a change in the structure along the bottom.