What would you throw?

[Luke Barnes]

Here is the situation. Northeast Oklahoma, small city lake, no idea how to judge acreage. It's been really nice and in the 70s or warmer during the day but gets low 40s at night. It is supposed to rain Friday night and I might have the chance to go fishing with my step dad on his Jon boat saturday afternoon. We always have a great time regardless, but I'm worried  that it is going to be a cold rain and shut the bite off for a day or two. We will be there basically post frontal plus a possible cold rain, what would you throw at them? 

 

I believe there are shad in the lake, it's grassy and not very rocky. Has two or three creeks leading into it. I'm trying to give as much info as possible to help give everyone an idea.  It's called Lake Jackson around Mounds, OK.

 

My initial thoughts are to go slower with a t-rig and target visible cover with a wacky rig.  If it was not crappy conditions I would throw a swim jig and try covering a ton of water but I feel like I'll need to slow down and probably end up just going finesse at high percentage areas. 

 

But I'll end with.....

What would you throw? 

[TnRiver46]

Worm! 

[txchaser]

3.8 keitech on an owner flashy swimmer. It's so so good in grass; you aren't that far north of me and it's a consistent producer around here over the last month, even after these cold rains. 3.3 as a backup if they are really shad focused. T-rigged senko and bubba shot into places that were high percentage picked up some extra fish.

 

I went into the day expecting them to be deeper and likely near outside weed edges or hanging on the bottom of creek channels. I was really surprised how shallow they were last weekend after the rain we got. Water temp dropped from 70 to 62 in 7 days. Most of the fish we caught were up out of the creek channel but very near it, in the transition 1/3 where the creek channel opens up to main lake. No more than 5fow. Main lake, except as it eased into the transition, was a waste of time. 

They didn't seem to move at all from 10am to dark. 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

I would go with a brush hog jr or small creature bait on a t rig with 3/16-1/4 unpegged, just for something to pitch around.  

 

I would have a small JB like a pointer 78 or 110 Jr rigged up to fish points and channel bends.  If you want to try something more aggressive first, go with a 1/4 lipless.  Fish it in roughly the same area you would be throwing that JB, back in the creeks.  Sometimes that reaction bite is there, just find healthy  bright green grass if you can, avoid the dead grass.  A chatterbait is d**n near interchangeable the lipless.  The advantage of the lipless is in the smaller profile and the trebles will snag the fish that just slap at the bait.   If the lipless/chatterbait doesnt the work and you want to throw something that covers more water then a JB try a silent SB.

 

Now if you really think things are going to be tough start out with a small paddle tail, like a 2.8 keitech or 3"-3.5" easy shiner on the lightest head you can get away with.  Just work it slow as you can without hitting the bottom.  This always works for me, even in absolutely frigid water.  As long as I cover enough water eventually something will eat it.  A DS or soaking a ned rig gets similar results, but I can cover more water with a swimbait.

 

A few baits to keep in mind:

Finesse Jig

Jig worm

Tube 

 

 

[BlakeMolone]

That lake is loaded with small fish, bring the spinning rod and throw smaller baits and you will wack them. Just don’t expect any big bites.

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Vision 110 and shakyhead finesse worm. Start there and experiment as you go

 

[gim]

10 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Worm! 

Any color will work.  As long as its purple.

[scaleface]

I would likely chuck  a Spinnerbait , buzzbait , squarebill , worm , cover water then fish the cover more thoroughly . Cold rain this time of year  as far South as Oklahoma , I  speculate they will still bite moving baits .

[TnRiver46]

Just now, gimruis said:

Any color will work.  As long as its purple.

[Southernbasser]

Start with a squarebill. Then once you have found the fish switch to a neko rig or shaky head. 

[Mike L]

OP

Questions like this invariably gets answers that run the gamut of what to use. 
We all come at it from what we’ve had success with which makes it hard to choose. 

 

My advice is to choose a few of the baits listed that you’re more familiar with and have confidence in and start from there cycling through each until you get onto a pattern. 
 

Me?

My strong suit is power fishing in shallow heavy vegetation, the heavier the better. 
I’d start on the outside edges with a swim worm of your choice or a spinnerbait.
Then slow down as you work your way in using high confidence t-rigged plastics covering as much water as you can. 
 

Good Luck

 

 

 

Mike

 

 

[Deleted account]

I think the better question would be where would you throw it. Judging the size of a body of water, in person, or on a chart or map is a usefull skill for anglers. Depending on the cover and grass, a t-rigged plastic, a swim jig, a chatter, a spinnerbait, a crank, and a JB is probably all you need, and they will most likely bite any of them, but that is just a general plan, every body of water fishes differently at different times.

[BayouSlide]

I would at first cover water with a 3.5 in. Suicide Shad in pearl or green pumpkin backed pearl with a chartreuse (or chartreuse dipped) tail on an underspin until I found fish, then slow down.

[Bankc]

1 hour ago, scaleface said:

I would likely chuck  a Spinnerbait , buzzbait , squarebill , worm , cover water then fish the cover more thoroughly . Cold rain this time of year  as far South as Oklahoma , I  speculate they will still bite moving baits .

I'm in OKC, and this is pretty much what I'm seeing down here.  In the last few weeks, I've had the best luck off of moving baits, squarebills, shallow diving crankbaits, topwaters, soft jerkbaits fished fast, spinnerbaits, and small, jointed, hard swimbaits.  Basically anything that looks or acts like a shad or minnow, so long as it's small and fast.  The cold fronts and rain don't seem to be affecting the bite as much as the wind.  It's not like spring where a cold front will almost always kill a bite.  The cold front we had about a week ago triggered a good bite for me and gave me one of my better days this year.  And the bass seem to be on the move, so I tend to choose anything that will allow me to cover a lot of ground quickly.  Slow moving, subtle, and finesse presentations have not worked for me well the last few weeks.  

 

However, it's Oklahoma.  And things can and will change in a heartbeat.  And I expect they will very soon, as the bass are usually not keying in on baitfish or being this aggressive this late in the season.  In the lakes I'm fishing, the water temperatures are right around 60°F still.  It's been a pretty warm fall this year.  But things will change soon.    

[Luke Barnes]

My take away from all the replies is don't be afraid go cover water so I will throw a swim jig to cover water. 

But if that isn't getting bit ill switch to a small paddletail like mentioned.   I don't have any of the Owner Flashy Swimmers but I have some SK belly weighted and bladed swimbait hooks I may try with different paddletails. I rarely throw straight paddletails not as a trailer but I think I need to start. 

 

I'll definitely have a t rig tied on a rod, but my big question was really if they will be moving and chasing or shut down, but I also realize I won't know that until I get there. 

 

[WRB]

The OP’s lake is 43 acres with 3 feeder creeks, long earthen dam.

It’s fall and if shad are in this small lake they will either be near the feeder creeks or near the dam.

Small spinner baits and crank baits in shad colors around the creeks would be a good place to start. If that doesn’t work run to the dam and fish that area same lures before slowing down to finesse presentations.

Tom

 

[Jamo]

Green pumpkin jig w/ your favorite trailer if you don't know about the shad. Alternate between fishing the green grass and swimming it. Walking bait for for any schoolers and once you do confirm whether or not you have shad, roll with the lipless or swimbait. I'd say spinnerbait but for whatever reason I can't buy a bite on the spinnerbait this year

[BlakeMolone]

How did it go?