What tactic have you completely given up on?

[killobet]

My split shot.. Nope nope I take it back please delete this!!

[gim]

5 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

I'm also casting to Whopper Plopper-virgin bass. The water I fish rarely has another fisher on it.

That's probably the key piece of information right there.

 

Eventually, even those virgin Maine pond bass will wise up on you too.  For now though, I'd keep striking while the iron is hot.  I don't blame you one bit for using it when it works.  I certainly would, and I'm pretty sure everyone else on here would too.  I'll venture to say that the majority of people on this forum do not have the opportunity to target virgin bass that see minimal pressure though, and that is why loud, noisy topwaters don't work for us anymore to the degree that they maybe once did.

[Swamp Girl]

Just now, gimruis said:

That's probably the key piece of information right there.

 

Eventually, even those virgin Maine pond bass will wise up on you too.  For now though, I'd keep striking while the iron is hot.  I don't blame you one bit for using it when it works.  I certainly would, and I'm pretty sure everyone else on here would too.  I'll venture to say that the majority of people on this forum do not have the opportunity to target virgin bass that see minimal pressure though, and that is why loud, noisy topwaters don't work for us anymore.

 

Agreed. However, I think all should try casting a Whopper Plopper where you'd normally only cast a frog. Nearly all weed patches have open water here and there and those are bass primed to ambush something skittering noisily across the surface.

 

3 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I'll venture to say that the majority of people on this forum do not have the opportunity to target virgin bass that see minimal pressure though

 

Maybe. Maybe not. I scouted a 630-acre lake yesterday. When they laid the road along the lake, they cut off the tip of the lake's tail, leaving a 1/3rd mile stretch of weedy shallows now separate from the rest of the lake, with guardrails on both sides of the road, meaning you can't park your car beside the water and launch your boat. A tricky launch that makes you work makes me smile.

 

A mile or so down the road, there's a parking lot and a ramp, which didn't interest me at all. I was interested in the amputated 1/3rd mile of lake, so even though the road's shoulders were snow-covered, I scouted two places where I could park my car come spring and carry my canoe in the dark to launch it. 

 

I would think that most states would have opportunities like that, i.e. water less fished because it takes more work to reach it.

[gim]

11 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

I would think that most states would have opportunities like that, i.e. water less fished because it takes more work to reach it.

Yes, there are a few places like that here.  The primary issue with a spot like that here is that it freezes out and the fish don't survive the winter because there is a lack of oxygen.

 

About the closest type of wilderness one might encounter here in the land of 10,000 lakes would be in the Boundary Waters, where only canoes are permitted and you need to draw in a lottery for a campsite.  I've been there once, and even though the fishing was relatively easy, camping is not really my thing anymore.  Hauling everything you need in there, sleeping in a tent, and then hauling everything back out, without having running water or electricity for days on end is not for me.  I'm more of a hotel or lodge or stay at home kinda guy now.

[MN Fisher]

3 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Hauling everything you need in there, sleeping in a tent, and then hauling everything back out, without having running water or electricity for days on end is not for me.  I'm more of a hotel or lodge or stay at home kinda guy now.

Poor baby

 

I did Boundary Waters for a week back in the late 70s...loved every minute of it.

 

You're like my wife - her idea of 'roughing it' is a hotel that doesn't have room service.

[Dogface]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

I just realized why I never catch any fish on the whopper plopper.  Its because you fished it before I did and they wised up after seeing you use it!

 

#sloppyseconds

 

I suspect fish do wise up. When I first started fishing the plopper I caught a lot of fish on the waters I fished regularly. Now the bite has dropped off and "maybe" I caught 1 or 2 fish on the plopper last year. Why?  Who knows but like I said I suspect fish do wise up.

 

I fish a private pond in NE PA. It belongs to a friend and I actually stocked it when he first bought the land. I know the pond and the fish or at least I thought I did.

 

Last October my son and I were fishing the pond. In about 2 hours we had caught 5 or 6 bass each. Five or six bass each was not a good day on this pond but the pond does get slow late in the year. 

 

It was getting dark and we started to get ready to leave. As we were packing up I realized I had a fluke rigged in my box. I have never fished a fluke in this pond. EVER! I said I was going to make a cast or two with the fluke. I made 17 casts (I started counting because I started catching fish immediately) and caught 16 bass. 

 

I do not know why they bit but I suspect it was because those fish had never seen a fluke. 

[BassinCNY]

I'm enjoying this thread because it's interesting how different people enjoy different baits and techniques. I might fish all day and only use a whopper plopper, chatterbait and drop shot. Probably in that order. But no toads. Those things are evil. 

[PhishLI]

On 2/7/2023 at 11:06 PM, Glenn said:

Chatterbait - you know, when I talk to pros about this and tell them I use a paddle bait as a trailer, they look at me like I'm high.  But boy does it ever work!  Maybe that's because nobody else uses paddletails as a trailer?

My brother! Are we an army of two??I always have a single Jackhammer or Thunder Cricket rigged with a Missle Baits Baby D Stroyer trailer, but all of my other chatters are rigged with 4"-5" paddle tails, usually a Deisel Minnow or Big Hammer, and they're rigged right side up. My biggest and best fish overall last year came on those baits rigged that way. The Zako and Razor Shad have been total duds for me over a long period of time, so I'm not down at all with the Do-Nothing-Trailer concept. In frustration, a few years ago I winged it and tried out the Culprit Incredi-Slim as a trailer, which does something, and that changed my mind away from that idea.

[Big Hands]

3 hours ago, Mike L said:

Standing at the end of the boat looking down at a screen all day holding a spinning rod with 6# line waiting to get all excited when a 1# fish comes swimming by!

 

Or sitting in the back seat watching the guy up front standing there looking down at a screen all day holding a spinning rod with 6# line waiting to get all excited when a 1# fish comes swimming by.

[Skunkmaster-k]

I gave up on jerkbaits. Not because I wanted to. 

[Dogface]

4 minutes ago, BassinCNY said:

I'm enjoying this thread because it's interesting how different people enjoy different baits and techniques. I might fish all day and only use a whopper plopper, chatterbait and drop shot. Probably in that order. But no toads. Those things are evil. 

 

There are times when I will only take a few baits with me. Sometimes they are baits that I am very confident using like a Ned or Wacky rig but at other times I'll take a bait I am not familiar with or confident in and force myself to learn to fish it. 

 

I am surprised there are so many posting to this thread techniques they do not use or have no confidence in. I enjoy finding out why and how to make baits work. It's part of the fishing experience for me.   

[Swamp Girl]

47 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Yes, there are a few places like that here.  The primary issue with a spot like that here is that it freezes out and the fish don't survive the winter because there is a lack of oxygen.

 

About the closest type of wilderness one might encounter here in the land of 10,000 lakes would be in the Boundary Waters, where only canoes are permitted and you need to draw in a lottery for a campsite.  I've been there once, and even though the fishing was relatively easy, camping is not really my thing anymore.  Hauling everything you need in there, sleeping in a tent, and then hauling everything back out, without having running water or electricity for days on end is not for me.  I'm more of a hotel or lodge or stay at home kinda guy now.

 

Yep, MN is colder than ME, for sure.

[Cdn Angler]

Hollow body frogs are loved by many, I'll still try them most likely, but I hate fishing them. The hook up ratio compared to a jig or texas rig is just too horrible/annoying. And a rod with 50 lb braid has fewer alternative applications to carry in my kayak where 5 rods is about my max. 

 

Carolina rig I have had little success on. May still give it a go, but it's a pain to rig, not fun and haven't caught much on it. 

[DaubsNU1]

Carolina rig for sure. Tried fishing it when lived in Missouri years ago. Might have caught a few here and there.  Moving to Nebraska it's just not feasible in the lakes I fish. Way to much moss, weeds, grass.

 

Same with deep diving cranks...spend waaay to much time pulling off grass and moss. Hate them.

 

** I do really like drop shot. Maneuver my small boat through the trees, flipping the drop shot next to heavy cover pretty much right next to the boat. Good alternative to my favorite way to fish, flipping jig-n-craw or t-rigged soft plastics.  It's a blast! **

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, Cdn Angler said:

Hollow body frogs are loved by many, I'll still try them most likely, but I hate fishing them. The hook up ratio compared to a jig or texas rig is just too horrible/annoying.

 

I too miss bass after bass while froggin'. The last time I fished my frog, I caught seven, hooked at least that many that I lost after a second or two, and lost about 15...and I thought I did WELL compared to other attempts.

 

However, I'm super excited to fish them again. I've never fished a lure that triggers so many hits right beside my canoe. 

[Zcoker]

The tactics that I've given up on is carrying around a tackle store when I go fishing lol. My lure selection has become quite limited, only a few lures I use consistently. The more I limit my lure selection, the better I become at using the lures that I have. For me, it's more about moving around and around and around. Sometimes it doesn't seem to matter what lure I'm throwing because when the bass go into their feeding mode, the lure gets smacked whatever it is, wherever it is. Then the whole process starts over again. The way I see it, bass feed in cycles throughout the day (and night) and what seems to make the biggest difference is being in the right place at the right time when they do go off. Whatever lure I have out at that time is the lure that usually gets slammed, regardless of anything. This kinda mindset has certainly upped my catch ratio for trophy fish (over 8lbs) here in south Florida. 

[FishTank]

Telling my wife fishing is an inexpensive sport ?. It has never worked.

 

 

All joking aside, the Carolina Rig is a done deal for me. 

 

 

[Deleted account]

7 minutes ago, FishTank said:

Telling my wife fishing is an inexpensive sport ?. It has never worked.

Tell her you are thinking of taking up equestrian or sail boat racing, $80k boats, $500 reels, and $25 JBs will seem like a bargain. 

[Pat Brown]

Honestly I would like to think I have not given up on any technique, but I don't really throw jerk baits a lot.

[gim]

OP here.

 

I went through this entire thread and so far the most popular responses are:

 

1) Carolina rig

2) Drop shot

3) Ned rig

4) Chatterbait

5) Deep crankbaits

 

There are a couple more mixed in, but these 5 have the most so far.

[Jar11591]

4 minutes ago, gimruis said:

OP here.

 

I went through this entire thread and so far the most popular responses are:

 

1) Carolina rig

2) Drop shot

3) Ned rig

4) Chatterbait

5) Deep crankbaits

 

There are a couple more mixed in, but these 5 have the most so far.

First 2 are not surprising at all. I’m surprised at #3 though. 

[FishTank]

16 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

Tell her you are thinking of taking up equestrian or sail boat racing, $80k boats, $500 reels, and $25 JBs will seem like a bargain. 

It use to be photography.  Back then, cameras,  lens, film, lighting, flashes, and of course travel. It was crazy.  Then when digital cameras came out, I had to have all new stuff. Buying camera equipment became like buying a cell phone,  every few years you had to get the latest and greatest.  

 

I started fishing again because I thought it would be cheaper. 

[Gera]

I gave up fishing very early in the morning. I figured that a 9:00am fish gives me the same pleasure as a 6:00am

 

[a1712]

I haven't given them up completely, but I flat out despite throwing a Jerkbait. I've even caught my biggest stringer in PA all on a Jerkbait, I just can't stand throwing them. 

I've never thrown a Ned Rig. Just seems like you've given up. Brian. 

[CM-fisher]

19 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

I've been thinking I should try drop shotting and a Carolina rig. Reading this thread, I no longer have the desire to try either one. 

 

 

I'd say give the dropshot a try, forget carolina rigs though lol

5 hours ago, Cdn Angler said:

Hollow body frogs are loved by many, I'll still try them most likely, but I hate fishing them. The hook up ratio compared to a jig or texas rig is just too horrible/annoying.

Agreed, I hate fishing frogs. I do pretty well with them but still miss a lot of fish. Very frustrating

18 hours ago, Glenn said:

Chatterbait - you know, when I talk to pros about this and tell them I use a paddle bait as a trailer, they look at me like I'm high.  But boy does it ever work!  Maybe that's because nobody else uses paddletails as a trailer?

The only trailer I will ever use on chatterbaits is a paddle tail. Just simple and it works