Anything better for my situation than a T-rigged fluke or boot tailed SB?

[CDMTJager]

As I have stated in previous posts here I am shore fisherman and I have quite a few IMO good bass lakes under 30 minuets drive from my home. I rarely get skunked and 90%+ of my bass are over 2lbs which I feel is pretty good considering #1 I can only fish from shore #2 these lakes get fished hard especially hard on the weekends (some of these lakes I no longer fish on weekends unless conditions are so good I must fish them) and I always catch a few bass in the 4-5+lb class from all of them every year #3 these are all small lakes <600 acres in size. The bass lakes I fish near my home would be IMO/IME characterized as having better than average numbers of medium sized bass up to 4lbs with a few bass of 5+lb caught by myself and my sons every year but catching more than 2 or 3 bass 6lbs and over by myself are rare undoubtedly due to me being restricted to shore access only.

 

All these lakes the water is more on the clear side than not clear with visibility under extended periods of normal stable weather conditions of at least 2 feet. All would be classified as relatively shallow for shore access with depths reached from by a shore bound angler rarely exceeding 15' and average would be less than 10'. 

Now for my decades old problem. It is only the third week of May and using any crank bait even ones that dive 1' or less is simply a waist of time as they will snag aquatic vegetation every cast from at least 50% of shore access areas of every lake I fish near my home. By mid June over 70% of the shore access areas of the lakes I fish will become like this.  Over the last 20-25 years I have tried every shallow diving hard bait I know of. Other than a spinner bait and now a chatterbait, crank baits similar to a Bagley minus-1 still can not make it more than the first 20% of a retrieve before snagging weeds and becoming useless for catching fish. Tried swapping out the treble's for single hooks but that yielded zero improvement. 

 

So I simply switched over to fishing soft plastics rigged weedless and fishing frogs or surface lures weeds permitting. Problem with fishing soft plastics like worms, creature baits etc is you cover area at a snails pace. Now that I have discovered fishing Flukes rigged weedless after four outings I am absolutely amazed at how well they come through even very thick weeds and remain more than weed free enough to catch bass AND you can cover water at least 5x faster fishing a weightless fluke or swim bait rigged weedless VS  fishing a weighted weedless rigged soft plastic in a traditional method.

 

I knew about flukes and boot tailed swim baits for several years as I discovered them while watching YT fishing channels in my effort of the last three years to become a better more versatile fisherman as my sons were really bugging me to teach them how to fish lures other than soft plastic worms and frogs and last two years taught them what I know about fishing chatter and spinnerbaits and the few different crank baits I used. It was ONLY two years ago I even started putting trailers on my chatterbaits or spinner baits and saw a significant increase in my catching bass with them again I learned this by watching YT videos. Thanks to information I learned here and by watching many many YT how to fishing videos I have become a much much more successful bass fisherman because I have become a much more versatile bass fisherman.

 

So given my particular set of circumstances if I and my sons wish to cover as much water as possible as fast as possible but do so thoroughly that has a very heavy weed growth is there any other better luer for the job than a soft plastic fluke of swimbait rigged weedless?

 

 

 

 

[webertime]

Bottom up scooper frogs.

Raid micro dodge.

The scooper frog is legit in the weed.  Fish on a Tokyo rig and pump the rod on the retrieve.  

[bp_fowler]

So I fish a lot of reservoirs, ponds and lakes that have similar conditions to yours.  
 

Like you I’ve had success with flukes as well as paddle/boot tails rigged weedless with either a belly weighted hook or an under-spin. 
 

There are two other techniques that I use to cover water in and around weeds:  One is the floating worm and the other is the swimming worm.

[webertime]

 

Start at 4 min

[RRocket]

I have similar conditions.

 

My favorite swim baits are the OSP DoLive Shad (paddletail) and the OSP DoLive Stick.

 

Watch some underwater videos to see why these are so great! 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

A swim jig would do well.  Think of it as more weedless swimbait with a bulkier profile that is extremely snag resistant.   

[king fisher]

I fish almost every lure ever made, and don't have the success you described.  I think you have already found the lure you are looking for.  I am not saying don't try other lures, because buying and trying new tackle is a big part of bass fishing, but as far as catching fish goes, if it aint broke don't fix it.

[Catt]

Y'all ever take a Rage Swimmer or Keitech Swing Impact or the likes, rig em & fish em like a Fluke?

[LrgmouthShad]

@Catt that’s crazy

Coo-coo Cajun 

[JJP]

I would fish the areas of the lake that you have done well at and pound it hard. It’s not always about covering as much water as possible. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thrown moving baits and as soon I fish a slower bait like a Texas rig  and start picking apart the area I’m fishing I’ve gotten bit. If I know the spot produces well I’ll grind out each individual spot on the lake as I know the feeding windows can be extremely short. Throw some topwater as well over that grass. 

[Catt]

9 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

@Catt that’s crazy

Coo-coo Cajun 

 

What crazy is the action! You'll wonder why you never tried it.

[VolFan]

The only thing I’d do is a wakebait over the grass at night or as close to night as you can get. Otherwise it doesn’t sound like it’s broke; don’t fix it.

[CDMTJager]

18 hours ago, bp_fowler said:

So I fish a lot of reservoirs, ponds and lakes that have similar conditions to yours.  
 

Like you I’ve had success with flukes as well as paddle/boot tails rigged weedless with either a belly weighted hook or an under-spin. 
 

There are two other techniques that I use to cover water in and around weeds:  One is the floating worm and the other is the swimming worm.

Thank you for the suggestions. I also just started using underspins and other jig heads with blades attached but right now it would be a waist of a cast to use them as they have naked hooks and would come back carrying weeds just like my willowchatters do. Don't misunderstand me some form of a bladed jig like willowchatters and chatterbaits have been absolutely devastatingly effective for me on bass from mid March until 1st +/-10 days of May then because the shore access areas of the lakes by my house are all under 15' in depth they weed up very quickly. One day this spring during last week of April my son and I fishing a local small lake using willowchatters and small bladed 1/4oz chatterbaits landed 47 bass in approximately six hours of fishing after sun rise in an area of shore line less than 800 yards long. Days like that happen only a few times each year for most shore fisherman.

 

No doubt the bass are still there, just the weeds now are so thick and I am shore bound casting anything but a weedless lure is pointless. 

I do make trips 1.5-3 hours from my home to lakes with good to vary good shore access but weeds aren't a problem as often as I can but most of my fishing and because my sons both work and are in local colleges when we get to fish together its at the local weed choked lakes. 

6 hours ago, VolFan said:

The only thing I’d do is a wakebait over the grass at night or as close to night as you can get. Otherwise it doesn’t sound like it’s broke; don’t fix it.

Thank you for your reply and advice. My knowledge despite 50+ years of bass fishing is still rather limited and can not hurt to ask those more knowledgeable than myself for a better way if one exists.

I honestly would have never thought a 4-5" long soft plastic lure could work this good at catching bass but man I've been just hammering the bass with them and this is from two heavily pressured bass lakes, although admittedly I only fish these lakes monday through thursday and friday mornings only. Friday after 5pm and weekends just to many people.

[CDMTJager]

17 hours ago, Catt said:

Y'all ever take a Rage Swimmer or Keitech Swing Impact or the likes, rig em & fish em like a Fluke?

Yep I use paddle trailed swimbaits made by Keitech, Rage and Cabela's/BP swimbaits rigg then same as flukes and they work based on my experience this year almost but not quite as good as flukes.

The flukes and swimbaits I use made by Cabela's work as good as anyone else's in my experiences.

My favorite fluke is the Cabela's 5" Shadee Shad in Ghost color. I also use flukes made by Z-Man and Yum all with great success.

 

And as is ALWAYS my luck with all hunting and fishing things I LOVE  

Cabela's has in their INFINITE wisdom chosen to discontinue the production of the Shadee Shad in Ghost color and per the outfitter I spoke with at Cabela's discontinue production of their Shadee Shad Fluke series of SPL's. I believe him becuase there were almost no Cabela's Shadee shad baits left at either my local Cabela's or BP and they are available only in very limited colors at either WS and NOT available in Ghost Shad color.

I am now waiting for Bitters to have their 5" fluke in Ghost shad color back in stock to order them in bulk.

Plan on ordering bulk from Bitters 5" flukes in

Ghost shad

Sight Fish

Blue gill 

In my two favorite lakes Ghost Shad outperformed all other colors.

[CDMTJager]

16 hours ago, JJP said:

I would fish the areas of the lake that you have done well at and pound it hard. It’s not always about covering as much water as possible. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thrown moving baits and as soon I fish a slower bait like a Texas rig  and start picking apart the area I’m fishing I’ve gotten bit. If I know the spot produces well I’ll grind out each individual spot on the lake as I know the feeding windows can be extremely short. Throw some topwater as well over that grass. 

You sir are correct. Not most but all of my best outings of fishing for both numbers and size have come from fishing areas under 300 yards in length often under 200 yards of shore. My outing of three nights ago I caught over ten bass and only cast from three different locations along the same shore line. It was mostly but not all a matter of seeing minnows breaking the surface, bass breaking the surface going after them, casting past and reeling my fluke or swimbait through that area. I missed as many bass as I hooked.

 

Only reason I wish at times to cover more area is the lakes I fish most often have very few distinct topographical features and are mostly comprised of straight featureless shoreline. Yes they have minor and major points and a few inside corners and these all get pounded. The lake closest to my home has huge areas of shoreline inaccessible due to impenetrable weeds that grow 6-8' high but I am now regularly brush busting to access good looking areas but this is not without its own problems as the shore line weed and shrub growth everywhere around this lake is absolutely LOUSY with tics and rarely do I fish this lake and not end up with a tic or three on me. My last three trips I had tics either on my skin or on my clothes or both.

[Bankbeater]

Depending on how thick the vegetation is, I like to fish with a 1/8 jig.  If they snag then a quick jerk on tight line is usually enough to rip them free.  I also like a buzzbait if there are some open holes in the vegetation.  I cast into the holes so the bait doesn't get snagged when it hits the water.  Retrieving at a somewhat fast rate will keep the blade from getting too tangled up.

[MediumMouthBass]

Try a few Rapala Original Floating Minnows, i really like using these jerkbaits near or above shallow grass. Not many people use them in my local high pressured smaller lakes either.

 

Strike King Hybrid Hunter crankbait also does really good in grass.

 

And dont be afraid to throw those Keitech (or whatever brand) paddle/boot tail swimbaits weightless too.

[PhishLI]

On 5/22/2024 at 3:09 PM, CDMTJager said:

Now for my decades old problem. It is only the third week of May and using any crank bait even ones that dive 1' or less is simply a waist of time as they will snag aquatic vegetation every cast from at least 50% of shore access areas of every lake I fish near my home.

Lakes topped out with weeds is the norm here. Even so, some of my best producers are wake baits. Larger types sit lower into the water, so they might snag up depending, but usually I can find lanes they'll come through. However, smaller types like 50mm or 70mm wakes often get through cleanly if I avoid cranking them down, and they're one of my best producers when fish are feeding up, and they often are especially in low light and at night. Silent types work best for me here, so if you're thinking about trying some, try some silent ones too.

 

If you'd like to try a twist on weedlessly rigged plastics, try a creature on a weighted swimbait hook. I started with a Bandito Bug on an owner 6/0 Twistlock Light 3/16oz weighted hook, and it was killer, but easily wrecked. I switched to a Zman ProCrawZ on a 5/0 Gammy 3/16 oz weighted hook(#296415-3/16) and got similar results, but with far greater durability, and due to the buoyancy of ElaZtech, a different rate of fall. It fishes cleanly through the heaviest of cover and pads, plus it casts like a bullet. In my mind, it's like a jig without some of the problems I encounter here with a jig, and it's a new look for the fish. I add rattles to some of them with Zman's Rattle-Snaker. It's become one of my confidence baits.

 

[papajoe222]

On 5/22/2024 at 8:03 PM, Catt said:

Y'all ever take a Rage Swimmer or Keitech Swing Impact or the likes, rig em & fish em like a Fluke?

or a 4in. tube.

My go to presentation in your situation would be an Ultra-Vibe Speed Worm. You can cover water fairly quickly, or slow down and let it sit atop the weeds and jerk it to life.  My second choice would be a trick worm fished the same way.

[Westcoast]

To cover weedy areas fast, I like to swim a worm like a zoom ultra vibe speed worm. You can buzz it on the surface over weeds then let it drop into holes or crank it just under the surface with a wake. Next up would be a toad, even if you don’t hook that many the toad will let you know where they are so you can follow up with something slower moving. 

[Dan N]

Tokyo rig

[Swest18x]

I think you should make a small investment in a kayak or better yet a flat bottom canoe. If you're having that much success from shore, getting on the other side of those weedbeds will open up all sorts of possibilities for you.

 

Esquif makes a light stable canoe called a Mallard XL that would be perfect for you.