Short trips?

[Bazoo]

I have a spot that is a small 2 acre lake that is right next door to where I go to church. I often only have an hour or so after bible study to fish it. This spot, which I've mentioned before, is very limited pressure. I normally fish something that I'm working on building technique and confidence in. It's normally easy to catch fish there, even in the dog days I catch several in a hour.

 

Lets not limit it to dusk, it could be an hour before bible study, or an hour before church, or an hour after church.

 

This evening I stopped by after bible study, and fished a worm a while... no takers. Then I fished a beetle spin with a minnow instead of the beetle, again no takers. I then tried a popper as bluegill were popping all over, no takers. Then I fished the Spit'n image, and got a taker right at the end.

 

Does anyone else regularly fish short trips like this, and how do you fish it if you have only an hour?

 

What changes if you only have an hour, but it's a place you've never been before?

[Team9nine]

Up until this year, much of my fishing life for the previous 5-6 years was built around short trips. Bring one rod and reel, your favorite bait or two, preferably something versatile, then fish.  For me, that’s some variation of Ned or soft plastic to start. Once you’ve been a couple times, then you can adjust presentation to conditions, but still keep tackle limited so you don’t waste a ton of time changing things up, thinking something else will work better. Fish what you have and learn.

[Pat Brown]

Yeah I pretty much always do short trips unless it's the weekend and then I do a long trip.

[Mike L]

I’ll grab a rod when I’m bored and make a milk run to a few local canals around the house. 
I always start with a bone Pop R and finish up with standard sized UV Speed Worm with 3/16. 
 

If I don’t get a hit after those 2 it’s not worth hanging around. 
 

 

Mike

[Catt]

When the urge for jacking something up hits, 35 steps out my front door is a bayou.

[Mike L]

2 minutes ago, Catt said:

When the urge for jacking something up hits, 35 steps out my front door is a bayou.

You are a lucky man!!

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Swamp Girl]

Bazoo, you start good threads. The ideal situation is Catt's, of course, but my pond is only five minutes away and because I've got a canoe stashed there, I only have to take my fishing gear. I have taken some shorter trips, I.e. shorter for me, in the range of two to two and a half hours. I enjoy these shorter trips because they don't sap my sap. 

[Catt]

Ain't no gaints but it scratches the itch!

 

[Swamp Girl]

That face is a hoot!

[TnRiver46]

23 minutes ago, Catt said:

Ain't no gaints but it scratches the itch!

 

Those actually are giants if you’re in the greater Knoxville area 

[Catt]

2 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

That face is a hoot!

 

Aiden said that's what they look like when he sets hook 😁

[GreenPig]

I've caught alot of big fish on short trips with a pack of Super Flukes and BPS Stickos stuffed in my pocket, on a med - heavy BCer. You can fish them fast or fish them slow and I've never come across a small body of water those two baits won't catch bass.

[Bazoo]

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Those actually are giants if you’re in the greater Knoxville area 

Pretty decent ones round here too.

 

56 minutes ago, GreenPig said:

I've caught alot of big fish on short trips with a pack of Super Flukes and BPS Stickos stuffed in my pocket, on a med - heavy BCer. You can fish them fast or fish them slow and I've never come across a small body of water those two baits won't catch bass.

Usually my go to lures are worms, topwater such as popper or spit'n image.

 

I normally use a finesse worm and power worms, not in any particular order. Though I've been warming up to flukes lately too.

 

It seems beetle spins do well too, even when larger spinnerbaits will not.

[geo g]

For the last three months I have had nothing but short trips.  With heat index of 105 to 107 almost every day the trips are all short.  The catch rate is also down with water temps of 95*.  We need a break from this soon.  The only hope is finding current.  Fishing deep and slow.

[Catt]

@geo g That's been our problem here except those numbers are our actual temperatures, no clouds & little wind. Y'all better have good sun screen on cause you can feel heat on bare skin. 

[Mobasser]

This time of year, I'm into shorter trips also. 1 rod, and a small box I put into.a waist pack. I carry probably about ten baits of different types in my small box. But, it always comes down to a plastic worm. Low and slow is about the only way I can catch any bass.

[Skunkmaster-k]

If I’m anywhere near a puddle and I get a few minutes, a feller has to give it a try. 

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, Skunkmaster-k said:

If I’m anywhere near a puddle and I get a few minutes, a feller has to give it a try. 

 

I fish in my dreams and cast into every bit of water, no matter how tiny. In my dreams, puddles hold beasts!

[Bazoo]

So whats everyone's go-to lures for a short trip? Do we go exclusively with confidence baits?

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, Bazoo said:

So whats everyone's go-to lures for a short trip? Do we go exclusively with confidence baits?

Paddled last night for 1 hr, tossed tiny rapala and got 4 bites, landed the smallest haha

[Swamp Girl]

3 hours ago, Bazoo said:

So whats everyone's go-to lures for a short trip? Do we go exclusively with confidence baits?

 

An underspin with a paddletail or crawdad trailer. It fishes from the top of the water to the bottom. It's close to weedproof and casts half of forever. 

[TnRiver46]

10 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

An underspin with a paddletail or crawdad trailer. It fishes from the top of the water to the bottom. It's close to weedproof and casts half of forever. 

I’ve thrown those a lot and so far only caught one single skipjack herring 

[Swamp Girl]

50 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve thrown those a lot and so far only caught one single skipjack herring 

 

You have to do a little dance when you retrieve it. This:

 

[Bazoo]

I don't even own any underspins!

[Catt]

4 hours ago, Bazoo said:

So whats everyone's go-to lures for a short trip? Do we go exclusively with confidence baits?

 

Texas Rigged Ultravibe Speed Worm Watermelon Neon with the tail dipped in Spike-It Dip-N-Glo Chartreuse Garlic, 1/8 oz bullet weight, 3/0 straight shank round bend hook.

 

Humdinger 1/4 oz spinnerbait