Surprise in the Slop

[Paul Roberts]

Our slop fishing has set up. This develops earlier in my shallower ponds and, for some reason, weed development has come even earlier this year than usual. I found my first slop fishing on May 29th this year.

Bluegills pile into the slop as it develops, especially when it matts. This is a feeding movement for the 'gills, and often you can hear them "kissing" the surface. On the 29th it sounded like popcorn! This piling into broken cover makes them vulnerable to the bass, which take exuberant advantage. They need a little room to be effective, so the hot spots are often breaks in the cover where the bass can get at those gills.

On a good day almost every good break in the cover will have a bass, and some of the larger females are usually there (they really stay on those 'gills). Breaks were created by bottom substrate changes, rooted brush, bluegill spawning colonies (a double attraction), and especially in some of my ponds, muskrat burrows. The coming and going of the rats wear a channel through the vegetation, offering the bass a great place to get in, and hunt.

The word ambush is often used to describe bass hunting, and used loosely, this is fine. But technically bass are not lie in wait ambush predators like some fishes that specialize in this. Nor are they very good open water bust and run hunters, like tuna, which specialize on schooled baitfish. Bass are generalists and hunt in a variety of places. But the best description of how they hunt, and where they are most effective, is stalking in broken cover. They are constantly looking for opportunities to get into an advantageous position on prey, and explains the ofttimes subtle ways our truly crude lures (sorry Lucky Craft) can suddenly look vulnerable to a bass.

Open water bluegills, and those in dense cover, are difficult for bass to catch. So the bass bide their time, waiting for opportunities to get close: low light, and broken cover, are primary. The early slop, as it develops enough to attract gills, and offers good openings for bass to hunt effectively, is a great time to fish this scenario. Later, water temps get high (where I fish), and cover becomes denser, and the slop fishing becomes less consistent.

The other day (16th) I had a neat, and new, experience with this fishing. I found a pond with both smallmouth and largemouth. I decided to target the LM and found some in the slop (milfoil and algae) -the 'gills were in there. But I found smallies mixed in too. They had inserted themselves into the dense cover with the 'gills and LM. These are not extensive slop areas, in this pond, just a 20 foot wide band of mostly milfoil with filamentous algae.

I had to adjust the hookset, further than with LM -waiting a tad longer for them to handle the lure. I finally went with a ScumFrog popper that was smaller and had a smaller hook. This 19" though didn't need extra time. She made a ferocious strike through a matt of algae and was hooked deep, on the back of the tongue -a dangerous  location for the fish. She didn't bleed though and I hope she's OK.

I hooked two more big smallies too, on a weedless jig, at the outside edge of the weedwall -another 19", and a 20" I dropped. That 20 jumped, then spun me around in my float tube before popping free directly below me. Oooooh that was a nice smallie. But, I'll see her again.

Favorite slop lures: Mango Jig (fished with trailer), ScumFrog, Hollow Frog (this one is by Mann's), Strike King Grass King spinnerbait (This amazing lure is not made anymore!!! Everyone should write to SK and request that it be re-issued. I have and they say it's not scheduled to be re-introduced. To arms!!! Call them. Inundate them. I only have 5 left!).

[Davis]

Nice smallie!

Fishing the slop can be annoying at times. But the rewards of pulling junk off your bait after every cast is worth it. This is the time when I start pulling out my big LM for the year. Most of the areas I fish are starting to get "sloppy" around the shorelines and I welcome this time with open arms.

[roadwarrior]

All new to me. I guess it just goes to show that smallmouth will adapt to the environment they are in. I would never expect to catch a smallmouth in the slop!

Nice fish, too...

8-)

[.dsaavedra.]

GREAT POST!!!

im glad i took the time to read it all! some pretty good information in there.

i love slop fishing. i have a pretty good slop pond and trying to think of other ponds i fish that develop slop.

slop is fun to fish because if you rig your baits right, you barely have to pull junk off your baits at all, and there are some big bass to be had in the slop!!!

plus, not many regular joe anglers fish right in the slop, so the bass there dont see much fishing pressures.

[paul.]

excellent post there paul. 8-)  real good stuff.  and it sounds like you got 'em figured out buddy.  way to whack 'em.

[rondef]

Good post and that is one nice looking smallie.