Just a few newbie questions.

[NickM]

I am new at bass fishing, I have been fishing all my life but it is always at the beach or for brim (which I am VERY good at catching LOL). I am starting to get more mature with my fishing, if that makes any sense at all, and I want to start bass fishing seriosly but I have a few (well a LOT) of questions. I have read all the beginner articles and those things. My questions now are over what you might think of as no duh questions.

?1: What is "walking the dog"

?2: How can I fish over sloppy moss and stuff with frogs and not get hung up, or put it in strike range for a bass.

?3: I fish a man-made pond that was built by putting up a dam and letting it fill up. THere are lots of BIG bass in it, but the only structure I know of is a pier and the spillpipe for the pond. There are no lily pads are weed beds that I know of and the only thing on top the water is messy algae. How can I find the fish, would fishing from the dam be good, or off the dock?

Those are my questions. Any help you could give would be appreciated!

-Nick  ???

[Rebbasser]

Good questions, Nick.

Walking the dog is a retrieve used with a topwater bait like a Zara Spook.  You cast the bait out, reel in the slack, and give it a jerk with your rod tip.  When you jerk it the bait turns either right or left, and jerk it again and it turns back to the right, then left, etc.  It takes a little practice to get in rhythm, because after you jerk you need to crank the handle a little bit to take up the slack.  It is a real effective way to fish, though.

Fishing over the slop is a little bit specialized since a lot of baits won't work because of the weeds.  However, you can fish it real effectively.  There are baits like frogs you can use, but you cn also use worms, lizards-just about any soft plastics.  Just fish them with no weight.  Some of the frogs have enough weight to get some distance on the cast.

For your pond the algae would be cover, but without weeds, etc. I would throw a crawfish colored crankbait that runs deeper than the water you are fishing so it would dig into the bottom kicking up a mud trail, or a Carolina rig which will also dig up a mud trail.

[Nick_Barr]

Welcome to the forum!!

1= snapping the pole in a downward action with a zara spook  and other topwater stickbaits, this creates a side to side action, jus like walking the dog.

2= texas rig, a 1/2 bullet sinker or heavier, and use a soft plastic worm or other kinds of soft plastic baits that do not have too many arms and legs to get hung up on. Throw them into those weeds and the heavy sinker should punch right through it.

3= This is a hard one, i would start by walking around just casting with a spinnerbait and usiing varied retrieves, Also you can do the same thing as #2 and punch through the algae, also i would use a plastic frog.

[GobbleDog]

A trick to walkin the dog:

Everytime you pop the lure while you're "walking", let the rod fall so some slack allows the bait to make wider turns. Keep doing it to a rythem and it looks like a real wounded baitfish.

On a side note - I once read the #1 thing most topwater fisherman do wrong is they get impatient and work the bait too fast. It's better to wait a few seconds for the ripples go away after the cast and then after a few twitches.

 

[eyedabassman]

:-/And you need the wright rod for slop fishing! You will need a  6' 6" or a 7' rod in a MH to a heavy action and use line like Power Pro. You will have to horse them big bass out of the slop so you will need more rod and line.

[Marty]

On a side note - I once read the #1 thing most topwater fisherman do wrong is they get impatient

Hey, you got me figured out; impatience is my middle name. My wife still can't understand how an impatient guy like me spends time in an activity whose participants are known for their great patience.  

[NickM]

Thanks for all the replies, I am getting some good advice from you guys. I will try these ideas next time I go fishing!

[playmaker47]

for that algea problem... almost all of the ponds that i go to have the exact same thing... and trust me that stuff is way to thick to punch through... just try and find the holes in it and right along the edge of it... in these places cast a black or black and blue jig with a twin tail grub as a trailor (a trailor is a plastic grub or somehting that is put on the hook of a jig or spinnerbait if you didnt know) i also throw soft plasitc jerkbaits and weightless texas rigged works right in the holes and as close to the edge as possible.. i just let the, sink very slowly and then twitch them just a little bit and then they hit it..

good luck and if you have any more questions dont be afraid to ask