pond fishing!?

[roadwarrior]

No, no, nooo...

#1 All Time Producer: 5" Senko, the real thing, not a knockoff.

#2 GYCB Fat Ika.

#3 XXXXX, never mind. Start with those two and we'll talk about something else later.

Fish these baits on light line, 8 lb test or smaller. Use a Gamakatsu 4/0 EWG. Fish them slow, weightless and weedless around cover and structure.

As I stated in the previous post, you need to fish at least a medium power rod with a fast, firm tip.

[GobbleDog]

No, no, nooo...

#1 All Time Producer: 5" Senko, the real thing, not a knockoff.

My NEW all time producer: 5" Chomper (senko style), a knock off that works like you wouldn't believe.

The only reason I prefer Chompers to Senkos is the nasty garlic smell on Chompers is so strong, I believe bass can taste/smell it before they bite it and hang onto it a little longer.

[Guest avid]

If your seeing them swim away with the bait, then you are definitly not detecting the strike. You may be fishing with too much slack in the line. But in any case, You need to watch the line. when you see it "twitch" reel down a few cranks and "cross their eyes"(set the hook with a fast, strong upward jerk) don't get into a feeling game with the bass. WATCH THE LINE

PS - It is common for new bassers to use hooks that are too small, They don't call em largemouths for nothin' don't be afraid to step up. 3/0 EWG gammy or owner (my preference) is minimum.

P.S. Did I say to watch the line? 8-)

[Guest avid]

No, no, nooo...

#1 All Time Producer: 5" Senko, the real thing, not a knockoff.

My NEW all time producer: 5" Chomper (senko style), a knock off that works like you wouldn't believe.

The only reason I prefer Chompers to Senkos is the nasty garlic smell on Chompers is so strong, I believe bass can taste/smell it before they bite it and hang onto it a little longer.

I bought a pack of chompers spider grubs once.  They worked but the smell    

I went back to GYCB's pronto.

[Peter E.]

Wait a second ya'll, lets stop discussing lures and hook sizes and help our member to gain a better understanding about what he is doing. Lures, techiques and what not are all fine great and dandy but first let us understand the fish so that we can use the right technique, and lure.

  Let us look at this with a more methodical and reasoned aproach than just to say throw this or throw that. Let us first observe the conditions he is face with.

   First off we will start with water clarity and temperature. Remember these two factors are perhaps the most influentail factors in determining  bass' strike zone day in day out. (a fish's strike zone is how far a bass will go to hit a bait)          

    With meduim light penetration and clarity the fishes strike zone is usually at its best. Meduim being three feet of visibitlity and say partly cloudy skies. and varying degrees back and forth. Higher the sun penetration the smaller the strike zone and the clearer the water the bigger the strike zone. You get the picture.

    Water temps are simple with between 60 to 75 degrees being the tempreture at which the basses metabolism is at its highest. An increase or decrease in temprature will lower a bass' metabolism. Also the higher the bass' metabolism the larger the strike zone is.

     Now let us apply that to the In-fisherman FLP formula.

F- fish: how do these factors influence the fish's will to feed.

L- Location: where are the bass located in the water colum and in the pond.

P- Presentation: How to present your bait so that it works best with the         conditions you are faced with an that given day.

     You can PM me for an FLP break down of your area with more information I can usually get about as close as you can get without fishing it.

Remember First you must understand the fish before you can catch it.

Peter

[Guest bassmaster4879]

Those GYCB bait are a little out of my price range.  But I guess you get what you pay for.  I have tried some of the suggestions from above and have improved on my hook ups.  I am going to pratice a little more today and we will see what happens.  It's just hard to go slow when your used to going at a steady pace during spring, summer, and fall.  Thanks again everybody.

[Chris]

I think they are on beds myself. Take a senko or that style bait and start your Texas rig before you turn the hook around to re stick the hook get a treble hook and stick a piece of surgical tubing on the end and stick it on your worm hook. Finish the Texas rig and put one of the treble hooks into the bait. This will give you a stinger hook. Now go whack' em

[Guest bassmaster4879]

Here is another problem that I'm facing.....the weather is changing from hot to cold/cold to hot.  This is making for tuff fishing conditions.  I'm going fishing in the morning so is there any last suggestions?

[dink]

Remember that the weather changes that you feel will not affect the fish as much.  No wind chill factors underwater.  If I were faced with your dilemna, I would try a reaction style bait (i.e. crankbait, spinnerbait, Rogue) and fish it slowly and methodically.  Last ditch effort would be to burn Spot or Rat-L-Trap past them a dozen times.

[roadwarrior]

Peter,

I certainly see your point and appreciate your approach to evaluating the importance of the conditions we face, but a lot of guys just want to catch a couple of fish when they are just getting started. I saw bassmaster 4879 is in Texas and I am confident that he can catch a couple of fish on the two baits I recommend. If he is already getting some bites as he stated, I think a couple of simple adjustments will help him catch those fish.

Although I totally agree that "observing the conditions" and adjusting to them is important to achieving consistant success, catching more and bigger fish and generally improving your skills, right now all bassmaster4879 wants to do is catch the fish he thinks he's found. To do that, right now, only requires a little adjustment in bait and equipment. I am absolutely, 100% positive that a Senko and/or a Fat Ika fished on a 4/0 EWG hook will catch a few bass on ponds in Texas.

[chunter_ksu]

Not trying to sound stupid here but can you see the fish or only the line moving.  I know that here in Kansas the baby b-hog is deadly in ponds but can also look pretty tempting to the bluegill and panfish.  You can get hits from these that feel pretty huge at times and they sure take the bait and run like you described.  

Again from your post I wasn't sure of the water clarity and if you can actually see the bass in the water then disregard my post.  Just an idea.

[Lightninrod]

Hello everybody. I'm a new user so bear with me. I think I'm in the right board. I went fishing today,01-07-06, and did fair or what I would think is fair. I had several large bass hit my plastic lure and no matter how hard I tried to set the hook they would still get away. I thought they were hitting at the back of the lure so I moved my hook back, still nothing. Then I decided to push the hook threw the base of the body barely hiding the hook and that didn't work. Any ideas on what I can do?

2nd question----I'm having a hard time on selecting the right color bait for the conditions that I'm fishing in? I mainly fish with plastic baits ( lizards, worms, etc). I do just fine with spinner baits even though I don't use them much. I also fish with jigs (black/blue). Any ideas?

All good advice and suggestions above and I'll chime in too and address this issue:

" I had several large bass hit my plastic lure and no matter how hard I tried to set the hook they would still get away."

First off, the rod as mentioned is so important. I prefer a minimum of 7' in length and a 7/6 is even better for the leverage it offers on a hookset. It must have a 'fast' tip IMO and enough backbone too.

Secondly, is the line. If you are using Iron Silk or any other 'stretchy' mono, then you need to change your line. While bank fishing with my best friend several months ago, he kept complaining about missing several hooksets. We were using the same model Kistler Helium, 7' rod and he was throwing a weightless, 5" Senko. I looked at his rig and he had Iron(what a misnomer!) Silk spooled on. I loaned him one of my rigs with 15# Seaguar's Carbon Pro flurocarbon line on it. First cast and he hooked and landed a nice 5 lber. 100% fluro has very little stretch, is sensitive, tough, and almost invisable underwater........an almost 'perfect' line IMO.

Thirdly, I rig the 4/0 EWG hook(I use GY's Sugoi hooks almost exclusively.) this way(quotes from ***):

"Tex-Exposed For open water or thin cover, put the point into the bottom of the bait and all the way out the top of the bait. The barb on some hooks like the Yamamoto Sugoi angle downward, so the point will hug flat on top of the bait. This is called "Tex-Exposed," meaning it is an exposed point Texas rig. Applications are where the water is mostly open, with few snags and sparse weed patches. Tex-Exposed works a bit better on big fat-bodied grubs or on wide-bodied lizards where there is some girth that tends to bump the Tex-Exposed point away from snaggage.

Tex-Skin on Top For moderate cover, follow the directions for Tex-Exposing the hook. Then, insert the hook point and barb just under the skin on the plastic bait's back. You have to pull the plastic forward in front of where the hook comes out the top of the bait, and stretch it forward a bit. While it is still stretched, insert the point just under the skin, and then push the stretched plastic back to cover the barb area. The only way to describe it is that the hook point should appear just under the bait's skin exactly as if you got a splinter in your thumb or your big toe, just under your skin.

Above all, you need to leave some slack in the body of the lure when you rig it. You cannot have the bait stretched too tightly onto the hook. Tautness in the lure body is what makes for poor hooksetting. You have to leave the slightest amount of slack in the body between the hook eye and the embedded point. The slackness makes for a good hookset. This is a feel that only comes with doing it right. Leaving slack does not mean that the lure should look like it has a bend or curve caused by the way you rigged it - it should look perfectly straight - but when you press down on it with your index finger right where you want the fish to bite it, there should be some looseness, some slack give in the lure body. You want the fish's mouth to depress the bait's body down easily in the section ahead of where the hook point is waiting. Once the hook point starts to grab hold in the fish's mouth, you really want the entire bait to easily pull down off the front portion of the hook, and out of the way where it won't interfere with a good hook set. This is kind of hard to describe in writing, but very recognizable once you get the hang of doing it. "

Note that the hook has already pierced the body(Texas-skin-on-top notTex-sposed) of the bait so when setting that hook, it becomes easy in that no extra force is needed in the hookset. By slipping the 'skin' of the bait over the hook's tip, you have a weedless bait but one that will offer the best chance of a successful hookset.

Dan

[Guest bassmaster4879]

Went fishing this morning and caught a load of chain pickerel (aka east Texas pike).  Still missed a few of those and some bass.  I tried putting on a trailer and that didn't work.  I saw the fish with my own eyes.  This is hard to believe......guess I will take up tennis or golf.

[Guest bassmaster4879]

I WANT TO THANK EVERYBODY FOR GIVING ME ADVICE ON THIS TOPIC.  I WILL NO LONGER BE USING THIS FORUM DUE TO BAD TREATMENT FROM ONE OF THE MODERATORS ON A TREAD THAT I MISTAKENLY PUT IN THE WRONG PLACE.  YALL HAVE BEEN REALLY GOOD TOO ME AND I AM FOREVER GRATEFULL.  I HAVE ASKED TO BE REMOVED FROM THIS SITE.  GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU.

                                                                              BASSMASTER4879

[bronzeback_NW]

Sorry about that.Tight lines and God Bless..Jim

[Guest avid]

Hey Lightnin Rod, I really like the photo you use in your signature line.  Your getting pretty good with the photo shop.  Very classy dude  

[srv1990]

This is off topic but I'm curious, how do you put a photo in your signature line?  I've tried copy/past, it didn't work... for me.

Thanks, TC