New Lake Without Shad

[JKLOCK]

I just fished a lake with no Shad here in Arizona.  It has Largemouth, Sunfish and Channel Catfish.  I caught 9 largemouth and one Sunfish.  Four of the bass were caught on green and black 5 inch Senkos.  One bass and the Sunfish were caught on a Rattle Trap with a blue back silver sides. One bass was caught on a black and green Beetle Spin.  The last 3 bass were caught on a Popper with green back and yellow underside just before sunset.  My question is, what other lures should I try on my next visit and in what colors?  

All my fishing to date has been on lakes with Shad so most of my lure colors and styles are to mimic Shad or Crawdads. On this lake, I'm strictkly guessing as to what lures and colors to use.  By the way, the lake is not too deep, probably only 12 feet max with a lot of hydrilla or Milfoil about 3 feet below the surface out about 50 yards off shore.  The water temperature was 73 degrees.

                                           Seniorbasser

[Gotta Love It]

Sounds like you did pretty well!  Just curious, how do you know that shad do not exist in this particular lake?  I fished my lake for 5 years before I realized it is loaded with big gizzard shad...

[JKLOCK]

I took a bass fishing class and the guy that taught the class is a biologist as well as a fishing guide.  He said this lake is one of the few in Arizona that does not have shad.

[Raul]

If you are a follower of the "match the hatch" school of thought then with your arsenal of shad imitator baits you are in deep trubble, yep, you are not going to catch fish because your baits don 't imitate the forage base ....... but I 'm a stubborn skeptic ready to disqualify such school of thought, I think it 's a load of hooey because I know that bass is a fine tuned predator ready to pounce on anything that may not necessarily resemble something in nature a bass could eat like a spinnerbait or an in-line spinner if you present it right, in the right location.

Lemme exemplify : my uncles have dairy farms, dairy farms that obviously have to produce the food for the cattle, their lands are irrigated by wells, those wells draw the water from underground and pour it into ponds, ponds that have stocked fish in them, I stocked them with bass, bluegill and tilapia ..... there 's no shad, no minners, no shiners, no crawfish in them, there never was, there will never be.

Ok, crankbaits in blue/chrome, black/chrome, shad which are classic shad imitators catch fish in those ponds; flukes, worms, grubs in classic shad/minnow colors like white, silver flakes, you name any possible color that may mimic a shad/minnow also catch fish; let 's take it a step further, anything in classic rainbow trout colors also catches fish on them and for obvious reasons ( warm water all year long ) there 's no trout in those ponds. Jig n 'pigs, the classic crawfish imitator also catches fish in them ponds .... ponds that don 't have crawfish in them.

This very same example can be extended to many lakes and other ponds I fish, so much for the "match the hatch" school of thought. :

So, don 't bother trying to imitate the forage base, all baits will catch fish if you present them right, in the right location.

[JKLOCK]

Raul, thanks for the reply.  I guess I can try some of my Shad like lures on my next trip.  I do have some lures that are the colors of trout and blue gill so I will try them also.  I did try an orange  and a silver yellow colored Rapala floating minnow and got no takers either one.

                                                   Jer

[Sam]

Try a Rooster Tail in white or white/gray.  All fish will usually attack a Rooster Tail.

Be sure to have a pliers with you to remove the treble hooks.

Have you thrown a buzzbait in the early AM or right at dark? Try a black one and see what happens.  And you can pull the buzzbait on top of the grass and pads, too.

Have you thrown any topwaters such as a Spook or a Pop-R type bait?

They should attack plastic worms with no problem, too.

Chatterbaits and frogs may produce good results.

Remember to "size down" for your pond as some of the larger bait sizes will not be successful.  Smaller baits may produce more strikes than their larger cousins.

And don't forget to try finesse fishing with your wacky worm, drop shot, shakey worm and Mojo rigs.

Let us know how you do.

Good luck.

[Avalonjohn44]

I caught 9 largemouth

Sounds like you did just fine.  Keep on doing what you're already doing.

[GeneinTX]

I agree with Raul on this one. Match the hatch is important in schooling fish. In those ponds you should be able to catch fish on shad colored lures. I would use the on the surface myself and and work your way down. Crawdad lures should be the best I would guess and then bluegill.

It sounds like you are fishing a nice piece of water for Arizona. How big is it?

[JKLOCK]

The lake is 90 acres, not very large.  I did catch 3 on the Pop-R that was green on top with a light yellow belly.  I didn't think about the rooster tail, I'll try that next time.  I didn't try a buzz bait, but I think I will try it next time also.  Thanks guys for all your good suggestions.  I'll try them out and let ya all know how   they work out. :)

                                                    Jer

[Catt]

To this dumb Cajun matching the hatch means matching overall size of the forage base  

[Raul]

Match the hatch = pickled quail eggs, absolutely necessary source of nourishment while fishing for us southern guyz.