mikey5string

If hes anything like I was or like all the kids ive seen/taken fishing. They CAN NOT let a bobber sit still. They are always reeling it in! ; ) Maybe get a small grub on a jig and put that under the bobber so he can get bit while hes reeling it in. At 5, he might be a little too young to learn to cast a spinning reel. Maybe just get him one of those push button jobs. They dont last very long but you can teach a kid to use one pretty easily.

gama or owner 3-5/0 EWG. Also got a free pack of troakers that I like but they dont have them at my local tackle shop. Not so great that I would wait for them over Gamas/

wacky rigging is just hooking a soft plastic through the middle rather than the nose. Try it with a fluke, I like it better than rigging it the standard way. You can jerk/twitch it or let it sink. There really is no "right" way, just the most popular way (which is a result of senkos fluttering fall) Tarpon, Not sure I know what you mean about not setting the hook, I do when wacky rigging. Sometimes the fish will swim off and hook themselves but that happens with all similar soft plastics. Also, the part about fish not fighting is not the case around here. I havent noticed a difference between techniques. Sometimes they run towards you, sometimes they are small and cant battle the rod as well. Weightless senko fishing (letting it fall to the bottom) is a little boring to me. I feel like it is a step above bait fishing ; ) You're not really working the lure....not as fun for me at least. One thing is for sure. Senkos DO catch a lot of fish!

That water level looks low. Has the lake been drained recently? Can you get ahold of a depth contour map?

Common misconception that bass don't feed mid day. They definitely do and it is possibly the best time to fish for em. With the exception of a passing school or single fish, bass are rarely in open water. They are always in some type of structure or cover. Always be fishing something, a fallen tree, Lilly pads, grass, rock piles, under a mat of alge... Look for shady spots close to shore. These offer bass a cooler place as well as a good ambush spot. Try throwing a frog on th alge. Try to make it look like a real frog. Stop it for a few seconds every once in a while and let it sit. Try dragging a Carolina rigged worm on the bottom. Hopping a jig along as well. if you don't drop shot, I would learn. It is one of the most versatile and productive techniques around, especially for hard to find or stubborn fish. If there are an abundance of perch, try a perch colored crank bait or fluke. When using a fluke, rig it weightless and let it slowly sink, giving it a few twitches now and then. Just today I caught several fish including the biggest one of the day throwing a frog into thick hydrilla mats within 20 feet of shore. It was between 11 and 1. Try casting a sinker out an dragging it on the bottom. Feel for underwater structure and depth changes. Make a note of those spots and fish them. With enough time you will develop a pattern for any time of day. Good luck!

and a video that might get you to brave those blistering afternoons.....

Use a grass jig, not a football jig. Or just use a shakey head with a craw/creature on it. Other things I find useful for summer bass from shore: Carolina Rigs with floating worms about 18" behind the sinker dragged along the bottom/through grass.... Spinnerbaits pulled through submerged grass (they dont get hung up as much as you might think) weightless tex-rigged flukes/senkos/brush hogs/anything. Just let it fall. twitch.fall. twitch.... and dont be afraid to throw a buzzbait or spook mid-day. Ive gotten some of my best fish in coves at around noon with topwater baits... Also. Google the name of your local lake along with "aquatic vegetation" or something like that. I have found contour maps with depths for all my local lakes. They came from a study on aquatic vegetation. This allows me to fish points/drop offs and see depth changes around the entire lake.

Try dragging a carolina rig or shakey head on the bottom. You can feel for structure (brush/trees/holes/ets) pay attention to depth changes, rocks etc. You might even want to "search" the bottom just a sinker and no hook to minimize hang ups. If it is a rocky bottom, use a broader sinker to minimize getting caught in rock crevices. Once you get an idea of where the bottom changes due to structure of drop offs, you can target those areas. I would use a shakey head, football jig or drop shot rig. You can adjust the leader on the DS rig if youre not getting bit on the bottom.

Someone who doesnt think fishing is just another excuse to get drunk.

go buy a sabiki rig. the size depends on the size of the bait. For 3-4" alewife I use a #4. Those are Japanese hooks size so its different from a US #4 hook. They are very small. If the bait is bigger, you can size up. Put a bell sinker on the end and drop it in the water where you see the bait. Let it go to the bottom, give it a few twitches and you catch them. Most sabiki rigs have around 6 hooks so you can catch up to 6 at a time. Pull it up, put the fish in your bait bucket and repeat. If the bait is schooling, this is an easy method to catch them quickly. I catch alewife even if I dont see them, just drop it in the water off the dock and I get em. Usually dusk into the evening works best for alewife but YMMV.

you can hop them along the bottom at a decent pace and still be "shakey head" fishing. IMO the jig style is what makes it a SH. with the nose down and the tail up. I use craws on them and hop them along as well as just twitching trick worms. Craws look great on them as it looks like one in a defensive position (claws up) In that case you want to be hopping it along the bottom like a fleeing craw. A typical texas rig doesnt allow the bait to "stand up" on the bottom like a shakey head. The only thing I wouldn't do is reel them up mid depth like a crankbait. Not that you couldnt get fish like that, just better options for that type of fishing.

ill be doing the same thing up here in CT. I am going to do what I usually do...T-rigged or weightless soft plastics, jigs, spinnerbaits and I always have a wacky senko on standby. Always casting to cover/structure. Weeds, trees, brush, anything. Bass are almost always in cover, the heat wont bother them. Remember they are in the water and its a lot cooler even a few feet down. Their metabolism also speeds up in the hotter months so they will need to eat more, more often. Look for shady spots like under overhanging trees, docks and pads. Also look for shallow flats that lead to deeper water. Slow down presentation. Let the bait sit for as long as you can stand it then hop it/twitch it and repeat. I always prefer creature baits & worms before baitfish type baits. I think a bass would much rather snag slow moving prey than chase down baitfish. That is, unless you can see baitfish clouds in the water. Then I would throw a crank, buzzbait or spinner around them. The rain may stir up the bottom and create stained water adjacent to clear water. Cast there. Run off from streams, pipes...cast there too. Check this video out. Its about big bass and the mid-day summer heat:

thanks!

I love the one on the left. Everyone fishes black/blue, sometimes the fish react to something different. the left one has more versatility imo. Could be a craw,bluegill, bug... For trailers, I like paca chunks, some of the havoc series (beavers, craws) or a simple split tail grub.

New member from CT (New Haven area). Been fishing all my life. Live near the beach so I've fished Stripers, Blues, Blackfish & Fluke as well as freshwater, mostly for Bass and the occasional Walleye. REcently got serious about bass fishing. Use 2 casting and 2 spinning outfits mostly. Most confident with soft plastics (tex rigged/wacky/weightless/pegged, drop shot) but working on getting better with jigs. Also throw spinnerbaits and the occasional crank. No boat yet so I am confined to shore or rented boats at a local reservoir...Or when anyone takes me out I am really considering getting a small aluminum with a small outboard and trolling motor. Realizing that I am missing out on a lot of good fishing. Mike