PersicoTrotaVA

I pre rig as part of my prep for a tournament. I don't really pre rig when I fish for fun(aka practice).

Throw a Jig into trees and docks, heavy stuff. Big texas rigged worms, carolina rigs, craws, anything thats slower in presentation on rocks and drop offs.

I use 5 rods: 6'6" MHF with a 6.2:1 baitcaster for texas rigging, carolina rigging and plastic swimbaits/jerkbaits 6'10" MM with a 5.4:1 baitcaster for crankbaits 7' MHF with a 6.4:1 baitcaster for spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and swimming jigs 7' HXF with a 7.1:1 baitcaster for frogs, swimbaits and flipping/pitching jigs 7' MXF with a 6.2:1 spinning reel for shaky heads and wacky rigs I need to get a 6th rod for topwater and jerkbaits and then my arsenal will be complete...for now.

Going into summer a cold front can make the bite really slow. Down size your baits and slow down the presentation.

I went out today before work and I took 3 rods with me, my spinnerbait rod(epic fail), my pitching and flipping rod and my wacky rod. I threw the spinnerbait out first to see if I could get any reaction strikes and nothing was biting. I picked up my flippin rig and started to flip a jig into fallen trees. I have never done this. I was always scared to do it. Today I said screw it, its a 4 dollar jig, I'll just buy another. I pitched and flipped docks, off shore structure and fallen trees for 3 hours straight and caught 2 nice bass, my first ever jig fish. I fished my wacky rig for literally 3 minutes and never touched it again. That's my confidence rig too. All in all I am proud of myself and I want to thank the people in the thread for sharing their knowledge and giving me the confidence to go out there and throw a jig in some nasty stuff.

Wacky rig or shaky head. I am learning how to fish jigs, which I think will become my go to bait very soon.

Welcome! Love OBX! Used to do a lot of surfing there when I was younger. With that said, you can find a lot of holes to fish in your area. You chose the correct route by coming here and learning.

Strike King Series 1 and 4S in Tennesee Shad, Gizzard Shad. Black back/Chartreuse and Sexy Sunfish. I have a bank of KVDs in 1.0, 1.5 and 2.5. I use the Tennesee Shad the most and a rattling 1.5 bluegill colored one.

Ask 100 different anglers this question and you will get 100 different answers. There is no best lure. Whatever works for you and what you have confidence in. My confidence bait is a wacky rigged senko, dinger, ocho, flick stick, whatever. For example, today I fished 3 different crankbait colors, a plastic swimbait, a jig n trailer, and a wacky yum dinger. I purposefully fished the crankbaits and jig because I am not a very good jig fisherman but I want to be and I wanted to get a lot of practice with it. Had a few hits on the crankbaits and jig, none on the swimbait, which is odd because I usually catch fish on the swimbait. I fished for 6 hours before I decided I have to go to a wacky jighead and get my confidence up. 20 minutes later I landed my first fish of the day, a 2.5lb bass. I hooked it in the corner of the jaw in the sweet spot. I will fish a wacky weightless or jighead anytime, anywhere and most likely catch fish on it, but thats me.

It was the KVD squarebills, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.5 in Tennesee Shad. I still love all 3 and they have all caught me a lot of fish. I just picked up the Strike King 1XS in Gizzard Shad and Tennesee Shad and I love them more. The wobble is a little more wobbly and they only dive 2 feet, perfect for the shallow lakes I fish.

I concur. Jig is probably the best all around bait. It can be used anywhere, anytime.

Lake Hodges is good but prepare to drop shot deep. Not a lot of rain this year and the lake is way down. Lake Poway and Miramar are near there as well. If you want to take a little bit of a drive, Santee Lakes, Lake Wolford, Lake Murray, Lake Dixon, Lake Jennings, El Capitan, and Otay. All of them require a fee and I think all of them require a CA fishing license except Lake Dixon, Santee Lakes and Lake Poway if I remember correctly. Santee Lakes only offers bank fishing and you can bank fish a few others. Almost all the lakes have boat rentals as well. Check their respective websites for more info. A lot of big bass in SD county. There are some "secret spots" as well but you are gonna have find those yourself on your next trip out.

Color is a secondary factor and to be honest I think its more for the fisherman than the fish. Presentation is the key component.

Welcome! Lived in San Diego for 7 years. Great fishing spots there!

Welcome to a whole new world of bass fishing! I suggest you get plastics that mimic the forage of your lakes or ponds. "Match the Hatch!" With that said, a senko style worm seems to always catch fish. Since you will be fishing murky water I would suggest going with darker colors. The red shad color kills it in stained to muddy water. GYCB makes a red shad color and so does Yum(F2 Dinger). I prefer the Yums because of price, GYCB are expensive!

I was in southern Italy last year and a I was told a few of the lakes had bass in them. My cousin's friends told me they get upwards of 4 or 5 lbs so I am guessing its the Northern strain. They definitely eat craw fish. I saw a big craw near a dock that was blue. I have no idea what other kind of forage was in the lake. My next trip over the pond I am going to take some fishing gear and see if I can't hook into a few.

Like some of the posts say, the only reason the remove the front treble is to replace it with a larger one. Now the tail treble can come off all day long...I have never personally done it but I have seen people(even pros) take the tail treble off a lipless crankbait and replace the front one with a larger hook.

I guess I don't fish my KVDs that hard. Haven't had a problem with any of them, unless you call catching fish a problem.

I 2nd the squarebill. Use more natural colors. I like the ghost sexy shad kvd squarebill for clear water(5' to 7' is clear to me). For pastics I would throw a lightweight texas rigged grub or a tube. Cast it out and start reeling it slow to medium slow speed and hang on.

What these guys said. I have the same problem. I don't know if its because I am dyslexic(spell checked) or I just can't do it right the first time. I spend way too much time making sure my hooks are lined up and my worm is straight.

Try fishing it near that fast patch, near any rocks or trees.

Sexy Shad, Green Gizzard Shad and Tennessee Shad are all good colors for clear or stained water. The black back chartreuse is best in stained to muddy water. How fast is the current?

They work decent using a traditional texas rig. I suggest you get some nail weights and stick one in the tail about a half inch in from the tip burying it completing into the body of the worm and rig it weightless texas with a 4/0 or 5/0 EWG hook. The drop action makes it shimmy a lot more and it goes in at an angle away from you, so it kinda searches out a little bit. I have had a lot of hits on the first drop after the lure hits the water. If I don't get a hit, I'll start bouncing the slack like a wacky rig...or you can rig it wacky, they work awesome that way as well. The only thing I don't like about the nail weight is that you often lose the weight or the whole worm when a decent size fish is fighting and jumping. I haven't perfected my nail burying technique quite yet.

Oh the San Diego River....So many little holes with so many BIG fish! I spent 7 years in San Diego and moved back east Dec 2013. I love it there, it is truly America's Finest City. Welcome to BR, I am new here as well. Do you get out and do any Calico fishing? On the reels, I just picked up a Lew's speed spool and I love it so far. Lew's makes good reels for a very reasonable price.

I'd save it and put it towards a boat or kayak. CL is your best friend when it comes to that. I have found a lot of good jon boat set ups on there in the 500 to 1000 dollar range. Just my 2 cents...