jomatty

ive had decent success with just knocking on the door and saying "is it all right for my son and i to go fishing in your pond". it may sound shady but i find i have better luck if i bring my son with me lol. he almost always is with me anyways so dont think im running the poor kid around trying to sneak onto ponds lol. often times though we will only get permission for the day or whatever since these ponds are usually very close to the peoples house and i think that they are nervous about giving permission for anything more than that. and although i always catch and release bass i always make that clear and then do ask if they would like me to keep any for them. a ten pound catfish we caught in one (with a senko) made a very good impression with one pond owner. matt

thats a great idea. what i really need to do now is ship a poker chip around the country and get some mojo going on it. that is a good idea and where i really need the luck lol lol matt

for me it would be ouchitabassangler (jim). he not only seems to have a great depth of knowledge but also seems to have tons of stories about days gone by and what not. just seems like a guy who has been fishing for a long time and constantly learning and incorporating new stuff. at least that is my impression, right or wrong. frankly there is hardly anyone i would not like to spend a day on the water with. matt

i posted recently about this and the answers i got said that basically nothing changes except perhaps the light. if it rains enough to muddy the water than this of course needs to be taken into account also but the same techniques that were working before the storm hits will be productive during the rain. matt

you also may try a tube with a heavy tungsten weight, pegged and fished as jim suggested the jig. matt

whenever im getting a lot of followers i will make subtle color changes as sometimes this will make them commit earlier. this is probally not the case for you since it dosent sound like they are having trouble committing just that they are doing it late but i thought id throw it out there. matt

its stickied in the tournament/outings section

my wife and i were recently fishing in a lake when she made one of her specialty casts that somehow went straight up and over a tree and was dangling slightly out of the water. as i was struggling to figure out a way to get it out a bass jumps up and takes the senko. she said that when i pulled on a branch the bait touched the top of the water and i guess it looked like something good falling out of the tree. now we have a fish dangling on the end of the line with only about the last 1/4 of it still in the water. it took some doing but i managed to get him through the leaves and drag him up and over the tree and release him unharmed (but prob very confused) matt

im no master crigger but the way i do it is to fish it by dragging the tip pointed towards the water slowly but covering a fair amount of water until i feel... anything. when i start feeling a brushpile or log or anything else i slow way down and sometimes will stop pointing the rod at the water as i very slowly work whatever cover i have found. i never move the line with the reel only pick up slack after the drags. matt

c-rig?

although you can fish pads with your set up i dont like the odds if you hook into one of those monsters. if you cannot afford a new setup it might help if you spooled on some lighter diameter braid at least. braid is great in the pads, think weed whacker. i like to use a heavy pegged weight and tubes, craws, and baits like the sweet beaver or whooly hawg tail. use whatever weight it takes to punch thorough. if the pads are thin or sparse then a fat ika can be jiggled through and that bait is also killer areound the edges and pockets. matt

tough to beat a grub on a jighead imo for smallies. matt

try a fat ika around the edges and a tube with a heavy pegged tungsten weight to punch through the grass. matt

smallies in that kind of a pond sounds weird to me. ive never seen that. i didnt think that smallmouth could survive in very smal, warm ponds. anyhow in the ponds i fish in va similar to that RW is dead on. senkos and fat ikas are the ticket. good luck matt

in the river i fish the most productive structure is rock ledges and dropoffs. i love smallmouth. i mostly fish for largemouth but there is something that is "pure" about smallmouth. i just think they are beautiful fish, and so strong. reminds me of fishing when i was a kid and when i used to wade fish for smallmouth. every year i say im gonna go wade fishing but i never do. maybe this year. matt

i start the day with topwater and then switch to docks at smith mountain in va. i use wacky senkos skipped under the docks, yam. grubs, and jig head worms with great success. i plan on adding the fat ika to my dock arsenal this year. matt

ive caught the same largemouth on back to back casts. i caught him and threw him back and my son starts crying that he didnt get to "pet" him. i throw back and am pleased to catch another one right away, except its the same fish (distinctive markings). like everything else i guess it depends is the answer. matt

i like top water when they will hit it. my new favorite is the chatterbait, although i havent had a chance to go on a thorough night trip i think it will largely replace the spinner bait for my night fishing. i like it ok during the day but really like it for a night bait. matt

i fish a pond similar to what you are describing and the senko is hands down the way to go (in my pond at least). if you are targeting larger bass then the fat ika is a great bait. you will catch less bass but larger. these baits have far outproduced anything else for me under these conditions. i think the slow fall gives them plenty of time to either get it before the muck or follow it in. matty

how does this usually affect fishing and what techniques usually work well while it is raining. i was recently camping and we got dumped on and i really did not know how to respond. matt

i like to either c-rig em or as to pitch em t-rigged. matty

yep thats the ticket. either something that moves a lot of water (big jig) or with a real thump to it (colorado bladed sp. bait). those are my go to baits in really muddy water. matt

i generally retrieve it similar to how i do a hard jerkbait only slower. i dont use the reel to move the bait. jerk jerk reel to pick up slack jerk jerk jerk reel to pick up slack and continue. matt

in my experience i think the senkos are superior. the action is imo superior and bass seem to hold on much longer than they do the knockoffs. unfortunately im on a budget and i often use the other worms when im fishing less than the most important times. in farm ponds or the river where i go through a lot of lures i use other worms. i like the case ones the best but have had success with dingers as well as many others. basically you may have a personal preference to what is best (imo the senko) but they are all good baits that catch fish. matty

301 is a great bluegill immitator. other than that i use other pumpkinseed and watermelons and junebug as well as the plum with red flake. jomatty