RHuff

Boat traffic was pretty heavy…

I used a 4.5 in roboworm texas rigged, nose hooked, and gilly hooked and a 3.25 in GLF Drop Minnow nose hooked… I dead sticked the neko and ned rig.. Even suspended fish would follow it down to the bottom and hold on it, sometimes for 5 or 10 seconds and not bite it.. As far as were they bass? You never truly know until you catch one but they sure looked like bass to me.. I did go to the banks and flip jigs and used wacky rigs.. the banks were like a ghost town..

Fished South Holston in TN yesterday for about 10 hours.. found multiple schools of fish on FFS off long tapering points in about 15-25ft of water cruising the bottom.. I threw a drop-shot (finesse worm and minnow style), neko rig in a 7in and 5in finesse worm, dragged a jig, dragged and hopped a ned rig, threw a crankbait grinding the bottom, fished a 3in jighead minnow, fished a jerkbait, and also threw a bladed jig and spinnerbait.. For the life of me I could not get any of these fish, in multiple schools on multiple parts of the lake to react to ANYTHING. They’d follow my baits, swarm it, dart after it, but would not eat it.. I left the lake very humbled and feeling a little deflated.. I haven’t zero’d in a long time.. Any suggestions on how to get fish like these to bite? Water was around 80 degrees, several feet high, and stained.. I also fished the banks some flipping, cranking, and wacky worms and not a sign of a single fish up shallow

Big jump from a 73sv to a 93sv. Not a big jump from a 93sv to a 106sv. I've had both. I only use the 106sv cause I found a great deal on it last year so I moved my 93sv to my dash. The 93sv is what I learned to read livescope on and it does the job just fine. Another option is getting a telescoping mount and raising it up away from the deck close to you... That will also help you see things better..

Two things.... 1. The beam shoots out from the boat like a flashlight and gets wider the farther it gets. I think I seen at around 50 ft the beam is about 30 ft wide... your fish are probably on the edge of the beam and as they leave the beam they fade away on the screen and as they reenter the team they show up again... 2. Also, as fish are swimming away or towards you in line with the boat, they are narrower, so they aren't as bright. As they turn sideways and you are hitting the side of them with the beam they will also show up brighter because you know, a bigger target... Hope that helps

It’s simply a wacky rig for deep water. DEADLY with Livescope in shallow to moderate water depth (See Drew Gill).. I use a #1 finesse neko hook with the Geecrack Neko Hack and a 1/16oz tungsten weight. I used to use the crossover rings but was losing my worm on almost every catch…

The 4.5 inch is my #1 producer for a Drop-shot.. Margarita Mutilator, Morning Dawn, Aaron’s Magic, and Bold Bluegill are my favorites..

I like a natural color like Green Pumpkin in sunny clear water and a brighter color like a pink, purple, or baby bass light green color in dawn, dusk, and stained water or smallmouth

VMC #1 Finesse Neko size 5 crossover ring 1/16 tungsten (it shows up better on FFS) 7 in Nekorama or 5 in Maxscent General

Idle around with side scan and mark specific things you see that sparks your interest (brushpile, boulder, roadbed, etc) and after marking several, turn around and idle back over them with downscan and/or traditional to see if any fish are currently in the area. If you see both fish and baitfish near the cover then line up on it and start fishing.... Fish that are on the edges of the cover or near the cover but not in it are usually aggressive fish ready to feed. Bass tend to hold beside or on the bottom beside the cover. Crappie school up and suspend above the cover. Fish that are buried up deep inside the cover are usually inactive fish that will still bite but need a little juice to get them to commit.. I use side scan all the time when idling to find specific pieces of offshore cover then I turn around and use my livescope to see if any fish are in the area and to cast to it. A lot more effective than trying to line up on a waypoint the traditional way but it's definitely doable if you don't have FFS.

Is the Green Chartreuse called Trotters Craw?

What colors do you prefer? Does color even matter that deep?

Anyone ever tried tossing a swimjig into a deep brushpile say 15-20ft. Seems to me the headshape would be more effective at coming through and over the wood than a football head. Anyone care to share their thoughts?

Thanks Glenn. I've been studying Drew Gill's Neko method with FFS hard this year and I've finally started catching fish almost every trip with it. I was always a wacky guy but fishing highland reservoirs when fish had backed off bank cover into deeper water I had trouble adjusting. The Neko has bridged that gap for me. I look at the Neko as simply a wacky rig for deeper water and that helped it click for me...

Do you use a safety chain? When mine loosens usually the switch falls out of the locked position to the unlocked position, but that's what the safety chain is there for... for backup

Caught 9 today on a neko rigged roboworm fat straight tail with a 3/32 oz weight and a #1 VMC wacky hook

Z man SMH worm

I’ve always been a wacky rig guy and can catch them up shallow around cover pretty good when that is the juice but when they’ve backed off I feel like my ned and drop-shot games aren’t producing like they should so I’ve thought about experimenting with the Neko for deeper water/bottom situations.. I throw usually a 3/32 nail weight in a berkley maxcent general or a roboworm 6in straight tail… So far I haven’t really caught any decent fish… even ones I can see on FFS.. I’ve tried to study what Drew Gill is doing but there’s not a lot out there of his exact techniques… Anyone care to share some info to help me learn? Thanks guys

Berkley Maxscent Generals

Developed by Jonny and the gang at FishTheMoment and Bass Fishing Declassified

Jighead Minnow is in a class all by itself… next would be a Frittside 5, Blade Bait, Jerkbait, and a Jig

VMC #2 Wacky Hook.. i’m excited to try the core tackle weedless wacky shot hook this spring..

I would throw a lighter jig then maybe a 3/8 and hop it instead of drag it.. I bet rocks like that are smallmouth heaven..

I use jigs two ways. Either flipping into heavy cover like a texas rig or dragging on the bottom around deep structure. I like a 3/8 for flipping and a 1/2 or 3/4 for dragging. Flipping is pretty self explanatory.. Dragging I throw it out in deep water past my target and let it fall straight down to the bottom. Reel up my slack and slowly drag it by moving my rod tip horizontally from left to right. Positioning the boat on the shallow side of the target will usually keep the bait in the strike zone longer. Make as much bottom contact as you can and reel up slack and let it sit a few seconds and repeat. Try to drag it to the target don’t cast right on top of it and most bites come during the pause..

Last year was my first full season with Livescope.. it’s completely changed the way I fish.. and last season was my best season in recent memory as far as quantity and quality..