FIN-S-R

RW, Theres more to come..I hope U dont mind my taking up the space.

So, we have covered a moving bait for feeding fish type of presentation, which typically has fish oriented by the bait, and loosely relating to some cover or structure feature. Now lets examine the DRAG. The drag is mostly effective for those fish that are non, or marginally active in chasing to feed. For this technique, I usually up size my weight to a ¼ oz, but have used as heavy as ½ oz to balance the rig depending on the size forage dictating lure size. This heavier weight is important for two things: 1. being bottom contact and enhanced feel for the bottom, and 2. being a rapid decent, and possible instinctual reaction strike. Upon casting, leave the bail open or reel disengaged, so that the rig falls as straight down as possible. The one rule that will ensure success for this method is to attempt to feel your way along the bottom. That is to say, try and figure out what your weight is dragging across weather it be rocks or wood or sand. In doing this you will be moving the lure slow enough to allow for less than aggressive fish to take notice, and you'll imparting a very natural movement to the rig. The next time you go for an outing on the lake, walk down to the boat ramp before you put the boat in. Look around for a school of bait (usually they will hang on ramps for the food) and watch their movement when not disturbed, and then disturb them gradually. You will notice they go about their business as normal, then become visibly nervous, and then flee (Im a bit obsessive, I've spent lots of time watching bait). By feeling out the bottom as I mentioned you will be mimicking these movements pretty closely. I could catch some grief for this next statement, but I almost never jiggle or shakey head the dropshot rig into a gyrating frenzy. If you have to do this to get bit, you will probably do better with a tight wiggling crank or a shakey head jig. In a jackpot I recently fished, we started out with slick sunny conditions, and the drag was producing pretty well. Some cloud cover and wind moved in ahead of an approaching front and I couldn't buy a bite though my partner was still catching be it at a much reduced rate from earlier in the tourney. I noticed he was doing a lot of jiggling, and that clued me in that the fish were becoming significantly more active. I picked up a crank, and WHAMwe didn't win or anything grand like that, but we did manage to catch a number of fish upon adjusting. So to re-iterate, reserve the rod shakin for jigs, t-rigs and carolina rigs, and although Im sure there are exceptions, the drop shot drag seems most effective when little or no rod action is imparted. In the drag scenario, I usually start with a longer leader (up to 3 or 4 feet) and generally never go any shorter than 12 inches. While dragging, you will encounter obstacles that the rig will bump into and momentarily get stopped. Don't immediately pull past these obstructions, but let the lure soak a few seconds. During the stop or when pulling past the object is generally when you will get bit. Many of these bites will be perchy or feel like a crappie or bluegill bite. And much of the time the fish wont commit on the initial peck. This is when most folks make the biggest mistake in fishing a dropshot. Instead of holding the bait in place and waiting, or continuing to move the rig, pop the bail open or disengage the reel and let the lure sink to the bottom for just a second or two. A high percentage of the time you will have the fish caught when you re-engage the reel and take up slack. This is especially effective for reservoir smallies and spots. Next we will move on to a couple of very specialized techniques using the drop shot.

Specific Techniques: Specific technique information was not all that readily available when I first started dropshotting, but as the technique has aged in the bass fishing community more and more information becomes available. The one thing I have had a hard time finding much on is the specifics on when and where this technique might be best used, and specifically how to use it in a particular situation. There are lots of generalizations out there, and some say jiggle it, some say give some time off, and some say drag it real slow. But when and where and under what conditions do these techniques produce the best? In what follows I will try to break down some of the specific situations that I find most productive for catching with a drop shot. Match the Mood: In general the fish species we chase will fall into one of two categories. Either they are feeding actively, or not. The two techniques covered below are geared toward AREA fishing for both types of fish, but not particularly SPOT fishing such as visible cover ie. a stump or laydown. Taking into account that most predatory fish are opportunistic feeders, you should be able to coax a bite out of fish in either mood. There are though differences about the manner in which you present your offering to best exploit each of these feeding tendencies. I find that actively feeding fish will respond most readily to a drop shot presented in two ways. The first mimics a fleeing prey species, and is extremely effective for suspending fish or schoolersthat's right use a drop shot for schoolers. Using the lightest weight possible cast your rig past the area where the schooling activity is taking place. Immediately engage the reel such that the rig does the traditional pendulum swing back toward you on a semi tight line. Assuming that the schoolers you're after are relating to bait, and not specifically relating to a cover feature they will most likely be at various depths and more or less suspending. With this in mind it is possible to understand why you would want to cast past the school and let the bait swing back toward you. This allows for coverage of multiple depths in an effective manner. My personal opinion is that this method does an extremely good job of mimicking a lightly wounded prey item attempting to flee toward the safety of deeper water. The light weight causes a slow enough fall that the predator fish has time to notice your bait in what can be a thousands of other possible meals haulin butt to save their skin. If you have ever found schoolers hammering shad fry or something very small like that, and you cant coax a bite for love or money, give this technique a try. Once you practice this a little you will be able to take up slack as the rig falls such that it hits the bottom as it reaches the boat. In lakes with grass beds this technique can be even more effective as the grass can aid in creating a stop and go retrieve. Once again a very light weight is key and in this situation it will keep your rig from becoming snagged. Obviously you don't want to throw this rig into a mat of grass that reaches the surface, but on that same note, in leaving that visible target alone, and concentrating on what's subsurface you will be targeting fish that are typically untouched by most anglers. So the starting point is the grass bed areas that don't reach the surface. You will want to place the rig on the edge and move it over the area. I try to cast over the bed as far as possible, and allow the rig to pendulum into the vegetation, but only let the weight hit the grass. Now it is nearly impossible to never allow the hook to contact the grass, but for the most part in my experience, with a little practice you can effectively tick the top of the grass with the weight. This will stop and start the bait in an arrhythmic fashion that is pretty consistent with the movements of many bait fish. If you can find a grass bed on a slope as commonly occurs in the lakes I am familiar with, you can combine the pendulum method I first mentioned with the grass ticking, and catch those crankbait and spinnerbait fish that wont bite a crank or blade. This sort of controlled fall presentation is also extremely effective on bridge pilings and rip rap banks or levys. These scenarios usually call for a shorter (6-12 inches) leader between the hook and the weight.

Thanks for the kind words guys. As to the question about prime drop shot conditions, I have found that high skys and slick water with high temps in the upper 90's or low 30's (the extremes) are the times when the dropshot usually out produces other techniques although these are not necessarily the top producing times for the dropshot rig. I'll cover more on this in the next installment. I would have posted it yesterday, but I had to leave work a little early to go fish a jackpot, and yes I was throwing a dropshot.

Ok enough about the fundamentals, now on to the applications. Gear: This is a topic constantly debated concerning drop shotting. Some prefer spinning gear, and some prefer casting, both of which can be used effectively. My preference is a large spool diameter spinning rig due to the fact that when cast out, you can allow the rig to sink more vertically than with casting gear by leaving the bail open. A spinning reel is also more conducive to casting a very light rig with minimal problems for the less experienced, or like myself, less coordinated angler. To minimize problems that a spinning reel might cause concerning line twist, I almost always use a swivel. Generally the smallest swivel you can practically use, placed about 6 inches above the hook will cause the least difficulties in casting, and the most benefits from reduced line twist. I like a pretty light action 6'10 to 7' rod with a fast tip for sensitivity, but flexible enough to absorb an abrupt deep run from a big fish. The medium light action 6'10 browning medallion rod teamed with a daiwa regal reel does the lions share of my dropshotting work under normal conditions. Line: The smallest diameter line you feel comfortable with is best. Forget about what the strength rating of the line is, you can compensate for sacrificed strength by loosening the drag on your reel. Using very small diameter line allows for less resistance when moving through the water. It's sort of like the difference between carrying a 4'x8' sheet of plywood in a 20 mph wind or a toothpick in a 20 mph wind. The smaller profile toothpick is going to create much less resistance. Similarly, smaller diameter line has less resistance and this provides for better feel and better control. I personally prefer using 6lb invisx made by seagar. It is fluorocarbon, and has the smallest diameter per strength rating as compared to other lines. I also prefer the fluorocarbon due to the fact that it's denser which makes it more sensitive. The density also allows it to sink which causes less swag in the line on a long cast. A less expensive and lower maintenance line that I have found will work is 8 or 6lb p-line floroclear. Weight: I have seldom encountered a situation where a heavier than needed weight out performed a lighter weight. That is to say, I find it most effective to use the lightest weight possible that allows me to maintain control of my rig, and contact with the cover or structural features I wish to fish. I personally prefer the long skinny weights such as the mojo brand in 1/4 or 5/32 oz. Other weight configurations might be as effective for some situations such as sand or mud bottoms, but the long skinny (smaller profile) type will move through grass and rocks and brush with fewer hang ups and can be used on cleaner bottoms as well. When you do get hung up, and you will get hung up, it is generally possible to jiggle the rig loose by moving it up and down on the obstruction by allowing slack and then applying very slight tension. The worst thing you can do when you do get snagged is to pull hard against the snag as this will generally either embed the hook, or bend the weight, and make it more difficult to free your rig. Also when you do encounter an obstruction, use it to bounce the lure around a little. Many times this is one of the best ways to entice a bite from a fish that might not otherwise be interested, and the fish will generally swim away from the snag upon eating the lure. Hooks: I have gone through a number of types of hooks looking for the right one. The best hook I have found I realized while catfishing with my father-in-law who was at the time a state record holder for blue cat and had multiple 50-80lbers to his name (he knew what he was doing). He was using gamakatsu octopus hooks with a shad wormed on, and it seemed he never missed a fish though he almost never set the hook. This clued me in on the effectiveness of these hooks for a passive hookset like the one used with the dropshot. Since then I almost exclusively use this type of hook. The difference I have found is that less tension is needed to stay hooked up with the octopus hook as compared to other style hooks. This is a great help considering the light line issues as well as the propensity of a bass to jump and throw a hook. The size hook used needs to be as small as practically possible taking into consideration the size of your bait and the quarry your after. The other types and styles like the stand out type hooks on the market aren't by any means a poor choice either, but for consistency, I prefer the octopus. Knots: Probably the most overlooked element of a sound drop shot rig are the knots used on the swivel and the hook. The dense nature of fluorocarbon line dictates that a knot such as the improved clinch or cinch or trilene knot be used whenever possible to keep from pinching the line. This type of knot should be used on both sides of the swivel, but when attaching the hook a Palomar is necessary. The Palomar knot on the hook allows for the tag end of the line to be passed from the top through the hook eye after the knot has been tied. Passing the tag end back through the eye of the hook will cause the hook to stand out if done correctly when pressure is applied to the tag end as it would be from the weight. Lure Selection: Of course lure selection is a personal preference or regionally dictated issue when it comes to color and style, but the following are a few types of lures I have found to produce consistently for me. 3/4/5 inch Yum Dinger, Kinami Flash, Tiki Stik, Senko 4/6 inch Yamamoto Cut tail worm 4/6 inch Robo straight tail finesse worm or fat worm (very buoyant) Zoom Finnesse Worm (Very Bouyant) PowerBait Shakey worm Zoom baby or tiny brush hog Manns hard nose finesse worm (very buoyant) Gulp- Just about anything that will fit on a little hook will catch just about anything that swims I rarely if ever wacky rig anything on a drop shot. Wacky style worms on a drop shot can work really well for bedding bass, but seem to produce quite a few missed strikes otherwise.

Let me start by saying that I am by no means an expert on catching lots of huge bass. I have managed to catch a few nice ones in my life, but as chiefly a tournament geared fisherman I am looking for the most efficient manner in which to find and stick as many fish as possible in the shortest amount of time- not that I'm anything exceptional at that either. About 5 or so years ago Jeff Kriet, an up and coming pro at the time, showed my cousin and fishing partner this new technique called the dropshot. Come to find out it wasn't all that new as an idea, the striper and catfish guys on Texoma had been filling client's bags and their own pockets using this rig for years. The new part was using it for bass, and using worm type lures. It turned what had typically been 1 or 2 squeeker fish outings on our home way over fished lake murray into outings consisting of up to 50 fish outings with multiple 3s, 4s and the occasional 5 or 6lber. Pardon the pun, but I was hooked, and have been catching all kinds of grief from the pool cue wielding types ever since. So the reason for composing this write up is that this is a technique I have found to be very effective at catching as opposed to casting practice. Note that there are some conditions that will not allow for using the technique effectively: Extremely heavy cover, Unusually muddy water, Very High wind. This technique is not perfect for all other situations, but for the most part it can be used pretty effectively, and when spookey fish or high angling pressure are encountered, it can turn a busted day into a blast. In this write up I will try to give some thoughts and examples on the theory and particular gear applications associated with drop shotting, and also discuss and explain them. Dropshotting- a finesse technique using a weight at the end of the line which anchors in place, a hook attached higher up the same line. It can be visualized as anchoring a boat with a hook attached to the anchor rope. First let's examine the fundamentals of the rig and the environmental variables that make it effective. I have found the drop shot appeals to many species of fish such as all the bass species, sunfish, walleye, crappie, multiple species of catfish, carp, drum, gar, sandbass (whitebass), stripers, and skipjack herring just to name a few (the species I have caught on a drop shot). To me this suggests the drop shot does a very effective job of simulating live forage creatures. The fish, not just bass, but most species of fish we chase have eyes oriented toward the top of the head. This makes evaluating movement from above easier than movement directly below. You know what I mean if you have ever watched a bass turn down and on its side on a lure moving along the bottom. The presentation used with the drop shot generally causes the lure to be presented in an off the bottom manner so it is a very effective simulation of natural forage. The lure can be moved along the bottom, but also moved horizontally off the bottum depending on the distance between the hook and weight. This aspect of the drop shot is what makes it so effective for all anglers ranging from the highly skilled to the no-skilled. Unlike a crankbait or t-rigged soft plastic, a certain distance from the bottom can be maintained (in the strike zone) while moving the bait very slowly and even while stopped. This element of suspending the bait in the zone of active feeding for an extended time really sets the drop shot apart from most other techniques. It gives the fish a long time to move cautiously toward the bait without exerting a lot of energy. This aspect also makes full use of the scent dispersing products like gulp or powerbait or exude.

It seems spots are a chamelon fish. In the OK lakes I fish, they are mixed in with LMB and SMB, as well as stripers, sandies, blues, crappie, or channels, and they also will be a singularly concentrated species. I find spots are more transient than either of the other 2 "bass" species, and then less transient than the other 2 "bass" species as well. I think spots are just 100% bait relational, whereas LMB seem to be cover on structure relational, and SMB seem to be loosely structure relational. They do seem to be very specific at times as to what they will bite. I make a pb&j&green 3/4 oz rubber skirt football jig that I catch almost exclusively spots on. They seem to like gulp a little more than the other 2 species, with SMB runnin them a close race. Split shots and high standing shakey head worms seem to garner more spot strikes, as do finnesse jigs with a worm trailer as opposed to a chunk or craw trailer. Spots are a quick limit fish for me in most cases, and rarely have I weighed in a bag at texoma without a 16-18 inch spot. In the lakes that I fish I never really fish a "spot" pattern as I would a SMB or LMB "pattern" because it seems that when the other 2 species get lock jawed, you can still always catch a spot. Doesnt matter if your drop shottin in 40ft, flippin flooded willows, or bed fishin, there are always spots around. the only thing a little disconcerting about catchnig a spot is that it really doesnt indicate much as far as overall fish positioning goes due to the fact that at times they seem to be so random.

The included link will take you to a bunch of really good "science of fish" type articles by the guys at berkley. http://bassbuzz.outdoorsfanmedia.com/br_news.asp?thecat=2

I have caught some of my biggest smallies in southern OK during the months of june july and august during the later morning into the middle of the day when there was no wind, and bright sun. These are not the typical "good smallie" conditions, but smallies down here are more like stripers or sandies, and you never know what they'll be up to. One constant in the late spring into summer for big smallies, has been moving baits like topwaters, cranks, and lipless cranks. Like the 1 guy said, its all about location. If your on a good smallie "spot", then your odds greatly improve. And heed what he said about the drop shot!!

From the way my shoulders and back hurt after 8 or 10 hrs of rippin a vibe or crankin a DD22, Id say muscle is being built. I dont get the same sore results from flippin a jig or draggin a drop shot.

Lure choice- 1st throw a reaction bait like a vibe, this will tell you alot about the school of fish you are seeing. Poppers and other topwaters will generally work, but keep in mind that the fish are schooling in the AREA, not just on that 1 spot where the surface bustin is happening. After you get a handle on the mood of the fish, you'll notice that the feeding comes in waves. This is a result of the schooling nature of the bait, when they scatter, the school "breaks up" while the bass are chasing individuals, or dropping down to get back in position. Once I have identified the features which the bait and feeding fish are keying on (structure/wind/cloud cover/mudline) I will typically go to 2 types of presentations. 1-Dropshot or rollinrunner/ fishhead spin 2-hornytoad/popper or vibe/deep crank #1 is typically effective on the deeper schoolers that are semi-active #2 is typically effective for the actively feeding fish If you get the chance to just sort of observe, you will notice that schoolers will follow the same patterns of feeding day after day, and from 1 year to the next in certain areas during certain seasons. Also, there are other factors like the gar, or stripers and sandys. There is a stretch of Lake texoma that the striper guides work over everyday from march to october. There is about an hour and a half of good schooling activity in the area, and it is broken into 3 phases. early the stripers and sandys will go nuts on the shad schools. Immediatly following this, the smallies will turn on then the spots and LMB in the same areas. These LMB, Smallie, Spot schools arent roaming, they live on certain structure which the striper schools pass over, so in effect you have multiple groups of fish feeding in succession based out of a "home area". You will know it is time to move when you start seeing the gar come through for clean up. So you move to the back of the striper school as it passes the next prominant structure feature, and wait for the "bass", rinse and repeat. Now this is a very pronounced pattern in a very particular spot, and Im not saying it always happens like this, but I have been able to replicate this pattern on multiple lakes. It just takes some evaluation of the stucture features and overiding factors.

My grandfather got it started, and though my wife thought highly of him in many respects, she probably would spit on his grave for that. I have been a serious adict since early in life(5-6ys old). Started with whatever was willing to bite fishing, and have in recent years become an intense competitive tournamant fisherman. Funny though, I hold myself to a much higher standard when taking my son fishing than when fishing for money. PAPA started all us grandkids out with solid zebco rigs in the late eightys, and though ive upgraded considerably, and i do keep up with current equipment advancements, I generally tend toward only those which compliment my style of fishing (ex. florocarbon). Im on my 3rd boat, a 20ft w/ 200 optimax, and will certainly upgrade if god permits me the time on earth. My techniques have in later years moved more toward meshing with the fish, as opposed to attempting to make the fish cooperate. bass fishing has greatly improved the enjoyment factor in life for me, the wife would not concur, and has provided a platform for my son and I to really stay close and achieve a common ground I hope we will always share. I was trained as a scientist in various institutions of higher learning, and now bass fishing has become a big research project for me. I document and analyze every detail of every moment spent on the water in hopes of finally "figuring it out" though Im sure this wont happen. In the past i would fish till noon, and that would be a day on the lake, now, I can go from before sun-up till the last rays of light are gone without ever thinking of the time spent. A good day or bad makes me want it more one way or another. Ive moved away from powerfishing, and find myself with a spinning rod in my hand probably 75% of the time now. I catch a lot more and a lot bigger now. I tolerate weekends without fishing trips, and schedule my calendar around fishing trips and tourneys.

Next month I have a tourney on a navigable river system where 3 become 1. It is a major transport waterway, so it has all you would expect in the way of locks and navigation features. This will be a first for me on the river deal. I have heard that rivers will fish much different than lakes. So heres a question: With LMB and Spots as the target species what are some approaches to find the fish on a river system for a late post spawn/ summer bite.

Points. I had it explained to me a while back like this. Imagine a point as a christmas tree laying down with tip pointing toward the middle of the lake. The tip is a primary point. All the branches behind the tip are 2ndary, tertiary, quaternary, and so on as you move toward the base. Mats, fish edge, push in and punch through, push in and punch through, rinse and repeat.

Try a splitshot. 20lb braid w/ 8lb fc leader bout 2ft long. Downsize ur hook a little, and use 1/16 or 1/8 oz pegged finnesse cyliner or bullet split crimped on the top of the swivel. This rig will glide through the grass (pond weed/ hydrilla/ stinkweed/ coontail/ pads) really well, and the braid will chop em' up like a weed eater when you get a fish on. It is more or less a real light weight c-rig w/ stationary weight and no beads

i have kept shiners and ghost minnows alive and well for weeks in the fish tank with my illeagally kept baby bass, blue cat, and bluegill. Like the guy before me said, feed em' fish food. You might lose a few if you have other types of fish in there, but for the most part they will do fine. Just remember, Shiners are carp, carp are goldfish, goldfish emit larger amounts of ammonia in their waste, and will raise the pH of the water they are in and that will generall kill everything else if you dont control it. Carp type fish can live in a wider range of pH than can most other fish, so keeping it lower wont hurt them.

So simple yet so profound...why didnt I think of that....a light just came on upstairs. That makes perfect sense now. i noticed schoolers running out about the area where the shore line used to be about 2 or 3 months ago. The water up on ft gibson (ne oklahoma) was anywhere from 5-12 ft high, and texoma (my home lake) is currently dropping and about 7 ft high, but has dropped about 3 ft. I caught a couple of the schoolers, but when they went down...I thought back into the willows and brush....I couldnt buy a bite....Maybe they were going back to the original shoreline...thats where no cover meets butt load a' cover. Now I gotta go try that out this weekend. Does truman run into the same watershed as grand/ hudson/ ft gibson/ ark. river.

4 tourneys lately I have had to deal with high largely stained to murkey water. This is my worst nightmare, I dont do shallow powerfishing well, or I guess I should say, I dont like to do shallow powerfishing. What direction do you guys go when faced with a lake that is 10ft up in the willows and buckbrush or button bushes. I have flipped jigs/tubes/worms, thrown spinnerbaits, bounced cranks/ ripped grass/ frogged/ buzzed/ swam and done just about everything else I could think of, but I just cant get this flooded cover deal working for me. Do most of the fish come up to feed on flooded conditions, or do the postspawn fatties stay put in deeper areas as would normally happen. I havent spent the time deep I would normally this time of year, but when I do it seems not to be as good as usual. The shallow bite for dinks is on, but I need better quality fish....any ideas?

It usually takes me about a week worth of nights after work to get all 18 rigs set up line sprayed, re-tied, put up everything from the last outing....etc... Senko, shakey head, dropshot, popper, frog, vibe, deep crank, are my bare minimums- thats to say at least 7 rigs ready to go.

Avid...Im glad I dont fish against you!!! :-?

Braid Owner 3/0 or 4/0 Round bend wide gap J- Hard to find- Gives U the angle of offset hook and room of ewg. If U miss bite-Kill it, let it sink When U get Bite- Wait, then wait some more My lazy butt 8yr old son taught me the effectiveness of the subsurface horny toad bite If you get lots of misses on white try black..works 4 me JMO-Good luck

Here is some food for thought, and a little perspective tweeker. Last night I took my son to the top secret double pond behind the in-laws....Its loaded w/ giants and they are dumb as..well..fish, but anyway, As we were walking down to the pond we came up to "the crawdad hole" its a little mud puddle and completly full of crawfish. We noticed from some distance quite a comotion going on in the hole from crawfish retreating to their hidin' spots. There is no way they could see us, we could only see a very small part of the hole, and like I said were some distance away....i figure they felt vibrations from our tramping through the pasture. We stopped and sat still for a bit at the hole, and life returned to normal with the little backward swimmers until my son whispered to me. Immediately the critters retreated to their sanctuaries again. I realize crawfish arent bas, but this should allow a little insight to the ability of critters to detect intruders into their environment well beyond anything we can wrap our brains around. Now if a bass can sneak up and chomp down on a crawdad, whos the more sensory well eqipped? I know there are other factors at play in a situation like that, but considering the total package, the bass has the edge on the crawdad, and it seems more than likely on us bi-peds too.

Heres a twist on ethics. Came into a little cove during tourney full of pads. Another boat was in the cove on other side fishing a bed. I hit the opposite bank and pads about 75-100yds from him. Saw schoolers in back of cove and tm'd that way on high. He noticed me haulin butt...further away from him, and then niticed schoolers. He headded to them also...I had the jump and got there first...missed 1 before he got there..at this point we are about 25yds apart. He saw I had the goods and he really couldnt fish the area, so he big motored into the pads where the schoolers were and blew the whole are out w/ trim up so it was raining pad stalks. I gave him the high 1 as he departed. ;D

seems like every tourney Ive had this years has been like that...I hate the wind!!!

Ill expound on the previously mentioned spinner bait technique. First thing as everyone else has said USE BRAID. 2nd, I like a 3/4 to 1 oz spinnerbait with a single colorado or indiana blade. Unlike the fellow before had mentioned, I slow roll it without a trailer so I can feel every little bump and with the big blade you can move it slow and keep it up. I keep from getting hung by letting the bait drop when I feel that bump. Also with a heavy spinner bait you can bounce it around real easily to get it loose if you do get hung up...since your fishing from the bank. Besides that, most of the bites will be on the fall after you make contact with a pad. Dont get me wrong, burnin a spinnerbait through the pads will catch fish, I just cant seem to do it without hangin up alot. My second choice would be a tie btw a solid frog, and rippin a vibe through em. Braid is a must with the vibe, and very heavy braid at that. I swap out the hooks on the vibe and go to the wider gapped thin wire gamakatsu trebbles. This way you can straighten 1 if you need to.