FCPhil

I agree, but the OP is onto something. I know I fish certain lures more because I have caught fish on them, and I catch fish on them because I fish them more...but even taking this into account I have found this lure truly outperforms most others.

When I'm struggling to catch fish I go to my confidence lures. When the fishing is hot I start expirementing with others. But... a lot of my confidence lures are ones I enjoy fishing because the reason I fished them enough to become confident with them was because they were fun to fish. It's a vicious cycle!

So I tested my strategy of fishing smaller ponds where I can reach the entire pond from the bank and was successful! But not the way I thought. I caught two bass at two separate ponds: The first bass I caught was 2 pounds and 17 inches. A great bass for me. I caught it slowly shaking a wacky rigged finesse worm along the bottom. It was early morning and I caught it on a heavily shaded bank near a small inlet and a small log. The second bass was also by the shore. It was later in the morning with calm water and clear blue skies. The bass was clearly foraging on baitfish near a fallen tree. I caught it on a shallow running jerkbait. This bass was 1 pound 15 ounces but only 15 inches long. It was the fattest, football shaped bass I have ever caught. The picture is attached but it doesn't do it justice. Here is what I gleaned from this trip and I'm curious what others think. The larger pond that I have been unsuccessful at for the past few weeks is practically a forest of milfoil. A kayaker reported good fishing in the deeper center of the pond while I got skunked on the bank. It seems like the bass are heading out for the cooler, deeper water and hiding in the plentiful vegetation. This pond offers other cover and structure far from the shore as well so the visible cover near the bank is not the only option for the bass. The ponds I had success in today are very different in that there is hardly any submerged vegetation. My guess is the bass are still hanging around the visible cover on the bank because there is no other option for cover. I want to fish the deeper center of these ponds more thoroughly but I ran out of patience this morning (which is usually my problem when fishing open water with no targets to aim at and entertain myself). The bass are clearly have no trouble feeding themselves judging by their fat appearance. Between the heavy fishing pressure and hot temperatures, the bass head out to cover further from shore if they can find it. Finding water that doesn't offer the bass this option seems to keep them closer to the bank and looks to be key for me this time of year. Thoughts?

Agreed. I can't say I have tried others but this frogs walks great

Paul, Thanks so much for your input and I have really enjoyed your videos. I have not been able to fish as much recently but I have have unfortunately been skunked for awhile now. Today I got skunked at my normal pond and only saw one bass from the bank the entire time. I fished early morning and hit just about all the available access points to the water with a variety of presentations. I ran into a kayaker who confirmed what I had feared...they were biting great for him out in deeper water away from shore while there was no action by the bank. I'm going to try a new strategy and I am curious what you all think. There are a few small ponds nearby that I don't fish much because they don't have the best bass population. On the upside, the entire pond can be reached from shore with a long cast. I'm going to try them next and at least I will know that the bass are not simply "out of reach" like they have been at my normal spot.

I fish medium to large ponds in Colorado. They are shallow and have lots of submerged vegetation. Since mid July I have really struggled to catch much at all. I have often assumed the bass are out deep in the middle where I cannot reach from shore, but that seems like a convenient excuse for my low catch rate. My question is what are bass doing this time of year?

Hard to say without know the conditions you fish. Fishing from the bank I too hit a slump mid summer. Pitching jigs and stick worms tight to cover has been producing the best results for me. Also, frogs near cover can work well. In my experience this time of year requires fishing tighter into cover than any other.

If I could only have one swim bait it would be a savage gear Shine glide in whatever color beat matches the baitfish in you ponds. It is a glide bait so I has a wide gliding action. As as far as what is the best swimbait that completely depends on the circumstances you are fishing... do you have the gear to cast lures over 1oz and do you want to put the money into swimbaits?

Yesterday someone CLEANED A TROUT ON A PICNIC TABLE AND LEFT THE GUTS ON THE TABLE!!!!! Sorry for all caps but I couldn't restrain myself

Will do!

Interesting you say this. I have heard so many people talk about fishing glide baits super slow so that is mainly what I did. Recently I realized though that most of the bites I have gotten was when I was retrieving it faster, usually because I thought it was a bad cast or trying to get it in position.

I know, I'm just asking what has been the most successful for people in general as a starting point.

I guess I should volunteer my own experience first. 1. No experience (I guess this is why I'm asking) 2. Steady slow retrieve 3. Steady slow retrieve 4. Medium fast steady retrieve 5. No expirience 6. No expirience

The only knot I tie is from braid to a snap. I don't retie often. The knot I use is a Uni Knot with 10-12 turns. I have never had it fail on me.

Where I fish it is very difficult to fish the bottom because of the vegetation. Therefore the wacky rig is the only one of those three I throw.

The only reason I would fish a buzzbait over a whopper plopper is for the weedlessness. And if it is more than a little weedy I'll be throwing some type of frog instead.

I know this is a very general question but what has been your overall most productive style of retrieve (speed, pauses, jerks, etc) with these different baits on pressured waters? 1. Spinnerbait 2. Crankbait 3. Lipless crankbait 4. Glide bait 5. Swimjig 6. Wakebait

I just use snaps. Eagle claw ones from Walmart which work will. I never uses swivels but I also use a baitcaster with braid and never fish spoons or inline spinners. As you know wire snaps are far less visible than a barrel swivel, but they seem not to be turned off by hooks which are much bigger than either.

At times a stop and go retrieve can work very well. Especially around cover.

I have not done it on a Spro. But you can find different sizes at Walmart where I live

Try the clear rubber bands made for girl's pony tails. I think it's like 99 cents for 50...when hooked the rubber band will roll off the front as they thrash...

They are fragile...but they are cheap and work great.

The flat Dawg is a killer bait, once I found it, it became my go to worm. Have you tried putting it on a weightless hook? It will fall just like a wacky worm but is weedless and casts better. (I use a 4/0 Lunker city Texposer hook which works perfect)

I was fishing these conditions today and the only bite I got was on a whopper plopper 110 in translucent bluegill color. I almost always start with topwater in this situation. If the grass to too thick maybe a hollow bodied frog or a Stanley top toad.

Just got a whopper plopper 110 on EBay in the bluegill color. It's much better than the 90 which I have fished quite a bit. I just wanted to highlight some info about it for people considering it. 1. It always stays on the surface unlike the 90 size which dove on far casts or when the rod tip was low. 2. It has a redesigned tail section. The tail can still get tangled with grass but the grass won't works it's way into the joint like other versions. 3. I have no trouble casting it on a medium heavy rod, and it casts FAR. My rod is rated for 1/4 to 1 oz baits. 4. It creates more of a whirring noise in the water where the 90 was more a plopping noise. (I know that is vague) 5. It catches fish!!! Both in clear water and stained. I recommend the more natural translucent colors rather than black and white colors. I have a black loon whopper plopper that has only worked in stained water for me. The bluegill color has worked in all water clarities. 6. The 110 is not too big. I have caught small bass with it even though it is a substantial lure.