DinkDreams

I’ve seen a couple bass in my life dead on the surface, with a bluegill stuck in their throat. Not sure if it has more to do with the bluegill being there or what, but I’d imagine that most of the time dead bass don’t float unless there’s another factor involved.

Personally, I will do one or two casts at each angle unless it’s a particularly “fishy” spot I.e a lay down, some submerged grass, or any other structure that would lead me to believe there are definitely bass there. If I see something like that I will usually make 10 casts or so all around the structure and move on. Keep in mind that this is a mindset when you’re looking for active, biting fish. Sometimes you just have to fish more finesse or slower presentations. Ponds are naturally more temperamental to temperature changes and pressure changes due to smaller size.

Judging by your username, you are a pond fisherman like I am. my rule of thumb is to walk up, make 6-8 casts basically fan casting an area, and then I move down the bank 15 feet or so, and repeat. there is a lot more nuance to it regarding cover, grass or no grass, floating algae, wood, etc. but my general rule of thumb is a handful of casts with a moving bait in a pond will be enough to find out if they’re there or not. I don’t pretend to be an expert, but that is the approach I have taken this year and it has worked very well, especially with a spinnerbait.

Not the OP, but I have those grubs and I would recommend a jig head or they work well Texas rigged

I’m going to work on my moving bait skills more this summer. I spent all last summer throwing 4” senkos on a wacky rig or dropshotting little worms. I caught bass, sure. But I know there’s a moving bait/power fishing bite that could allow me to catch bigger and more fish than if I just keep throwing the finesse stuff.

Big Bite Baits Kamikaze Swimon is my favorite. Almost like a swimbait body with a grub style tail. Come in both 3.25” and 4.25” sizes https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Big_Bite_Baits_Kamikaze_Swimon/descpage-BBBKS.html

Happens to me all the time! Always frustrating

Box finally came in today!!

Sunline Defier Armilo comes highly recommended from a lot of people here, never used it myself. I like Sufix Siege and Trilene XT. The good thing about XT is that it’s pretty cheap and comes in 1400 yd spools so I respool pretty often, and it doesn’t cost much.

I never put much stock into attractants but I finally broke down and got a tube of Megastrike original. I don’t think it necessarily gets me more bites but I do like the “lubrication” of the plastic others have mentioned. Also, while I don’t think it makes a fish bite I do think it gives you an extra second or two of leeway when it comes to setting the hook which is nice. They seem to just hold onto it a little longer.

Wacky rig is probably the odds on favorite, but the Willow/Colorado tandem spinnerbait with a white skirt is a close second.

As @A-Jay said, Colorado blade spinnerbait would be my first choice. A paddle tail swimbait on a flashy swimmer would also be a good choice. Outside of moving baits, dark colored jigs or soft plastics would be my next choice. Black and blue, straight black, black and red would be what I would start with personally.

Crank baits. I bank fish ponds mostly so with the grass and the really shallow water near the shore it feels like I spend more time cleaning my hooks than fishing. I will still throw square bills and shallow cranks but I’ve all but given up on anything deeper than 5 feet.

Definitely a Chatterbait. I have bought probably 5-6 jackhammers and can’t get a bite to save my life. I fish grassy ponds almost exclusively so it’s prime chatterbait water. I’ve experimented with trailers, colors, retrieves, rods, line, everything and I still have never caught one on a chatterbait.

Booyah Super Shad isn’t the wildest thing I’ve seen, but 4 blades is pretty unique

Spinnerbait rod and reel are next on my list. What did you go with if you don’t mind sharing.

Approximately $800 more than I told my wife.

At this point the bait monkey has established multiple residences in my brain. Was running low on Super Flukes so bought 2 packs. I’ve been having issues with my Gamakatsu 3/0 EWG hooks so I decided to try the Owner Wide Gap Plus hooks and see how they work (anyone else use these? Let me know how they are) Also picked up a R2S bubble popper. I like fishing poppers but a lot of them tend to be a little on the lighter side which can make throwing them on casting gear a bit of a nuisance for me. I got the 88 size and at 5/8 oz I think I’ll have no trouble slinging it. I finally broke down and got a Spro Little John. I’ve heard nothing but great things so I’ll be interested to try it out.

Went out in the rain today for a few hours. Since it was raining, I only took 1 rod, some hooks, and a pack of flukes with me. Slower than yesterday, I think the rain pushed them off the bank a bit. Nothing bigger than 1.25 pounds or so, I didn’t weigh any of them. I did manage to catch a big turtle. I thought it was going to be the bass of a lifetime but alas, turtle.

I usually carry a MH casting, M casting and ML spinning when I’m pond fishing and I’ve never really felt like it was “too much”. I personally would rather have the option to switch lures by picking up another rod instead of having to retie. That and I always try to find a topwater bite regardless of conditions so my spinning combo always has a follow up bait of some kind.

I’ve had a lot of success on the Perch Magdraft and the Perch Stunna jerkbait, and the closest place to catch perch is 4 hours away.

I think the key this time was how shallow I was throwing it. Every other time I was throwing it in more like 5-8 feet of water.

Went out for about 2 hours, no luck with the spinnerbait or throwing a buzzbait over submerged grass. I decided I was going to try (for the millionth time) to catch a fish on a weightless super fluke. I was casting up right next to the bank in super shallow (5” of water) water and I caught probably 15 fish, ranging in size from a 1/4 pounder up to maybe a pound and a halfer. Pic is of the biggest one.

X2 been slaying them on a red chrome rat-l-trap so far this year.