RenzokukenFisher

Dang I gotta make sure to check whats already been written before posting these things And also Thank You @Catt!

Normally I am in small lakes or ponds in my yak and can do pretty well, but what about a deep reservoir? Usually I cast generally around a point and can can pick up a few bass but I'd like to learn how to really target a point. Specifically if anyone is familiar I am planning a trip to lake Berryessa, a deep mountainous type lake. For example, lets say Im fishing a east (shore) to west point, with wind blowing over it from south to north, where do I position and where should I cast? Do I drag a jig for example down the length of the point? Or do I cast over the point and work it up and over south to north? Maybe a little bit of everything!! 😂

You know sometimes I forget spinning gear isnt all 8# line drop shot and ned rigs. Thinking I'll mess around with some heavier lines and put this gear to the test. Shied away from spinning gear for the longest time but have been having a blast with it and all the techniques. Still a flipping stick guy at heart but this spinning gear is growing on me. Tight lines! Gotta love the mind games bycatch can play 😂 I'd be lying if there werent a time I thought I'd finally hooked that DD only to reel in a foul hooked carp

Thanks A-Jay I'm hopeful and yeahhh I was kinda playing with fire using a medium spinning around those brush piles. Nursing an injury at the moment so I'm limited to spinning gear. Sometimes I still go baitcaster mode pumping them like I'm frogging them outta some weeds but then I remember I gotta slow down and let the drag work lol

Had quite the heart breaker yesterday fishing a quiet calm fishery I retreat to to enjoy a 20 acre lake all to myself. This spot is mostly a numbers spot with aggressive bass that will tear up a jig and annihilate top water, my favorite things. But yesterday I went out looking for the big girls and I found one, just never even got the chance to see her Lately I've been using spinning gear, which is about 2 months new to me, and I was chucking around a wacky rig black n blue Senko on 8lb test. There's a nice point with a submerged roadbed and nearby brush piles and weed beds which I've eyeballed on satellite imaging for awhile but finally gave it a whirl. I don't have electronics so I was blind casting my wacky rig in the areas I was looking at on satellite and finally felt it dropping into the branches of a brush pile. Bingo! Wiggled the Senko out let it flutter and sit for about 10sec. Lifted up and felt dead weight. Not quite grass, not quite hung up in a branch, just felt like I was snagged into a giant gummy bear hahaha. Lifted my medium spinning rod up, reel set and the fight was on!! Sorta... the fish just starting swimming out to deeper water acting like I didn't even hook it, which happens with all the big girls I hook, until I really started giving her some pressure wow she had weight! Then those runs and head shakes started and honestly I lost my composure I think. Haven't hooked into something that big in a while, that wham wham head shakes and strong runs had me fired up but I was so caught up in fascination I almost forgot I was trying to land her. Then after playing with my drag too much I didn't notice her b-line right at me and take a dive next to my kayak. A strong surge downwards and a depressing "pop". Gone. 8lb test broke pretty sure I had a bad knot paired with my rod angled high as she took a dive. My drag was pretty low but the angle wasn't in my favor. It loomed over the rest of the trip but an exciting top water bite in the evening remedied it somewhat. Either way I'm just glad to have gotten the bite and had a solid 10 - 20 sec wrestling with her. May not have seen her but wow those head shakes, seeing the rod bounce a foot with each one sticks in my mind today. Good thing is I can always go back

Hey Y'all! I've finally fished a 37acre pond I've been keeping my eye on and after yesterdays trip I'd like to start hitting this place hard. Only 3 fish but 2 were 3lbs and it is a place known to kick out a few double digits per year ontop of lots of healthy 7 and 8lb fish. The trick is its heavily heavily pressured so bait selection I hear is more limited. Drop shot, weightless worms, small jigs, and spinnerbaits. My fish yesterday were all caught on a 4.5inch roboworm split shot rigged, and a weightless t-rig senko. I could really use help though in finding prime locations on this lake! I have ideas but want to hear your thoughts. I have some pictures of the lake with some rough markings for depth. Its fairly shallow, half is about 0-15ft with 2 creek arms, and the other half is pushing 20-30ft deep with a dam and a point. The yellow markings are aerators, curious if running a spinnerbait through those could produce? Anyone pattern aerators hahaha. Its predominately a weedy fishery with the shallower ends creating small mats this time of year, trip flipping and pitching those to no avail. Theres also plenty of reeds on the lakes edges, which I also failed to pick up fish pitching and flipping weightless senko and small jigs. Maybe they produce under other conditions just not yesterday. The main ticket yesterday was fishing deeper weedlines and small channels that extend from the deeper water into the creek arms. I dont have a depth finder so I just try to wing it. Its been over 110 degrees for a week here in California, I think the fish are deeper. Anyways at this point I'm ranting. Any heads ups? Open to any questions here to learn! Water clarity: 2 - 4 ft. Red shallow 0 - 15ft blue "deep" 15 - 30ft yellow aerators

I was born in 2000 but man after hearing all the stories and seeing when most giants were being caught it mustve been wild fishing those 90s and early 2000s years. Also that action without rod movement is something I have alot of faith in with jigs. The way that skirt unfurls and moves in the water is too good

Today out fishing one of our local ponds with a buddy we ran into a guy having some good luck, took a peek at what he was using and boom! A Senko. It blows my mind how this thing catches fish. Its basically skunk proof in my area and after looking around at different bodies of water on fishbrain, countless 5+lb fish are caught on it, but even tiny dinks will eat it too. Funny enough after fishing for around 5 years now I've finally decided to start throwing it and I have to say my confidence with it now is very high. It just makes me laugh thinking about it sometimes, all these different lures, colors, rods and reels, and at the end of the day that Senko comes out on top. Again maybe its just these pressured Cali ponds but thought it could be a fun topic. Are Senkos popular in your neck of the woods? Any big fish on them? Why do you think bass love em?

Hey the bass werent biting good that day what can I say!! Thank you for the reminder though I forgot about that thread

This Bluegill was a fatty! This lake has a solid healthy and fat Bluegill population, interestingly the bass are a bit stunted. I think there's not enough size variance in the bluegills for the bass the feed their way up in size. With that being said there are some giant bass but they are very hard to come by. luckily though there are plenty of these guys to catch!

This is forsure the approach I aim for. Having that balance is huuuuuge. Only so much time and at the end of the day family and lifes priorities are most important. But at the same time notice if time is slipping by and get out there and fish!!

From a nightfishing trip a couple days ago. Nightfishing has always been my favorite time to go out and get em, especially on these heavily pressure California ponds. The fish just turn on at night and its a blast. Caught about 5 of this size, a few a bit chunkier in the midsection. They wouldnt eat anything else besides a weightless super fluke. Sometimes they nailed it on the fall after a cast, other times they nailed it as I twitched it towards a weedline. The fluke bite is one of the best there is, up there with a jig, good times

I hear ya! Its really growing on me. In my area people prefer to drop shot so I think this is just a little bit different presentation than they are used to. That split shot up the line gives the worm a cool action, almost like a fluke or something if fished fast.

Anyone ever because life got busy, kids came around, careers picked up, school, etc. Needed to take a leave of absence from fishing? This could be a couple months to a few years where a few short trips a month is all thats manageable. I'm curious because I am about to start an intense Masters Program in Fall and I'm trying to fish like a madman before 60 hours work weeks start up in Fall. Curious about your experiences and what was that time like for you?

Honestly I've been split shotting with a 1/16th oz, just one, splitshot up the line about a foot from the hook. You can also increase the length getting like 2ft up im sure no problem. Thanks Glenn gonna dive into these!! I'll need to try that downshot hook Tom thank you!

Hopefully this is the right forum for this but wow I've just started using the split shot rig and I can't believe I neglected it for so long. It seems like it falls to the wayside with chatterbaits, frogs, jigs and many other lures taking the spotlight, but so far this rig has been dynamite for me. I'd love any tips and pointers on how to best fish it and if its viable for bigger bites (I have a feeling it is). So far I've only been using it with my ultralight with 6lb test and 4 1/2 inch roboworms. Caught me a 3lbr the other day and I can only imagine its potential with different modifications. What are your thoughts on this old school rig?

Was at work doing a foot patrol and got a nice one on a roboworm. Been having a blast with finesse and light gear, put up a great fight!

Had a night fishing outing getting there in the afternoon and fishing until around 1am. Been having a blast using ultra light lately and the fish in the 2 - 3lb range I was catching felt like tanks! Lots of topwater action on jitterbugs and walkers, then a micro chatterbait and a small jointed plug bite when top water slowed. Missed what I think was a fish ranging in the 4 - 5lb range which hurt pretty bad, absolutely slammed the crankbait and got the load up, a strong pulse of a headshake and she spit it next time!

Wow man congrats on the new PB! And on a jig at that! I remember my first "big fish", probably a 3.5lber at the time, came on a jig and since it has given me great confidence, many fish in the 5lb - 8lb range caught on it over the years. Honestly just keep fishing the darn thing! Youre starting to catch em, just keep going with it. If you find they are biting it, throw it until the bite dies and dont put it down. You'll just get better. Take little notes where your bites come from and eventually you'll cast to those areas like muscle memory. My biggest tip, and something that makes the jig such a powerful lure, is it can get in the nastiest stuff imaginable. Throw it the densest laydown, the thickest clump of weeds, an isolated rockpile, and let the lure work. Bump it up against cover and cause a racket!! But dont over do it, keep it realistic. Bump it against cover, feel it get slightly hung up, then pop it free, you'll normall get smacked as it pops free. Sometimes they just nail it on the fall if you pitch to an isolated weed clump for example. Its a lure made to bump around and draw some attention but its also veryyy alive looking in the water. The other bonus is fish seem to rarely get unglued qhen you hook em with a jig, that big heavy hook just sticks em and the weed guard pins it in place. Very rarely with they pop off so it has good insurance 😂

I am very fortunate to be working with our County Parks out here in Sacramento, CA. Get to fish on my break and I get two 30s! Today one was for lunch and the other I hit the pond on one of our sites. Been really getting into finesse lately and have been soley fishing a Dobyns Ultralight with 10lb braid and a 6lb Maxima leader. Its a blast! Had a light wind blowing up against a tule point leading into a little shallow cove created by the vegetation. Chucked a black and blue senko up in there and noticed it wasnt hitting bottom when it should have, wham! Pulled out this little chunk, thinking she may have been on a bed or getting ready to spawn, got that belly on her still!

Awesome I'll be set heading out next! Thanks you guys. Have a feeling I'll have some good luck heading out around the full moon

The bluegills are starting to go full spawn mode in my neck of the woods and im sure in many of yours. Im still pretty new to catching greenbacks and am curious yalls favorite ways to catch them around bluegill beds! Its seems like they would be a hotspot for big bass going after fish on beds on the outskirts of colonies. I'm thinking wake baits, weightless worms, flukes, poppers, and chatterbaits. Any recommendations or tricks youre willing to share?

Some stud panfish caught over the years! Full moon coming on the 23rd so getting ready to hopefully catch some giants on UL. Been watching them slowly get bigger over the years, not sure why, its a public lake but lucky me!

Thanks you both been hearing alot about Shasta I'll try to get up there this summer and go to town on em. Good to know about Pardee as well pretty close to home. Tight lines

Hey Yall! Been diving in deep into Ultralight fishing lately and have been having a blast with stud gills and the occasional 2lb - 3lb largemouth. Something about that light tackle is suuuuper fun especially with the bigger fish. Its got me super curious in targetting smallmouth since they are such hard fighters! They remind me of a cross between bluegill and largies. Where are some of the best places to target smallies around Sacramento and the greater area? I have a pedal drive kayak as well. Thanks in advance!