Holetail

Good night of pond fishing. Caught 8 total in a little less than 2 hours. Brought 3 rods and caught on all of them. Finally got shipment from BPS with some new baits and a Tatula 100 so had to give them a try. Caught 4 with the new reel on a burst bug with a cane thumper trailer, 3 on a Yum Houdini shad, and the biggest of the night on a willow vibe with a swimming dinger. This one was the only one picture worthy but none were true dinks.

Have 3 Fuegos that see most of my bait cast work. Solid reels for the $. I did have to lube one of them out of the box since it felt dry. Now if FedEx would show up with the Tatula 100 I ordered, I will be a happy man. Only problem is I may fall in love with it and want to upgrade all my reels…

Nice score! I have been eyeing some of their jigs lately but haven’t pulled the trigger just yet.

Thanks for the info. Maybe I will hold off on that place until later in the fall when weeds start to die off and the snakes aren’t as active. Those things are everywhere now and I try to be super careful walking anywhere. Guess I will take my chances with the gators and cottonmouths in Greenfield instead. Haha. At least I know there are some good fish there.

You got it. Worth bothering with?

That would be my luck Koz! Haha. I may actually go check it out tomorrow just to see if anyone is fishing it. It is a public park out in a more “country” area so I have little feeling it’s untouched, but the only way I see to fish anyplace other than near the piers is in a canoe or kayak. This is the kind of place that convinced me to put my boat up for sale and go the kayak route instead.

Found this little pond today that looks pretty fishy to me. Only 5 mins from the house and it has a kayak launch dock that doesn’t look to get used much. This could be good or bad. Meaning no one thinks to fish it, or there are no fish worth catching. Fingers are crossed for the former… There are two fishing piers on the North end but there doesn’t appear to be much bank access anywhere else. I’m waiting on my kayak to arrive next month so I am starting to scout different spots for when I finally have it. I really like that island and there are several lay downs and brush around the banks. Pond looks to be extremely weedy on the bottom, but that’s not any different from the retention ponds I usually hit up. All in all, I am pretty excited to give it a shot. Will follow up once I can check it out.

Yep, this…

Nice!

Thanks for the info. I have been using a swim jig in ponds all spring and it has become one of my favorite techniques. Interesting that you go with that light a setup at times. Makes me think I will stick with the 12# fluoro I’ve been using since it casts better than 15#. Also May drop down to the 733 with lighter jigs.

Threw around a trashmaster jig last night. Had one solid bite with a pick up that I missed the hookup on and one other good thump. I bought these jigs a while back before I learned I could fish open hooks w/ weed guard even in the sloppy weeds. Feel like I should have stuck that fish. Was using a heavy rod with 50 lb braid and reeled up slack before laying into the hook set. Hook barely came out of the trailer so I’m going to try other jigs and see what happens. It truly is awesome when they thump a jig and I cannot wait to get out again. Definitely need the practice! Wanting to try using 15# fluoro instead of the braid (not fishing heavy cover, just mucky bottoms), what do y’all think? Also wanting to switch up to my Fury 734 with the Tatula I ordered yesterday. Hoping to feel bite better than on the rod I used last night.

To answer the OP question, I hope not since I put the deposit down to order a Bonafide RS117. Most likely will not get it until August, but that will give me time to research and acquire all the needed “extras “ that a kayak needs! Haha. Figuring on an anchor trolley, stake out pole (DIY), fish finder (already own, but need mount and figure out transducer mount, anchor set up (thinking 5 lb outrigger ball with a float buoy and quick release). If anyone has suggestions to source kayak gear outside of the usual outlets, I would love to hear about them. Thanks

Got out early this AM for some more pond action. Pretty slow at first stop so I moved and got a dink and a huge sunfish on the willow vibe. Brought the wacky rig with me and landed these two on 4 casts. 3.95 and 2.67 lbs. Actually checked my scale to make sure it will weigh over 4 since I cannot seem to break through that weight lately. Had to quit early since I left my senko box on my workbench so couldn’t reload after losing the only one I had. I hated leaving them biting but a good morning anyway

Fished a pond I haven’t been to in a month or so last night. Much more weedy than last time I was there but had a few light bites on willow vibe and underspin but no hookups. Fish weren’t committing to the moving baits. Tried a swim jig to rip through the mucky weeds with no love so I decided to work it slowly on the bottom like a normal jig. I was surprised by how little muck I accumulated on bait doing this. Had two bites immediately that I missed due to operator error on the hook set. Finally figured out how tight to get line before setting and hooked into two dinks. They were so small I could ski them in! Haha. It was cool to finally feel a jig bite after only reading about what to look / feel for. Need to try this more often since it’s more fun than soaking a senko all the time.

Swim jig or chatter would be my first choices, but they are also my first choices in most situations…

Bite has been slow but nabbed this girl this AM on a simple weightless green pumpkin trick worm. Was about to call it a skunk after two hours of nothing on the willow vibe and an underspin. Glad I walked back to the truck and switched up rigs. She hammered it on second cast. Another fish with a 5-6 pound head and no belly but fun anyway.

Academy has 20% off rods if you buy a reel for Father’s Day. Want at Tatula and wouldn’t mind another Dobyns rod. Temptation is strong but don’t really NEED either. Besides that, probably ordering some swimming dingers to use with the Zman willow vibe.

Maybe try an underspin with a grub or paddletail? Maybe they like the flash of the spinner but the thump of a chatter is too much. Worth a shot at least...

I got this combo for my 9 year old son who has caught several decent bass on it in the few months he’s had it. I’ve even caught one off a bed with it. Durable rod too, as he has stuck the tip in the ground a few times and hasn’t broken it yet. IMO it’s a solid combo for $70 and should give you years of use if cared for.

Our store has been hit or miss on tackle but they seem to still be crazy busy since we are a tourist town and people are finally able to get to the beach vacations they missed last year. I have to give Academy props for their online to store ordering as well. Ordered two reels and a rod which arrived packaged really well and in less than 5 days from ordering. They have become my go to even with an SW next door

Another good day in PA. Nothing huge, largest was 2.5 but no real dinks either. Most fell for the swim jig dragged through isolated Lilly pad fields in the middle of the pond. Even the crappie couldn’t resist the chatter even though it barely fit in its mouth. Going to be tough to go back to NC and leave all these fish alone.

Will do after you show me how it’s done!! Turns out no one targets the bass in our pond. Very few people even fish there and they only want the perch to eat. Showed a chatter to my cousin and he had never seen one before. After I caught 6 in 30 mins in front of him last night, he bought several today! Heading back out tomorrow so hoping to get on them again. Storm came through tonight so I’m hoping they aren’t shut down. I believe they are pre spawn here still though so hoping for another good day.

Yes, yes I did! Thanks. Haha

Some nice NE PA bass this AM. I do not think these fish have ever seen a chatter or swim jig... bagged 16 today. Cannot wait for tomorrow. Been told 50 bass in a few hours on a purple worm is common where I plan to fish. Love a bent rod!

Got out this AM at my club pond and had a great day. Caught 10 bass and 3 pickerel. Largest bass was only 3 pounds but the fights these fish put up is way different from the ponds in NC. Deeper water so the fish can dig harder I guess. I’m pretty sure these fish have never seen a chatter bait and were choking it. Still managed to lose 4 fish though. Was throwing into Lilly pads and fish were sitting on downwind edges and in isolated pockets. Feel like I found and worked that pattern which was fun. Actually caught 6 more on the chatter at another pond this evening but nothing picture worthy. I really wish the bass bit like this where I live... haha.