Since it was a nice day out, I headed to my neighbor's pond...Mainly to play with some new baits, I knew that there would still be some ice and normally I don't do well when there is still skim ice on the water. One of my new baits that I wanted to play with was a 2.5" Spro BBZ Shad. I saw it at a fishing expo yesterday and couldn't resist. It swam really well, but too fast for the cold water. I noticed that on the fall, it remained horizontal and fell kind of like a blade bait, just slower. Well this got my attention, because I have been searching for a way to present something like a blade bait in shallow water. I decided to fish it like a blade bait in a shallow area (3-4') that was ice-free. Within 3 casts I landed a little largemouth on it, and a few minutes later I caught a crappie on it. I missed a few fish that I assume were crappies, but no more bass. I can't wait for the ice to clear off the pond, I think this could be a really good technique!

 

Later in the evening my little brother and I set up some float-n-fly trout magnets and got into the trout. We landed 12 in the last hour of daylight, as well as half a dozen crappies, lots of fun! After staring at hard water for the past two weeks this was a nice change-of-pace.

 

Seriously though, if you own a BBZ shad, go try using it like a blade bait RIGHT NOW.

 

Nice! We've had warm weather, but still no soft water!

Way to go!