20 hours ago, Bass Rutten said:

That's a storm largo shad in bluegill, they have some outstanding colors, also did well with a 3.25"strike king rage swimmer/ayu. I live in central Florida but was visiting a friend in Del Ray Beach who lives right on a canal connected to lake ida. Next time I'm there I'll be targeting snakehead, still have yet to catch one, the lone rod I brought this time was too light, I didn't stand a chance, it got down into the eelgrass and broke me off.

Thank you! Yeah the snakeheads are tricky. We have a couple small retention ponds here and in the summer when the water gets high, snakeheads show up to spawn. They’re hard to catch when they’re in the spawning mood.

On 4/21/2025 at 9:47 PM, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Naw, I fish them exclusively on a 7" Medium Fast spinning setup, and anybody can skip cast a whacky rig within 5 mins of trying.   Obviously after some time doing it you'll improve, but you'll be able to do it very quickly.    To me it's one of the most fun ways to catch them, skipping that thing under a dock, or overhang.....makes you feel like KVD for a second 😁

 

You're right about the stage of the fish with regard to those water temps in my experience.   Some fish will always spawn early, but the majority seem to wait until the mid 60s.    I think moving baits are the play from the march up from 55d through the low 60s, but I generally start out the days once it reaches 60 trying out things like the whacky rig and pegged/t-rigged Dbombs.        The reality is that this time of year, you can leave one day, and come back the next day to paired up fish on the beds.     For me it really pays off to go as many days as possible in the spring because of how dynamic and fast things are changing.   

 

Keep at it, you're fishing a tough part of the country, maybe the toughest.   It's a lot easier for a guy in Alabama to catch Bass than it is a guy in MO.    All this time on the water and frustration will serve you very well once you find a place in Alabama. 

Fished the bigger of the 2 lakes, pretty heavy stained but the bigger pockets are warming up maybe because of the stained water, maybe 1ft visibility. I fished a lot of moving baits but when I went back into this one cove I saw the water temps were mid to upper 60's and think that I should have been throwing something else. If the water is stained will a wacky rig still work or is there something better to throw when you cannot see a bed etc. I think I should have been throwing a t-rig creature, jig and maybe the wacky but wasn't sure what would be best in heavy stained water.

On 4/22/2025 at 10:34 PM, Darth-Baiter said:

I actually don’t understand the topic.  If they are not biting that particular “Search” bait, that leads you to think fish are not there?    If they bite, it’s now “the bait”?

 

it’s a speed thing?   

My logic is that I'm looking for an area with the highest population of fish. I know my search bait won't get every fish to bite- no bait will. But it should illicit a strike from some of those fish. So I'm hoping a couple dumb fish will show themselves so I can slow down and pick that area apart with other baits. 

 

Personally, I tend to mix in a few techniques to keep them honest when I'm trying to locate fish.

Unless it's super stained like 1ft of viz or less I'll still stick with the whacky worm.  I like the black with a blue tip in that situation.    I do think a T-Rig is likely the better option the less viz you have though.   

47 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Unless it's super stained like 1ft of viz or less I'll still stick with the whacky worm.  I like the black with a blue tip in that situation.    I do think a T-Rig is likely the better option the less viz you have though.   

T-rig with a beaver/creature or ??? Im pretty close to the 1ft visibility level

Yeah definitely something compact because you don't want to give those bedding fish a lot of plastic to get without a hook in it.    So many times the fish will just grab an appendage or something to move the bait from the bed instead of eating it.   

 

I like to use a creature bait like a D Bomb and a hook that takes up the entire body of the bait.  

Targeting structure with square bill and spinner bait.  Spend a few minutes hitting fishiest spots with poppper/frog then move on to the next fishy looking spot.

 

When I get bored I let the wind take my kayack around while I work a jerk bait.

 

Of course this only applies until the mats and lily pads get thick, then its frog all day.

If the weeds aren't completely choking out an area, a bladed jig is by far my favorite search bait, probably my favorite lure of all time. That and a keitech on a flashy swimmer are 1a and 1b in terms of usage and confidence. Any time I go to a new place those two baits are on my rods no matter what. Tier 2 search baits I also love using are frogs, whopper ploppers, and squarebills.

A Texas rigged Zoom Magnum Speed Worm with a pegged 3/16-7/16 oz sinker in a natural color like watermelon seed or green pumpkin.

 

3/4-1 1/2 oz @Siebert Outdoors Grass jig with a 3-5 inch trailer in a green pumpkin top + white belly variation of some sort.  Mud Shad/Dirty Shad are excellent.  

 

Buzzbait - 1/8-1/2 oz black with black blade and trailer hook and menace grub trailer and skirt.

 

Frog - spro pop 60 or Bronzeye 65 in a shad color.

 

Spinnerbait - 1/2 oz Siebert cosmic willow in a shad color.

 

Lipless - 1/4-1/2 oz red eye shad or rat l trap in shad color.

 

Squarebill - I like the hybrid hunter even though it's technically not a squarebill in shad colors.

 

Jerkbait - flukes and hard Jerkbaits 

 

Swimbait - big and small weedless swimbaits on skirted jig heads with eyeballs or with little blades on screw lock keel weighted hooks or just on keel weighted hooks - 2"-10" 

 

Glide baits - I like 7" or bigger shad profiles that 'chop' and nearly suspend.  KGB Chad Shad the real one or the DRT Klash 9 are great.  The BPS Swerve is awesome for the money.

 

Weightless plastics - trick worm/buzz toad/speed worm/senko/rage bug/craw worm/poop baits etc.

8 hours ago, AverageAngler said:

If the weeds aren't completely choking out an area, a bladed jig is by far my favorite search bait, probably my favorite lure of all time. That and a keitech on a flashy swimmer are 1a and 1b in terms of usage and confidence. Any time I go to a new place those two baits are on my rods no matter what. Tier 2 search baits I also love using are frogs, whopper ploppers, and squarebills.

 

Thanks for the information....

 

8 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

A Texas rigged Zoom Magnum Speed Worm with a pegged 3/16-7/16 oz sinker in a natural color like watermelon seed or green pumpkin.

 

3/4-1 1/2 oz @Siebert Outdoors Grass jig with a 3-5 inch trailer in a green pumpkin top + white belly variation of some sort.  Mud Shad/Dirty Shad are excellent.  

 

Buzzbait - 1/8-1/2 oz black with black blade and trailer hook and menace grub trailer and skirt.

 

Frog - spro pop 60 or Bronzeye 65 in a shad color.

 

Spinnerbait - 1/2 oz Siebert cosmic willow in a shad color.

 

Lipless - 1/4-1/2 oz red eye shad or rat l trap in shad color.

 

Squarebill - I like the hybrid hunter even though it's technically not a squarebill in shad colors.

 

Jerkbait - flukes and hard Jerkbaits 

 

Swimbait - big and small weedless swimbaits on skirted jig heads with eyeballs or with little blades on screw lock keel weighted hooks or just on keel weighted hooks - 2"-10" 

 

Glide baits - I like 7" or bigger shad profiles that 'chop' and nearly suspend.  KGB Chad Shad the real one or the DRT Klash 9 are great.  The BPS Swerve is awesome for the money.

 

Weightless plastics - trick worm/buzz toad/speed worm/senko/rage bug/craw worm/poop baits etc.

 

Pat I really appreciate you taking the time to jot this down, I know it doesn't seem like much but to me it really helps me to see the kind fo things you are throwing. It's probably just me but I am struggling at the moment to figure out where and what the bass are doing...I thought spring pre-spawn, spawn time period was supposed to be good time to fish but man lately its been a struggle. To make matters worse I threw a couple of deep crankbaits today around some brush piles, dt10 and one of my dual core crankbaits that I really like and lost both to the brush gods and that was with a lure retriever. Last one took my lure retriever also, just one of those days, sigh.

 

What I would like to know with what you have listed above is for each category when do you tend to lean on each category. I'm just not sure what else to try or where else to try, been beating shallow and they just do not appear to be home or at least not biting. Today I threw some deeper cranks off points around brush, up shallow with spinnerbait, tube, lizard, meance grub on a swing head..just a few dinks, obviously not in the right area or throwing the right bait. I know our weather has been janky this spring, lots of rain and slow to warm up, water temps in some areas still in mid to upper 60's with some pockets hitting 70 but it's been a see saw spring for sure and usually would be much warmer by now. Just not sure what approach to take...

@bishoptf I'd just bring plastics on the boat until you start catching them with ease on plastics and then expand.

 

Plastics are a catch all that works regardless of the mood or season and they are good deep and shallow.

 

They get bites and fish don't learn them too easily.

 

There isn't a ton of nuance to selecting locations to throw them or retrieving them and the money lost throwing them into heavy cover where bass live and stage and often spawn is low.

 

Back to plastics would be my suggestion and then branch out when you feel like you're on them again. 

 

It's really a time of year where they should be spawning literally anywhere and everywhere and plastics catch bass near their beds extremely well.  Just slow down in shallow bassy looking areas with soft plastics.

 

Remember to target the areas around cover not just the cover.

 

I'd bring a spinning rod with a weightless plastic and a casting rod with a heavy t rig and a casting rod with a light t rig and go to work!

 

🙂

15 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

@bishoptf I'd just bring plastics on the boat until you start catching them with ease on plastics and then expand.

 

Plastics are a catch all that works regardless of the mood or season and they are good deep and shallow.

 

They get bites and fish don't learn them too easily.

 

There isn't a ton of nuance to selecting locations to throw them or retrieving them and the money lost throwing them into heavy cover where bass live and stage and often spawn is low.

 

Back to plastics would be my suggestion and then branch out when you feel like you're on them again. 

 

It's really a time of year where they should be spawning literally anywhere and everywhere and plastics catch bass near their beds extremely well.  Just slow down in shallow bassy looking areas with soft plastics.

 

Remember to target the areas around cover not just the cover.

 

I'd bring a spinning rod with a weightless plastic and a casting rod with a heavy t rig and a casting rod with a light t rig and go to work!

 

🙂

I there plastics most of the day, just obviously not the right ones or not the right location or time of the day...Lake is different, not that deep and not a lot a cover per se...lots of docks but they are not on the docks right now....again first year I have fished year round and usually it has warmed up more than it has this year. Been a really odd spring and water temps are way below where they normally are, weather has just been colder and wet...again appreciate the information as always.

Fish areas leading to shallow areas that are like highways underwater for fish.  Usually they follow Creek channels back into coves and stop on hard spots and structure leading back into these coves.

 

It is very tough to catch fish before I gets warmer and they migrate shallow so don't beat yourself up too bad.

You knew this was coming…

Zoom Magnum UV Speed Worm

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

2 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

Fish areas leading to shallow areas that are like highways underwater for fish.  Usually they follow Creek channels back into coves and stop on hard spots and structure leading back into these coves.

 

It is very tough to catch fish before I gets warmer and they migrate shallow so don't beat yourself up too bad.

Yeah thats the odd part about this lake, no channels whatsoever, think of a big 600 acre pond. Basically a big shallow mud bowl, lol.

 

As much as I am not a FFS fan I do think it would help me to learn what the fish are doing. Since the water is pretty stained I am unable to even see in shallow whats going on. I probably should spend more time with my electronics and try to figure things out but have been just fishing shallow lately since I assumed thats where they would be. Once they spawn and recover they will start staying on the lifts and brush piles but right now not sure what they are relating to.

When it rains it definitely erodes the bank somewhere. 

 

Find those places. 

 

Those are hot spots on bowl shaped ponds.