I thought it would be interesting to start a thread explaining confidence lures and techniques on small lakes or ponds.  This mainly applies to those of us who are locked onto the banks or use small craft (canoes, kayaks, tubes, electric jon's, etc)  to patrol these little havens, but everyone is welcome to chime in.  So I'll share my favorite first.

5" * * (applies to any spidergrub, I just favor the size of the * over other brands)

I fish this setup on regular baitcasting gear.  Mh 7ft rod, baitcaster 10 bearing reel, and spiderwire invisibraid (10lb diameter)

Usually I use this rig first on any of the 10 or so small lakes in my area.  I favor shades of watermelon or green pumpkin on sunny days and blue/black on cloudy days.  I rig it with the hook exposed on a round jighead in the less snaggy lakes, but I'll throw it on a pegged t-rig and 3/0 owner EWG hook in a heartbeat if I need to.  1/4 is my go-to size, but I'll adjust based on the conditions.

The technique I use is simple.  I try everything with it.  I'll start out combing a bankline from my canoe or targeting breaks from the bank by swimming the * a few inches off of the bottem.  If that fails to draw a strike, I continue to move around the lake but I'll gradually pick up speed.  I've caught fish everywhere in the water column swimming grubs, and it can change from day to day, week to week.

If the swimming fails, I'll start the cast, fall, hop method that is applied to fishing texas rigs or jigs.  I'll cast it out near cover, let it fall on semi-slack line, and then hop it back.  

The thing that I like about the * in particular is that it is fatter and a bit longer than most other spider grubs.  The skirted part works as a parachute in the water, really slowing that 1/4 oz jighead down.  I usually don't have to go lighter than that.  With it's weight combined with the weight of the jighead, I'm actually fishing a lure that's closer to 3/8 or maybe even 1/2oz in weight.  This helps me get out there from the bank and control my flips and casts from the canoe.  

Targeting structure and cover with this lure is deadly on both small lakes as well as large impoundments.  If you find submerged timber, rocks, grasslines, docks, bridges, or just about anything else, the 1/4oz * is worth trying.

Share your favorite techniques!

Nearly all of my fishing is on small bodies of water.  I fish from a buster 2 man bass boat with a trolling motor and an eagle fish finder.  

I mainly fish creature and crawfish type plastics either weightless or t-rigged.  I'll throw a c-rig in windy conditions when I need more weight.

We had all of the trees that were around the lake pushed over into the lake a few months ago, and this has really improved fishing.  There are always bass hanging out in the submerged trees.  I usually do fairly well with the GYCB Flappin hog and the GYCB Kreature in the trees.

Another hot spot is the grass beds, and my best lures for the grass are the lake fork tackle 'live' magic shad bait rigged on a 5/0 hook with weight insert, a senko or trick stick, and a tiny trap. (really small rattle trap)  I also put the lake fork tackle shad on a chatterbait head sometimes when I'm marking suspended fish out in the deeper water.

A weightless Fat Ika just outside of the submerged trees is hard to beat sometimes.  This is my "if all else fails" method.  Even in the coldest part of the winter here I've still caught bass on the flappin hog and Fat Ika.  I give it a hop, count to 10, double hop it, count to 20, hop it, count to 10, etc...

I've done a huge amount of bank fishing and also own a canoe. I also have a couple of friends with boats and we've gone on those to waters ranging from 25 acres to 40,000+. Almost all of my biggest bass have come from small waters, which may mean I stink in larger waters.

But regardless, when it comes to lure selection and techniques, I'll use the same whether fishing from a boat or shore or in a small or large body of water. Size of water is not a factor that I use. I tend to use topwater more than anything else, one reason being that I like it and the other being that it's effective. I also fish very weedy water where lure choice is limited, so topwater is one of the techniques there too.

But soft plastics, crankbaits, spinnerbaits are also used frequently.