Reaction Innovations Little dipper is almost identical but is 3.5 inches to the 3.25 Jaks. I have only a slight preference to the Jaks baits but they don't last as long as the little dippers and they take longer to get. On both baits I supper glue the head to the jig head and they will last quite a bit longer.
They work best on an 1/8th oz darter head jig, I get the jig heads from Jaks Custom Baits as well but bass pro makes a decent 1/8th darter and so does Big Bite Baits (I think they use a 4/0 hook that I prefer but they are painted black which I don't). Another jig head that works well are are the strike king jig heads. Occasionally I will fish em on a heavier jig head to get extra distance but the 1/8th oz definitely gives the bait a better action. Big Bite Baits also makes a 3.5 inch cane thumper which actually seems to get more bites but they will only last 1 to 2 fish max before they are torn up too bad. The cane thumpers have a smaller profile than the Little Dipper and the Jaks Swimbait, and is probably more similar to the shad at Wilson, but I seem not to catch the same quality of fish on em.
Fish them on 6 or 8lb mono or flouro, I generally will use mono because I don't trust flourocarbon that is less than 10lbs but will use 8lb flouro in really clear water. You can also use 14 or 20lb braid and add a 3 or 4 ft leader I like to do this when I'm fishing them on a spinning rod more than on a casting rod. Fish em fast, fish em slow, it really doesn't matter, I always start out fast though and cover lots of water but I would probably fish them a little slower at Wilson since there isn't as much water to cover. They are probably at their best when fish are chasing bait or suspended which is why your post made me think of them. For nearly the past three months this is almost all I've thrown! Only bad thing about them is when rigged on a darter head they don't come through brush very well. On the strike king jig head they are a little better. Back before the bass started moving into the backs of the creeks here they were staging on the main lake and secondary points to the major creeks often times they were suspending/sitting 20 to 30ft deep and were coming up to smash them as i burned them at about 3ft beneath the surface.
12/8/12 8 slats showing at launch, was 2 last week. At boyscout"peninsula" the 60ft marker is just popping out of the water. but the fishing was good caught 2 on top waters right of the bat, oddly nuff both right up against a mud bank with no cover. then got on a school of bass staging below suspended shad and tore em up with a drop shot. caught 7 in 20 min. pays to read that graph when running! got slammed on spinnerbaits along some laydowns and finally got a nice 2lb tuc on a crankbait after he wrapped me in trees and pulled the rear treble out of the bait. got 15 bass and one tuc nothing big but several in the 2-3 lb class and a bunch of the 1.8lb variety. seems most of my patterns that have been producing for me lately have been after suspended fish, guess the dropping water is keeping em offshore. get it while you can though wont be long till its unlaunchable for trailers. oh ya on an intresting fish story note, that school of bass i found that i was drop shotting.
12/8/12 I noticed some tucs going airborne at Kemoo Island. Used some Mepps spinners and Panther Martins and buzzed them along the surface. We ended up catching 5 tucs out of the area, nothing grand, the biggest just shy of 2 pounds. Switched over to Shad Raps to see if we could pick up any suspending fish but no luck there. Continued on further north and some activity caught my eye along the mud bank. Peacocks were feeding right along the bank. Started out with the in-line spinners. (The in-line spinners are easier for the nephews to cast and see the fish strike). Had to change everyone over to crankbaits. That change did it. Picked up another 5 from right along the bare exposed bank. Off the 5, the largest went 5 pounds 1 ounce, the other 4 in the 2 to 3 pound range. After the bite, I beached us to explore the area to see what drew the peacocks right along the shoreline. The only thing I could see was the school of baby tilapia cruising back and forth tight along the shore.
Texas vs Carolina
I use braided wire almost exclusively and is my preference. I will use mono in clearer water as well as open water. In the heavy stuff I go braid. I use primarily use between a 1/8 to 5/16 oz bullet weigh. If starting out I would recommend a 1/4 oz to start. The rule of thumb is the lighter the weight the better cause it allows the bait to travel through the bite zone at a slower rate. You will want to increase your weight primarily on wind conditions... you want to be able to feel your bait to detect a strike. Wind blowing your line makes it hard to detect when you get a strike. If calm go lighter. Tungsten weights work best because they are more compact than lead weights. Starting out I would recommend the lead weights becuase they are cheaper but as you gain confidence then upgrade to tungsten.
The Texas rig is easier to master than the carolina rig. I fish the texas rig when I fish hard wood and grass. I fish the carolina when fishing points, ledges that does have a lot of debris and in a open deeper water. Once you get the feel for both rigs then you use them in any structure type environment. I caught most of my fish in TOC with a texas rig as did Tom and Chris. I used a 5/16 oz slip sinker the whole time with a 9" zoom ribbon tail worm in green pumkin. Tom used a 4" lime green french fry worm and Chris was using a 4" green pumkin rattlesnake ribbed worm (kinda like a senko style).
I fish both through out the day.
Texas rig: I have 2 rods rigged both 6.6' medium heavy. One with 40 lb. braided line which I use a 1/4 or 3/8 oz bullet weight. The other I use 12 -14 lb mono and use a 5/16 bullet weight. In open water I use the slip weight system. In heavy cover (lay downs) I use a pegged or screw type bullet weight. I fish 6-8" Zoom ribbon tail worms in either green pumpkin or junebug-red with a 1/0, 2/0/ or 3/0 depending on the size of worm I use. Generally with a 6", I use a 1/0 or 2/0 straight shank hook. I also use a craw from time to time especially on points or areas that have rocks or boulders.
Carolina rig: I have a 7 foot medium-heavy rod with 30 lb. braided line which I tie a 2 foot 14 lb. fluorocarbon leader. I use a 1 oz. egg shape weight a pink/red bead, swivel on the braided line then add the leader with a size 2/0 or 3/0 straight shank hook to the swivel. I primarily use 6-8" lizards or small craws 3-4 " on it. Same color as the worms.
I also use rattles when the water has a tint to it, scent and chartreuse spike-it on about 2" inches of the worm tail. These increase the chance for the bait to attract a strike.
I fish the carolina rig faster than most cause I want to cover as much water as I can. I don't raise and lower the rod tip but drag it to the side. The bite can be rapid taps or just a heavy weight. You just have to get use to it. When I detect a strike...I cross their eyeballs with the hook set. Got to get the fish heading towards you as fast as you can.
I fish the Texas rig a little slower but I use the side drag versus the raise and lower rod tip like most. This technique works best at Lake Wilson in my opinion. Watch your line from the time it hits the water. Movement to the side or a quick twitch indicates a fish has taken your bait and is swimming with it. It does take practice but believe it or not this system is easier that any other type of lure fishing. The reason I move it a little faster than I would in the mainland is the fish are competing for bait and they will take it if falls in front of them. No shaking or popping is required just work it steadily through the water letting it fall to the bottom before moving it again. When you come over cover let the bait fall till you get slack line. You can feel it when it gets to a tree limb at that point you have to raise the tip to get it to come over it but go back to the side pull once you clear it. Lake Wilson has deep drop offs just a few feet from the bank thus the reason for the heavier weights there. If it was shallower I would go with lighter weighs. Don't be afraid to go big with soft plastics. Everyone thinks small 2-4" sizes are best and at times that may be the case but if it is I just take off a couple inches and press on.
I fish soft plastics 95% of my time. No big ones but you will get you limit if you stay with it all day. The other 5% I use spinner baits, top water and /or rattle traps.
Hope this helps. It will take some time but once you get the hang of it you will start culling in no time!
I agree that you shoukd limit the number of rods/rigs. I have caught TUCs but only on a spinner bait. I always say fish your strenghts and what you have confidence in. I would definitely stay with the
1) jig & trailer rig
1) Texas rig setup with slip sinker for use with worms/craws/lizards,
1) Spinnerbait/chatter bait rig, ( Use 1/8 - 1/4 oz spinner and chatter baits and small swim baits, senko's, flukes and spoons on same rig )
1) crank bait rod
You can change the Texas rig to a carolina setup fairly easy but I would master the Texas rig before going carolina at Lake Wilson. I fish a jig just about anywhere I would fish a worm/craw or lizard rig. I would use a spinning rod for spinner bait and chatter bait use and if you get into schooling bass you can tie on a swim bait if needed. Crank bait rod would be my least used but always good to have one with you. Again fish the setup that got you to the dance. Practice the texas rig as much as possible before the TOC. Have a game plan and stay with it...keep in mind the fishing will be slow at times and just stay the course... Key is to get limit then work on getting that one big bite each day.
Swim jigs: (Marcus tip)
For the first bass i threw out to a bust and just retrieved it with medium speed, no twitching or jerking. the next bass was caught with a stop and go action. and others were on jerking retrieves at slow speeds. i think one of the key points was a good trailer. i think you need something that will provide great action with the slightest movements. oh ya and one more thing, when i fished the swim jig i was out in the open and no structure was around so i trimmed the weed guard, that helped with the hookups a bit. when i fish my swim jigs i work it towards busts in open water. i strongly recommend using braid. i snapped a jig off with my 8 pound mono. more of a finesse game till fishing gets better. I use a medium retrieve. Add a few jerks in the rod tip as well. As for colors, I use green pumpkin and silver shad. 1/4 ounce strike king swim jig. I get the heavy cover jigs and trim the weed guard. I like the heavy cover ones because the hooks are stronger than the regular ones.
Crankbaits:
Pretty soon it will be time to start throwing crankbaits and spinnerbaits at Wilson again. Once the bass start getting into shad mode you will probably get better numbers on spinnerbaits and cranks. Bass start loading up getting ready for winter and the shad usually start moving into shallow water into creeks and the bass follow. I've noticed in the fall at Wilson I've seen the shad start moving up to the north fork. Once I went all the way up and they huge schools right at the mouth of the stream.
In the fall the shad move into more shallow water and the bass follow. I can't remember why at the moment. I do know that shad are not cold tolerant so that probably plays a role. And I believe they usually spawn a couple weeks after the large mouth in the spring (winter in Hawaii).
Crankbaits work pretty good all year round but sometimes in the summers you can be on a really good crankbait bite for a couple of days then it will just stop, usually it's because the fish moved deeper. Although there are crankbaits that get down deep I've noticed that they don't have very good action and they also are really large. Those KVD 1.5 and 2.5 crankbaits are hands down the best crankbaits I've used. I bet the 1.5 in the sexy shad, gizzard shad and black and chartreuse, even the red ones for the tucs would do some damage at Wilson. They only dive to about 6 ft but I guarantee they would do some damage in the wood laydowns at Wilson. And they do go through wood really well.
I'm glad you gave the KVD crankbaits a try, they are one of my favorite baits! Were you using the 1.5 or the 2.5? One thing that will increase your hookup ratio with crankbaits is getting a actual crankbait rod. Allstar makes a nice one for less than 100 bucks. The 7'2" is model is a good all around crankbait rod as you can throw the shallow and the extra deep diving cranks on it. I actually have 3 crankbait rods. The allstar I was just talking about, a gloomis deep flex crankbait rod which I really only like for lipless cranks, and a jerkbait/shallow crankbait allstar ASR. Having a crankbait specific rod does a few things for you. Because they are softer and have a slow action the hooks are less likely to pull out when the fish pulls hard. Second they soft action lets the bass get the bait deeper in it's mouth so you get better hookups. The down side is you don't have as much sensitivity but you don't really need it with crankbaits.
I actually don't set the hook all that hard (well not as hard as I do with a worm or jig) with a crankbait but I make sure I have really sharp hooks. I do a kinda long sweeping sideways pull and I reel as fast as possible which helps drive the hooks in as well. if you can, try to get the fish up on the surface and ski him, in depending on fish size and what lb line I'm using I might just lift the fish into the boat. The less time the fish in in the water the better you chances of landing him are. Also always have my net out and accessible while fishing a tournament.
Using a 1/8oz darter head jig or a 1/8oz strike king shakey head & other tips
My bread and butter was about a 6'6" medium fast spinning rod with 14lb braid and about a 3 ft of 6 to 8lb mono or flouro leader. The small little jerkbiats where great for getting bites and the braid really helped cast farther. Check out the big bite bates 3.5 cane thumper swimbait or the reaction innovations little dipper. I also bet a 4 inche slider grub would tear them up! But rig it on a 1/8oz darter head jig or a 1/8oz strike king shakey head(not as goot as a darterhead just easier to come by)..just gotta rig them as straight as possible. The slider grub and big bite baits 3.5 cane thumper can be burned back in but the reaction innovations little dipper is best worked dead slow. I wish i had known about these baits when i was in hawaii...cuz it would have killed the tucs and bass there! Plus its something i guarantee they are not seeing. Which may be important from all the pressure it seems to be getting now. You would be able to cast these baits much further than a little stick bait. They're not great of fish tight to cover but you can burn them over the tops of laydowns and stickups and get bites.
You can fish them just about anyway you want. Ive been fishing them in open water for schooling fish and also around points and structure like drops and humps also around brush piles. The main drawback with the darterhead is they dont go through the middle of cover very well. But you can burn them over the top of cover and draw reaction strikes...i like to call it finesse power fishing. Its possibly one of the most natural presentations i have found. But its really versatile as well.
Those yozuri pin minnow will catch em but the hooks are horrible and ive had many tucs straighten them out. The rapalas have much better hooks and i didnt lose as many fish on them. One of the things ive really learned over the past year is if you want to win tournaments or place well on a regular basis you usually have to do two things. 1. Fish to win, and by that i mean dont worry about getting a lot of bites but focus on the bigger bites. You can achieve this i think in two ways. First you have to fish baits that regularly draw the bigger fish topwater, spinnerbaits and cranks. 2. Find something different than everyone else is fishing. Just because everyone is catching fish a certain way doesn't mean its the best way. Everyone there is so caught up with schoolers and small baits.
Topwaters i think are underfished at wilson. Those big tucs will blow them up. But throw full size topwater baits. Like the sammy 100 or 110. Generally the water is pretty stained there and a larger bait is more visible since it creates more commotion. There are a few important things to remember about topwater fishing. Long casts are critical to catching fish. Wilson is great for this, you can parallel the banks and cover a lot of water. Depth is not all that important because topwater will draw strikes from deep fish too. Have to use heavy mono, probably a minimum of 14lb up to about 20lb line or use braid. I prefer mono because it will tangle in the bait far less often. Use a soft rod and there is really no need for a hook set like when you are fishing worms or jigs. I just kinda wait until i dont see the bait anymore or feel the fish then do a slow sweeping pull. I recommend always having a topwater rigged on and ready to fish at all times. Its not hard to learn how to walk the dog either. And the tucs i found generally preferred a faster cadence. Plus the largemouth will eat em too. They will eat them all year too but with everything there will always be a time it is best. I found on days where its more cloudy were good and also when the water was a bit more stained. A small little finesse bait will sometimes go unnoticed in stained water but a topwater/buzzbait/frog create a disturbance that will make noise and vibration.
When i go to a spinning rod its based on the type of bait im throwing or the cover im throwing too, and sometimes wind(mainly when im trying to use a lighter bait.). Ive never liked throwing a crank on a spinning rod. Usually i will only throw jerkbaits, dropshot small swimbaits or softjerkbaits on spinning rods. And i will opt for a spinning rod when im using lighter line sometimes. Whenever i can i will use a baitcaster since my casts a much more accurate, i can get cast farther with them most of the time. I also can get fish in faster with them and they also handle fluorocarbon and heavier line much better than a spinning reel does.
The bass assasin spinning reel combo is a good one, especially at wilson since its pretty easy to skip those baits under the laydowns with it. But ive found a i need a rod with a stiff backbone and a soft tip to get good hooksets with them. I also usually use a 4/0 or 5/0 hook and that seems to help my hook ups too. Make sure to use braid though...even 2lbers will break you off pretty quick with mono or flouro doing this. Kelton does this a lot. I found that generally the tucs 3lbs or more will be in those laydowns and not schooling. Keep your distance too as they will spook easily, i didnt always do a great job of this when i fished wilson, if i had i guarantee i would have caught more quality tucs. Looking back now, all the really big tucs i caught were a result of a long cast where i didn't spook the fish. Also if they are schooling the bigger fish will usually be down beneath the fish busting on the surface. I had a fish break off a dd22 on 15lb line when i threw it past a school of tucs and had it running about 15ft down....the one that got away! I wish i could go there right now and try this finesse swimbait presentation i have been fishing lately! I know it would kill em! Its the best bait ive found for targetting schoolers when they're not actually up on the surface!
Im telling you...get some 1/8th oz darterhead jigs or some 1/8th strike king shakeyheads...rig them just like you would a curly tail grub with a reaction innovations little dipper for fishing it slow and deeper and a slider 4 bass grub or a 3.5 inch big bite baits cane thumper when they want it fast!! ( 2 different setups for slow and fast ) They will kill it! I know it! get some 14 to 20lb braid and add about 3ft of 6lb mono for a leader. You should be able to cast this set up really far on a spinning rod.
Another thing you can do is use the same baits but rig them on a 2/0 or 3/0 extra wide gap lightwire hook with a 1/8th oz bullet weight. Peg the weight so it doesnt slip or get the florida rid bullet weights that screw into the nose of the bait and you could fish that on straight braid in the laydowns...it will skip too if that weight is pegged. Man i wish i knew about this when i was there!! All white and a shad color are probably the only colors you would need, but if you wanted another color too i'd go with a green or sexy shad color, sometimes depending on water clearity and light a silver shad will look more like the color of the water than silver. Their silver scales are mirror like and underwater they will blend in.
Here's other tips from HFFA club members and others on fishing Lake Wilson.
Spinnerbait tips:
First thing to look at: sky condition & water clarity, cloudy, rainy & windy conditions will cut down on
the light penetration
How to determine water clarity – if can see spinnerbait:
2 ft of water – clear water
18” or less – stain water
06” or less – muddy water
Clear water - sunny
silver blades, use willow blades - reel fast – match natural baits, use heavier spinnerbait w/ smaller blades
Stain water
Silver & gold blades, solid colors, use Colorado or Indiana blades, use bigger blades to slow spinnerbait down
chartreuse & white – stain color
Muddy water
Gold blades, If real muddy & cloudy – use chartreuse blades, chartreuse, green &/or red in dirty water
Other spinnerbait tips
use a trailer hook, cut skirt into a rounder presentation
fish areas like submerged grass, standing timber, isolated cover, single stick, off shore structure – drop down to bottom – rip up let drop again
never retrieve with steady – change every 5 ft – twitch, jerk, flutter, vary speed look for reaction strike
position boat – work into wind – cast to upside of wind – fish where wind is blowing
use terrain on lake, wind blowing across points, valley, shallow areas, summer & early fall – slow rolling technique
best time for spinnerbait- rain, wind & clouds
Say I'm fishing a plastic worm..drop shot or texas rig or a jig it doesn't matter and for whatever reason I wanna change to a different bait or different color. What I've been doing is make a cast with what I have on let it get to the bottom, put my rod down and let the bait just sit there while I get whatever I plan on using next ready to go. Sometimes the bass will prefer a bait that has little no no action. But I don't have the patience to do this if I have the rod in my hand.
What made me think of this was how many time that I have caught a fish after I get done picking out a backlash or when I set my rod down to help my son do something when I pick it back up I have a fish on. If I get bit like this it tells me I need to slow down and do less with my lures, something I have a hard time doing unless I know it's going to work.
It also negates the wasted time while you are switching techniques because at least you have a bait in the water.
Equipment
6 ½’ M action rod, short butt 17lb mono-green – high speed reel 6.3-7.1 ratio
Developing a pattern/when to change:
For me I kinda just get a feeling when I need to change. I'm extremely confident with drop-shotting or pretty much any worm fishing so if I'm not catching fish with these techniques I assume that I am either not fishing in the right area or I'm not getting my bait to the correct depth. I usually try to stay away from worming unless I know the fishing is going to be tough. Sometimes I choose to worm when fishing new bodies of water so I can eliminate areas faster. This works because I feel like if there are bass in the area I can get them to eat a worm and if I'm not getting bit I need to move.
When I'm using any sort of moving baits I always start fast. Then if that's not working I gradually start slowing down and adding pauses. This works with just about any type of moving presentation i.e. crankbait, spinnerbait, topwater etc. I will also adjust colors in addition to slowing down. But I view changing colors as a less important factor. So I will make a more drastic change say from a shad color to chartreuse color. Remember when you fished with me in the rain, when we got to that tree at the end of kincaids I started with a blue and white crank to fish it. I caught one or two and they were both barely hooked on the back treble (I think one even came off as well). Then I made a switch to to a identical model but in black back chartreuse and they started eating deeper and if I remember correctly I caught 4 or 5 more after making the switch.
Another way I eliminate certain techniques is to fish an area a few different ways. I used to do this a lot at kincaids. I would start with a spinnerbait, and work my way down with that. If that wasn't producing well, i'd usually work my way back with a crank or a jerkbait. While doing this I would also start fast and slow down until I figured out what speed they wanted it. There are sooo many variables in fishing that having your own constants helps you key in on the variations.
I think I've mentioned it before and it kinda goes along with what kelton said about "junk" fishing, is to work each sort of cover with the presentation that best fits the situation. I prefer to fish grass with only a few types of lures like a spinnerbait, jig, or softplastic. I also prefer to fish it by flipping/pitching or paralleling it with my spinnerbait So when I'm working my way down the bank and I encounter grass I will hit it with at least one of these techniques. I use the same idea when fishing brush/wood/laydown or rocks. I have certain approaches to each type of cover.
Another thing I do is start shallow and work deep. I will start off beating the bank concentrating on about the first 5 feet starting at the bank. I will give this a shot for about an hour or two and if it's not producing I will gradually start working my way deeper. If I don't get bit doing this (I usually will go to about 20 or 25ft) then it tells me the fish are likely suspended (which can be the most difficult situation in my opinion) or in another location. If they are suspended you can target them with all sorts of lures but you have to keep your bait in their strike zone which can be difficult with certain baits.
I think having a starting place is important to dialing in a pattern. It's a lot like a puzzle, you have to gradually figure out how it goes back together. So I use a process of elimination to do this. One thing I always keep in mind while figuring out the conditions are seasonal patterns. Keeping seasonal patterns in mind helps me select a bait that is likely to produce during that time. If I know bass are likely to be chasing bait fish, I'm not going to start off throwing a worm at the bank. I will likely fish some sort of hard bait or a spinnerbait. But it is possible that I may end up throwing a worm at the bank if my initial idea/approach isn't working.
Another thing to keep in mind in mind is you can catch a bass on just about any lure at anytime. If you look at the top 10 results from the bassmasters or FLW tournaments, they are usually not all doing the same thing. Mostly they've found an area and fished it with a presentation that suited that area or an area that suits the way they fish. Or they've found a certain type of structure that is holding fish then replicated that approach in different spots. I remember one of the HFFA tourneys where someone had caught a few good fish throwing a buzzbait. I think I had thrown a buzzbait for two hours and I didn't catch anything. Could have been I had the wrong color, was moving it too fast or slow or just in the wrong place at the wrong time. While he was throwing a buzzbait I was still able to catch fish with a crank and spinnerbait, which goes to show that there isn't always a specific lure that is going to be better than another.
Basically I guess I'm trying to say is mix it up until you get something going, but do it in an organized manner (I like to start with my strengths and confidence areas because I feel that if I didn't catch fish with it I can eliminate that area or depth with more certainty). Once you get onto some fish don't to be afraid to continue to tweak you presentation. I think the little tweaks made to a presentation are what make the biggest difference. Here is an example of this. I was onto some fish at condo cliffs texas rigging a 6 inch finesse worm on a 1/8 oz sinker, but most were smaller fish. Rather than leaving the spot to find bigger fish, I switched to a sweet beaver (creature bait) on a 1/4 oz sinker and started catching better quality fish. Formulate some sort of elimination process. It doesn't need to be the same as mine but its a good way to keep what you've tried and haven't tried in order. Funny thing for me about this is I didn't come up with this approach fishing, I have to do this at work to do my job, and one day it clicked in my head to apply it to fishing and it's really helped.
Deep structure sites
The places with the deeper structure are the rocky area at the miki cove, mikimiki point has a really nice drop off but I think that A LOT of boats drive right over it and mess it up for fishing. I REALLY love condo cliffs, once you get to the rocky section about 100yds before the point. It is a really steep drop off and there is a lot of wood down there. I’ve caught fish as deep as 30ft in that area. It’s even really good on the other side until you get to about where Kemoo island. Once it starts getting shallower/less of a inclined bank it seems like tucs hang around there more. Oh and also that point at condo cliffs. I’ve caught quite a few there worming and throwing a crankbait.
Another good spot is the submerged point by the dam between Kemoo Island and the shore...I’m sure you've seen you know who fishing there a lot. I've caught a few in deeper water off of BBP but I think that place is really only good when there is bait in the area. Then Morgan’s point has a pretty awesome drop off. Down past the tree at Kincaid’s has some nice deeper cover. The thing I’ve noticed with deep structure fishing is you have to fish it pretty thoroughly but also not waste your time. Those kind of spots aren’t always holding fish. But when you find one that is you can usually get 5 or 6 fish off of them. Oh and I almost forgot the two points by BSI. Caught quite a few bass there worming and jigging in 10 to 15 ft of water.
Starting a pattern:
A lot of my method for figuring out what will catch fish is trial and error. I always start with a plan that is based off of traditional seasonal patterns but if my initial plan fails I resort to trial and error and the process of elimination. In the hot summer month’s bass will either be really shallow or deep. They generally are shallow when visibility is poor and tend to be deeper in clearer water. I also am always looking/observing for bass chasing bait. If there are fish chasing bait I will usually go with a shad/baitfish presentation. If I don't see signs of fish actively feeding I will usually throw worms and jigs as you can entice fish to eat due to their opportunistic (sp) nature. Also if there is little to no clouds it's likely that the fish will be deep or shallow in heavy cover that has shade. If they are up in the sticks jigs and creature baits flipped into the nooks and crannies works well. One thing I recently noticed was fishing the same areas with two different techniques can almost double the amount of fish caught from that area. A few weeks back I was fishing kvd squarebills in this area with a lot of sticks ups, with the kvd baits I was able to fish the areas edges and keep my boat away so I didn't spook the fish. Once I picked off the fish that were on the outer edged of the cover I went back and flipped the area with soft plastics and was able to catch about 5 more fish that I could cast to with a crankbait. If I had started flipping I would have more than likely spooked the fish on the edges of the cover.
Worms:
I wish I could physically show you how I work a plastic worm and how I set the hook, it would be SOOO much easier to explain. Being able to detect the bites and feel the structure is something that comes from practice and experience. I think the first year I started fishing for bass only I used a plastic worm about 85% of the time the only other lures I used were topwaters and softplastic jerkbaits! One thing I noticed on my last outing was I had way more feel with my worm using 10lb line than 6lb line, the six pound line was light and stretchy I couldn't feel anything, but anything over 12lb line will probably cost you sensitivity(not counting braid).
Jigs:
The January tournament I won I caught all those fish on jigs, even the tuc! The best jigs I found as far as weedlessness goes at Wilson was a asukara(sp) jigs and the booyah pigskin jigs those both come through the sticks really well but the asukara is a little better. One thing I didn't realize about jigs when I first started using them was they don't come out of the package ready to fish. The brush guards usually need to be trimmed as well as the skirt. I also spread the brush guard out so It's even more weedless...that is probably the most important thing. Another cool little tip is to super glue your trailer on, it really helps keep it from sliding down the hook. Getting out and fishing more than just the tournaments should really help a lot. I would always try to get out and fish at least once the week before the HFFA tourneys.
Suggested Tournament strategy Start:
