[lamdesign]

So have been fishing my dock every night for about an hour after work. This has been helping me learn a lot and get a better feel for different techniques and so on. Last night I decided to practice on my crankbaits.

I never use these due to constant hangups on weeds which leads to a lot of frustration as you can imagine. However, the vegetation has been loosening up so I thought I'd give it a try. I was using a Bluegill patterned Rapala (8ft max depth) in about 4 ft of water parallel to the shoreline between two docks. Like I said I never use these, ever.

It was about 8:30PM and I was getting a few pulls. I wasnt setting however seeing as I was used to getting hungup on weeds. After about 30 minutes I got a better feel for the strikes vs weeds and got a strong hit about 15ft from my dock.

This is what arose from the water.




This is easily the fattest fish I have ever caught. The thing fought so damn hard that it got my adrenaline pumping. I have 15lb test on and I thought it was going to snap it for sure. With that being said, I am def. switching to a 20lb test of Fluro (which I've never used before, Fluro that is).

I even had another 1.5 lb'er hit about 20 minutes later. Needless to say, with the current conditions I am sticking to something that can suspend a little more. My Texas rigged worms and lizards just arent doing the trick anymore. I think for the next few nights im going to learn how to easily pitch and flip jigs in shallower water along with learning to use spinnerbaits properly, along with continuing my crankbait sessions. This was fun as hell and it has definitely given me a lot of faith in using speedier baits. Now it's on to technique

-Les

[slim2043]

keep up the good work! You live on that lake? That must be pretty cool...

I hear a lot of good things about crankbaits in the fall but I haven't really tested them yet as I have been on a flippin kick since I went with flippy and throwing spinnerbaits to switch things up. Cranks always seem to get me the wrong fish (perch,sunnies) maybe I'm throwing the wrong cranks??

Anyhow, good luck in your practice! Keep finding ways to catch more bass
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Never give up!

[DirtyDawg10]

Nice job! Good looking fish.

[watthe555]

do you know how much the fished weighed?

[MarkO]

If you want to your crank or any other bait to suspend, stay away from flouro as it sinks. Stick with mono or even braid. Braid tends to show up more in the water but if they are hitting a fast retrieve then it should be ok.

Are you using a baitcasting setup or a spinning setup? Either way, you shouldn't need more than 12 pound test on a baitcaster and 10lb on a spinning rod. Any more than that will change the way the lure works and not always for the better. If you are afraid of losing fish, unfortunetly that is part of it, especiallly at first. Over time you will learn how to set your drag and apply pressure to keep the fish out of cover.

Its all a learning curve, but with the advent of the internet you can be up to speed by reading message boards like this. What took me 20 years to learn, you can do in 20 months or less.

Keep up the good work!

[Fishface]

Pretty fish

[lamdesign]

The crank baits have been doing ok with Fluoro, but since I never use Cranks I dont know how diff it would feel with Mono.

I basically chose Fluoro for sensitivity and always assumed it was the line that everyone uses. Ive always used Trilene 12LB, but I want more sensitivity to feel when I hit the bottoms and the action of my baits better. Any suggestions for a good Mono with high sensitivity?

I also have been practicing flipping with Fluoro. It is way easier to cast with Fluoro, which I really enjoy.

I use a Curado 7:1 Baitcaster with a Gander Mtn. 6'6" medium heavy action.

Any tips on this would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Les

[MarkO]

Using a crankbait is a great option at this time of the year as the bass are feeding heaving on forage fish to fatten up for the winter.

Sensitivity and crankbaits are "usually" not synonymous in bass fishing. If you are fishing weeds or rocks, well you know what you are fishing.

Your 7:1 Shimano and med heavy rod are great for ripping bass out of heavy weeds and if you have the 12lb test on that then you should go up to a minimum of 17lb or 20lb flouro for this tactic.

He is where the rub lies: bass fishing has become mutli-functional in that you almost need different rods for different situations.

This past weekend I had a flipping rod with 30lb braid sitting next to a spinnining rod with 6lb flouro for dropshotting. Those are to two extreme ends and differences in lines and rod/reels. I'd hate to tell you what and how many different set ups where in between those two.

If you want more specific setup, let us know what kind of cover/structure you are fishing then we can hone in on the needs aspect.

[PECo]

Since I use spinning reels, higher strength fluoro doesn't work for me because it's stiff and springs off of the reel. And I just can't stand using mono because it stretches like a rubber band (i.e., it has very little sensitivity). Plus, it'll snap if it gets nicked. If you snag on anything rough like a tree branch or rock, you can forget about it.

Berkley NanoFil comes in up to 12 pound test. It's a braided line, but has a tiny diameter, and is very smooth and slick, so it casts like mono or fluoro but has little to no stretch like braid (i.e., it has great sensitivity). However, it's designed primarily for use with spinning reels. Its problems are that it's crazy expensive (i.e., it costs $20 for 150 yards), it's a little bit friable (i.e., it frays more than I'd like) and it doesn't seem to have much shock strength, at least in my experience. By shock strength, I mean that it snaps very easily under sudden loads. For example, if the bail on your spinning reel trips as you cast a heavy lure, it'll snap because there's no stretch to absorb the sudden load. I've lost a few lures that way. You also can't use it with a lure that requires a strong hookset, like a frog or a Texas rigged soft plastic creature bait. Strangely though, it's very strong under steady tension, way stronger than 12 pound test suggests, and is great for using small buzzbaits, small spinnerbaits and crankbaits to cover a lot of water. It also works well with a wacky rigged Senko.

More than any other fishing line, I prefer PowerPro braid. It's a smaller diameter line that's super strong, durable and flexible. When you go from mono to braid, the change in sensitivity is amazing. With braid, you can feel the "tic" of every nibble on your line. And when you snag a laydown, either the tree will come up or your hook will break before your line will snap. Even flippy uses heavy braid for flipping.

With a baitcaster, I'd use fluoro. It has the best refractive index of any fishing line (i.e., it's the least visible underwater), casts great and has a lot less stretch than any mono. I think that you made the right choice, but I'd go heavier than 12 pound test like MarkO said; I'd use at least 20 pound test. And I'd check my line frequently for abrasions and re-tie when I found any. Nicked fluoro snaps very easily.
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[lamdesign]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Thus far, this is what Ive observed.

The fluoro is going strong and I can feel a lot more action on my baits. The crankbaits are working well, but they are diving a lot deeper now since the fluoro is sinking. This makes it tough if im not fishing the same angle each time, since if my retrieval path changes I usually get hung up and pull in just enough weeds to take away from the action.

On spinners its keeping it real close to the surface oddly enough. Ive been changing up the retrieval speeds, but ive noticed i need to real pretty quick to stay out of the weeds, hence the closer to surface depth it is coming in at.

Off my dock is what I usually fish. Its about 4 ft of water right off the bat, and I think even up to 30 yards out it only gets at most 8ft. There arent many rocks or trees at all (not trees in the water i believe), but it is very weedy on the bottom. This has made it very discouraging when fishing texas rigs or anything off the bottom. I basically let me worm/lizard drop and hit the bottom. I dont really let it sit too much and bob it off the bottom and reel in, almost hopping it off the bottom. This is because it is so murky on the bottom that it just sits in a pile of weeds. I cant really drag it on the bottom because it immediately snags or pulls up weeds. I tried flipping jigs for the hell of it, but this is almost impossible to fish (in my opinion) because I immediately hook weeds and end up just dragging those in. This is primarily why Ive been fishing fast retrieve baits, to keep them off the bottom to keep the hooks off weeds. Its been a very discouraging time to say the least (except when I nail those fish). Basically, if it hits the bottom at all im pulling in weeds right away. I feel like this isnt how its supposed to be. Am I being too nit-picky to expect to work a plastic bait off the bottom and not hook any weeds? Is that how it's supposed to go when im bouncing and dragging off the bottom? Im thinking no, and that its just too weedy, but I could be way off. I just feel that if any weeds get on my hook that it ruins the retrieval/presentation and that once I feel weeds I just reel it in quick to get the weeds off and try again. Id say 1/10 casts pull in no weeds at all.

Suggestions for this situation?

Sorry for the long reply, but its been discouraging and am wondering if I should try any other techniques.

Thanks

Les

[slim2043]

If the fish you are catching are in those weeds, I would try different retrieves with the spinnerbait. Willowleaf blades to make it look like a fish swimming through those weeds. Spinnerbaits usually don't get too hung up in the weeds and you can give em a little rip out of the weeds and that sometimes illicits a strike as well.

If the fish you are catching are not in those weeds... find somewhere else to fish and you will get less discouraged. Fishing lures from shore can get discouraging because there may not be any bass around you. Don't get discouraged, try diff techniques like you said, move to different spots if you can.
_________________
Never give up!

[PECo]

I'd try a Texas rig with an egg-shaped rubber bobber stopper, a small tungsten bullet weight and an offset shank hook, and then bury the tip of the hook in the bait. Here's what a package of Eagle Claw rubber bobber stoppers looks like:



You pull the tag end of your fishing line through one of the wire loops, pull the bobber stopper off of the wire and onto the doubled-up lines, and then you hold the doubled-up lines and keep pulling the bobber stopper up the lines until the tag end pulls out of the bobber stopper.

I saw a fishing show in which Gary Yamamoto showed this rig to the host of the show. Gary's my hero. Zoom Baby Brush Hogs swim pretty well when rigged this way and stay fairly weedless.
_________________
Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!

[lamdesign]

PECo, every post I see from you amazes me, simply because you know everything about lures and have the most elaborate setups, haha. I will have to try these.


Slim, I think youre right, Its time to change spots. Its just so damn convenient to go in the backyard, haha. Ive been fishing Mamanasco since I moved in though. Def produced some large bass as you see. Just hard changing bodies of water since I never know depths and whatnot. Plus i am restricted to the shore (no kayak/boat), so that can make outings to new lakes and ponds tough to find access points, not to mention parking in some instances.

May have to try Candlewood this weekend and hit up my shore spot. I say this because I only know 1 shore spot there, haha, which is by the boat loading area towards the causeway. Honestly, dont know anywhere else I can go around there to produce from the shore.

You guys ever do any shore outings? I know most of you have kayaks, but Ive been dying to get out and fish with some people. Since I moved out here, Ive never actually fished with anyone else, ha. It's just nice sometimes to see how others work bait and their tactics. I can read articles and watch youtube all day, but I learned to fish from spending time with my uncles and watching every move they make and how they approach spots. Would just be nice to get a new perspective on CT fishing with some people who have a little more experience on these waters.

Either way, thanks all for following this post and lending some much appreciated advice.

-Les

[hila2006]

Hey Les, I feel for ya, the wife and I are new here as well. It's been a culture shock to say the least. We came from a waterfront home in Mass, so we could just push our bass boat out from our landing spot and hit some awesome largemouth and smallmouth whenever we wanted. We had a good group of lake people that we had a couple tournaments a month with, and hung out with them after the tournys. But hang in there, it'll get better. Phil(Peco) has some good spots he might know of to shore fish from, as well as Tim(Slim). I don't know where Ridgefield is, but there must be some spots you can put some time and practice at. One more thing, if you're using a bullet type slip sinker, you should be able to remove the weeds with a quick jerk of your rod, then let it settle again. I use mainly texas rigs and it works well for me.

Good luck

[lamdesign]

hila2006 -

Ridgefield is 20min south of Danbury and 20min north of Norwalk. Havent been fishing out your way yet, mainly keep to the waters around Danbury. I think I just need to save up for a kayak, haha. Although, there is something amazing about hiking through trails and cutting through woods just to find a place to stand. Makes catching that big one way more worth while when you know you had a to walk a mile just to get a cast. I will have to get that rip technique going though. I'll have to talk to Peco and Slim though. Im not out here trying to steal spots, haha, but pointers always help. Havent tried Mass fishing yet. I moved out here from Iowa, so needless to say the spots out here are a bit diff.

But yep, im going to be trying all these tips over the weekend. If any of you guys are fishing anywhere this weekend around Southern Conn or anything let me know. Be nice to try a new body of water, so suggestions are welcome. If it's good fishing I have no problem driving 1-2 hours to try it.

Thanks again

Les