First day out and over 70 fish in 4 hours

[senkosam]

Not too many sunny days with temperatures over 70 and wind less than 15 mph. A bud convinced me to get my Tracker on the lake for the first time this year. He and another did well on a local lake and I figured fishing in my small pond doesn't really count seeing as how I got a captive audience.
Sorry to say but he's the kind of angler that must learn from his mistakes. In this case watching me catch the first 10 fish in 7 minutes to his none. I'm tired of offering advice that's ignored so, watch & weep or observe & ask questions. Complaining ain't going to catch 'em, (...of which I can only take so much as my age of 75.)

Crappie are active in April and easy to catch numbers if you know specific areas of the lake they go pres-pawn. Many soft plastics work but none will work as long as the jighead is too heavy, the hook and/or the lure too large or the presentation too fast in water 4' or less. In his case, he was using a wire leader to avoid pickerel stealing his lure which happened a few days ago. Lure action must not be distracted by any line that affects lure action. Fish notice the line and lure as one and not the lure by itself doing its thing.

He cut off the leader, changed to a 1/24 oz jig (from 1/16 oz), went to a shorter lure with more finesse action at the slowest retrieve speed and began catching fish (though not at the rate I was catching them ). He even caught a +3.5 lb. pickerel! All told I caught 74 fish in four hours to his 40 fish.

Some really cool things happened such as seeing fish in the tannin-stained water slowly come up to the bait and getting hooked on it - sometimes no further away than 10'! Another was fish hitting and missing 3x on the same retrieve before getting hooked or getting hooked after the lure was cast to the same spot a few times. They gotta be really pissed off before attacking and lures (like any fly in your face) sometimes must be put in theirs a few times.

As regards lure shape, the following did well: spike tails, shad tails, 2.5" Runcle worms and thin flat tails. A grub has two parts: body & tail. The proportion of one to the other is always important, especially when lure size averages 2.5" or smaller. Jig weight can be as light as 1/32 oz but lure weight must be enough to carry the combo a distance of 50' and drop to depths where fish in dense schools are mulling around on their aquatic sofas. It was not uncommon to catch 10 fish in one spot - one after the other. My pond now has the addition of 12-13" crappie, perch 4 - 9" and a few more pumpkinseeds (one of the most beautiful freshwater fish.)

Sorry for the long dissertation - too long for many. But maybe a few points are of value to some as well as comparing notes and memories.

[Gotfish?]

After seeing the success of Ned rigs with the TRD body, I think that the action of the body is sometimes overstated. Or maybe that less is better sometimes.

Not to mention "poop baits"; a disgusting look to most humans but bass love them. Along the same line, Fat Ikas seem to work regardless of the amount of tentacles that are left on.

https://www.tacticalbassin.com/blog/poo ... ss-fishing

Fishing in clear water can be very educational. It shows that when a lure hits the water, every fish within 50' or so knows about it and often swims over to check it out. Or some days, throw the lure 10' in front of a bass and the fish changes direction to avoid the lure. And dead sticking is sometimes the key to fooling fish too.

[camobass]

Absolutely ASTONISHING senkosam, I mean, I almost fell out of my seat reading your post. 70 fish!, you must be one hell of an angler! I bet your buddy felt so bad!!! Wow, I’m not worthy!!! You ought to write a book man! I bet you have so many trophy’s on your wall. I hope one day my angling can measure up to just one percent of your capabilities. Good on you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[senkosam]

No big accomplishment. When fish are in a pattern, anyone can catch them. But, and that's a big but, not knowing what not to cast and how to work it is as bad as casting lures fish will ignore based on the wrong imparted action or one that doesn't fit bring out a lure's best.

Or maybe that less is better sometimes. - Gotfish
You said it! When fish are not active, finesse seems key.

I couldn't measure up fishing Calif. lakes based on zero knowledge of them. When it comes to who catches more in the shortest amount of time, it means nothing if the anglers aren't equal when it comes to versatility, knowing structure and how to work a lure the best way for the area fished.

Over 40 fish isn't bad and over 70 fish caught in parts of the lake everyone has been killing them, is nothing to brag about - especially this time of year. But one thing I always find amazing - the question asked: what are you using?. Answer: any one of 20 lures in my box.
The right question is far more specific: what's your presentation, what jig size/ hook size, how deep, what lure action/shape and size that fish are attacking with gusto, etc? Much of the time he doesn't think in those terms but rather - think I'll try this lure after not catching anything for a while. (Example: a tournament was held a few weeks ago. One angler weighed in 14.5 lbs of panfish in 5 hours. No one else of the 17 anglers came close. He musta been doing something right.)

Tomorrow I'm bringing only 10 soft plastics - each of different shapes and actions that I KNOW will get hit. I'm sure he's learned from our last time out and he'll do fine. But a cold front is moving through tonight dropping the air temperature 20 degrees but the water will still be warm and the pre-spawn fish still be in in shallow areas around the lake. Pretty sure the numbers will be up there but maybe not as high. Numbers are nice, but for me, confirming lure design success, the most important thing.

[Gotfish?]

How about the people whose 1st question is "what color"?

Of all the factors, color seems to be the least important.

Not to mention that many fish are color blind (i.e. don't possess all 3 cones that we do) to some extent.

There's the fishermen who think their lures have to match the forage and then there are the bait fishermen who try to do the opposite. https://pautzke.com/learn-to-catch-fish ... e-minnows/

[senkosam]

Forage-based lure choices are IMO a waste of time especially because no lure can resemble any forage animal. Fish may be dumb but they have the sense(s) to sense the difference, visual imperfections notwithstanding. I have caught fish on most lure types and in all colors - including clear plastic- and say with some authority that lure action speaks loudest. I've posted on SD.com many of my designs shown stuck in fish's lips and have no doubt fish were provoked - not convinced - that those alien shapes needed an education about staying outside a fish's strike zone. To eat or not to eat isn't the question; to simply attack - IS !

Now, does hue matter? I'm superstitious when it comes to color and color brightness. If I catch fish using certain colors for certain lures, why think about why they worked? They - just - did. In fact, on some lure designs, I use Spike-It to add black patterns on chartreuse and orange belly lures - coincidentally perch colors. Straight chartreuse would probably do as well, but this human likes what it looks like in the water. I've caught many fish casting clear soft and hard plastic lures, though clear never means colorless due to background colors passing through.

Color brightness may be a factor especially when here comes along a bright white lure against a dark background that fish find annoying and out of place. Color may accomplish the same thing as lure action: getting a fish to notice, track and maybe provoke it to strike just for the H. of it even with a full belly.

[camobass]

Yeah, you’re absolutely right, lures that resemble natural forage don’t work at all. I’ve tried rattle traps- nothing! Top water frogs- nothing. Jerk baits- NOTHING! You know, I’ve even dabbled in throwing those realistic trout lures….what a waster of time! People who buy those realistic looking lures are just throwing their money away!!! There’s a local lure maker, Matt lures…he makes the most realistic lures. I mean, they could be put in an aquarium and you wouldn’t know they were lures. I don’t know why a bass would even strike one of those!

[senkosam]

" I mean, they could be put in an aquarium and you wouldn’t know they were lures. I don’t know why a bass would even strike one of those!"

Any lure colors and patterns may enhance a lure's strike potential but only if size/shape/action combined stimulate aggression. Heck, I've thrown bright pink lures and alway caught fish on them. Many anglers fall for the hype that only humans can relate to - not so predator fish that only use our lures for practice.

(Note: Rat L Traps don't look like nor sound like anything that ever lived, yet I've caught bass on flashy chrome-colored Traps.)
(Note also: predator fish rarely see surface lure colors that move constantly (i.e. Zara Spook). Noise, ripples, pops, swish, etc. are targeted, not profiles as for subsurface lures. Even Floating Rapalas are seen by fish looking up against a bright background (sky) as a colorless shape. The lazy subtle wallow with hooks clinking, provokes aggression no matter the pretty color pattern.

[camobass]

Thanks, I’ve learned so much, I’m going to try and go out and catch my first hawg! I don’t know what I’ve been thinking all this time that a natural looking lure would catch something. Thanks for all these local San Diego techniques! Now I’m going to go make my friend feel bad and out fish him!!!!

[camobass]

I’m still blown away your buddy caught a pickerel out here. I’m going to go try and get one. They always looked so cool.

[senkosam]

Suggestion: start small - lurewise. Get the feel of the lure at depths less than 5' and use sonar to track the bottom and any baitfish present. By small I mean finesse lures on light ball head jigs retrieved slowly with slight rod tip twitches and reel handle turns. Small lures are capable of catching BIG FISH!
Examples:
A curl tail grub with tail removed:


A bass jig trailer by itself:


Mann's Shadow:


Spike-tail grub:

A plus to using small lures is the number of species along with a large range of sizes from 5" - 7 lbs.
Tip: A spinning reel, light action rod and braided line are the best for catching the above. Baitcast reels can't handle light lures without a bird's nest every other cast.

Note: If fish with sharp teeth are in the water fished, keep handy a plastic jaw grip and long nose pliers. Being sliced up by razor sharp teeth is no picnic!

[camobass]

7lbs?!!!!!! Daaaaaaaang. Man I’m lucky if I can get something over a pound. You’re putting the hurt on these San Diego lakes. I bet you absolutely destroy Barrett lake!!

[Dooolan]

A fish every 3 minutes is epic

[camobass]

Spoon minnow aka senkosam is the greatest angler of all time. He’s not scared to let us all know it and to teach us how we do it all wrong. He’s on his way to the fishing hall of fame with guys like Bill Murphy. I hope one day I can catch fish like him. Apparently I’ve had it all wrong all these years. Thanks for all the tips Senko Sam!!

[senkosam]

Thanks Camo but I'm far from the most versatile angler of all time and versatility makes all the difference when fishing unfamiliar waters. Granted, when I fished in bass clubs I did pretty well but ONLY because my partners helped put us on fish and I learned various techniques from them. Watching fishing shows and reading great articles like that in In-Fisherman and Fishing Facts magazines were very helpful minus product hype and taught one important thing:
fish have NO idea what they strike and aren't capable of having ideas to begin with.

Along with all of that, lakes that hold large populations of fish that are under-pressured can make anyone look great and the lakes I fish are just that. They are my laboratories to try different things and record with my digital camera what to reproduce for future use. If you would like some of my creations Camo, I could send some - N/C. Posting your catches would be a confirmation of their versatility.

[Gotfish?]

Perhaps as a challenge to your lure designing abilities, you should try fishing at highly pressured lakes and see if you have the same conclusions.

The lure you shown consisting of a grub with the tail removed on a jig head is not far removed from a Ned rig or even a Trout Magnet. And your fishing method is similar to what many use for a Ned rig or Trout Magnet. Even good size largemouth bass mostly eat small fish like minnows and shad. One finesse predecessor to the Ned rig was the Slider rig which was fished in a "do nothing" manner.

[senkosam]

Today my partner and I worked one flat at the south end of the lake where some anglers been 1/2 hour before. We got into crappie and yellow perch schools with many sunfish, a 2.5 lb pickerel and a 3 lb bass. All told, 180 fish between the two of us caught between 9:30 am - 1 pm. Important was move & anchor, move & anchor, move & anchor in order to discover schools that yielded up to 20 fish per. Depth of the flat was only 2.5' and fan-casting key decided whether to move 20-30' and anchor.

My club has tournaments on the lake we fished today and the locals are seen fishing it frequently. The term pressured waters is something we tell ourselves as an excuse for not doing well. Many of the tournaments my club fishes are on so-called pressured waters that are fished by many clubs. Some good size limits are weighed in by our members. It will always come down to knowing the water, paying close attention to sonar readings and adapting to the terrain with lures and presentations. My finesse fishing today did just that: knowing pre-spawn locations and finessing a huge number of fish to attack with gusto on a large number of different creations! Other club members ran from location to location, not staying long anywhere and therefore not knowing the potential of different areas around the lake.

Again, my passion is discovering unique lure designs universal to all fish species and what better than soft plastics? Using existing designs in new ways is another.

[camobass]

You’re a legend. As Wayne and Garth would say, “we’re not worthy, we’re not worthy”. I’m going to need an autograph to hang on my wall.

[bendopolo 44+]

Depth, Size, Color, Cadence. Factors in order of my concern. Water clarity, Wind, current, vegetation, bottom construction, shade….others to take into account. Solve the puzzle, catch the fish.

[senkosam]

More ideas and opinions to consider:
For decades I've read articles in magazines and watched shows about fishing. Much of what was stated as fact is still repeated by many today - none of it ever proven. I've caught fish on almost every lure type and color ever made which can't but refute those 'recommendations' meant to improve one's catch. Problem is when they limit one's ability to catch fish based on generalizations, disinformation or misinformation. Details matter. Proof of lack or proof backing up what is asserted as the truth, matters. Here are a few examples - agree or not.

1. Lure shapes, actions and presentations (as well as lure color) should be natura.
Fish don't know natural from unnatural and few lures mimic anything in nature.
Predators feed on other animals, not on spinnerbaits, crankbaits, Pop Rs nor anything else manmade. Lure designs going back over the last 100 years were designed to provoke fish to strike. The colors of most lures do not need to mimic forage animals. Lure presentations are not natural but are based on what a lure does and where an angler casts it.

2. Pressured lakes are harder to catch fish in.
Fish don't remember the presence of anglers, their boats nor the fish buddy caught near them. Fish after fish can be caught in a school which should be a clue not to bite the lure that caught them but still do. Finding fish is key and those that do it best have the greatest chance of catching them. Fish sometimes migrate daily but where you catch fish today might be where you can catch them tomorrow.

3. Match-the-hatch or casting what fish are supposedly feeding on is another one.
I've never heard of studies done underwater that support that statement. Fish are opportunists, at times irritable, lazy and bullies - sometimes all of those things. Does a fish bite from hunger? Who cares so long as it strikes. Stating reasons fish bit a lure is for angler ears only - not a fish's. The lure variety that can catch fish on a single outing is huge!

4. Too heavy a line diameter could scare fish from biting.
Line diameter affects lure action and may restrict an action that its shape was meant for to entice the strike. Nothing more. Prey fish don't know when they are about to be a meal for a nearby predator nor do predators have a clue as to the danger of biting a man-made object with hooks - your lure.

So when hearing any of the 'facts' stated in forums, in the media or from a buddy, take them with a grain of salt and instead ask specific questions about lure characteristics and presentations that did well under certain conditions. Comparing notes - not fallacies - is what catches fish. I got photographic proof - what do you - the so-called expert - got?!