Thread: 79 fish in 6 hours - not bad for early spring !

Many of you might find a similar pattern in the waters you fish so maybe some of this might be of use.
First of all the lakes near me I've fished for over 15 years and know seasonal patterns and the depths fish are found. Depending on the month, fish can be found in 2' - 7' with lures used pretty much the same for panfish (yellow perch, sunfish, white perch), pickerel and bass.

A few days ago I got into a shallow water pattern near wetlands lined by brush and trees. Crappie, yellow perch, pickerel and sunfish were caught in 2-5' on a variety of soft plastics rigged on light ball head jigs, a beetle spin with curl tail grub and a suspending crankbait minnow. Jig head weights had to be on the light side to keep the lures from dropping and to allow slower retrieves mid depth horizontal to the bottom.

Here are a few that got it done:

It also caught a pickerel longer than my arm.

This hybrid using a fat grub body and Crappie Magnet tail caught over a dozen:


Chubby body flat tails caught a bunch:


This Claw hybrid caught this nice perch and many other pan fish:


A thin body flat tail was guaranteed to catch fish:


as well as a French Fry segment and flat tail:


The beetle spin caught this large pick and a few pan fish:


My purpose of showing some the lures that caught 79 fish (and over 50 fish last weekend) was to illustrate these ideas when it comes to shallow water angling:
1. small diameter braid allowed good light lure action, strike detection from 40' away and good hook sets using a raised rod tip and reel handle turn to allow a panicked fish to set the hook
2. light jig heads were key - 1/16oz was too heavy for presenting small lures in very shallow water; 1/64 oz, 1/32 oz and 1/24 oz the best weights
3. lure color didn't matter (not keen on using black)
4. straight tail grubs worked better than curl tails - at least for me
5. slow retrieve consisted of a rod twitch & lure-glide combination
6. I tried to stay out of the wind as much as possible for casting accuracy near wetland shore line edges

The above took into account the 59 degree water temperature and prespawn fish hanging in shallow water. (y.perch have already spawned and were in shallow water schooled with other fish species)

I'll be going to another lake much different in structure but I'm confident of doing as well tomorrow.

Frank

Originally Posted by Damion Kidd

Thanks for the lesson. One of my biggest problems is not being able to make myself slow down.
Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

Suggestion:
Much of the time it's the lure you use that determines how slow the retrieve. If you're using a floating crankbait with dive li[, you have to retrieve it at a faster speed to maintain the depth the lure was designed for than you would for a jig lure. Curl tails are retrieved faster than straight tail grubs unless jigged on bottom; same goes for Beetle Spin lures. Finesse-action lures are meant to be fished slow by enticing fish to focus on a lures slight actions in place similar to using live bait.

Where one fishes is an important determinant of lure speed. Working a flat in all directions allows a faster retrieve with pauses but once fish are found lure speed can be slowed. Fishing a small pool or pond like we did requires a slow retrieve such as that used under a float or drop shot.