What has struck me over the last 10 years is how wildly overgrown many ponds have become. I think of Russell Mill Pond out on Rt. 4; it's almost choked now especially on the side with the parking area.
So I have to think there are still bass under all this slop. Let's get a discussion on best ideas to get after them.
What I do (places like Flint Pond, Russell Mill, etc) is "surface ruckus" with something like a 10.5 inch yum mighty worm. It looks like a snake. I rig it with a reasonable hook, but I am not really trying to catch with it. When/if I see action I pitch a Johnson weedless silver minnow out or a weedless rigged 5 inch grub or Senko. I am pretty psyched I can buy shiners now so that will change things too. Hope the store has BIG ones. Shoot me some ideas for fishing the "SLOP".
So I have to think there are still bass under all this slop. Let's get a discussion on best ideas to get after them.
What I do (places like Flint Pond, Russell Mill, etc) is "surface ruckus" with something like a 10.5 inch yum mighty worm. It looks like a snake. I rig it with a reasonable hook, but I am not really trying to catch with it. When/if I see action I pitch a Johnson weedless silver minnow out or a weedless rigged 5 inch grub or Senko. I am pretty psyched I can buy shiners now so that will change things too. Hope the store has BIG ones. Shoot me some ideas for fishing the "SLOP".
yup +1 what rich said lol. also hollow body frogs rule but if the "slop" is too thick the fish will have no chance of seeing, hearing, or breaching surface to get to said frog. on a partially related side note call me crazy if you want but has anyne ever tryed using a texas rigged dead shiner instead of soft plastic for flipping vegetated areas? may sound totally ridiculous and unnecessary but after the winter of ice fishing pickerel i find myself with a freezer full of large dead shiners that wont get touched til next winter unless i find something to do with them, i figure they smell like fish, look like fish, feel like fish, are actual fish lol so why not tie on a 1/2 oz tungsten bullet and texas rig a dead shiner to a trokar and see what happens...
You guys have had luck with the heavy jigs? I have not, seems they fall too fast to stay in strike zone but I can give it another whirl.
heaviest ive thrown is 1 oz but in order to get a slower rate of fall you need somewhat of a bulky plastic. what i mean by bulky is something wide and flat like a havoc craw fatty or something along those lines, the weight will still pull it down relatively quick but the added water resistence of the bait will slow it down a bit almost like a parachute. as for keeping it in strike zone thats the reason you want to lift your rod tip slowly a few times after your jig hits bottom, you kind of jig it a few times back into the strike zone then if no bite retrieve and pitch to another spot and repeat. what you want is to kind of have your jig hit things on the way back up , like if you can bump a few lilly stalks or whatever stems that are attached to the veg you are fishing and almost try to get the jig stuck on the way up. it sounds crazy why would you want it to get stuck? well you dont want it snagged but stuck so that it hits a stem on the way up and then falls again when you release line pressure, this in my experiance tends to trigger strikes. ive never gone punching heavy dense vegetation but when i flip lilly pads or marsh grass ,ect this getting stuck then releasing motion tends to get me bit , almost like my jig was trying to escape back to the surface but hit a wall and had to go back down to find another way up, the bass sees this and thinks hmmm this thing looks like its in trouble so ill go in for a bite lol
The lucky, what is that fish in profile pic? Looks like a Peacock. I like those, got this one in Miami canals a few years ago:
Which side of Russell did you fish? Any luck?
i love peacock bass! never had the chance to fish for them but i have a friend that owns a couple juveniles in a 150 gallon aquarium and damn they are cool
fun fact : the ugly lump on top of the head is characteristic of males only They get pretty big, very aggressive fish. Had a ton of fun down there.
yes they do get huge!and ive heard they are aggressive as hell. sorry to hijack your thread but on the subject of aggresive bass you should look up "niugini bass" holy crap! they are indiginous to one small area in a remote part of papua niugini and are suppposed to be the largest bass like game fish in the world, looks like a smallmouth on roids and the suggested tackle is crazy! saltwater jigging rods, 150lb braid, 300lb kevlar leaders and only lures wit threw wire construction will work and seldom last more then a couple fish, they reach well into the 70lb range! now thats a fish id love to hook into
What Stratos said. Don't over think it fish are dumb! I don't use heavy jigs. I'll just use a punch skirt if I want a jig look. I use up to 2 oz weights when punching. I think when fishing heavy cover like that the bait profile is more important than the fall rate. If a fish wants that bait they will get it! I start with a smaller bait Beaver or Otter if the fish are killing that I'll switch to a bigger bait hoping for a bigger bite.