Need some small lake tips.

32251 · July 26, 2007, 10:34:56 PM

Fishing the neighborhood lake from the bank. Lake is about 35 years old, maybe 5 or 6 acres. Some nice big fish in it. I see carp swimming around at least 25-30 pounds. Plenty of bait fish. Lily pads around much of the lake out from the bank about 15 feet. Fish are almost always released as no one knows really if the water quality is good and the fish are safe to eat. Water is darker colored. Lots of shallows on one end. I have been catching some small bass using a sort of drop shot set up with a 1/2oz weight on the end with a hook tied up the line 6-8inches using plastics. Trying a new approach I went to BassProShop and got some frogs. I discovered that the lily pads that have been a pain in the neck are a hide out for bass and other fish. I cast by mistake way in the back of a lily pad area right next to the bank. The fish blew up on it like mad!! I am finding that the hook set on the frog set up is tough in vegetation.

Any suggestion for other weedless topwater things I could use here. I am getting tired of "bombing" them with the drop shot for not much return on my time. Maybe they are just seeing it too much.

Best thing about this lake to me is that I can drive out the drive way and have a hook in the water in 1 min.

One thing about fishing this lake is that there is never any action on the retrieve. All the hits are immediately when the plastic first bottoms out.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am getting back into fishing after a 30 year layoff and have really been enjoying it.

-Shawn- · July 26, 2007, 10:42:44 PM

on the frog, are you waiting untill the rod loads up before setting the hook?

32251 · July 26, 2007, 10:56:31 PM

Quote from: shawnrg33 on July 26, 2007, 10:42:44 PM
on the frog, are you waiting untill the rod loads up before setting the hook?

That is a tough one to do!!!! The natural response is to just jerk the rod after that fish hits the frog!
I have read that you need to either count to 2 before setting the hook or actually wait for the feel of the fish before doing it. I have been working to not react in setting the hook on the hit. I started to keep my left hand off the spinning reel handle after I give the frog some rod action so that I will purposefully will not be able to just jerk the rod on the hit. As soon as I master the control of the adrenalin on the hit I will get better results. Thanks for the reply.

-Shawn- · July 27, 2007, 12:58:18 AM

It's tough to do but worth it.

With any topwter if you wait untill you feel the fish you will be alot better off.

Bassinkorea · July 27, 2007, 01:15:01 AM

Yep, Shawn is right, waiting is hard but worth it. If you are planning fishing more with the frogs in pads, I would suggest that you get yourself some braided line in 40lbs or more, this will get those fish out of the pads. I have been fishing frogs in pads with 50lb power pro braid and have never snapped a line yet.

32251 · July 27, 2007, 07:59:37 AM

The heavier line set up is my next move. I can see that it will be impossible to "drag" anything out of a pad with the light line I am using now. I checked out the site for the Spro frogs. Watched them catch some nice bass on their frog. He is using a 65lb braid set up with a med heavy rod. I already have had problems getting hung up in the pads using plastic and have broken off some.

Since I am fishing from the bank and have to make some long casts, I would like to start with something lighter than 50. What weight do you think would be the least I could use that would give me some casting distance and some strength in the pads. Would 20 or 30lb do? Thanks for your reply.

thatjohnkid · July 27, 2007, 08:59:15 AM

Power Pro's small diameter makes it easy to cast, even the higher test one's cast well. If I remember correctly 30lb is the same size as 8lb mono. You can cast that quite far, so 50 is probably around 14lb test, I'm to lazy to go look right now. But others can chime in on this.

-Shawn- · July 27, 2007, 09:05:15 AM

You will not have any issues with casting 50 or 65lb braid.

K-Dub · July 27, 2007, 09:12:47 AM

I'll add another top water idea to try...

Swimming a weightless worm in the mornings and evening. Hook, worm and thats it. Best used with a lighter line along the edges of the lilly pads and grass. Try a moccasin or crawdad color. Fish dont like snakes.

Swede · July 27, 2007, 10:03:51 AM

Another add to my aresenal would be weightless flukes in a couple different colors - watermelon, pearl, and junebug.

resiak · July 27, 2007, 10:13:38 AM

The weed demon and the ZZ walker look like cool baits to fish in lily pads. I have not tried them yet but I plan to get a couple soon.

Do you know what frog you are using? I think some are better at hooking the fish then others. My friend bought a frog lure (he doesn't remember the name). The hook has three points that come up around the body of the frog. Do any of you have any idea what lure this is? Anyways, I was fishing it yesterday and I couldn't get a single hook set. I had tons of bass explode on the lure but I couldn't seem to hook up. I tried all different way to set the hook and none worked. I waited until I felt the fish and everything. I do a lot of top water fishing and never have this problem. I can't imagine a company releasing a lure that doesn't even hook the fish lol. I am going to experiment with it some more tonight, any ideas?

When I fish with a scum frog I usually hook up when a fish hits it. I have a couple others that I don't know what they are called but the hook is made about the same as the scum frog and I don't have problems with hook set.

Resiak

32251 · July 27, 2007, 01:58:14 PM

Dean Rojas Spro frog.

I went to get some more today including the Scum frog and some others. I got the Spro at BassPro, but I found some of the same frogs at the great wall of ChinaMart (Wallmart) for a littler better price. Surprised to find these frog lures there. I will just try them all and see what happens. Also I picked up a used reel today that has a heavier line on it. I will give that a shot too.

Thanks for all the replies and info.

bass_101 · July 27, 2007, 02:41:08 PM

I would get a baitcaster with at least a 6.4:1 gear ratio and a 7' MH action rod with 50-65# braid. This way you will have enough speed to pick up slack fast, enough rod to make longer casts and solid hooksets with the braid. When a fish blows up on your frog, slowly reel up till you feel the fish then SLAM the rod as hard as you can... NO drag.

Oneslowz28 · July 28, 2007, 01:21:20 PM

Since you like the drop shotting method why not give the wiggle rig a try? Its similar to drop shotting but the wiggle rig allows you to fish the soft plastic in the same spot rather than pulling it back to the boat for another cast. You can find out more if you click the link in my sig. You can do some searching on this site for "wiggle rig" and you will find many reviews and reports from using the wiggle rig.

Big J · July 28, 2007, 01:35:45 PM

Try catching those monster carp.

All you need is a small hook and dough balls. And some strong line.

Bassinkorea · July 29, 2007, 07:44:10 AM

Quote from: thatjohnkid on July 27, 2007, 08:59:15 AM
Power Pro's small diameter makes it easy to cast, even the higher test one's cast well. If I remember correctly 30lb is the same size as 8lb mono. You can cast that quite far, so 50 is probably around 14lb test, I'm to lazy to go look right now. But others can chime in on this.

I've use 50lb power pro on my bait casters and that's the same diameter as 12lb mono. Excellent line for the pads

coldfront · August 06, 2007, 01:31:50 PM

Quote from: 32251 on July 26, 2007, 10:56:31 PM
That is a tough one to do!!!! The natural response is to just jerk the rod after that fish hits the frog!
I have read that you need to either count to 2 before setting the hook or actually wait for the feel of the fish before doing it. I have been working to not react in setting the hook on the hit. I started to keep my left hand off the spinning reel handle after I give the frog some rod action so that I will purposefully will not be able to just jerk the rod on the hit. As soon as I master the control of the adrenalin on the hit I will get better results. Thanks for the reply.

Here's something that may have some small value for consideration...stop worrying/focussing on hooking and landing the fish...take the time to 'play' with them...for example, occasionally, I'll go pre-fish a lake for a tournament (local club, small water) and not want to 'stick' fish the day before...I'll typically use stuff like tubes, jig/chuck, worms, senkos...and when I get the 'pick up' I try to just pull/lead the fish to the boat...what I want to do is 'see the fish' to see how big they are...just not stick them with the hook...

you would be amazed at how long a bass will actually hold on to the lure...once they decide to eat it, they typically commit...

This is just an extension of a teaching approach...when trying to adjust a repetive learning (like a swimming stroke) it's best to over emphasize the 'new behavior' to the other extreme...then, after some training, when you 'just react' you naturally end up in 'middle ground' and improved results come along...

fishin_fool · August 09, 2007, 04:56:19 PM

Man, sounds like there are some monsters in there. I live in an area with a lot of farm ponds that sound similar to yours. How close can you get to the pads? Can you wade closer? Fishing rats and frogs, or top waters in general, takes nerves of steel. It's similar to deer hunting with a bow. Get that heart rate down!

I definitely agree with using braided line. Also, if you could get a big thumping spinnerbait around the points and pockets formed by those pads, I would try that. Pitch the spinner low giving it a soft stealthy entry. A buzzbait or pop-r will work in that scenario too. I've also found if you have a fluke/sluggo rigged up, toss it close to a boil and hang on to that rod! Good hunting and remember, we want pics!