Tag: Spinnerbait

Just Having A Little Fun Fishing!

Due to the wind, we had to stay back in a little pocket and just have some fun catching bass. Could never catch any big fish. But, anytime you can spend time with your boys on the water is a good day. I hope you enjoy.

Final Day on Truman

Day two of Truman classic and last tournament of the year, with points counting towards Angler of the Year, meant this was an important tournament . The day before I caught them really good. So, I was leading with 15.31lbs on a spinnerbait, and most of it came out of the same pocket.

Day two plan was to start in the pocket. The weather was supposed to be sunny and calm, but the two days before the weather was cloudy and windy. I had focused on dirty water throwing a blade. When we got to the pocket, it was still early. My partner hooked up on the first cast. I figured we were going to catch them. Ok, I can do this. Then finally way back in the pocket, there were three trees making a triangle. I cast to the back of the tree. Set the hook on a really big fish. Of course, it swam around the tree the wrong way and got hung up on the tree. We tried to fit through the trees, but the boat was too big. The fish kept jumping, and then the line went slack. I just lost a fish in the 5 pound range. Just blew the tournament and angler of the year. Next 10 casts, I caught two more small keepers. I was not in a good mood.

Finally, I caught a limit, but my only big fish was 15 inches. Not good. We moved to another pocket without any luck. The night before I was studying the map of the lake, and saw a good pocket the wind would be blowing into. We decided to go try the pocket. I noticed right away there were a lot of shad. As we worked to the back of the pocket and started working our we back out, I hooked up with a good fish on the spinnerbait. I wasn’t sure it was a bass. But as it got closer to the boat, I got a good look at it. It was a big bass around 4 pounds. Just want I needed. As my partner netted it, I right away felt I had a chance. Just still wishing I had the other fish. As the day went on, I was able to creel one more time. I had a little over 10 pounds. I was not sure that was going to win me the Classic and Angler of the Year in the club. But after everyone turned in their sheets, I would end up with 25.39 pounds for the weekend. The one big fish of the day got me the win and back to back Angler of the Year in the Club. It felt so good to win a tournament on Truman in the fall. Also, I caught big bass both days. Great finish to the season. Thanks to my non-boater for keeping me focused and calm after losing the big fish.

Pond Fishing

In Kansas, the best fishing maybe just across the street or down a little dirt road just outside of town. Ponds are everywhere in Kansas just teaming with fish from small to large. The state record bass is from a pond at 11.8lbs caught by a kid. I will go over just a couple of great baits and tackle that you can use on a pond to catch a lot of fish and maybe your personnel best. Also these baits are great for kids to start fishing with.

If you only have one rod, I would recommended a spinning rod 6’6 to 7′ with a good reel that holds a lot of line around 8lb to 10lb of mono. If you have another rod, I would have a 6’6′ to 7′ baitcast rod with a 6.2:1 or 7:1 reel speed and holds 12lb to 15lb of mono.

The first lure, I would recommend is a Stickbait in Green Pumpkin and Black Blue Flake. You will want to throw it weightless on a Texas rig 3/0 hook. This is a great bait to use all year long, and it will be mostly weed proof. You can use it on the spinning combo recommended above. You can fish it many ways with small jerks or just throwing it out letting it     slowly sink on a slack line making sure to watch your line for any movement. If you feel weight on the end of the line, reel up and swing away. My boys have caught some really big fish on a stickbait; so if you want to catch your personnel best I recommended investing in some type of stickbait.  You can find a variety of stickbaits in most stores.

The second lure would be some type of topwater, such as a popper. This is a great bait to throw on both the rod/reel combos recommended above. A smaller popper works better on spinning. Catching a bass on the surface is just awesome! It is hard to explain the feeling of seeing the bass explode on the surface attacking your popper or any of the other topwater baits out there. But make sure to watch out fishing this bait.  I have been hooked 6 times in me life, and 4 times were with poppers.

The third lure would be a Beetle Spin or Spinnerbait. I recommended throwing the beetle spin on spinning because they are usually a very tiny bait. But don’t let it fool you, they catch a lot of fish both big and small. I have had some of my best days on the water fishing a little beetle spin. All beetle spins come with silver blades, but I recommend buying some gold blades. I would throw the silver blade in sunny, clear water. Then use the gold blade on all cloudy days with clear and muddy water or sunny days with muddy water. For the Spinnerbait, use the blade colors in the same conditions as just mentioned. The two spinnerbait colors you need  are white and white/chartreuse in a 1/4 oz, and use it on the baitcasting rod and reel.  A good technique with the spinnerbait is to burn the lure as fast as you can just under the surface. You cannot reel faster then a bass can swim; if they want the lure, they will catch it.

In the next article, I will go over top lures 4 and 5, and what to look for in a pond to catch fish.