I've never deadsticked for fish before and a buddy n myself are goin to try it on tuesday, I was thinkin somethin around the Ft Worth area I had EM and Bridgeport in mind. Any better suggestions or advice on the subject would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys, Garrett

Only things that come readily to mind:

1) Even though it's called 'deadsticking', the object is not to hold the rod motionless, but to make minimal movements of the lure. Small twitches, etc

2) The bite can be EXTREMELY subtle, so keep a tight line at all times & pay close attention to what you feel.

No.....it is to be motionless!! The twitches are only if you are not getting bit deadsticking!! The movement of the boat is all the motion you need if you are truly deadsticking!!

So just mark the fish and drop to them?

Go to Benbrook and try deep ledges. Deadsticking this time of year.You may catch any thing from Bluecat ,Hybrid -Striper or crappie mainly the occasional big green trash fish and Goo may show up also.

They both are effective my two good friends.

It is an art....It took me a while to finaly catch a fish deadsticking because as someone mentioned the bite can be very lite and if you wait to feel the bite your to late. Watch the rod tip!!! Good luck

Ya what Ruben said.

This may help, or not!!

http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbt...chl#Post6952965

1. Find Fish, electronics is the key, or find birds, then use your electronics.

1a. Learn to recognize fish on your electronics.

2. Lower your bait to the proper depth, just a little above the fish that you found in step 1.

3. Entice the fish to bite, you may have to adjust the size of the bait, the shape of the bait, the rate of fall of the bait, the color of the bait, the color of the jig head, the color of the lure and the wiggle or jiggle of the bait.

4. Re-evaluate your ability for 1a.

5. Use a softer rod, one that has a little give in the tip. Set the hook. As J.D. Lyle said hook-sets are free.

6. See # 4.

7. Keep up with the fish using your trolling motor, adjust the amount of line you have out to maintain the proper depth, see 1a.

8. Call Matt, Joe, Varner, JD Lyle or Chuck Rollins they can worry about 1-7, you can hone your skills later and worry about your hook sets.

I never said the other way was not effective. I just disagree with the comment he made that I highlighted!! That is all!!

I don't know who is right or wrong, all I know is that I find fish, drop my Flitterbait to right above their heads and put the rod in the rod holder. I pick up my other rod and start jigging with a Flitterbait while watching the rod in the rod holder. If it even jiggles a little, I'm firing on him. Good sharp hooks are a must because you will miss fish. We've had more fish inhale the Flitterbait than miss hooks. It's fun and can put extra fish in the boat for you. The important thing is getting bit. I have to put the deadsticking rod in a holder because I just don't have the patience to stand there waiting for a bite. I have to be working the lure.

You forgot Paul Rogers at Hubbard.

it's bait-fishing with out the bait. pretty simple.
the less movement the better.
stripers feed "up"
jighead choice & use plays a bigger part than you think.

that's all I'm givin out.

Thanks for the info guys. Much appreciated. I gonna be usin MH 7' rods mostly and M action, with citicas. I assume thats good equipment for this? I May drop a shad or two with my Pro Anglers or would that be useless?

I like 7' Medium weight rods, don't know nothing 'bout no minnows.

When they thump it put the wood to em.

there is no wrong way to dead stick, we found this pattern several years back with water temps in the upper 30's to low 40's. we could not get bit but there were fish showing on the depth finder, we just kept the rod still and the boat did the rest for us. You have to let the fish tell you how to work the bait, some times they want a fast rip and others very little movement. just have to try, good luck

No worries - I've just never been able to hold a fishing rod absolutely motionless in cold weather, what with the shivering and all.

Call me for a trip on Bridgeport...I'll show you exactly what works on the lake. The deadstick bite has been on up here, no need to mess with Shad.

Anyone know what ramps are open on bridgeport?

Step #1 - Hold hand grenade in left hand (right hand if you are left handed)
Step #2 - Pull pin with right hand (left hand if you are right handed)
Step #3 - Drop grenade in water and wait until you see lots of bubbles or hear what sounds like thunder (it won't be thunder, but then again, it might be)
Step #4 - Use a stick to gather the dead fish. (it is very important to wait until after the grendade explodes on this step)
Step #5 - Crack open a diet milk and enjoy the fish fry!

"EL" NITRO, where can a man get some of them hand grenades you speak of?

I agree with charger. There's no wrong way to deadstick. It is a whole lot like crappie fishing, they may want it a little different every day. Sometimes they even want it parallel, meaning you have to get the boat barely moving.

BUT!!!!!! Fastguy hit the nail on the head. The absolute #1 rule to deadsticking with success is you have to locate the fish on the graph and figure out how to get your bait at their level in the water column. The rest of the affair will be between you and the fish

My buddies and I have deadsticked with Lakeguide on many occasions on his boat or near his boat and big country Matt answered our deadstick questions the exact same way as he mentioned above

And I am pretty good at absorbing tips and details.

If it doesn't matter how you deadstick then why is it called "deadsticking"?? Wouldn't it be just called "fishing"?? If you are ripping the slab then you are "ripping it". If you are jigging the slab then you are "jigging it". If you are doing the Daisy Fuentes then you "Daisy Fuentes it".


I am not trying to be a smart A$$ here but there is a reason that someone decide to call it deadsticking.

Well we're at bridgeport, not have the best luck. Any advice on area or depth? We've got every color out and markin lots of fish any help would be great thanks!

Can you adjust the sensitivity of your fishfinder so that you can see your lure? This is a simple way of telling whether or not your lure is really right on the fish, as sometimes going by feel just doesn't work so well.

Have had trips with Pop where I'd tell him to get the jig smack on the bottom & then jig it just a few inches up. I'd watch the fishfinder & see his lure go about 8 feet up in a hurry.

30'-35' of water. Dead assassins dipped in chartruesse Spike It on 3/4-1 oz bullet or round jig heads. Start with 3 cranks from the bottom and raise and lower (very slow) as the marks appear on the graph. Bite is very subtle and make sure you keep the line as vertical as possible. Just think deep water crappie fishing and you're there. Good luck!

I can usually see my lure on my front graph, so what I do is send it straight to the bottom and count the number of full turns of the handle up until I am about the depth I mark fish. Then I tell everyone on the boat to come up that far off the bottom. It wont have to be perfect, but that usually gets everyone in the ballpark.

Whatever Matt....everyone knows the fish jump into your boat. You're like the Chuck Norris of Twok.

I agree with lake guide, Bombay, Ruben, but
My favorite was El Nitro's grenades!!!

It's truly a feel to feel trip. Meaning adjusting every time you're out.
I've caught them just holding my rod dead still, while I troll motor around.

Just slow way way way down. Find em on electronics, and it's
on!!!

Enjoy guys.

Fastguy has the touch with the plastics. seen him in action & he can work it!
i can do the deadstick. LOL! but not well i prefer to chunk n wind so holding my lure still & twitching it w/a tight line is going to take a lot more practice for me. hiring a good guide that's dialed in at least once is also good advise IMO because using the electronics correctly is definitely key. last week i witnessed Lakeguide dead sticking 2 rods working the troll motor, talking casually with everyone while watching his sonar n letting us know to get ready when we were over fish. FIsh oN!!! he was actually calling the bite. NOW THAT'S GOOD!
right now the fish are in deep water so it would help to know where to start looking.

I love this topic!!!!!

Easy question. If you're deadsticking and the wind is drifting you .6 MPH should you anchor over the marked fish or use the trolling motor.

When I'm drifting at that speed I stay hung up too much.

Thanks

Are you asking if anchoring is preferable to trolling motor, or are you just asking if you should use one of them to hold position?

You could also consider using a driftsock to just slow your drift down.

.6 isn't too fast to drift, you can adjust the speed and depth with the trolling motor.

I try to stay on them with the trolling motor but frequently drift over large schools of shad.

I would think you would flat wear yourself out raising and lowering an anchor.

I noticed some guys in a bass boat using Matt and Jimmy's secret technique yesterday, it was working "a little" but bringing in sand bass.

Steve insists that we only fish for hybrids...

FastGuy; do you ever use your PowerPole in 35' of water? I hear those PowerPoles will keep ya in 1 spot purtEE good??

No sarcasm intended im sure ehh Mikey? LOL!

One simple tip to keeping a tight line is using the correct weighted jig head. I also observed that it's very difficult to set the hook when my rod tip is high. I really need to keep it more horizontal to the water

One thing for sure. The Dead Stick Method is a winna!

NOT ME

Think about getting a pair, that will help hold the boat steady when the run is on...

Someone mentioned ledges at Benbrook. Best area to find them. Will be in kayak so wont be able to run all over lake. Thanks...btw, my plan is to dead stick gulp minnows on 1/4 jig head and try wild eyes too