I fished a lake today that has been producing giant sunfish and number of fish. My partner and I caught 138 between the two of us last Fri. and today I caught 58. 9" sunfish such as the one pictured put one h**** of a bend in a medium action rod! Both of us caught large sunfish (9"), crappie (one that went 13"), a few pickerel, 1 lb - 2 lb bass, a gold shiner and a yellow perch. One angler that wandered over to where we were fishing didn't catch anything but saw us catch fish after fish from a dense school off a long rock point.

An angler I saw yesterday was most likely fishing for bass and didn't catch anything in the cove I was fishing. The nice thing about using light small lures is the numbers and different species of fish that can be caught and at times the only thing that catches fish.

I don't mind getting casting practice as long as there's something to show for it. Today started out slow, but at midday I discovered two new patterns different than the one we fished last week - which saved the day - as well as new location types that were part of the patterns. New lure designs were tested and found effective in getting strikes.
One thing of note: For most spring fishing I have been using lighter jig heads - 1/32, 1/24 oz. but then decided bigger fish tolerate jig weights. 1/16 oz was then used with all lures and helped catch fish in deeper water jigging on bottom. Lure speed is greater trying to keep heavier jigs at the right depth, which is also no problem with more aggressive fish - many of which are post-spawn.

Some of the lures fish struck hard! :
Joker tri-leg grub


(Note: the tails were cut from the original and attached to a segment of French Fry worm)

Thin flat straight-ail grub:



This no-tail grub has always caught fish, made from joining two grub bodies together:

one with color one using clear plastic

This skirted jig trailer was stored in my basement for years unused. I use a similar design I call the Claw and figured - why not try it on a light jig! It did great!!!
It has two thin triangular tails that flap with the least rod tip motion.


Lastly, the crappie-spin is a must:


Great day once I found two new patterns.

Nice fish.

Neat post and Thanks for sharing.



Side Note: Being able to change up your game plan plays a huge factor in catching fish!

Great post SenkoSam. I have caught many of big fish using a small Little George over the years. For the most part I think it is being at the right place at the right time. Certain times of the year and water conditions also factor in. Again great post and some super fish.

Thanks guys, it means a lot!


That says it all!