In the hottest still months, like the dog days of august. try out this trick
Get a pop-r and find a shady bank with lots of overhanging cover

Flip the lure up under the overhanging cover providing the shade and let it set until all of the ripples go away, barely twitch every now and then.
By now curious brim and other small fishes will start pecking at the feather on the back hook. This is good, this is what actually attracts the big bass.

The large , lathargic bass resting in the shade won't be able to resist that brim and what ever it's messin with for two long and will swim up under and swallow both!!!

Good luck and good fishing!!

Even when fishing shallow concentrate on areas with deep water very close. Me & my fishing partner have been talking about this a lot lately. Lost our 1 big fish Tues. in like a foot of water, but the deepest water within 100 yards was just a few feet away.

Cool thread
thanks for the tips guys.

1--My best hds/structure scan is my eyes-You can tell a lot just by looking-whether they are on beds are not.
2--Sometimes a giant bedding female will bite right at dusk--It is worth it to sneak up and try one more time then- even if she never would take a bait all day.

Since I'm retiring in the near future....for deep water fishing drop shot & shaky heads, get some glow in the dark beads and put one or two above the hook. Works good in low light conditions.

When you feel your crankbait hit the bottom or structure pause it then slowly sweep your rod to the side then take it back to where you started and reel up the slack and then slowly sweep it again, I will do this all the wayback to the boat. I try to keep it bumping the bottom between pauses. I learned this from a good friend awhile back. He was catching 3-1 over me with the same bait. Finally after watching him I asked and he explained it. My bites went way up. 90% of my bites come on the pause. It dosent always work better but ther are definitely times the fish want it this way.

The other thing I like to do is fishing a jig I throw up next to a stump and just shake my jig. Almost like you would slowly fish a shaky head. I may not move it 6" in 30 seconds, this can be very effective, especially in the hot summer.

I posted this before but a thin film of silicone on your cranks��helps hold scent�.alters the sound a little�..and most of all gives that crank a more natural feeling!

BIGGEST secret in the business. Try to present something just a LITTLE DIFFERENT than everyone else is throwing. CBs, take some nail polish and paint some lines on it, SBs, add some more strands, take away some strands, or bend the blades a little bit. These subtle differences get noticed by the fish. Hope this helps. Tight lines, keep safe and good luck.

Thad Rains

I don't fish many high pressured lakes but the biggest improvements for me is making the decision to either A. Cover water and fish a lot of place or B. Hone in on a few, and fish them hard. I used to try and balance the both but I have found recently I need to have either one or the other.

As far as baits, I put LFT hyper lizards on my spinner baits. Lots of good fish on them =)

My contribution to this post is the :

Light weight C-rig

I love throwing a Carolina Rig on any lake just about anytime of the year. I throw the big 1oz-1/2 oz some of the time but during this past year I have been throwing a 3/8 tungsten with just the swivel , a 3-4 ft. Leader and hook on 12# line. I can say my bites have almost doubled. I love to throw this 12-20' around rocks and work it real slow. I will have to say the Smallmouth love this as do the largemouth so next time your C- rigging try downsizing.

The 2 things I'm always having to tell myself, especially during a tournament, reel slower and change up retrieve. #2 is if you catch a fish somewhere,stay and fish that spot thoroughly, don't just keep trolling out of habit. Easy to say, hard as heck to do.

I wish I was knowledgable enough to give my two cents! However it wouldn't help anyone. Those of you who are posting i would like to say thanks for the tips it is much appreciated from this guy anyways!!

This is going to be long. I am sorry but I feel I want to make two statements to contribute to this post.
First is how and the bait that I have won over $50K in tournaments on.
Second will be why I wish I had gone another direction in fishing.

You must consentrate on what other people do not do. Knowing how to fish deep grass is one of them. Especially getting in the matted areas. If the wind is blowing you can get in there on the upwind side; put the trolling motor up and big motor up and walk the boat accross the mat by rocking the boat from side to side.
I have fished the deep grass at Lake Amistad for 30 years. Here is what you do. In the heat of the day they are burried up in the grass.
Here is how you get them out:
Rig a heavy drop shot rig:
5.0 heavy super line hook. Tied on 50# braid. Use a Palamar knot. Leave the tag end at 5 inches long. Tie a 1 oz. weight to the tag end. I just tie a knot in the end of the tag, then use a overhand slip knot to attach the weight. It doesn't take much to keep it on. When I am fishing grass and hardwoods and it gets hung on the wood I can pull it off and come out with the hook and fish. You understand that the hook is about 4 to 5 inches above the weight, so the tails of the bait will hang down and cover the weight.
Use a Gene Lawrue Hoo Daddy Jr. in Watermelon Neon.
It will drop in the grass and come out of the grass with no hang-ups.
Fish vertical to 20% in front of the boat. Directly over the bait is best on the deepest grass. Drop it in slowly and soft so it is traveling slowly when it touches the bottom. The Bass hate anything sneeking in on them. Hold it there with a tight line for about 5 seconds without any movement. They don't want it bouncing up and down. This gives them time to swim through the hollow under the grass and nail the bait.
Vertical presentation and moving along the outer edge of the grass line, making pitches out in front of the boat so by the time it gets to the bottom you are directly over the bait for the hookset.
HAVE FUN!!



This is part two of a life time of fishing and spending $25K each year on working all these techniques we are talking about here. 95% of the time it is about location, location, location to really slam a big stringer for the day. It doesn't happen very often unless you are out there everyday doing your homework. Sure you learn a new tech. and it helps some, you fish with a new guy and learn something that helps. But it usually comes down to getting 5 bites a day that are good enough to weigh in a decent stringer. Get past the Spring spawn and this is the case in all our U.S. lakes; except for maybe two, Falcon and Amistad.
This is why I wish I had never went that route. We are going out there just for the sake of going and competition. Now I realize what $25K could have done for me. That is over 10 trips to Mexico for 2 people; each year where I can catch 100 Bass a day and 50 of those be over 5 lbs.
I know most of you guys are young and want something to do every weekend. Starting right now so you will know for your own personal use, just how much you are spending and what bang you are getting for your buck. Keep a log book on expenditures and fish caught on each trip; then you will know. Expences such as boat, gas, oil, service, truck, tires, service, food, motels, repairs, advertising/business, and it goes on and on. At the end of this year you will see what needs to be done. Like the song says, (Do I Stay or Do I go). I wish I had chosen to go to Mexico once a month at least; instead of spending every weekend trying to find five fish.

Good thread idea!

When pitching or throwing a t-rig or a jig to any cover such as a dock, stump, etc. don't just throw it right to the stump and leave the line tight. This causes the lure to swing away from the cover and you actually start fishing several feet from the target.

Instead, immediately upon the lure hitting the water, strip off a couple feet of line and let the lure drop straight down. Now you're dropping the lure right in the heart of the cover, where the fish are.

T-rig: pop it 6" at a time, on slack line. This is a unique felling when you're doing it right. Takes patients.

Topwater: After it hits the water, let the ripples get about 15 ft away from the lure before working it.

Weightless worm t-riged: drag it over the top of lilys and other heavy surface plants. Try to get it into little openings, then let it fall of the edge on slack line.

If I find fish holding on a drop off, or along the edge of vegetation, I will get in line with it of and pull my bait along the entire length of it. This is instead of casting behind it, and bringing the bait over one spot. I fish a kayak, so I can get right up next to stuff. Not sure if that makes sense.

Try holding the rod at different angles. I will swing left and right when retrieving a moving bait.

I'm trying to learn new techniques. I try to force myself to use a certain technique all day, instead of going to my confidence baits. This is only so I can learn. When I want to have fun, I go with what I know.

I'm sure it's not news to anyone, but smaller fish seem to be dumber, and more aggressive. I can catch a ton of dinks when fishing too fast, and not trying to present it right. If I slow down, and try to actually put it in the right place, and work it right, I get the bigger fish. They seem to be more particular about what they hit.

Also, I catch a ton of fish on this little cheap worm. When nothing else works, this thing will catch em. I have a box full of pricey baits, and this thing can out fish them all sometimes.

The pumkin seed is the only color that does it.
linky