I decided to teach myself how to troll the hell pet today.
Couldn't keep em white bass off the hook, especially when I would go thru areas that looked like this on the fish finder

I would bet you could stop and slab them up and catch 10 times more.
Johnny

Son, people search for days waiting to see that, like sandjohnny said, stop and use a slab, u might sink your boat with fish

Awesome screen shot.

wow

What is the hell pet. Add a picture if you don't mind. Does it require down riggers?

Hell Pet:
Above in "Search", type in "hell pet".

So I took you guys advice on Saturday at Lake Palestine. We trolled around until we caught a fish and the forum here really is helping out on reading the finder because I almost could call the strikes behind the boat from what I was seeing on the finder.let me just take a second and say thank you to all the folks who have been answering questions from us newbies, anyway after landing a fish I would circle round to the school. The fish were holding off a point on the side with the wind blowing across it, on the bottom in between 10 and 15 feet of water. We would drop slabs in the one ounce and one and half ounce size in the green and also in the silver color but no fish would hit. So we would repeat the process, no luck. I did catch a nice fish on a dd22 I would throw everyone in a while but not on the slab. Granted at Palestine the fish were not schooled up like they were on RC the day before, but there were fish there because they hit the hell pet. My question is about slab presentation, do you find they need to be presented differently to fish holding on bottom vs. Fish schooling off the bottom? We still had. Great time and managed to boat 35 fish. It would be so much nicer to catch em on the slab.

Hey bud, nice post, I may have seen you out there Saturday. I think I waved at you and you said I would wave but I'm kinda busy right now. Haha. Had a fish in your hand. Or whoever it was did. The whites are tricky on Palestine right now, they're not holding in one spot. One thing that will help you on the slab aspect is downsizing the size of your slab right now. The shad are still pretty small on Palestine. Try a smaller slab and bounce it off the bottom, should help you catch a few more out there. The hardest part is finding a school of fish that will stay close to still. Good luck.

Jpowell,
Everything you wanted to know about fishing a slab...

How to use a Slab/Casting Spoon

Vertical Method
The simplest way to fish a slab (and arguable the most effective) is to fish it vertically. Just let your bait fall straight down under the boat all the way to the bottom. Then simply lift your rod tip (thereby raising the slab off the bottom about 3 feet) and then just lower your rod tip letting the slab free fall back to the bottom again. Do this motion over & over again (just raising your rod tip and then dropping your rod � letting the slab hit the bottom each time, never reeling in until you have a strike). As the slab falls back to the bottom you�ll want your bait to fall as fast as possible to the bottom � BUT � you want to keep in constant contact with the bait. You don�t want there to be any slack line as it falls because most strikes will occur as the slab falls back to the bottom.


Cast & Retrieve Method
This technique is also very effective but it takes a little practice to master it. You simply cast your slab out to where you think the fish are, letting the bait fall all the way to the bottom and for the retrieve �bounce (or hop) the slab back off the bottom back to you. (For those that bass fish � you�d fish it as if you were hopping a jig and pig and/or worm.) To bounce the slab back to you just raise your rod to about 11 o�clock (that raises the slab off the bottom and advances it towards you) � Hold the rod in that 11 o�clock position until the slab hits the bottom again (with practice you will feel the slab hitting the bottom again). Then just take up your line as you drop your rod tip parallel to the water and then raise you rod tip back to 11 o�clock again � hold that position until it hits the bottom again and repeat. It�s still crucial to keep in constant contact with the bait (no slack line) as it falls back to the bottom (that when they hit it most of the time � on the fall).

Smoking Method
There are a couple different methods to smoking a slab and both are quite effective (especially if the fish are super aggressively feeding and/or suspended)

- The first method has you drop the bait vertically under the boat. Let it hit the bottom. Now, crank as fast as you can up to just beyond where the fish are � then stop and release the reel letting your bait free fall back to the bottom � then repeat. You�ll have to be super vigilant and watch for your line to �jump� or �twitch�. This is a telltale sign that a fish has grabbed your bait. Quickly engage your reel and set the hook.

- The second method has you throwing your slab out to the school and letting it fall to the bottom. You�ll crank your reel four or five times and stop and release your reel letting the slab free fall back to the bottom � then repeat. Again, watch for your line to twitch and/or jump. When it does, engage your reel and set the hook.

Varying Conditions/Weather/Seasons
Winter � Often the fish are glued to the bottom and are not actively chasing baits due to the cold water temperatures. In this situation, you still want to lift the slab off the bottom � BUT � try to only lift it three inches off the bottom. Now, instead of the normal lift and let fall technique � hold it off the bottom. The bouncing of the waves will move the bait plenty. These fish are not aggressively eating and don�t want to have to chase their meals. (Sometimes this method is called Dead Sticking). If you don�t get a hit in about 15 seconds � drop � make contact with the bottom, then lift and hold again.

Spring � Ah, the days are getting longer and the temperatures are rising. The first days of Spring may be quite warm � BUT � remember the water is still quite cold. The fish will not be actively feeding as one would typically think. You�ll still want to use the lift and fall technique. Some days the fish want it like they do in winter (whereas you�re almost holding the bait dead still). Others days they want the slab picked up quite a bit and moving. Spring is probably the most difficult season to effectively predict how the fish want the bait to be presented to them. It changes by the day and even the hour (and even the school of fish your fishing) Let the fish tell you how they want it. Pay attention to your fish finders. If the fish are glued to the bottom (and not moving and not chasing baits) � well then fish it SLOW. If the fish are chasing baitfish and are not glued the bottom then fish it faster.

Summer � The warm days of Summer often produce the most consistent fishing in regards to how the fish want the bait. Typically the fish are hungry and chasing bait fish all over the lake. This means that you can lift the bait off the bottom the highest and let it fall to the bottom as FAST as possible (still keeping in contact with it as it falls).

Fall � This is my favorite fishing season. The fish are gorging themselves on everything they see as they are fattening up for Winter. The fish are often still feeding aggressively. This is kind of just the opposite of Spring in that even on a cold fall day � the water is still quite warm. The fish are still hungry and want that bait moving.

High Pressure � High pressure makes the fish feel bad and regardless of the season will affect how much they are willing to chase baitfish (or your slab). When we have high pressure, the fish will often want to fish slab moved much slower (regardless of the season). Again, pay careful attention to your fish finder (try to determine what the fish are doing � moving, feeding or lethargic and not really feeding ?). Often with a high pressure system, the fish will be glued to the bottom or simply be suspended in open water and it requires you to adapt to them. Fish it slower and don�t lift as high (slow down � because they are slow).

Low Pressure � Days of low pressure will often be those magical fishing days, where the fish don�t care about the color your slab is, or even how you�re fishing it. It often seems impossible not to catch fish. Enjoy these days.

Specialized techniques for Stripers/Hybrids
Often the hybrids and/or stripers want the bait moved much higher and much quicker than their white bass cousins. You�ll want to lift your rod to your head (or even past it � big and faster pulls) and let it fall back the bottom. This works for both fishing vertically and casting out to the school. Additionally, Hybrids and Stripers seem to be little more aware of the boat and you�ll land more of these fish by using the casting to them technique. In Spring and Fall the White Bass and hybrids/stripers often school together. More often than not when you encounter this situation, the hybrids/stripers are sitting a little higher off the bottom than the white bass do. So if you�re wanting to target them, then you don�t want your slab to hit the bottom as much (else you�ll be in the White Bass zone). Again, you�ll be more effective by casting out. Just think of keeping your slab three or four feet off the bottom. This will ensure maximum visibility to your targeted species and minimize the chance a white bass grabbing your slab.

Wow roosters, awesome post. Where did that come from? I saved it to my computer, hope you don't mind. Everything that post said makes perfect sense.

Jpowell,
If you visit my website, you can download a pdf. Just trying to help out my fellow anglers. I'm hear to help and if you ever have a question, feel free to send me a PM or give me a ring.
Tight Lines
Mitch "Rooster" Parker

Yessir, that would have been me

bmutha
I know your pain. I troll from a kayak alot. I fish my local lake often so it is a rare day to not be able to find that on the depth finder, but during the heat of the summer I lacked the knowledge to get them to hit slabs. Tried colors, sizes, shapes you name it and strikes were rare. I could still catch limit most days when I wanted it but all trolling. It was strange to me, I could troll through with a 10-12 ft bomber and pet spoon and catch a fish on every hook in the water, but if I wasnt trolling no dice. Then come here and read "I caught eleventy billion on Moe's slab". Frustrating. I am hoping this fall it will be so easy a cave man can do it and I can perfect the technique.