Went out to a private spot this Saturday that I had been trying to go out to for the last 3 weekends now.

I'm no angler by any stretch of the imagination, so I'm hoping to get a some education here as well as share my story.

I was in the water around 9:00 and I could hear/see top water being very active in the 3-4' area. It was big time overcast with mild wind.



As you can see in the picture, the pond is very low on this end and the hydrilla-or some other plant life-is all over this part of the pond. There were two deeper streams running thru that I illustrated. On some spots the plant life would be a hair higher then the water line. Unfortunately, I don't have anything in my arsenal for top water yet but If I had to guess, I'd use a frog? The fish shown in that picture, I caught using a watermelon lemon senko/Texas rigged but that was the only one I landed in the boat for the morning.

At about 11:30 there was more sun then clouds now and since I wasn't getting much luck on the shallow end, I decided to make my way deeper. About half way up toward the damn, I saw a big o'l boy jump...this got me excited.

Because I was at the deeper end of the pool, I had some clearance to play with a spinner bait. This was my first time using a spinner bait but I at least knew that the hydrilla ended around 4' and the water line was at 10' or so, so I had about 4-5' to let the spinner bait do it's thing.

Since the sun was full on now, the water was very clear. I'm guessing though this worked in my favor because the reflection from the blades must have really enticed the fish.



The arrow points to where I landed the rest for the day. They were very active on the spinner bait which was a strike king, white/red jig head, white skirt. This one also has a trailer hook which I'll touch on that more in my questions. The biggest was 18", which for all accounts is my PB.

So now my questions if I may:

• Seeing the shallow end was active with top water, what would you have used?
• Conditions on the water changed from overcast to sunshine and mild wind to heavier. Does that have any recourse on a body of water like the one I was on?
• The trailer hook seemed to be more of a burden as all the fish I landed with it took on the lead hook and sometimes the trailer hook would stick the fish. Is that the norm for lures with trailer hooks?
• If I wasn't getting anything on a spinning bait, what would you have tried instead?

P.S. the areas that have red diagonal lines, that is where there is no water currently.

And a pic to end this with.



Thanks for reading.

Most people will go to a hollow body frog in this situation, and you should. However, there are other things that you can do.

First, I would have used a buzzbait. They are surprisingly weedless as long as you keep them on the top. You have to start retrieving them as soon as they hit the water if there is vegetation just under the surface. I pretty much use black in any situation.

Second, you can use weightless Texas-Rigged soft plastics and fish them on top. Quickly glide a fluke over the surface of the water and see what happens, particularly in the Fall. Bass are chasing and keying on shad right now, and a "fleeing shad" presentation around actively feeding bass is almost always a hit. Use erratic stops and twitches.

Third, by all means, try the frog. I really like the smallest version of the Koppers Live Target Frogs. The small version tends to get more strikes, especially in a pond.



It could. Generally speaking, bass will hold tight to cover under heavy light. In low light, they will be much more willing to roam around and chase baits.

Another thing to note: choppy water breaks up the surface, which makes it darker under the water, even if it is sunny. Spinnerbaits are a windy weather go-to for me, personally.



I quit using trailer hooks for this very reason. I have killed one too many fish because the trailer hook got up under the gills. If I were in a tournament, I would use them. Otherwise, my hookup ratios are just fine.



You can always go to soft plastics. I would have tried some weightless flukes and senkos and let them slowly sink. I would have also tried some simple Texas-Rigged worms with a bullet weight.



Yes.

Lol Dean. Dean's words are good.....and there is no better way to perform an assessment of the water other than first hand. Usually 3 heads are better than 2.

I'm not going to say much since there are much more polished bass fishermen than me on this forum (understatement of the year) but one thing I would suggest is to fish along those weed lines. So get right up on the line, cast parallel along the edge, and retrieve it back all the way down that line. Bass will roam that edge waiting for bait to pop out and ambush them.

If the water was calm and you wanted to go topwater, you could try a spook or popper. I have been trying to catch a nice bass on a popper for a couple months now and haven't had any luck, but I'm positive that is operator error.

A good rule of thumb is to stick shallower when there's low light (sunrise) and as the sun rises, the fish will generally move deeper. So topwater at sunrise, then switch to deeper presentations, which is what it sounds like you did.

Sounds like a cool spot.

District P's tips are spot on. I'll add the fairly new Stanley Top Toad to the list of things to try because I've been using it some this fall and it's catching some fish for me. You just toss it out and reel it in like a buzzbait but unlike other buzzfrogs, this ones hollow so it floats and you can really slow it down around cover.



Swim jigs and pegged soft plastics like the zoom brush hogs work well around grass too.

Really been wanting to try this. Looks awesome.

The wind is your friend.

Brush hog or fluke Texas rigged with a split shot about 1ft to 18 in above the hook are some of my go to pond baits. Those and a senko wacky rigged

I second this. The fish are usually more willing to bite when there's some wind

Excellent report, RidgeM! You provided a lot of detail to set up your questions and no doubt provided a learning opportunity for many more than just yourself!

Is the water on private property? It looks like a good place to practice different techniques.

Hey guys, thanks for all the responses.

It is private, I work at a law firm and this place is owned by the family of one of the attorney's I work for.

And DP, if there is ever an opportunity to get anyone else out there with me...you're on the list for sure, thanks.

I will purchase the stanley frog and try it out and report back.

I appreciate your questions and the answers of those that replied. I learned as well, and would like to do some bass fishing myself.