Dock-in-it
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Dock-in-it last won the day on January 1
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Dock-in-it reacted to a post in a topic: Quick hit at Big M
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Dock-in-it reacted to a post in a topic: Yesterday
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top_dollar reacted to a post in a topic: Yesterday
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Regarding the a-rig, I see guys throwing it but that bite is probably going away as the water temp climbs. Regarding mono vs fluoro, I personally use mono but fluoro is probably a better choice. The main deal is finding shad with feeding fish and presenting your bait at the proper depth.
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Fishing a plain 2.8 fat on 1/4oz head. The 1/4oz head is needed for casting distance and would easily out fish an 1/8oz head around active fish. I use a 7.2 ft spinning rod with 6# line in open water and a 7ft casting rod with 10# line when casting in thick trees where I want to muscle them away from the cover. On the spinning rod, a 1/4oz head works good from 1ft to 30ft below the surface. If you make a cast and let it sink 1 to 15ft and barely crank the reel the bait will move horizontal and stay fairly level. So if I see a fish break the surface I cast to it and count to 3 and start a very slow retrieve. If you cast and let the bait sink below 15ft and start the retrieve the bait will jump up a foot or so and then angle upwards back to the boat. I normally have a rod rigged with a 1/4oz head and a 3.3 SB in sight fish color (white) and that is good to get the attention of surface fish that are bugging shad.
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Bearplane04 reacted to a post in a topic: Kim City - March 6 - Swimbait bite
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Bearplane04 reacted to a post in a topic: Kim City - March 11 - Keitech 2.8
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Feedback regarding the underspin. I use a 2.8" straight swimbait 95% of the time. These clear water fish are real picky and the 2.8" dominates. I use the exact colors that Bill mentioned. Currently the vast majority of swimbait bass are using the top 15ft of the water column. I would say 8 to 10ft below the surface is the high percentage section of the water column. I use a 1/4oz underspin when the fish are very aggressively breaking the surface around lots of shad or they have the shad pushed up to the bank. The underspin flash gets their attention. I have the underspin handy in the cold weather months. It also works in the shad spawn timeframe when the bass are chasing shad on the surface ( I burn the underspin 1ft under the surface). Forward facing sonar has taught me just how picky these bass are and how their strike zone is very small.
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Dock-in-it reacted to a post in a topic: March 12 Cape Fair
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MarkG52 reacted to a post in a topic: Kim City - March 11 - Keitech 2.8
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Hawkfarm reacted to a post in a topic: Kim City - March 11 - Keitech 2.8
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Dock-in-it reacted to a post in a topic: Back to the Bull again.....3/8/2024
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Ron Burgundy reacted to a post in a topic: Kim City - March 11 - Keitech 2.8
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I fished this morning and the swimbait bite was good when I found fish grouped up on shad. My first stop had plenty of shad and feeding fish, but 30 minutes later the sun popped over the hill and everything disappeared. I was able to get a nice limit while it lasted. Then I checked 6 locations with zero shad/fish. I checked one more spot about 9:30 and it held the right shad/feeding fish scenario. So I was able to catch another limit in about 30 minutes. These fish are staged in some nice areas due to the presents of shad. They could swim 5 seconds and be ready for the spring time ritual. But these fish will "unstage" as soon as the shad move. Then magically reappear to spawn in the same area when the water temp suits them. Kept the boat in 20 to 30 FOW. WT 51.5
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Dock-in-it reacted to a post in a topic: 3-9-10 Got it Handed to Me.
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Dock-in-it reacted to a post in a topic: Tackle Max Fugitive Swim Bait
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The 3.5 Fugitive produced a good TR limit this morning....all three species. The shad were thick and that tail thump got their attention.
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Regarding FFS ramifications, no one has mentioned the elephant in the room..... which is scopers thumb, it is a condition that needs to be taken seriously. I may need to purchase a scopers glove....just for my left hand.
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Dock-in-it reacted to a post in a topic: Big M area March 6
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I fished this morning and got to experience a very good swimbait bite. The scenario included lots of trees with big schools of surface shad. The bass kept the shad herded up on the surface between 0-10ft. There were several groups of shad and each group had a small school of bass that would constantly feed and keep them on the surface. Normally the number of feeding bass ranged from 3 to 10 and they were hanging out in 8 to 15ft regardless of depth. Once I caught a few bass from a group they would start ignoring my swimbait and I would then select another group to bug. I moved the boat approx 100ft all morning. I caught fish on every swimbait I tried but the shad were in the 2" range and therefore the Keitech 2.8 was the most effective. I had approx 20 to 25 keepers and very few shorts. All the keepers were in the 2# range and I was surprised I did not connect with a big fish. My first 6 keepers were LM then for some reason the K's started to dominate. I used FFS this morning to help maximize my catch rate but I could have caught plenty with no electronics. FFS is educational, efficient, and sometimes effective. I was grateful it was effective this morning. WT 52-54
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Dock-in-it reacted to a post in a topic: Big M area, March 6
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With FFS we have learned that fish inhabit any portion of the lake that suits them. On any given day, approx 99.9999% of the lakes surface and/or natural cover is not fished by anyone. On any given day, approx 95% of the lakes man made cover is not fished by anyone. When we have a major tournament, FFS will allow both good and average anglers to put more fish in their live well and a certain percentage of those fish will die due to lack of proper fish care. The number of expired fish per each tournament will not have a measurable impact on your next fishing trip. Fish do group up on certain locations at different times of the year and some non-commercial anglers will find, catch, and release these fish. There is a percentage of guides that cater to the catch and keep clients and some believe this impacts the fish population especially in the dam area where you have more tourists and guides. This perceived impact was happening way before FFS. Some meat hunter guides use night crawlers and put their FFS in DOWM move, so their FFS is a high priced 2D sonar.
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Hey Mitch, the 3.5 swimbait worked good on TR this morning. Probably had 7 keepers with it and I am getting more confident in its ability to trigger bites. 6 were LM and 1 SM. I caught several on the 2.8 Keitech, but once the Fugitive started working I stuck with because it is effective and durable.
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Dock-in-it reacted to a post in a topic: Cape Fair 2/23
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Dock-in-it reacted to a post in a topic: Big M area, Feb 23
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I fished this morning and the swimbait bite was very steady. With the calm wind I stayed with a 2.8 Keitech and they did not want a more aggressive bait like an underspin or larger swimbait. Some of the fish were near the trees in open water and others were holding fairly tight to a tree. I kept the boat in 30-50 FOW and was always around plenty of cover. I seen plenty of fish under the boat below 30ft but I stayed committed to the swimbait. The bass have made a major move from the main lake. I used FFS today and I would rank myself a 2 with FFS in the winter and a 3 in the warmer months. I fish sitting down in the winter for safety reasons and fish standing up the other 9 months. I am fortunate to find myself around lots of fish on some trips and with FFS I have to laugh at myself for my poor execution with FFS. I have a 9" screen and my casting accuracy is Ok straight ahead but it is very comical to the left or right. I have a difficult time trying to track my bait with boat movement,,, etc. I am always glad that Cody Huff is not around because he could out catch me 10 to 1. If you think using FFS is like spotlighting deer or shooting fish in a barrel......then your ranking with FFS is a solid 10 (Congrats). WT 48.5
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Kim City - Feb 15 - Fun Swimbait, BFL, FFS and Lack of etiquette
Dock-in-it replied to Dock-in-it's topic in Table Rock Lake
Greg, in my area the bait and fish have really moved a lot. I have pretty much committed to the swimbait bite and I ignore fish below 30ft even when they are under the boat. The scenario I have found lately is small balls of surface shad where you have 1 to 5 fish postured underneath, so the fish are 5 to 15ft below the surface regardless of water depth. This scenario is tailor made for FFS and has worked on both sunny and cloudy days. I have found both K's and LM working these shad. I will target swimbait fish down to 30ft. If you are fishing for deep fish (below 30ft) then you might find the K's and LM in their separate camps. -
Kim City - Feb 15 - Fun Swimbait, BFL, FFS and Lack of etiquette
Dock-in-it replied to Dock-in-it's topic in Table Rock Lake
Lvn2fish, these guys were in a newer boat with power poles and everything like a real pro. Prior to these guys I had another boat get real close but they did not cross the etiquette line. The guys that got educated idled straight to me and passed by me at 50ft and shut down about 75 yds away. Then with the trolling motor (using FFS) they headed my direction and stopped 50ft from my boat using FFS to look for fish that I could easily cast to. I stop fishing when boats got too close. I put my boat on spot lock and just drop my swimbait straight down about 5ft and just wait them out. -
Mitch, I was around a lot of fish and they were eating the Keitech. So I tied on the Tackle Max SB and caught a keeper on the first cast. I locate another small group of fish and make a cast and they ignored it (like they routinely do with a Keitech). I make a 3rd cast and catch another keeper. So now I realize my goal is to catch a limit on your SB and that happened without a problem. I was around fish postured above 15ft and below 15ft. The SB worked much better on fish postured below 15ft. The 2.8 Keitech worked good on fish above 15ft. I think a 2.8 inch version of your SB would be interesting. The thing I like about the SB is how well it holds up due to the sturdy top section where you have the jig head and then the lower tail section has lots of action/flexibility. After catching a limit the bait showed no wear and tear.
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I did a table rock post for Feb 15......the 3.5 swimbait worked good.
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Kim City - Feb 15 - Fun Swimbait, BFL, FFS and Lack of etiquette
Dock-in-it replied to Dock-in-it's topic in Table Rock Lake