Dock-in-it

The deep bite was really good in December and January is starting on a good note. The weather is about to go into an extreme cold spell so I got this morning while the weather permits. I had several nice LM (about 10) but it was mainly a Kentucky bite. Fast vertical presentations have been key for triggering bites. Too many fish will ignore the bait if they get a good look at it. Some days a swimbait will work for fish postured high in the water column (1-15 ft below surface). The shad are less than 2" so a small bite has worked best. A 1/2 and 7/8 oz spoon, 5/8 and 7/8 oz ice jig, and Damiki style baits. I have been keeping the boat in 35 to 70 FOW. The fish closer to the bottom are easier to catch and the majority of bites come from closely grouped up fish. The deep water fish are moving at a steady pace. You do not need a ton of shad to hold fish in an area. Most mornings the shad are in numerous small pods. Trees are a plus but most fish will be caught in the general area because they are normally moving vs setting up in trees.

Hey Mitch, this morning on Table Rock I tried the new 2.8 version of the Fugitive SB and caught a few fish. I used the SB for about 15 minutes and then the sun popped out and the activity slowed. I had 4 bites on the SB and boated 3. Looking forward to trying it when the water cools down. WT was 86.

Fished this morning and the boaters this weekend left a few still willing to bite. Fished in 20ft around timber and shad. Using swimbait and Damiki. WT 55.5

I fished this morning and the bite was really good. On my first cast I was fortunate to catch a LM in the 6 to 7# range on a swimbait. I kept the boat in 40 to 55 FOW all morning. The LM seemed to used the top of the water column down to 20ft and I caught them casting. I caught plenty of SM and K's fishing a 3/8 Damiki vertical amongst shad and they liked the 30 to 40ft range. There were lots of white bass in the shad and I caught a few approaching the 2# range. The lake was an absolute zoo yesterday and I thought today would be really busy but it was manageable to my surprise. The wind was blowing and made boat control a steady job. The picture of the big LM did not turn out too good because I have tennis elbow and not able to hold up heavy objects with my arm extended.

The FFS hysteria can provide some interesting insight into human behavior. Background: Drew Gill (current BPT Pro) and Dakota Ebare (past BPT Pro). Both guys are young stars and excellent with FFS. Drew Gill was on a podcast and I left a comment how impressed I was with his fishing approach and that the old school guys need to get with the program. In a very short period of time I get a very hateful message from Dakota Ebares mother that I am such a FFS hater. I did not respond to her.....hopefully she will get beyond the hysteria. FFS is educational, efficient, and sometimes effective.

On Table Rock, I have several thousand hours of deep fishing experience with 2D and about 1000 hours of FFS usage out deep. Since getting FFS I have not bothered to find one new location. I fish the same locations today that I have fished for years. So nobody dropped my off 50 yards from the summit (or honey hole). When I arrive at my old locations, I use FFS to determine if fish are present. If fish are present I cast to them without having to fan cast to unproductive water. FFS is educational, efficient, and sometimes productive. Caught this fish this morning using FFS to know my area held stubborn fish. Then used my eyes to see a flicker of shad 80 yds away, put the trolling motor on high and then capitalized.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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