4-28-15 night fishing the kings river area

[merc1997 Bo]

had to give it another shot last night, even though it was a little bit cool. hard to believe, but it was better than the night before. 15 keepers with several 3's and one 5 lber in the mix.

steep banks were still the best. 1/2 brown and blue with blue trailer still best lure. one thing that did change was the fact that the bigger bass were right on the bank. but, when the moon hazed over that quit.

fished from dark to 11:45, but the bite seemed to be pretty much over by 10:45. i think if we got a warm night and the moon out, it would really be good.

not a one of these bass showed a hint of trying to spawn. even the small kentuckies looked like pot bellied stoves. water temps were about half of a degree colder than on monday night, and from the time we started to quitting, the temps had dropped a full half degree.

bo

[Champ188]

Bo, you need to be first in line to pay your entry fee for the Friday night derby at Mill Creek. Fifteen keepers up to 5 lbs in 2 hours (dark to 10:45) is stronger than 190-proof PGA.

[merc1997 Bo]

champ

there is a funny thing about kings river. it can be lights out when you have it to yourself, but can shut down instantly when the boat traffic starts up. it has always been that way, and for that reason, i have never depended or planned on fishing the kings for a tournament. but, during the week and you have it to yourself, it can be some great fishing.

warning about moving around at night there, it is advisable to just idle because there are some monster trees that are moving from the bank the the middle after dark and the wind dies. another reason that i avoid the kings for tournaments, especially this time of the year. navigation is usually very dangerous after dark, other than being on idle.

bo

[J-Doc]

One of your videos explained that many people don't catch fish because how the fish their jig. Something about having a bow in the line and not keeping the line taught?

Can you explain that a bit more and how you feel a jig should be fished? For some reason, I just don't have as much luck on a jig as I used to. No matter WHERE I fish or what lake I'm on. Its me and the jig.....not the lake. I'm either restraining the action by keeping rhebline too taught or I'm over working the jig, or something. It's supposed to be very versatile bit I'm not seeing many bites if any. I am learning the Ned which is teaching me to slow down, don't over work a bait, and how to fish on slack line. Which is transferring to other presentations as well with hard baits, etc.

Thoughts? Much appreciated!!!

[Champ188]

Bo, likewise I rarely count on the Kings in a daytime derby. That goes for the BFL derby I'm fishing Saturday.

Never considered the boat traffic/waves/noise element. Could be a factor for sure.

Where I've been bit in the backside has been the fact that productive areas are limited up there and if you get half a dozen tournament boats fishing the same pattern, you're all done before you start because you just end up splitting up the fish.

[merc1997 Bo]

One of your videos explained that many people don't catch fish because how the fish their jig. Something about having a bow in the line and not keeping the line taught?

Can you explain that a bit more and how you feel a jig should be fished? For some reason, I just don't have as much luck on a jig as I used to. No matter WHERE I fish or what lake I'm on. Its me and the jig.....not the lake. I'm either restraining the action by keeping rhebline too taught or I'm over working the jig, or something. It's supposed to be very versatile bit I'm not seeing many bites if any. I am learning the Ned which is teaching me to slow down, don't over work a bait, and how to fish on slack line. Which is transferring to other presentations as well with hard baits, etc.

Thoughts? Much appreciated!!!

dang, i had an entire book written to reply to your question and it disappeared. so, here goes again.

early spring to after spawn bass respond better to a more horizontal type retrieve. many bassers get in a bad rut and fish a jig one way and one way only, and this is exactly why they do not get all the benefits of a jig that is there. i know many that just drag a jig and there are times this works but not the majority of the time, at least for me.

from early spring until summer patterns start, a coasting type of retrieve with jigs or plastic works better, most of the time. to coast your jig, simply lift it up off the bottom and let it pendelum back to you until it reaches bottom. of course on steeper banks, you have to learn to follow your lure with your rod to get back on bottom. flatter banks, you can give the jig more lift to start with, and on steep banks less lift. remember to fish parallel with your strike zone when possible. this gets your lure in front of more bass. coasting a jig is somewhat like swimming one, but different. you are just off the bottom following the contour and touching down say in 6 to 8 feet.

vertical dropping any lure demands keeping a belly in your line from the rod tip to where the line enters the water. this allows the lure to drop vertically unimpeded, but you are still in contact with the bait and able to detect the bite. if you have slack on the water, you will miss many or all bites and never know they happened. to properly fish a falling spoon, even vertically, one needs to learn how to maintain the belly in the line. to tight to the spoon and it quits its fluttering and is just swinging and sliding. slack line laying on the water, and you are going to have lots of fish hit the spoon and never know it. you will get some just because you happened to start your next lift before they eject it.

dragging is pretty self explanatory. and, right here is where everything vanished a while ago!! grrrr!!!! keep the lure on the bottom.

now, we get to speed. even when dragging, speed is a key factor in triggering strikes. never be afraid to experiment with the weight you are using to find the correct speed. if you have a buddy fishing with you, it is always a good idea to be fishing different weights to start out with to more quickly define what is going to be the correct speed. so, speed factors into all three catagories of retrieves - coasting, vertical drop, and dragging.

for me, i catch way more bass using the coasting retrieve or a vertical drop retrieve. there are those few times, that it requires keeping the jig on the bottom and just drag it, but just not that often for me.

hope this will make sense and is not confusing. if it is still not clear, just give me a call.

bo

[J-Doc]

Wow.

That's awesome info right there. Pretty much aligns withwhat I've suspected and learning in other presentations.

A great big thank you!!