Fishing this weekend 12/18/15

[Alex Heitman]

I have fish the past few days in the dam area and it has been horrible. I just came in for a break and I am made at them. I'm going back out for some more. They have not been biting good at all for me. I tried shallow with cranks and spinnerbait. Very few fish. I had to resort in going out deep and I hate deep fishing. Deep right now is the best bet. Even if you find them it's not guaranteed they will bite. Hopefully it will pick up this weekend. I still think the water needs to drop in the low 50's. It is still 55-56 in dam area. 

[Bass Enforcer]

Eric everything posted so far is great information! The only rebuttal I would have is....if you are wanting to actually learn to fish deep,  you can't learn without making yourself do it.  You can and will find them deep if you are good with electonics as abkeenan stated. Electronics are an absolute must! The only caveat to that is, you have to find the right school. If they aren't ready to eat..they won't.   If and when you graph them,  don't simply base your decision of not dropping on them because you aren't seeing the arches. Sometimes you can fire them up with a spoon.  Something else I would offer is...when you drop the spoon down and you see the fish coming up to your lure and then he goes back down...chances are, thats a catchable fish. Keep spooning for a little while. If it seems that its not working and the fish just keep coming up and then back down,You just may need to switch tactics. Perhaps they are wanting something more subtle such as the Rapala ice jig or drop shot.  it's been a couple of weeks since i have been down but when i was, the major creeks were loaded with shad. Perhaps that has changed.  I absolutely love fishing deep it's a ton of fun. Its literally like playing a video game when graphing the fish and watching them come up.  sometimes on the drop shot you don't feel the bite. You just have to know your electronics and know when the fish has your lure. Good luck.   When you learn it, you'll love it.

[Bill Babler]

If you all are catching deep fish the past 5 days, more power to you.  I have had trips most everyday and since last Saturday the fish have for me completely gone shallow.  Couple of days ago I was throwing a RK on the bank and I could see just rafts of shad swimming in 15' and in.  Caught them to excess on the RK and the A-rig.

Enforcer if you are catching fish that rise to a spoon and then run back to the bottom away from it,  your going to have to show me how to catch them.  I have been fishing deep here since the early 1970's and have never caught a fish that has ran to the bottom from a spoon, a drop shot a grub or an Ice Jig.  They turn and run from it, I'm in dog do-do.

Champ is on them really good, so I think I would print out his blog and take it to the "pun not intended"  BANK.

Good Luck

[Eric the awful fisherman]

Thanks this is all great info 

[Champ188]

7 hours ago, m&m said:

Champ, your general pointers are amazing.  I wonder what your specific pointers look like. lol 

Eric, Champ is giving you great advice. I look forward to your report on Monday.

Mike

 

There's a lot more to fishing shallow --- and consistently catching fish --- than some think, Mike. That's especially true with fishing shallow on lakes like Table Rock.

I greatly enjoy telling and showing people what I've been fortunate to learn over the past 50 years. Most of it was picked up from others kind enough to share it with me.

[BassBlind]

Champ and Bill... you guys are badass!! Thanks so much for the info you share. My buddy and I are down at our place in Big Creek / Big Bay right now. We have been fishing this area hard for about 2 yrs with limited success. We can land them on big finesse worms, maybe a wiggle wart. Pumped to try the ned rig tomorrow. Also picked up a RK Phantom Green Rock crawler... I'll update if we get on any.

 

The info you guys provide on wind, depth, electronics, etc is amazing.  

[Champ188]

7 hours ago, BassBlind said:

Champ and Bill... you guys are badass!! Thanks so much for the info you share. My buddy and I are down at our place in Big Creek / Big Bay right now. We have been fishing this area hard for about 2 yrs with limited success. We can land them on big finesse worms, maybe a wiggle wart. Pumped to try the ned rig tomorrow. Also picked up a RK Phantom Green Rock crawler... I'll update if we get on any.

 

The info you guys provide on wind, depth, electronics, etc is amazing.  

Very kind of you to say, BassBlind. Welcome to the forum. You're fishing in one of my very favorite areas of the lake.

About the Ned rig ... be sure and get the right components for this little dude. Forum member dtrs5kprs makes and sells the best jighead available for it. His include a wire weedguard that is a must if you're fishing around any kind of cover. You'd do well to order some 1/8 and 1/16 sizes from him. You can send him a private message on here or email him at dtrs5kprs@yahoo.com. I believe Z-Man is now offering a mushroom-style head with a weedguard as well, but I'll continue to get my heads from Dave since he has put copious amounts of time into getting the hook size/brand just right, along with other small but critical details.

Also, it pays to use Elaztech bodies, which are available as the Z-Man Zinker or the Strike King Zero. Regular plastics will also work, but the lure was created using Elaztech and it performs (stands up on the bottom, etc.) better with the right body. And don't forget to use Loctite super glue in the Gel formula (blue/silver bottle with squeeze triggers on the side). This glue performs soooo much better than others with the Elaztech.

One thing I noticed about the "little rig" last winter. When water temps dip into the 30s in this part of the country, it's hard to get a bass to bite anything. A suspending jerk bait has traditionally been about the safest bet in those conditions. But last winter, I picked up the little guy and darn if I didn't get some sub-40 degree bites on it and landed some decent fish. So if and when those conditions show up this winter, have a Ned rig handy. Fish it painfully slow around bluff ends, main-lake or secondary points or bluff banks and you'll likely be pleasantly surprised.

[96 CHAMP]

Where else but here could a fellow get real time tips and advice from the likes of you all, I hope he goes out and catches a hog or two, that would be so cool, good luck to ya Eric!

[dtrs5kprs]

9 hours ago, BassBlind said:

Champ and Bill... you guys are badass!! Thanks so much for the info you share. My buddy and I are down at our place in Big Creek / Big Bay right now. We have been fishing this area hard for about 2 yrs with limited success. We can land them on big finesse worms, maybe a wiggle wart. Pumped to try the ned rig tomorrow. Also picked up a RK Phantom Green Rock crawler... I'll update if we get on any.

 

The info you guys provide on wind, depth, electronics, etc is amazing.  

As Champ said, painfully slow is the key. Try not to move the little rig at all. Deep docks, deep wood or brushpiles, and bigger rock/rock transitions in the creeks are places I would be throwing it. There are a lot of good places for it a few miles either way of Big Creek, plus the creek itself. You really shouldn't have to leave that creek much at all. Maybe ever.

[Ham]

Super Dave counting rocks again. Definitely, three minutes to Wapner.