Shell Knob 4/17-4/20

Wow! What a weekend for fishing! The last 4 days were some of the best fishing I have had on the lake in a couple years. I learned a lot about caught a bunch of fish.

Started out on Friday morning with a Keitech Swim Grub and caught a nice healthy 19in Largemouth in the first hour. It was one of the best "marked" fish I have seen in years. Not a blemish on him and great color too. I found fish on some deeper points suspended in the trees. I only put three in the boat, and I decided to move on to the "Ned" rig which I have not used in the past. View attachment: 0417150811.jpg

I spent the rest of the day playing with the Ned, and I had a blast. I caught about 25 fish, and most of them were between 13-14 inches. I tried to throw a few other baits (spinnerbait, rock crawler, wart), but to no avail. I stuck with what was working. Ended the day convinced that the Ned was the way to go for Saturday.

I started Saturday in the rain, and the fish were in the mood. I landed about 50 fish through out the day including this 18 inch 3lb Meanmouth on a Ned rig. I was using Dave's jighwads and Zman TRDs (Green Pumpmin, California Craw, and PB&J)View attachment: 0418151712.jpg

I knew that I could continue at this pace on Sunday, but I wanted to try to get a few bigger fish. I got a tip late in the afternoon from a "birdie" on the forum who told me take a Redfin and go out to the deep points in the morning and wake it across the tree tops. I was willing to give it a shot.

Sunday morning dawned with perfect conditions to wake a Redfin, and it paid off. I had 12 fish with 7 keepers including the Spot and Largemouth below. View attachment: 0419150850.jpgView attachment: 0419151019.jpg

By the end of the day, I had about 25 fish total, and many came on a Spro 115 in the same areas I was waking the Redfin later in the day when the wind came up. This morning, I was out for about an hour and caught 6 more on the Redfin with 2 keepers.

Overall, it was a great weekend of fishing, and spending time with my grandmother in the evening. Great company!

Here is a summary of my patterns:

Ned Rig: 6-10 feet deep on banks with larger rock (soft ball sized), and back corner of docks. Many hit the bait on the way down and it was the "weightless" bite. I was using 1/16 and 1/8 oz heads with the above mentioned baits. I tried to keep the bait off the banks because many banks had a layer of "slim" in the 2-6 foot range.

Keitech Grub: I was using the Swing Impact in Crystal Shad and a 3/16 oz head. I counted it down 5-7 sec, and then a slow steady retrieve.

Redfin: I was using jointed flat finished model. I found fish in the deep trees on points. I was often in 60-80 feet of water throwing toward the bank as far as I could. I figure most fish were coming out of 30-40 feet deep. The fish were not schooling too much. Every once in a while a single would push bait to the surface.

Here are the baits:

View attachment: 0420150808.jpg

Good luck to all, and thank you for the great information that this forum provides. I am looking forward to another trip in June.

Dave