Celticav Posted April 29, 2003 Report Share Posted April 29, 2003 How do most of you confront a lake with water as clear as a swimming pool? My home lake is like most southern lakes; either green or stained. I am fishing a tourney on Lake Lanier in Atlanta, Ga and the thought of that gin clear water has thrown me for a loop. I don't drop shot enough to be effective and I hardly ever use finesse worms. I know to down size my line and baits, what else do I need to do to be prepared for this experience. Can any of you guys that fish lakes like this help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bushmaster Posted April 29, 2003 Report Share Posted April 29, 2003 Clear water is tough no matter where you find it. S-L-O-W D-O-W-N In water that clear, I would downsize to 6 pound test line on a light action spinning setup. Cast light lures in natural patterns. I would try finesse worms using a "dragging" technique or a light bucktail jig/craw-worm combo in a natural pattern with a football head. Use a slow dragging retreive with this one also. If the water is that clear, you probably have a sand or gravel bottom and the football head is made for this kind of a situation. I direct contrast to the above techniques, you could try a topwater stickbait using a "walk-the-dog" retrieve. This can call them up from deeper than you would believe. Light to Ultra-light crankbaits are an option also. Fish points, bluffs, channel bends, humps, and man-made structure such as docks, bridge pilings, and riprap at the dam. Whatever you do, you have to fish twice as hard when you are working gin-clear water. Good Luck and let us know how you did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funny farm Posted April 29, 2003 Report Share Posted April 29, 2003 In the deep water fish big fat huge swim baits for the deep down monster bass . Thats what the guys in CA told me . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celticav Posted April 29, 2003 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2003 aren't those for trolling FFT? I can't troll in a tourney, against the rules. Bushmaster, I am with you on the top water logic too, Funny Farm Tackle is making me some, I am really excited about fishing them and expect to tear the riprap bass up with them. The lake was featured in this months bass master mag in the back, the other lake mentioned in the article West Point Lake, is my home lake. The article discusses the Blue Backed Herring as the new major food source for the bass there. I was gonna try a top walker in that color scheme. And a brown jig (also handmade) tipped with a dark pumpkin or rootbeer Zoom crittercraw, as well as soft jerkbaits and wooden non-rattling jerkbaits and cranks. Is this a sound strategy before going to the finesse jigs on SpotSticker jig heads? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Drop Shot Store Posted April 29, 2003 Report Share Posted April 29, 2003 I sell alot of drop shot baits to guys around Lanier and they tell me that drop shotting works great there. If you dont have time to practice up on drop shotting, all of Bushmasters techniques will produce depending on the conditions. If you think there might be a topwater bite, try throwing a clear/red mouth "sammy" or popper that will walk the dog. If small and slow isnt working, make sure you speed things up or upsize your baits or both. While small and slow is the general rule on clear water, sometimes it pays off to do something that is different from what everyone else is doing. My personal line sizing is as follows: drop shotting-6lb. flourocarbon, T and C rig-12lb. flourocarbon, pitching-15lb. flourocarbon, flipping-20lb. flourocarbon. In otherwords, if it moves slow, smaller line, reaction bait, larger line. Watch how much noise you make and the shadows you throw. Keep arm movements low and slow. Clear water fish always seem to be spooky. Trim the skirts on your jigs and use a 3" twin tail grub as a trailer to keep the overall package small. The small, translucent Japanese cranks do well in this type of water so dont ignore those. I throw mainly a Zenith Junior D. They are really small but cast a mile because of the tungsten weights inside, and run 8 to 10 foot. I could be wrong but in my experience, bass in clear water lakes hang right below the edge of light penetration, so I tend to fish good areas that are just outside of where I can see the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funny farm Posted April 29, 2003 Report Share Posted April 29, 2003 The guys I make baits for use the big swim baits like on my web site front page in deep water , real slow across the top . Translucent bait like the one below ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bushmaster Posted April 29, 2003 Report Share Posted April 29, 2003 Your tactics in a tournament will depend on whether or not you have pre-fished the lake. If you have a chance to pre-fish, you probably have an idea what strategies to use. If you go blind (no pre-fishing), you will have to use your knowledge of bass fishing to construct a plan of attack. A plan of attack should be decided upon well in advance of the tournament. Determine where you want to start and include all variables to determine alternate locations or type of structure in case the first strategy does not work. In the "going blind" case, I would start with "search" lures such as a buzzbait or even the topwater I mentioned. My initial stop would probably include docks or riprap. If that was successful, I would continue on those structures but, as the sun got higher, switch to the lighter lures with a slower presentation. Whatever you do, do not fall into the trap of running scattershot around the lake throwing anything and everything at any type of structure or cover. You may get lucky and catch one, but the tournament fisherman that plans his strategies will have much more consistency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsac Posted April 30, 2003 Report Share Posted April 30, 2003 All of the above mentioned tactics are good ones, however, don't count out the split shot. This technique has been widely overlooked since the "dropshot" boom. In most cases, very clear water tends to have vegetation on the bottom due to the amount of sunlight that penetrates the water. If this is the case where you are fishing, throw baits that compliment the bottom, like watermelon. If you have a sandy bottom, browns. Just remeber that in clear water, the forage "blends into the surrounding". Also, don't be afraid to fish FAST! It doesn't give the fish a chance to see what they are attacking. They just react. On a side note, ( I know I've said it before) I throw a lot of 9" and 12" swimbaits. The key word is throw. I've never trolled them. It takes a lot out of you unless you have the right equiptment. It is a proven tactic here in CA. If you watched the Bassmasters in the Delta or Clear Lake there were guys throwing the 9" Osprey with fair results. If you do decide to throw them, just remember that you're going for BIG ones! So you only have to make a couple of casts per area. If they don't bite, put it up and try something else until the next area. GOOD LUCK!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeter Posted April 30, 2003 Report Share Posted April 30, 2003 I would deffinitely try the topwater. Try a pop-r or a floating rapala and just twitch it. The jerkbait thing is good. You also might try something like the 1/4oz spinnerbaits that you sent me or a small normans tiny n cranbait around anything that sticks up or down long stretches of bank. If all else fails then there is one killer thing that always works for me. Fish a weightless finese worm or frenchfry. The frenchfry throws and sinks a little better and believe it or not has a good action as it sinks regardless of its shape. It is slow, but it ALWAYS works. Let it sink to the bottom and just give it a soft hop. Skeeter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Drop Shot Store Posted April 30, 2003 Report Share Posted April 30, 2003 Just like that Funny Farm. Nice looking crank. Put some red trebles on it and it would be perfect. You can make me one that size that will dive to 30' right? And Woodsac makes a really good point about green around grass and browns around sand and rock, and split shotting does work. Just think of it as a light carolina rig and you'll have no problem with it. One thing I think people miss is that light line fishing can be a ton of fun because you have to play the fish. While this can be nerve racking in a tournament, it's a blast when fun fishing. You hook what you think is a five pounder and when you get it to the boat the fish is only 12" long. And it really helps develop your skill in converting bites to fish in the livewell by forcing you to do everything just right. One more thing I want to add that might help if you run across bed fish. Take a medium heavy rod, spool with 12lb. flouro, I use a 2/0 G lock hook, rig up a drop shot rig with the bait about 6" above the sinker, and a small bait, under 3". Around here salt and pepper or pink is what's working. Pitch this onto the bed and shake it without moving the sinker. Because the bait is at mouth level they seem to take this setup pretty quick as compared to a bottom bait that they have to move around and go down to pick up. Most of all, have fun and good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chirmy Posted May 5, 2003 Report Share Posted May 5, 2003 Hey, since you are talking swimbaits, I have some on EBAY. Now as for clear water with over 30' visibility, I would drop down to a 6lb Vanish or pline. I would drop shot a 4-6 inch worm. Anything with redflake this time of year. Also a Salt and Pepper small Yamamoto spider grub on a 1/4 ounce jig head. Make sure the jig has plenty of time to fall in deeper water. As for the swimbaits, They troll them for stipers and cast them for bass. I am going to try to get Byron Velvick to post a How to on Swimbaits in the next week or two. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tailor Maid Posted May 6, 2003 Report Share Posted May 6, 2003 Hey Celt, Being a s/b man I know it's always the first choice and it should be. But, I don't see any mention on tubes here. Jerk baits like Flukes and tubes go well together. The Jerk I would use in deeper water. Throw natural color and 10lb line. Throw it out on a spinning rig. Let it sit and then jerk it irradically, and quickly. Stop. Do it again. With the tube. Light weight head (1/16th to 1/4) 6-8lb line(whatever you feel more comfortable with, inside, half way back. Let it fall and drag it .....slooooowly. If you see any offf colored obstruction in the water ie. dark patch in light water...light patch in dark water...stop....wait....wait. If a fish picks it up it will feel like electricity...set! Don't forget to skip tubes under docks...way to the back! Good luck...kick some butt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
