 |
|
|
|
|
Fish are moving to any living grass located near deeper water. The buck males are moving up a bit shallower, so stay deeper on the grass. Also, sea walls, rip rap and docks in deeper 4-8 feet are good high water targets.
For the lipless cranks, I like the Lucky Craft LVR D-7 in Mad Craw. This bait is so well balanced. It drops without tipping over after snatching from grass. It drops slightly nose down too! I like it on 12-pound test on a good crankbait rod now! I also use a slower reel…preferably one without infinite anti reverse. Without infinite anti reverse, I can feel the subtle bites in my reel handle sooner! It does make a huge difference this time of the year, but most of the year too! A lighter action medium graphite rod allows the fish to pull the bait into their mouth without pulling back as hard. Once loaded, set the hook. In about three weeks, the grass will be taller and harder to snap free from, so I will go to a stiffer medium action graphite rod. And a few weeks after that, I have to go to a faster reel…6:1 or so because the fish are more aggressive and it is harder to catch up to them to set the hook.
After that, I really love tossing suspending jerkbaits. 12-pound test line is good or even 10 if you can. I like the smaller Pointer 78 in clown or the gold/black and orange combos. The key is to let the bait sit for a looooong time! 5 to 15 seconds if you can! Light taps then let it sit! Tough to do, but after getting a bunch of fish on the LVR D-7, I'll follow up with the Pointer! Usually this produce bigger fish. Fish are really grouped up more now than they will be for a while. As the grass spreads out, so will the fish!
Other baits, well why would you bother…OK…if you really have to, you can use soft plastics….Mann's Stingray grub…3 inch avocado on a _ ounce round jig head. Mizmo tubes with the R&R (Gerkin) insert tube heads. But, one more tactic that produces big fish now is the Carolina rig. I like using Tru Tungsten 1 ounce weights with an 18-inch fluorocarbon leader. The tungsten gives me a better “feel” of what's on the bottom and the fluorocarbon leader not only sinks, but also doesn't absorb water like mono…retaining strength and sensitivity. For main line, I have been going to braid! 65 pound test Spiderwire stealth.
The Punisher hair jig is in its glory now too! I like the 1/4 or heavier…the Punisher Chunks with Punisher rattles create the bulky little fish bait package. This bait will get some big ones to bite! It also will soak up a lot of Jack's Juice into the hand tied craft hair!
"Take me fishing!" .·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸> >
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
