Jackson Or West Point Tomorrow?

[banjo picker]

Any suggestions as to where to go and how to fish either of these 2 lakes? Went to jackson 2 weekends ago and never got bit. Didn't have minnows but tried evrything in the box at least once. Tried siting on top of 'em and troliing and nothing seemed to excite 'em. I could see them on the depth finder between 8-12 FOW but they were lock jawed. I'm just tryin' to scout some good spots tomorrow and take the boy back this weekend and let him have at it.

[papasage]

i never fished either lake .

i would try minnows on brush piles and channel ledges and if that don`t work i would do artificial and maybe tip it with minnow . use drop shot rigs . if that don`t work try curley tail jigs and long line at 1.0 to 1.8 along the channel ledges and over brush .

[banjo picker]

Thanks papsage! They are the 2 closest lakes to me and I'm still learning their lay out and haven't had much luck on either one....yet. I bought a topo map of West Point and thought I'd try that and use the map to help me find some spots. I'm going to try and find someplace that sells minnows as I prefer using live bait even if it's just tipping my jigs. When you say drop shot rig do you put the sinker above or below the hook?

[papasage]

i put it below the hook and most times i tie 2 hooks 1 1/2 ft apart with a loop not put sinker 6 in or so from bottom hook

[banjo picker]

I saw that rig somewhere on the net, might have been here, and thought I may give it a try. I always rigged mine with the shot above the hook as that was the way I was taught. I'm gonna rig up a pole or 2 when I get home and see how it goes tomorrow. I just had a friend at work tell me about a great spot over on jackson and I saw it the last time I was there but didn't stop to investigate it. I'm gonna' try it first thing in the morning and see how it goes. The worst that can happen is I won't catch any fish but I'll stil have some fun! Wouldn't nothin' be no better than to catch a good mess and come home and grease the old skillet for the wife and kids! What kind of a knot do you call that loop knot? Is it a Palomar knot? I'm going to look it up and see if I can find it. Thanks again papasage, you made my day!

[papasage]

with the led on the bottom you can feel the lake bottom and keep the hook safe from trash . several wayes
to set it up but that is my way of doing it .

[banjo picker]

Wife was sick Thursday and Friday but Noah and I went to Jackson on Saturday. Caught 3 bass, 1 striper and 2 crappie. We were pushing a chartruese grub with a flat tail (like a tadpole) tipped with a small minnow. The ones we caught were hittin' it pretty good and we missed a bunch as well. The oil injection cap broke on the engine and I was able to tape it back together enough to get us back to the landing but we made an awful oil slick from the oil draining from the engine. We stayed on the trolling motor pretty much all day and only fired up the big engine to get back. I wanted to try and find some tree tops as we were told at the bait store that's where they were hanging around pretty tight. The ones we caught were in 32 FOW and were suspended around 23-27 feet deep. Even with all the trouble we had a great time. We'll head over to West Point and try that once I get the oil cap replaced and all that oil cleaned from the engine and the back of the boat. Thanks to all that replied with tips.