Need some ideas....

I've been fishing this lake for 2 weeks and have figured out where the fish are just haven't figured out how to get them.
From the bank, there's a lot of vegetation with open spots between mats. I hit the mats and pull off clean I get hits but the fish run the bait and hook right back into the weeds.

What kind of a float presentation could work for the panfish in a situation like this? Have caught a crappie, bluegill and yellow belly and gotten crushed twice by big fish, (no clue what they were) just using nightcrawlers.

And since I'm a big noob for real panfish fishing, when do I need to set the hook? First slightest nibble or movement of float? Let em take it under? I feel like I've only fished a few days getting my butt kicked by these warm water fish! Lol

My take on float fishing. When the float does anything you didn’t tell it to, set the hook. A snap of the wrist will drive the thin wire hook home. When some crappie hit they’re rising to the bait and the float will no longer have weight and the float will relax somehow, maybe lay over if there’s a stick float you’re using. If they’re a bit more active they may ease up to it and flare their gills, sucking in the jig. When the jig hits inside their mouth. This generates the thump we all love. It will make the float bounce or jump but not travel a lot of the time but not come tight and move off. I use braid and have to be careful not to set the hook too hard.

You need to change your info, for where you live. That will help others, when they respond, knowing your living in Texas, and not Washington state.

That would help! Thank you!!!

lose the float . Check out the drop shot rig . Hook is inline with no slack . Works with live or plastics .

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Originally Posted by Eagle 1

lose the float . Check out the drop shot rig . Hook is inline with no slack . Works with live or plastics .

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Do you have a pic of this set up? I know a guy told me about the vmc spinshots and he uses them for bream. I guess you have your weight 6-12 inches below the hook? How heavy are you going?

I am looking for better set ups as I am limited to the bank and its gets tough sometimes

I'm bank fishing in thick vegetation so a float is needed for now. Had lots of bites before the cold snap just couldn't hook a fish. Gonna try much smaller hooks and set that hook if my float twitches. Gonna be a while before I make friends and get out in a boat.

Take some pics of where you are fishing. Use the smallest float you can get away with since there is less resistence and easier for fish to pull under. Smaller hooks are easier for fish to suck in and will catch more fish. A simple small jig with soft plastics or hand tie under a float catches a lot of fish every day. Best to have different options available in case first option isn't working and get out there as often as you can. Nothing beats time spent on the water and trying new things until you find out what works best for you.

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Originally Posted by fish_4_any

I'm bank fishing in thick vegetation so a float is needed for now. Had lots of bites before the cold snap just couldn't hook a fish. Gonna try much smaller hooks and set that hook if my float twitches. Gonna be a while before I make friends and get out in a boat.

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THE STRENGTH OF A DROP SHOT RIG IS TO FISH HEAVY VEGETATION . SET YOUR HOOK (IUSE A #8 LONG SHANK ABERDEEN ) ABOVE THE DEPTH OF THE GRASS HEIGHT AND USE A 1/8 OR 1/4 WEIGHT (I do not use true drop shot weights , not necessary )Sometimes my hook is several feet above weight . If you fish the outer edge of the grass yes set it 12-16 inches apart . hope this helps . Make sure your hook is pointing up . Are you talking grass or trash(bushes and fallen trees . In trash I tend to cast a "slider type jig with no exposed hook . Send pm if you want to talk in depth .The drop shot can be used with soft plastics weedless with point in bait . I use worms for red ear and minnows for crappie . The shallower the water the father out the cast . over 10 ft . I skull a small boat and fish straight down .

I lived in OK for a while and in the winter we fished the creeks with flooded trees alongside the channel. Some better fish were caught getting a bait as close to the wood as possible. Always with a float and I used a minnow at the time but a jig would do fine also.

Also look at a YouTube post from i_fish on rigging a jig hook without a head for drop shot. Inexpensive and the hook has no choice but to ride point up. Worth the look and the watch.

Vegetation is at best 6 inches from the surface in most areas along the bank where I'm limited to right now. Went out on a dock last night and the anacharis was a good 50 feet out. When my worm or bait wouldn't be caught in it is when I got bites. Tried a jig head with a plastic and all I got was the salad instantly.

Not a single l nibble yesterday but the fish that were jumping every day stoped completely and not even the baitfish were jumping. I have to learn about cold fronts here in Texas cuz in Washington a cold front meant everyone was going fishing.

If a drop shot work in that kind of soup I'll try it but I'd have to learn a lot on keeping the bait clean and not pulling in 5 pounds of salad. I will definitely try it if I go to the dam on Hawkins. Looks like more open water there

Will the drop shot work when I was fishing a 24 to 30 inch leader to get best bites with vegetation lm6 inches below surface? I'll try it if y'all think it is workable. I might try it anyway... lol

Attachment 511562

That's the vegetation everywhere. Goes out a long ways.
My best bites were a longer leader, no weight or jig head and let it freefall. A lot of times pulling the bait free and letting it settle again got the most bites.

I’ve tried to fish in that and all I figured out was to fish the holes in the weeds or fish for bass with something Texas rigged and weightless.

Would using a casting bobber and a fly be effective?

One of my go to baits for that stuff is a light beetle spin. A curl tail on it helps it ride high and it’s always riding hook up.

I'll try a beetlespin and see what I can get. Gonna be a quick retrieve.

How would I fish a dropshot in this situation? I am guessing that the water is close to 6 feet deep where I can cast to and the anacharis almost touches or touches the surface. Can it work in this scenario?

I don’t know much about dropshot but it would seem to get clogged or snagged easy. Hydrilla in FL grows similar and holds a lot of fish but tough to figure out.

1. have figured out where the fish are just haven't figured out how to get them.
From the bank, there's a lot of vegetation with open spots between mats. I hit the mats and pull off clean
2. I get hits but the fish run the bait and hook right back into the weeds.
1. and 2. are always a priority and getting strikes mean fish a being provoked-to-strike by what your using.


3. What kind of a float presentation could work for the panfish in a situation like this? Have caught a crappie, bluegill and yellow belly and gotten crushed twice by big fish, (no clue what they were) just using nightcrawlers.
In the situation you're fishing, there are a few more options other than float fishing butyou are on the right track because of the nature of the retrieve: slow.
Much of the time, fish just want an easy target to demolish or consume that they don't have to chase too far. (energy conservation?) That said, fish strike a live bait to eat it - not so much with lures that don't send out the same sensory signals. (lateral line detection + mini brain = what the H - go for it!).

When I say slow, I mean almost dead stop or working a lure near so. Granted, super active fish will slam medium speed retrieves, but that is not the norm regardless of species. That said, float fishing allows one of the longest in-place vertical lure placements - drop shot and bottom jigging the others. Another that is just a bit faster - horizontally speaking, meaning moving horizontally to the bottom and/ or past weed edges.

Too find fish much of the time requires a slow horizontal retrieve. Fishing for panfish first, bass second, requires smaller lighter lures. No giant poppers, no big Zara Spooks, no fat 3" crankbaits but small lures such as small soft plastics, small poppers, small Floating Rapalas, etc. intended for slow-presentation use. To quote the Godfather: make em an offer they can't refuse. When it comes to small soft plastics, light jig heads are the way to go. Even 1/16 oz may be too heavy whereas 1/32 or 1/64oz is what the fish ordered.
An important consideration when it comes to jigs is hook size. Too small a hook = missed hook sets; too large a hook = a subdued lure action and fewer hook sets. My preference when casting small plastics is #4 and #6 and at times, #8 (smallest). 1/0 or larger is fine for bass, but not panfish.
The hook should come out 1/2 or less of the body length. The hook must always be checked for sharpness. A file is as important a tool as pliers are to pulling hooks out.




And since I'm a big noob for real panfish fishing, when do I need to set the hook? First slightest nibble or movement of float? Let em take it under?

Didn't finish my post so here's the whole post. (the other can be deleted).

The following reply is a long one not meant to be read in one sitting, but possibly of use in part or as a whole. In any case, don't shoot the messenger - he means well. So sit back and enjoy the :popcorn.

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have figured out where the fish are

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just haven't figured out how to get them. From the bank, there's a lot of vegetation with open spots between mats. I hit the mats and pull off clean
2.

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I get hits

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but the fish run the bait and hook right back into the weeds.
1. and 2. are always a priority and getting strikes mean fish a being provoked-to-strike by what your using.


3.

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What kind of a float presentation could work for the panfish

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in a situation like this? Have caught a crappie, bluegill and yellow belly and gotten crushed twice by big fish, (no clue what they were) just using nightcrawlers.
In the situation you're fishing, there are a few more options other than float fishing, but you are on the right track because of the nature of the retrieve: slow. Much of the time, fish just want an easy target to demolish or consume that they don't have to chase too far. (energy conservation?) That said, fish strike a live bait to eat it - not so much with lures that don't send out the same sensory signals. (lateral line detection + mini brain = what the h*** go for it!).

When I say slow, I mean almost dead stop or working a lure near so. Granted, super active fish will slam medium speed retrieves, but that is not the norm regardless of species. That said, float fishing allows one of the longest in-place vertical lure placements - drop shot and bottom jigging the others. Another that is just a bit faster - horizontally speaking, meaning moving horizontally to the bottom and/ or past weed edges.

Too find fish much of the time requires a slow horizontal retrieve with pauses. Fishing for panfish first, bass second, requires smaller lighter lures. No giant poppers, no big Zara Spooks, no fat 3" crankbaits, but small lures such as 1.5" or smaller soft plastics, small poppers, small Floating Rapalas, etc. are intended for slow-presentation use. To quote the Godfather: you gotta make em an offer they can't refuse. When it comes to small soft plastics and light jig heads are the way to go! Even 1/16 oz may be too heavy whereas 1/32 or 1/64oz is what the fish ordered. The heavier the lure, the faster it has to be retrieved.

An important consideration when it comes to jigs is hook size. Too small a hook = missed hook sets; too large a hook = a subdued lure action and fewer hook sets. My preference when casting small plastics is #4 and #6 and at times, #8 (smallest). 1/0 or larger is fine for bass, but not panfish. The hook should come out 1/2 or less of the body length. The hook must always be checked for sharpness. A file is as important a tool as pliers are to pulling hooks out.

Proper lure speed coupled with subtle lure action = pissed-off fish. Sometimes curl tail grubs are a bit too much with all that tail flapping whereas a Crappie Magnet double straight tail grub is perfect 95 % of the time. Even just a 1" grub body with curl tail removed is excellent with its subtle, darting sliding, almost in-place, action. It can even be used under a float using a 1/32 oz jig with #6 hook.

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And since I'm a big noob for real panfish fishing, when do I need to set the hook? First slightest nibble or movement of float? Let em take it under?

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First of all, LURES FIND FISH! - or at least the ones that give their location away. Once fish are located, fish strike - or not. In your example fish did strike. Great! All the above may have helped hook them but with one caveat: NO HOOK SLAMMING FOR ME!!!
Fine for a 2 lb bass or 3 lb pickerel, but not for smaller mouth panfish averaging 3" - 12". My hooksets follow the rule that: less-is-best and let the panicked fish set the hook for you - initially - and then add pressure with rod tip raised and off to the side for deeper hook penetration.

It's rare that I don't average at least 20 - 30 fish but in spring or over 60 fish using the above all year in water 50 degrees or warmer. It works for me and will always be my preference when it comes to finding & catching. I've posted photo examples on Crappie,com over many years and a search of my username will point you to them.

Luck's got little to do with it (except finding lunkers). It only takes a little skill, but a lot of discipline to consistently find & then catch fish.
Good luck using the above to change the way you fish.

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Originally Posted by fish_4_any

How would I fish a dropshot in this situation? I am guessing that the water is close to 6 feet deep where I can cast to and the anacharis almost touches or touches the surface. Can it work in this scenario?

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different situation than I thought . Forget drop shot . jmo