Shallow Grass and Swimbaits

[FireKracker50]

Hello Guys

I am a new member to this forum. Thank you for all the great info i have been able to read through my research browsing this forum.

 

I have been throwing small (4-6") soft plastic swimbaits for several years at Dale Hallow Lake, KY for smallmouth, at Lake Cumberland, KY for Striper, Rough River Lake, KY for Hybrid Striper, and on KY Lake Ledges for Largemouth.

 

I recently made my first trip to Wood Creek Lake, KY a 672-acre reservoir that was impounded in 1969 where our state record largemouth (13 lbs., 10.4 ozs)  was caught. I spent most of my life assuming it was a fluke that the record came from there and that it was probably just a 1 off. But after my last visit i saw that it has the best largemouth habitat of any other lake in the state. And is one of the few lakes in KY i could see really having a viable largemouth swimbait bite besides KY lake.

 

I have done allot of reading but i was hopeful that maybe someone could take the time to read my lake analysis and help me breakdown the lake and determine what my best choice of baits would be. 

I plan to purchase two new swimbaits to start out and possibly more in the beginning of next year. 

I may also be purchasing at least one new rod as well.

 

Even though its a small lake it varies drastically from one end to the other. It is a man made lake but not a flood control lake. They do not control the lake level by the dam. There is only a spillway for overflow. I will break the lake down into 3 sections. This lake contains a large percentage of largemouth in the 4-6# range. I would like to target fish in the 6lb+ range.

 

The north end of the lake has 8-10' visibility with almost no weeds. The depth in the channel is about 160ft. The banks are 45deg taper. So casting distance from bank you are setting between 20-30' deep. Most of the shallow cover is flooded timber. The Dam is riprap. And other areas have good rock/boulders for cover. The creek arms in the north end are just as clear as main lake and maintain that visibility all the way up to only a few inches deep. There is a large amount of flooded timber in the 3'-10' range. There seems to be fewer fish in the north end than other areas of the lake. 

 

South End of the Lake is the most stained and visibility varies based on time of year and weather, but averages around 18" i would say. The mouth has 6' of visibility but decreases the further back you go.There seems to be the largest quantity of fish here. The banks have a slower tapper and the deepest it gets is about 30'. Casting distance from the bank you are in around 15' of water. The is an inside weed edge at approx 3' deep. And an outside weed edge at approx 10-12'. There are allot of creeks that run into and out of this area. The water will muddy up towards the back of this arm with rain.

 

Mid-Lake / East Fork is fairly clear by my standards. There is probably 4'-6' of visibility at the mouth and 2'-4' of visibility in the back. I attribute this creeks visibility to the vast amounts of grass. The back of the creek has grass mats on both sides of the creek. And grass tapering out all the way to the channel. There is no defined edge. And most all of the grass is about 1' below the surface. Mid creek there are small patches of mats 10-20yrs across. There is no defined grass edge. Grass is about 1' below surface out and then gets more sparse out towards the channel. At the mouth of the fork and all the mid-lake there are small mats but primarily submerged grass. There is an inside and outside grass line. The grass line ends right on a drop where the depth goes from around 8-10' to about 25' deep.

This area of the lake seems to have the largest size fish as well as good numbers. 

 

I am not fluent in grass terminology. We do not have many grass lakes in KY due to all of our lakes being flood control lakes. All the grass at this lake appears to be the same type. There are some patches of reeds and cat-tails along the banks, but in the water it looks to be primarily milfoil. I could be completely wrong about that but thats what im guessing based on what it looked like. 

 

In order to effectively fish this lake with swimbaits what would be the suggested baits to purchase. I will probably be purchasing two in the near future. And possibly another 1-2 first part of next year. 

 

I have attached some Navionics files of the lake.

[FireKracker50]

I forgot to add. The lake has threadfin, gizzard shad, and pan fish such as crappie and bluegill. But those are the only baitfish that i am aware of. 

[M4TT]

welcome to the forum!

 

first question would be what's your budget? 

 

As for which baits to purchase, I like to toss whatever the target fish are eating. My lake is stocked with trout and has shad as well so i only throw trout and shad baits.

 

i suggest you find out what baits you want to toss first. From there, purchase a swimbait rod that can throw them effectively. I've heard good things about the Daiwa DX rod. Seems to be the ideal beginner rod for the money. 

 

Also, Mike Gilbert is doing a podcast today at 7:10pm CST on straycasts.net about swimbait fishing techniques. Definitely worth a listen. 

 

good luck! 

[BrhodesBassin]

I'm fairly new to swimbaits myself but I can tell you I have had my best swimbait days with river2sea s wavers and gantarel Jr's. Neither of which will break the bank

Edited November 2, 2016 by BrhodesBassin

[cloteal_cast]

Shallow grass you gotta have a slammer or rat of some kind, BBZ won't break the bank for sure.

[FireKracker50]

Thanks for the info thus far. the MS Slammer was definitely on my radar. 

I have a St. Croix 7' 10" Swimbait Rod rated 1-4oz. Once i buy some new baits if i find it cant handle them i will upgrade to a stouter rod. 

I like the BBZ as a wake bait I have the small one. I have heard the Slammer is a little more weedless is why i was thinking it. 

The s waver and gantrel i have been watching videos on and like them as well. 

There are no trout in this lake. Primarily threadfin and gizzard shad, bluegill and crappie, a few yellow perch, frogs, rats, small birds/ducks, things like that are what i have noticed while on the lake. 

Remember i will be keying on 6lb+ and realistically about 10# is close to as big as you will see in this lake. i'd love a new record. But Im trying to be realistic here. So fish in the 6-10# range is my target area.

 

What about:

• Huddleston HuddGill in crappie color ROF5: https://www.huddbaits.com/store/bluegill
  I like it because of it not having an exposed hook.
• Matt Lures Floating Strong Shad either 7.5" or 8.5": http://www.mattlures.com/strong_shad.htm
• MS Slammer - Should i go with 7,9, or 12"

[FireKracker50]

Also i dont have to focus on the shallow grass if i should be focusing on the upper lake around the dam with swimbaits. Im open to any suggestions. I just havent been able to get on any fish around the dam yet. 

[jhoozie1]

In regards to the strong shad, might want to consider getting the extra slow sink. That's what I have and it is very easy to get it to wake on a slow-moderate retrieve. It will give you more versatility than the floater.

 

However, if you plan on dead sticking/crawling the strong shad and want it to stay on top, obviously the floater is what you want.

[FireKracker50]

thanks for the advice on the strong shad

[waynem]

 

Thanks for the info thus far. the MS Slammer was definitely on my radar. 

I have a St. Croix 7' 10" Swimbait Rod rated 1-4oz. Once i buy some new baits if i find it cant handle them i will upgrade to a stouter rod. 

I like the BBZ as a wake bait I have the small one. I have heard the Slammer is a little more weedless is why i was thinking it. 

The s waver and gantrel i have been watching videos on and like them as well. 

There are no trout in this lake. Primarily threadfin and gizzard shad, bluegill and crappie, a few yellow perch, frogs, rats, small birds/ducks, things like that are what i have noticed while on the lake. 

Remember i will be keying on 6lb+ and realistically about 10# is close to as big as you will see in this lake. i'd love a new record. But Im trying to be realistic here. So fish in the 6-10# range is my target area.

 

What about:

• Huddleston HuddGill in crappie color ROF5: https://www.huddbaits.com/store/bluegill

  I like it because of it not having an exposed hook.

• Matt Lures Floating Strong Shad either 7.5" or 8.5": http://www.mattlures.com/strong_shad.htm
• MS Slammer - Should i go with 7,9, or 12"

 

The Huddleston Huddgills are pretty hit-or miss on how they swim.  If you get a bad one it will be a nightmare trying to get it to swim right.  I would suggest you get a package of 3:16 Weedless Rising Sons and a package each of Owner Beast 10/0 hooks both unweighted and weighted.  That will give you the ability to fish shallow over the top of grass (unweighted hook)) as well as rolling it deeper on the weighted hook.

 

I would not bother with the 7" Slammer.  The 9 and 12" Slammers are proven baits.

 

I would say a XSS Strong Shad will be more versatile than the floating version.

[brgbassmaster]

I only have one input. I saw you said its probably the most viable swim bait bite lake in kentucky besides kentucky lake, Im telling you right now thats not true. I fish lakes in northern michigan super small lakes to good size reservoirs and natural lakes. And every one of them I've had a good swim bait bite. Dont limit yourself. There is a lake that we found on a map that we had to paddle our yaks up a stream about 1/2 mile the only way into this lake and this lake is completely featureless giant sand bowl and i was catching 4lbrs on an ms slammer. Then my two biggest were  6 and a little over 6.5lbs and buddies were laughing at me for throwing these baits in michigan but i caught big fish. Dont limit yourself.  I used to limit my self but now i will throw a swim bait anywhere anytime and expect bites, and big bites at that. This year I'm focusing on trout eaters out here in arizona can't wait to see what i hopefully pull outta the lkaes here.  good luck bro 

[Moleman]

Personally, i would spend my time in the upper parts of the lake. Big fish don't like to move, and shallow grass facts don't give them that luxury. Im not saying that you can't find them there, because there definitely are big ones in it, but these fish get a lot of unnecessary pressure from the average uneducated fisherman. On the contrary, steep rock banks, leave the bait fish no where to hide, create an easy bottom to trap bait on if the bait is running along the bottom, allows the fish to easily move up in the water column with out having to travel far, allows the fish to de-stress by diving deeper to get away from the fisherman( this means that when the fish gets back on there spot they are much more likely to be willing to eat and not be in the paranoid state they were in before, and finally big fish like hard bottom. Don't get me wrong, there are times when the shallow bite it were you have to be, but if you put in the time with the deep stuff you will be rewarded. I also recommend you pick up In Pursuit of Giant Bass, the book breaks down deep water fishing like no other.

[Campobassmaster]

All these guys hit it on the nose at least for what big bass should do, throw them everywhere, big bass go against the norm a lot of the time too because they don't get big for no reason, especially if it's pressured. Put in time on the water but i would do what moleman said

[FireKracker50]

I hope I didn't come off as an uneducated or novice fisherman, I'm just a roockie to big swimbaits. I have been fishing for 20+ years. Fished competitively for 12 years. Everything from college circuit, flw college circuit, BFL, ABA, and Renegade which is the largest team circuit in my region. Ive won both at college level as well as locally. finished top 12 at national championships almost every year and top20 in points on 200+ boat team circuit consistently. Not on here to brag or on the contrary come off as a new angler. Just want people to understand not a novice angler but I am very open to any and all advice because I've never done this big swimbaits thing. And I'm anxious to learn. Thanks again for all the help.

[Moleman]

I hope I didn't come off as an uneducated or novice fisherman, I'm just a roockie to big swimbaits. I have been fishing for 20+ years. Fished competitively for 12 years. Everything from college circuit, flw college circuit, BFL, ABA, and Renegade which is the largest team circuit in my region. Ive won both at college level as well as locally. finished top 12 at national championships almost every year and top20 in points on 200+ boat team circuit consistently. Not on here to brag or on the contrary come off as a new angler. Just want people to understand not a novice angler but I am very open to any and all advice because I've never done this big swimbaits thing. And I'm anxious to learn. Thanks again for all the help.

I didn't mean to call you a rookie, infact you seem to understand a lot more than the average person. What I am saying, and Matt Allen touches on this, is that there are a lot of fisherman out there that fish a bait wrong or mess up on a presentation. This makes large bass aware that not very thing that comes into their feeding window is edible causing them to scrutinize everything that they do see. After realizing all of the tournament class fishing you have done, I think its imperative that you understand the difference between tournament fishing and big bass fishing. A lot of the places that you find tournament class fish, are areas void of fish over 8 pounds most times of the year. Big bass like to be loaners, and if you think that if you fish big baits in areas where you have caught 2 and 3 pounders before you usually wont get the benefits.  When you find a good big bass spot, you wont get bit on it with regular lures much, infact that perfect point that you never catch fish on is probably THE spot on the lake for a giant. If you fish a spot that looks good, but you never get bit on it, its probably because one GIANT is living on it.