Having Trouble Fishing a Small Philly Lake

[fishingprodigy]

Hey guys, I was wondering if you can help me out on a small shallow lake I've been fishing with little success. I live in Philly, the water temp is 80 right now, air temp ranging from 72-80. This lake is very shallow, the deepest water being 6-8 feet and its covered with thick vegetation throughout most of the lake.

I've tried throwing frogs over the weeds (lots of strikes, about 15 but I've yet to land one), pitching jigs in holes (only 2 small bass caught), spooks (best result, about 30 strikes, 8 bass, all small), and jerkbaits in open water areas (again no large bass).

I've heard that there are a lot of snakeheads in that area, maybe they've drastically reduced the largemouth populations. Anyways, thanks for your help.

Mike

[MIbasser]

sounds like you need to work on your hook sets. Next time you go and throw a spook or a frog, but a blindfold on after it hits the water.

[mrmuskie5]

Have you been catching snakehead? usually if they have taken over a small pond it now is a snakehead pond and you would be catching them left and right. As for your hook up prob, it does seem as if you are getting a bit antsy. I you arent throwing that frog on braid i would do so. Also give the fish time to fully engulf the frog ( 1...2...wreck her day). you may want to try thowing some texas rigged creatures with flapping appendages and a light weight and buzz it across the grass and let it flutter down in the holes (kind of best of both world you have tried so far). also a awesome technique i use on small pond it the weightless trick worm, rig it on a 4/0 owg hook and just work it like a jerk bait just sub surface. well good luck bud hope you kill em!

[lilmule]

Floating frog hookset is quite different,dont set at sound or even sight of a bass taking .let it take it down then tighten line up then set like count 1,2 3 then set.
Anything sooner one gets air,and at times they just dont take them,having legs not body and hooks inside mouth.
Can also try a different type of frog made of rubber or plastic like a horny toad its like a buzzbait set immeadiately.

[keithdog]

What rod reel line combo are you froggin with? When I'm froggin, I have a baitcast outfit with a 7'3" heavy xtra fast rod and 50 pound braid. And I take my time setting a hook after a strike. By the time I set the hook, the fish has the bait and is starting to move away with it. I don't often miss a hookup. There are days where they strike but dont inhale. Nothing much you can do about that. Here is another thing for you to try. Instead of a frog, try a weedless spoon. You can go with the 1/2 oz weedless black Johnsons Spoon for example. Add a trailer like a skirt or pork frog and your set to go. My personal favorite weedless spoon is made by Northland and is call the Jaw Breaker spoon. It comes already rigged with a skirt and ready to go. The advantage the spoon may give you is the added weight. It will ride lower in the weeds than a floating frog which may allow the bass an easier target to strike. It will also sink into any open pockets, and if a bass was watching it skim over the surface, and suddenly it drops in front of his eyes, BINGO! Fairly heavy tackle is required for this type of fishing. Hope this helps.

[WatterBoy]

+1 on the JawBreaker idea from Keith. You can also add various trailers to the JB as well.

[fishingprodigy]

Thanks for the tips guys, I have an order from bassproshops coming in with some lizards and flukes that I'm going to rig weedless and drop into holes and drag across the weeds. I think I'm too antsy when frogging, I usually set the hook after about a second once I see the bite. I think I own a weedless spoon that I've never used that I can try too.

Right now I'm using a 6 6 med heavy rod on a baitcasting reel with 12lb fluorocarbon. I know its a bit light for frogging but I only own 1 setup so I tried to pick something I can use to pretty much do anything. Hopefully it'll stand up to those bass digging themselves into the weeds. I've been striper fishing at the schuylkill river too and have caught an 8 pound 10 ounce hybrid striper so I think my gear can handle frogfishing.

[joedog]

Great posts, MIbasser very useful tip and actually kind of fun to do! I taught grandkids ( 5 and 8 year olds frogging using this method. I sometimes think they are better at it then I am and frogging is one of my favorites.