tikki vs. tube

[jglassguy]

Sure,
it was bound to happen and I am not surprised that it did..my magical tikki stick today didn't impress the smallmouth on the lake at all lol
We worked over rip rap for a 1/4 mile stretch on the causeway, saw many bass chasing shad, but figured the smallmouth would feed on the rocks...I knew the north side had more wind, and prob better conditions, but we worked under the brige and steep steep rip rap, holding the boat in 20 plus feet of water and casting

Arkies craw and the stinkin' tikki, not getting anywhere.
You could see that the softball size rip rap changed to basketball size boulders 9 ft straight down.
So ,I go back to faithful tube jig, watermelon seed ZOOM
and of course it lodges under every rock there is but generally you can snap your line back a foot and pop it out,......still no takers on it.
We got to watch a 2 lb largemouth loose the battle this time chasing a 3 inch shad across the top of the water,
booked on over to some coves on the west side with just tons of trees in the water, lots of crappy anglers in there, but no bass..
So..my theory is that that tikki is killer on ponds, still don't know if its magic or not to smallies...
Anyone else out there have a certain tikki color for smallies? ???

[profishermenkid16]

JB, I use a Yamamoto senkos and the Yumdinger for senko fishing smallmouth because they were available before the tiki sticks were.For small mouth, I use a Yumdinger ozark smoke color, and in the Yamamoto I use Black/chartreuse flake , black/ purple flake, cinnamon(brown)/purple flake. The Ozark Smoke produced my biggest smallmouth so far which weighed 6.4 lbs. I hope this helps, also the smallmouth prefer a 5"-5.5" senkos over a smaller 4" senko. The only thing I can think of is the fall rate is different.I fish them on 17 lb test stren high impact mono, stay away from flourocarbon lines, it sinks snagging you before the fish can be hooked.I have found that heavy mono keeps the bait fall rate slower.so it fishes easier. I hope this helps, P N J

[coolman]

The red shad Tiki's usually work for me that is the preferred color in any type of worm here in central florida i have noticed Hula and BF02 both use the color red shad also and live within minutes of me!


Oh yeah one more thing fish the tikis unweighted cuz they will fall a lot slower leaving them in the SZ! They fall a lot slower than Senkos as it is but more time in the zone is more chance for a fish!

[jglassguy]

Thanks ! ;D
I knew I'd find some guru's in here...lol
thanks again PNJ and chris

[jeffman]

JB,

Next time you have trouble with Tiki sticks or tubes, try a UNWEIGHTED trick worm. This is going to sound like a weird color, but I have the best luck on smallies with glimmer blue, which is almost opaque and gives off a light blue sheen similar to live shad.
It is not a bait to throw in the wind, or one that you can work fast, but you can throw it out and watch it slowly gyrate to the bottom. (And so can the smallies)

JackL

[NorthNJangler]

My question is, if you saw the bass where chasing shad, why didnt you change to a spinnerbait or crankbait or something in a shad color??

I understand you want to try out lures, but you had solved the puzzle but didnt act on it

[jglassguy]

We did, I picked up my buzzbait rod and also the spinner bait rod, plus the other rod had a hot n tot on it, and Denny threw at it too...everytime we see shad working we throw at them

[profishermenkid16]

Alot of times they will not hit a spinnerbait or topwater bait. I use a weighted super fluke with a fair amount of sucess. You need to leave it set up, because its all on timing, they will not wait for you to rig up before they are gone. Your patner needs to be rigging a second rod up as you are retrieving the first fish so you can cast back in as soon as the first fish is in the boat.Its frustrating , but you and your partner have got to decide who will be rigging and who will be casting in a split second. I hope this helps. P N J

[FishinMommy]

I would try flukes too since you got clear water and all and try a wacky rig worm. When you see the bass breaking imediately cast to them.