what do I buy?

[seaphantom]

I know this is a broad question, but I'm going to a tackle store tomorrow with 75 bucks.
To spend less time deciding and to buy better stuff, I turn to your advice for this time of the year.

(maybe you should know the conditions of my lake)

• clarity - 3-4ft
• temperature - 65 F
• cover -

-brush and small docks in shallow water
-utility carts off a point in 10ft water
-wooden steaks in 10-15ft water
-christmas trees and brush in 15-20ft water

• lake structure - 1-30ft deep. creek arms. inlets and points. man made (w/ dam). 40 acres.
• problems - almost no riprap/rocks, no weedbeds, lake overpopulated with small fish

lol, I've not caught one dern fish over 3 pounds out of here YET
I'm willing to bet no one can go to my lake and catch a 4lb or bigger
ANYHOW, any advice will be appreciated

I'll put up some pics if I catch a nice one

thank you

[kenkinser]

1. does the lake have a 4 lb bass.
2 Culpurt worns in red shad,blackshad do well for me in numbers fish. i like 6" over 7 1/2"
3. Tube Baits in browns, green's
hope this helps

[skeeter944]

invite about 20 friends over to the pond and catch all the bass that you can. take out everything up to 15'' and throw bass over 15'' back in.

[texasbasser]

i wouldnt do that skeeter, because then there will be much less fish. besides, at least he's catching bass. they will grow.

[bassintxlady]

I would go with senko's or tiki sticks...shad,watermelon with black flake, baby minus 1's, I use lunker sauce on them...the bass seem to like it....maybe throw a jig around those docks there....anyway this is my 2 cents worth....good luck .....now shut up and fish!!!!......

[Fishie1]

small fish and docks....shakeyhead time or dropshotting....try these on the brush piles...drop them down to them and fish it....watch the bassmaster on t rock....if your lake is clear try some of those techniques.....senko fishing is always a last resort and I only do it if I have lots of time.....lol. I would take some small cranks and hit the docks in the morning...get some baby 1 minus or some small strike kings in a couple of depths and get some of those skakeyhead rigs and put some finese worms on them and hit the docks with a spinning rod......if that doesn't work go out and c rig some points or channels with some french fry type baits or finese worms...dropshot these areas also....might get out a deep crank and do some point hopping....

[ToPwAt'R GuY]

I would try jigs,dropshot rigs,stickworms,and tubes. Suspending jerkbaits would also be something I'd try.

[flbassman]

Originally Posted by texasbasser

i wouldnt do that skeeter, because then there will be much less fish. besides, at least he's catching bass. they will grow.

Wrong. Absolutely wrong. They will not grow. They will remain small until the bait population goes down, and then all but a handful will die. Skeeter had i right. Sp, buy some beeetlespins and roostertails, and every time you go oout, take a few casts, and pull some in the 10-14 inch range...Or have some people over and have a fish fry. DOnt take all the small ones, b/c they make great food for bigger bass.

[jasonR]

I would go with 4" senkos (weightless) on light line. I like 8lb Flouroclear. Also, try the 3/16 oz strike king blade (tandem)...they have been catching some good fish for me. After you whack em with the 4" senko and the small blade, move up to the 5" senko and try that and you should get a better grade of fish. Heavier line for that one, of course. I use 15lb flouroclear.
Good luck!
J

[skeeter944]

Originally Posted by flbassman

Wrong. Absolutely wrong. They will not grow. They will remain small until the bait population goes down, and then all but a handful will die. Skeeter had i right. Sp, buy some beeetlespins and roostertails, and every time you go oout, take a few casts, and pull some in the 10-14 inch range...Or have some people over and have a fish fry. DOnt take all the small ones, b/c they make great food for bigger bass.

thats what i did with my friends pond,and now we have lots of 2lb spotted bass with a few 3lbers mixed in,it used to be 10'' bass with a few 1lbers mixed in.

[flbassman]

^^^^^^^^^^Yup. Happens a lot in small ponds.

[Jolly]

^^^^^^^^^ Yep. Those smaller fish eat all the bait not allowing any to get over the median size in the lake. We have a 5 acre pond that is turning into quite a little lake. We have a huge fish fry every summer by taking all the fish smaller than 12" out and eating them. Then, every two years we restock with shad and bluegill. 5 years ago, we had no fish over 5lbs, last year there we caught 2 10's and an 11 out of the pond. The only way to increase size in fish in a pond is to increase bait or decrease compitition.

[links_man2]

Here is a link to an news release from Florida Fish & Wildlife. Basically says they changed Karick Lake to Catch & Release only to create a "trophy" lake. What they got after 6 years was a lake full of 15" and less fish and just a few that were 18" & larger. Found the overpopulation resulted in lots of small fish that ate up all their food (bream).

http://www.floridaconservation.org/w...kbassregs.html