I grew up fishing the gulf of mexico, mostly redfish and drum. Don't really know much about freshwater, beyond some river fishing for cats on the Frio. I'm kinda at information overload trying to find a basic setup, but I know there are goats with lots of freshwater experience.
Tomorrow is supposed to be a cool cloudy, possibly foggy morning. I'm fishing a small reservoir with small mouth bass, trout, cats, and a multitude of small sunfish. Most of it is weedy, the winds pick up nearing noon and churn up the mud a bit. I'm probably fishing for a few hours between 5 and 9am. I've got a huge number of lures for saltwater, but I think many of them may work for freshwater. A couple of the poppers and minnow baits are pretty close to the bluegill fingerings I've seen on the banks. I tried for a few hours in clear sunny conditions transitioning to muddy as the wind picked up, the other day. I had a couple of strikes and a whole lot of chase as I neared the shore with a big spoon, but nothing hit hard.
I'm mostly looking for recommendations on what I should set my leaders up like, what lures would be best for the conditions, and how to work the poles. Haven't done a lot of pole work, I've almost always done a straight reel through a school visible on the surface.
Edit, I've got a second pole I'd like to throw out for a cat. Haven't done still water cats before, I've mostly just dropped it off a waterfall or something. Recommendations on that would be cool too.
Sort: Top
[–] ImReallyHighBut 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago (edited ago)
Learn how to Texas rig and drop shot
Jig head with swim bait or worm. Can't go wrong with a pumpkin senko.
Lipless crank bait for casting
A frog for top water or something like a heddon torpedo
Spring bass should be near shore for spawn then back to deeper water until temp rises.
Use braid for thick stuff. Black marker the last 3 feet.
For cats just gob a bunch of worm on a 1/4 ounce jig and lob it on the bottom with a bobber.
[–] [deleted] ago
[–] ImReallyHighBut 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
;) have fun. I've been slamming em on white jigs with white zoom shads
[–] buckyone 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
Don't have experience in your area but I know a setup that works on almost every kind of bass, or cats for that matter. 6-8 lb test a hook with a carolina rigged crawler with no weight, we call it fly lining. Caught many fish this way. 61/2 -7 ft rod I prefer a fast action with a lite tip. Cast let it slowly hit bottom keeping a finger on the line to feel a hit on the drop. When it hits the bottom let it rest, pop it lightly letting come back to bottom. Pop, tighten line slowly till you work it in. 7 out of ten hits will come as soon as you lightly pop it. Fun was to fish my biggest largemouth bass was just over 13lb fly lining.
[–] [deleted] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
[–] buckyone ago
I fish the salt too and it is different, carolina hook a live night crawler without a swivel or weight. Just a large night crawler carolina hooked. Truly fish candy. It is similar to bouncing a rubber worm., just fished a little slower. Offshore we use macs, sardines and anchovies fly lining. We use plugs, worms, crank baits etc. sencos but the crawlers are the most consistent.
[–] tony2shirts 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago (edited ago)
Bass will scoop up anything that is in their food chain... Google jigs for bass and you should be golden, just learn how to pull the jig to mimic real bugs and where they like to hangout.
[–] JesusRules ago
Early morning or dusk when they hungry, when I was young my favorite was a fake rubber worm that was scented. Fish near the lily pads but don't get snagged.