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Got the weekend chores done early and hit Newman around 4pm. I was in my 12' alum w/37lb electric and fought the wind most of the afternoon. I was hoping I'd have enough charge to get back to the launch after having to use the motor so much to fix and hold position. My anchor was in my big boat.

I headed south from the public launch and hit my first LMB under a dock near the SE corner drop-shotting a purple w/neon green claw crawdad. I had done a lot of reading about drop-shotting on this site and today was my first time trying it, so it was pretty exciting to land one first time out!

I worked that area for an hour or so, hitting & missing a few but getting nothing to the boat. I headed toward the middle of the south end of the lake along the pads and there I had better luck tossing a neon perch pattern Rapala. I had to rip it pretty fast to keep it above the weeds. Just about the time I'd be sick of pulling weeds off the hooks I'd get a fish and I'd decide to stick around a little longer. Hit 3 4 more bass and then ended up over a school of perch and couldn't keep them off. Funny thing though, they'd dive as soon as they'd hit, so more than a few times I pulled up this huge glob of weeds and you couldn't even see the fish in the middle.

I was hoping to bring home some perch and/or crappie for the table, but didn't catch any crappie and no perch of any size worth keeping. A day like today restored my faith in this lake. I hadn't had much luck the last couple of times out. I'll be back next time with my big boat so I can explore more of the lake and dropshot more docks.

I owe this day to the bunch of you guys sharing your knowledge, tips & tricks on this website! I'm a dropshot believer now! ;-)

TroutCowboy

8/11/2008 8:27:00 AM

CORRECTION: "Hit 3 4 more bass" should have read "Hit 3-4 more bass". A 34-fish day would have rated higher than a 4!! ;-)

kevinb

8/11/2008 8:39:00 AM

Nice work out there and great report.

iPodrodder

8/11/2008 11:44:00 PM

Dropshotting a purple and green plastic crawdad? Last thing I would have expected. Good work though!

If you want to get really serious about dropshotting, look up WCCT. They'll get you covered.

TroutCowboy

8/11/2008 11:52:00 PM

I wouldn't know a good combo of color/bait being a newbie and all, I just saw some guys tossing purple & green curly-tailed worms when I entered the area. Since they were getting some action on them I poached their idea and the only thing I had in that color combo was the 'dads.

I nearly forgot to thank Crappie007!! He gave me the plastics among a bunch of others! Thanks 007!

PaulReilly

8/13/2008 12:25:00 PM

TC - Nice work, and good report. iPodrodder - the dropshot rig can be used with all sorts of unconventional baits, although the crawdad it traditional fished with jig, t-rigged, etc - The dropshot is really still be defined. I've seen guys use swimbaits, lizards, live baits, grubs, etc with quite a bit of success.

You have to remember, there is always the first guy who figures out a combination that kills them. Bass on heavily pressured lakes get so sick of seeing the same friggin lure tossed at them, I think unconvenial is the way to go sometimes. Seriously, who took wacky rigging seriously 5 years ago? Or monstrous swimbaits - now commonplace nation wide. I think the more experimenting we do, they better fishermen we become.

Nice Catch TC - keep those reports coming!

crappie007

8/13/2008 1:19:00 PM

Your welcome, I was happy when I read your report. Your on your way! Keep those pictures coming.

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