Some fishing days you may just want to enjoy being on the water and expend minimal effort while you fish for bass . If you were looking to do the easiest , lazy , do nothing lure set up in spinning or bait casting set up - what would it be ? This would be what you would do casually strolling down a bare bank , sitting on a dock or slowly drifting on a calm lake , etc. which has minimal hang up hazards : Here is what comes to mind for me :
1) Senko (wacky rigged weightless or T-Rig with VMC Drop Dead 1/16th oz. weighted hook) ... Cast and let fall with a pop or two , reel back in and repeat .
2) Ned Rig ... Dead stick or slow stop & go retrieve .
3) Trick Worm ( T - Rig weightless or with a light bullet weight ) ... Slow stop and go retrieve , reel back in and repeat .
4) Drop Shot (using a Z-Man Finesse Shadz) ... Cast out and hold relatively still with an occasional gripping of the rod handle ; ZMan shadz will do the work for you .
*What would be your easiest , expend the least energy , relaxed set up for bass'n you would turn to when the mood calls for it ?
Golden shiner on a slip bobber
Trolling spinnerbaits over the weed tops; don't laugh, it works!
Dead sticking
Mike
We call it the “sandwich technique”. Find a big gravel/boulder flat, cast out a tube jig on a spinning rod and let out some more line, depending on the depth of the flat, close the bail and grab a sandwich. Let the boat drift along, and grab the rod when it starts thumping. Works great when you want to have a break but still want to fish, especially when big smallies are cruising flats looking for crayfish or gobies.
It varies for me. I really enjoy throwing jigs and t-rigged Senkos. But although the retrieve is slow, I sometimes find this technique to be exhausting, because of how focused you must be on the strike. Therefore, I sometimes prefer to throw moving baits to relax.
Late fall tube dragging for giant great lakes smallies.
Split/slip shot finesse worms, bass hook them selves a no brainer.
Tom
I call it "The Dead Ned". When it's pretty calm, I'll drop my Ned rig to the bottom and crank it up a crank and let it sit there while I'm fishing something else. I've caught a ton of fish doing that and almost lost my rod more than once.
On 5/1/2019 at 11:38 AM, Bluebasser86 said:I call it "The Dead Ned". When it's pretty calm, I'll drop my Ned rig to the bottom and crank it up a crank and let it sit there while I'm fishing something else. I've caught a ton of fish doing that and almost lost my rod more than once.
I’m definitely going to try this next time.
Interesting replies - all good AND they catch bass !
Haven't done this for a long long time but it was troll a crank bait along the rip rap on the upper Columbia River to find areas that held smallies. Was amazing how much "dead" water there was. Would mark places on GPS and then go back...
Not a technique I did often as all you did was hold onto the rod and watch the depth finder....kind of boring until smallie woke ya up.
Gitzit...designed as a "do nothing" lure.
Cast, light up a smoke, pop a top and leave it alone.
Sorry, I can't relate. Even though I have fished a lot of the techniques mentioned, I can not relax while fishing no matter the bait. I am on high alert every time there is a bait in the water. Now there are some slow presentations but my brain won't let me relax.
Trick Worm or Senko. They're mostly for specific targets, so the bass will bite on the drop or very soon after.
But I like to cast & retrieve. It's the reason I got away from crappie and catfish. They're boring.
I went offshore with my bro-in-law and nephews a while back. We spent about $650 and basically dropped cut bait 100 ft and dragged up whatever bit. Good fight, but not fun. Wasted $$$. If I get in a saltwater boat again, it will be for inshore species.
On 5/1/2019 at 4:48 AM, Jleebesaw said:Golden shiner on a slip bobber
^^ This ^^ Caught 25 5-pounders in 4 hours doing that on Lake Toho while on vacation.
On 5/1/2019 at 10:38 PM, Glenn said:^^ This ^^ Caught 25 5-pounders in 4 hours doing that on Lake Toho while on vacation.
Now THAT'S a vacation !
A-Jay
Float & Fly.
Charlie Brewers Slider fishing. Catches bass, panfish etc. Slow, do nothing fishing.
On 5/2/2019 at 1:40 AM, Mobasser said:Charlie Brewers Slider fishing. Catches bass, panfish etc. Slow, do nothing fishing.
this is it...………….....
On 5/1/2019 at 8:33 PM, the reel ess said:But I like to cast & retrieve.
That's me. I can't just sit there waiting. I also like to move around.
There are many 10-15# grass carp where I fish. They aren't hard to catch and they put up an excellent fight. Problem is the only way to catch them is to let your bait sit for a long time. On the rare occasion I do fish for carp, I'm throwing artificial for bass with other rods and wander away from the carp rods. It's great fun to fight a carp, but the waiting is like punishment to me. It's like saying sitting in jail is 'relaxing'.
I've been casting plastic lizards onto some beds lately, and even that bores me after a while, even though I've been catching a few.
On 5/1/2019 at 11:38 AM, Bluebasser86 said:I call it "The Dead Ned". When it's pretty calm, I'll drop my Ned rig to the bottom and crank it up a crank and let it sit there while I'm fishing something else. I've caught a ton of fish doing that and almost lost my rod more than once.
Wish I could do that, but my state doesn’t allow that unless I pay for the two fishing pole fee!
To the topic, float with a nightcrawler when targeting pan fish.
bass fishing wise, anything dead sticked, is lazy for me.
My laziness is a hook and a 3/4" chunk of cheese hotdog, no weight needed.
Also:
What I call the 1 handed retrieve - cast out with one hand and use that same hand to retrieve the lure in by palming a baitcaster and using your middle finger to spin the star drag instead of handle.
On 5/1/2019 at 4:39 AM, ChrisD46 said:Some fishing days you may just want to enjoy being on the water and expend minimal effort while you fish for bass . If you were looking to do the easiest , lazy , do nothing lure set up in spinning or bait casting set up - what would it be ? This would be what you would do casually strolling down a bare bank , sitting on a dock or slowly drifting on a calm lake , etc. which has minimal hang up hazards : Here is what comes to mind for me will do the work for you .
*What would be your easiest , expend the least energy , relaxed set up for bass'n you would turn to when the mood calls for it ?
The easiest, expend the least energy type of bass fishing I have done is hire a guide for peacock bass fishing. The guide did all the research on where to fish, caught the bait, and even told me where to cast. I give him credit since I caught many peacock bass that day and got a couple new spots to fish but it felt like cheating since I felt he did most of the work in putting me on those spots. Because of this I no longer hire guides for bass fishing and instead catch my own fish 100%. I do all the research where to go, decide what to use, and catch my fish without the help of anyone else. It is a good feeling when you catch a 8 pound or better bass from public waters and you know it was all you that was responsible for catching that bass!
Ned
On 5/1/2019 at 7:29 PM, TOXIC said:Sorry, I can't relate. Even though I have fished a lot of the techniques mentioned, I can not relax while fishing no matter the bait. I am on high alert every time there is a bait in the water. Now there are some slow presentations but my brain won't let me relax.
Same here. If I ever got to a point where'd I'd be asking the OP question....well, I'd probably go fishing for catfish or bluegill. Just doesn't seem like bass fishing. Even trying to fish a jerkbait with 10 second pauses seems like a lifetime.
Related.... I was on a fly-in walleye trip to northewet Ontario last summer, where we troll 95% of the time, very limited casting the other 5%. There was a new camp caretaker there last year and he kept telling us about how he was averaging 8 or 9 inches bigger than ours any day, every day. So, one evening, I went out with him. He dropped anchor in a narrows and put leeches on and sat...and sat....and sat.....sure enough, the big 'eyes came through for a couple hours and they bit. Even though I caught the 5 biggest fish of my week there....I hated it.
Carolina rig- We fished a tourney and it was really hot out, mid to upper 80's at launch.
We passed a team and the older guy in the back said next time we see them he might be taking a nap.
Fast forward a couple hours and we see the same team again
Older guy in the back is in the seat, hat over his face, fishing rod between his legs and propped on the outboard
My dad says looks like your getting that nap
Older guy says ," Nope, still fishing"
They ended up catching the lunker for the day and the older guy explained to us back in the day this is what his dad called the carolina rig ... still fishing'. He said he never knew if it meant Yes, I'm "still" fishing or he was being "still" fishing