I know the world calls them Large Mouth, but we grew up calling them Big Mouth bass
Background:
At the begginning of spawn, I found and old Ox-Bow lake that appears to have been the remnants of the old San Jacinto river, and it appears to have been there for a VERY long time. It's about 5 feet deep at its deepest part, 125 feet wide at its widest part, and is about a quarter mile in lenght (if straight) and forms a giant horse shoe, thus the term Ox Bow. Anyways, I decided to wet a hook in it one day just to see if there was anything in it and within 45 minutes I caught 6 (LM) bass, one of the bass about 14 inches long, and a crappie the size of a dinner plate, all within a 50 yards stretch that may have covered a tenth of the lake. I didnt know if there were any fish in the lake so I didnt bring a stringer or anything, and just let the fish go. All of the fish were very skinny, like the lake was over stocked. The water is clear, but the undergrowth of vegetation is crazy. Of the 5 foot depth, 4 feet of it is covered with algea, weed, and hydrilla. You couldnt see the bottom if you wanted to, it's that dense with undergrowth. The lures I used were a Rebel Minnow and a Rapala F-7 floater, both top water baits that I fished like a wounded minnow with twitches and darts. The water would explode with hits.
Current Issue:
Now that spawn is over, I have seen a noticeable drop in the number of "Hits" that I have gotten, which is understandable because spawn is over. However, I cant seem to find a lure that works consistantly now. I have tried Spinner Baits, Crank baits, Jigs, Jig Heads, Jigs with trailers(Chigger Craws), Spoons, Worms, EVERYTHING, and I cant seem to get consistant hits with them. The only thing I can consistantly catch fish with is the live minnows I buy for my boy to use. The crankbaits dive straight into the hydrilla and come out a tangled mess, the Jigs of all types fall straight into the hydrilla and weeds and come out covered in garbage, the spinner baits work good staying in the top foot of water but they have produced absolutely nothing. The wounded minnow lures still produce every now and then, I'm just a little confounded as to what approach I could be using that might produce better results. Does anybody have any ideas as to what I could possiblky try out, or what has worked for them? Trying to figure out what lure and presentation to use on a lake that is so cluttered with undergrowth can be a little intimidating, especially considering they arent feeding so aggresively right now.
Big Mouth (Large Mouth) Bass Issue
I also fish my rubber worm Texas rig with a small ROUND split shot instead of a bullet sinker..when the bitre is off I go light ..You could also go trick worm in those weeds ..no weight..works as a weedless jerk bait..
