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  1. #1
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    Tech for fishing through floating leaves and debris

    I finally found some shad/bait schooling and busting up in the back of a creek that is within a decent distance to my house...the main issue is access from the shoreline (due to limited footing and lots of trees and shrubbery). The limited access will be handled in short order as I will be picking up a nice Jackson Mayfly kayak, however the main issue is that while the baitfish/shad were being busted up on, there were very few topwaters in my box that would come through the floating debris cleanly. I also tossed a spinnerbait with DW blades and it also picked up a lot of junk from the water.

    I'm thinking a swimjig, a smaller buzzbait (with Keitech swimbait body only), weedless rigged tubes, weedless/weightless soft plastic jerbaits, and perhaps a smaller sized buzz toad? Any thoughts and recommendations would be appreciated.

    TIA - Van.

  2. Member DrewFlu33's Avatar
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    #2
    Soft plastic jerkbait would be the first thing I'd try! Rig it on a spinning rod so you can cast it further...at least I can cast them further on a spinning rod, and I feel like that's fairly universal. I actually have a MH spinning rod I use for bombing soft jerkbaits and snapping tubes. The BBB Jerk Minnow is the best soft plastic jerkbait on the market in my opinion, for whatever that may be worth. A little denser than a Zoom Super Fluke which I think must be the reason it casts so much better and is so much easier to rig on an EWG without it wanting to spiral.

    Also agree with trying a swim jig and toad. Buzzbait doesn't seem likely to make it through leaves, especially if you couldn't get a spinnerbait through.
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  3. Member 06 SB's Avatar
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    #3
    Double Fluke rig…


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  4. Member
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    #4
    I need to try the double rig. Never thrown it before.
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  5. Member Walkabout7781's Avatar
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    #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Tidewater Bass View Post
    I need to try the double rig. Never thrown it before.
    I tried it one day...it was a hot mess, and I haven't done it since. Tried two circle hooks on a DS rig...same result. Very glad I didn't try three.
    Don't bother me, I'm screwing for virginity.

    I killed a 12-pack just to watch it die.

  6. Member
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    #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Walkabout7781 View Post
    I tried it one day...it was a hot mess, and I haven't done it since. Tried two circle hooks on a DS rig...same result. Very glad I didn't try three.
    Yeah man, I thought the same thing. If I tried this tech, I would add some weight to the bottom fluke for sure.

  7. Member kcg202champ's Avatar
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    #7
    +1 for the donkeyrig (double soft jerkbait rig)

  8. Member
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    #8
    Soft jerkbait, a hollow bodied frog, and a buzz frog could all work well for this situation. And yes the donkey rig is very productive. Sure is fun when you hook up a smallmouth and have other chasers. Easy doubles

  9. Member
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    #9
    Quote Originally Posted by basscat tyler View Post
    Soft jerkbait, a hollow bodied frog, and a buzz frog could all work well for this situation. And yes the donkey rig is very productive. Sure is fun when you hook up a smallmouth and have other chasers. Easy doubles
    One of the techs I used on the Cal Delta was a popper with a trailing small white feathered streamer attached to the back hook or belly hook. I wonder how this would work with a buzz toad/buzz frog - only one way to find out.

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    #10
    I'm with Drew Flu 33 and use a single jerkbait in that situation. I use Zoom products but I will have to try those BBB. Is the tail vertical or horizontal on the BBB Jerk Minnow ? It looks horizontal. In late autum where I am, when it gets cold enough we have an ell grass die off. For smallmouth, a jerk bait is the only lure that makes it regularly enough through that stuff that floats on the surface.

  11. Member Skeeterbait's Avatar
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    #11
    I fish a lot of lipless cranks in the fall. When I get into an area with pine straw and leaves floating, I stand near the edge of the boat and put the rod tip under the water during the retrieve. It greatly reduces the trash the lure picks up. I have also experimented with putting single hooks on baits this time of year. It helps a limited amount but it seems the line picks up most of the trash and it slides down the line to the lure. Getting the line under the surface does a better job of reducing trash picked up.


  12. Member
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    #12
    Has anyone ever run a Fluke & Tube Donkey rig combo before? If so, which bait works best on the back and which one on the front hook?

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    #13
    Punch rig with a shad colored skirt and texas rigged plastic bait

  14. Dumbass bilgerat's Avatar
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    #14
    Common seasonal dilemma up here in the fall for me on my favorite lake where shad are the main forage. I have two strategies- when possible try to cast past the debris into clear water beyond your strike zone and more often than not the bait will stay relatively unfouled for the retrieve. Second applies to hardbaits and I’ve touched on this before replying to another thread of yours which is replacing trebles with inline single hooks. Lipless baits in particular benefit from this as they have a narrow body which makes cutting cleanly through surface debris easier and they are IMO one of the best shad imitators out there. Neither approach is foolproof but successful enough to make them a viable option.
    Ranting incoherently

  15. Member ou1dadgumit's Avatar
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    #15
    id be throwing the scumfrog bigfoot. floating buzzbait in a frog body.
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  16. Member
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    #16
    Quote Originally Posted by bilgerat View Post
    Common seasonal dilemma up here in the fall for me on my favorite lake where shad are the main forage. I have two strategies- when possible try to cast past the debris into clear water beyond your strike zone and more often than not the bait will stay relatively unfouled for the retrieve. Second applies to hardbaits and I’ve touched on this before replying to another thread of yours which is replacing trebles with inline single hooks. Lipless baits in particular benefit from this as they have a narrow body which makes cutting cleanly through surface debris easier and they are IMO one of the best shad imitators out there. Neither approach is foolproof but successful enough to make them a viable option.
    Yessir, I am really looking at this option as most of the shad chasers this fall have come on a lipless or DW spinnerbait. I went out this past Saturday and unfortunately, the bait and chasers have moved out of the creek and near all of Percy Priest was devoid of any visible shad activity...now I gotta find them again lol, fall transition in full swing.

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    #17
    Quote Originally Posted by kls2020 View Post
    Punch rig with a shad colored skirt and texas rigged plastic bait
    A punch rig for floating leaves?

  18. Member
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    #18
    Biffle Bug texas rigged with a pegged 1/8 or 3/32 weight in gizzard shad, threadfin shad or smoke/silver. Swim it a little and kill it. Actually works great anywhere that's got some shad.

  19. Member DrewFlu33's Avatar
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    #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Real L View Post
    I'm with Drew Flu 33 and use a single jerkbait in that situation. I use Zoom products but I will have to try those BBB. Is the tail vertical or horizontal on the BBB Jerk Minnow ? It looks horizontal. In late autum where I am, when it gets cold enough we have an ell grass die off. For smallmouth, a jerk bait is the only lure that makes it regularly enough through that stuff that floats on the surface.
    Yep, it's horizontal.
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  20. Member
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    #20
    Quote Originally Posted by willwork4fish View Post
    Biffle Bug texas rigged with a pegged 1/8 or 3/32 weight in gizzard shad, threadfin shad or smoke/silver. Swim it a little and kill it. Actually works great anywhere that's got some shad.
    Wow, kool option here that I wouldn't have thought of.

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