Bazinga

Sep 16 2023

Joshua Massoud

Keeper

Member Since :
2021
Number of Posts :
487

Reservation Number : 37142
Property Name : Double A Lake
Reservation Date : 09/15/2023 All Day -
Total Fish/Sizes : A Bunch up to shy of 5lbs
Lures Used : Frog/Spinnerbait/Swimbait

After a very hot summer and being cooped up because of being sick, I was very much looking forward to this trip to my favorite lake in the club, and fortunately, AA did not disappoint. Got a bit of a late start from sleeping in, but otherwise made good use of my time and I didn’t take long to figure them out.  Fall has always been my best time for numbers of fish, and AA delivered on that front. 

  1. Hit the water around 9:45 and was off by 3. Water temps were right at 80 and the water was super clear vs. when I fished it in May and the water was a bit dingier.  Wind was sometimes present but light, otherwise relatively glassy conditions.   It was cloudy for the most part with some spots of sun.
  2. Was a bit worried that the water had flipped from the ‘cool’ weather and rain and that the fish would be sluggish.  That was not a concern. 
  3. I’ve fished here alot so I generally work my way around the weed edge first, then start hitting offshore spots on my second run. 
  4. I over a dozen on a frog over the lightly matted coontail.  Most of my strikes were just off the edge of the mat or in indents.  Frogs are hit or miss here, but felt like the fish were in the upper part of the water column based on the conditions and I was proven correct.  I felt like a buzzbait would have been too noisy given the light wind but the mats were pretty sparse and it would have made for a good alternative otherwise.
  5. More schools than normal were firing up, but I noticed alot of the fish busting were smaller.  I started throwing a 1/4oz jig head on a  3” pro blue red largo shad and got immediate hookups on some of the smaller ones.  While fun, wasn’t quite what I was going for.  
  6. Circled around a bit and scanned and saw larger pings at 15ft than what I was catching.  So I upsized a bit and put a 1/2oz jighead on with a 4” version of the largo and counted down to 12 before starting my retrieve, then slowed down a bit.
  7. I still caught some smaller ones but in general (and more often than not) I found better fish this way. 
  8. I also threw a 1/2oz spinnerbait with a 4” trailer/larger willow leafs and got some good fish.  
  9. Still, you come to AA for the big ones so I tried using a jig and the new 6th sense panorama on a TRIG along the middle ridge to see if I could find the larger fish, but to no avail. 
  10. Tried my usual deep cranking spots, but got a bit tired as I had been sick all week and put it down before I really gave it a chance.
  11. As usual, there were fish that when they hit, I thought were monsters, but nope – just good old stronk, midsize AA fish.
  12. Had to switch my grab hand as my thumb started bleeding.  I never hate that problem if it happens. 
  13. I didn’t have a terribly long time to fish as I had to head back to Dallas, but I was tempted to toss a glide and a line-through.
  14. Fish were in outstanding condition.  Alot of them had ‘teeth’ which is a hallmark of younger fish and all of them were at 100% relative weight or higher.  Alot of shad grouped up evident on both my downscan and 360.   I will say 360 really makes it easy to find them on a lake like this.  No problem figuring out what is what.  
  15.  I caught my fill quickly and had a great day.  I’ll be back soon enough and hopefully full of energy to go after the larger fish.

Sep 16 2023

Glen Armstrong

Slot Fish

Member Since :
2018
Number of Posts :
115

I hope you are feeling well now. Was it Covid? I’m looking forward to our trip.

Sep 16 2023

Joshua Massoud

Keeper

Member Since :
2021
Number of Posts :
487

Originaly Posted By Glen Armstrong

I hope you are feeling well now. Was it Covid? I’m looking forward to our trip.

I'm good now and yes, it was a case of the Vid. For whatever reason, this was the worst of the three times I've had it.  

Looking forward to our trip as well, should be able to get on them the same ways. 

Sep 16 2023

Mike Nicoloff

Slot Fish

Member Since :
2021
Number of Posts :
177

Nice report, thanks!  How is the action on the Panorama?  I have been watching it since it was a prototype and thinking drop shot or free-fall would work best. 

Sep 16 2023

Joshua Massoud

Keeper

Member Since :
2021
Number of Posts :
487

Originaly Posted By Mike Nicoloff

Nice report, thanks!  How is the action on the Panorama?  I have been watching it since it was a prototype and thinking drop shot or free-fall would work best. 

It helicopters on a TRIG  like a tube would and I did catch a 1lber on it.  As thin as it is, I like it on a big shot, TRIG, or larger shakeyhead like I use with flukes.  I didn’t spend that long with it this week on my home lake or at AA as there were better baits for when the water turns in the fall.  I tried weightless the other day near docks and the sink rate was a little too slow and it gets lost in the wind and then pulls up too quick when you straighten your line out – so I’m thinking tiny TRIG weight, nail weight, or bellyhook weight. 

It is similar to the skip shad by livetarget or bellows shad but softer than the former and firmer than the latter (enough to withstand multiple strikes).  Both the skip shad and panorama have a big issue for a bait that can sit in one spot which is that they smell like plastic factory cancer which is why I am still favoring the bellows shad which has been nothing short of my best flipping bait all year, even if it costs and arm and a leg.  I recommend some baitfuel for those applications where you are letting it sit for that reason. 

I also think the bluegill color pattern will come into play more in the spring on beds, though I wish they had better color patterns for stuff that isn’t shad. I wanted the crappie color but it sold out by the time I even logged on to see the bait was live.  Gizzard shad colors are nice but at 5” minimum and being highly visible, it isn’t threadfin-like and the sunfish colors are less than ideal.  All that said, I am no Josh Jones and I don’t use AT/LS atm, so take whatever I wrote from the source – which is an above average fisherman. 

Sep 16 2023

Mike Nicoloff

Slot Fish

Member Since :
2021
Number of Posts :
177

Originaly Posted By Joshua Massoud

It helicopters on a TRIG  like a tube would and I did catch a 1lber on it.  As thin as it is, I like it on a big shot, TRIG, or larger shakeyhead like I use with flukes.  I didn’t spend that long with it this week on my home lake or at AA as there were better baits for when the water turns in the fall.  I tried weightless the other day near docks and the sink rate was a little too slow and it gets lost in the wind and then pulls up too quick when you straighten your line out – so I’m thinking tiny TRIG weight, nail weight, or bellyhook weight. 

It is similar to the skip shad by livetarget or bellows shad but softer than the former and firmer than the latter (enough to withstand multiple strikes).  Both the skip shad and panorama have a big issue for a bait that can sit in one spot which is that they smell like plastic factory cancer which is why I am still favoring the bellows shad which has been nothing short of my best flipping bait all year, even if it costs and arm and a leg.  I recommend some baitfuel for those applications where you are letting it sit for that reason. 

I also think the bluegill color pattern will come into play more in the spring on beds, though I wish they had better color patterns for stuff that isn’t shad. I wanted the crappie color but it sold out by the time I even logged on to see the bait was live.  Gizzard shad colors are nice but at 5” minimum and being highly visible, it isn’t threadfin-like and the sunfish colors are less than ideal.  All that said, I am no Josh Jones and I don’t use AT/LS atm, so take whatever I wrote from the source – which is an above average fisherman. 

Great info and thanks for the detail, appreciate it!  I am a sucker for soft plastics and good marketing, and have a couple packs on order and will definitely give your tips a try.