Fishing Forum

howdy folks -
I've run into a bit of a conundrum with my fishing lately and was hoping someone might have some ideas for me. Bare with my longish post...

I fish mainly around Montreal, lately a lot on Lac des Deux Montagnes, a lake which the Ottawa river flows into. This lake is extremely weedy but seems to have a bit of everything in it. This past weekend, I was out for the day and pulled in 2 pike, 4 smallmouth bass, 1 small largemouth bass, 3 rock bass, 3 sunfish, 13 perch, 4 whitefish, 2 channel catfish, 1 walleye, and even a carp! Not to mention the 2-3 large pike who cut the line. Not a bad day all an all.

Gear wise - this was all done using a Baitfish Image Walleye Spinners (Gold) w/ single hook, with a worm, weight, all on 8 pound test. The rod was a 6'6" Shimano Scimitar Med/Hvy with fast action, and a Shimano Sahara 2500 spinning reel. I'd cast, let it sink and draw back extremely slowly, occasionally letting it sit. I fished mostly in 5-15ft of water.

My question / problem is - I want to get away from the worms, away from the sunfish, small perch, sunfish, etc... etc... etc. I like the 2-4 pound bass, the 3-6 pound pike. I've tried crank baits (white, blue, purple, perch 2-4", 0-6ft deep), buzzbaits, flip jigs, plastics (all colors), topwaters all without luck. I go back to the above mentioned spinner and worm, and I start getting hits again.

Any ideas on what I might try to dissuade some of the smaller stuff - but continue to be productive with the bass and small pike I'm after?
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All the other baits you mentioned have their time and place to get fish.
. Buzzbaits- work best morning at dawn or before and after dark. White or black.
.Spinners- You want a slight ripple on the water to use it, but not too much. White with blue.
.Crankbaits- use in cooler temps in the spring after iceout and again in the late fall. Jointed Rapalas in brown and black.
.Topwater- Only for the first two hours of daylight or at night. Can work if a school are top feeding during the day. Poppers,sammys in white again or perch color.

Try your worm weightless with out the spinner to mix it up. When you can upgrade, try a 7' rod. Shimano of course.[]
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Sounds like a nice day, and yea gdn has it right.
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Use a bigger worm man. Big bait, big fish. [] And if you're catching fish with your current set up, I personally wouldn't change anything. Catching fish means you're doing something right. You're going to have bycatch if you're fishing an area with multiple species.
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I use a 6" senco worm now to keep the small boys away. Tarpon4me has a good suggestion.
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hmm ill have to try that 6in senko, i normally use 5in
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