Mantua Report.

[Springbuck1]

I had a pretty good day at Mantua, Wed, 5/5.  I usually find nice big gills this time of year, but often in VERY shallow water, and very spooky. 

 I was free-lining worms in very shallow water, along with a few mini-senkos.   Very clear water and they could see me coming way out ahead, most of the time.  I do mean shallow.  I caught fish lying in sunken branch tangles in less than 8" of water, and out to 2' or a bit more later in the day.   It's a specialized technique.  Forget casting, not an option, and sneak, sneak, sneak. 

I took home five small bass around 10", and let 8-10 over 14" go, along with 24 bluegills over 8".

[Anglinarcher]

Nice, good to learn new techniques.

[Springbuck1]

The thing is, they move to that really shallow water to sun themselves. even a small bobber or weight freaks 'em out. In a few more warm days they'll be fine hanging out in 2-3 feet, and a little easier to reach, esp. for kids.

[Mildog]

Ever try a Bream Buster? Basically a modern take on a cane pole. Usually telescoping long lite rod no guides. You tie a 4 to 6 foot length of leader then whatever lure or bait to it . Then just reach out and dip it into the pockets where the fish are holding. It is very stealthy so you don’t spook them and can stay pretty far away with the length of the rod. I think mine is about 12 feet long. They make longer ones even. Used it for many years at pelican and caught tons of bluegills that way. You can reach out over weeds and fish very small pockets without spooking fish, you could not very easily fish those spots with conventional gear. I caught a bass on it at Pelican that’s was about 4 pounds once, I thought for sure it would break it but it handled it. Mine are made by Lews and Zebco, Sportsmans Warehouse might sell them or you could find online they are a blast to use and very effective. They used to be pretty cheap not sure about now.
Mildog out

[Tin-Can]

Ever try a Bream Buster? Basically a modern take on a cane pole. Usually telescoping long lite rod no guides. You tie a 4 to 6 foot length of leader then whatever lure or bait to it . Then just reach out and dip it into the pockets where the fish are holding. It is very stealthy so you don’t spook them and can stay pretty far away with the length of the rod. I think mine is about 12 feet long. They make longer ones even. Used it for many years at pelican and caught tons of bluegills that way. You can reach out over weeds and fish very small pockets without spooking fish, you could not very easily fish those spots with conventional gear. I caught a bass on it at Pelican that’s was about 4 pounds once, I thought for sure it would break it but it handled it. Mine are made by Lews and Zebco, Sportsmans Warehouse might sell them or you could find online they are a blast to use and very effective. They used to be pretty cheap not sure about now.
Mildog out

    "Bream Buster"    geeezzze   I haven't heard that term since I left Georgia in 1999.      

[Springbuck1]

Ever try a Bream Buster? Basically a modern take on a cane pole. Usually telescoping long lite rod no guides. You tie a 4 to 6 foot length of leader then whatever lure or bait to it . Then just reach out and dip it into the pockets where the fish are holding. It is very stealthy so you don’t spook them and can stay pretty far away with the length of the rod. I think mine is about 12 feet long. They make longer ones even. Used it for many years at pelican and caught tons of bluegills that way. You can reach out over weeds and fish very small pockets without spooking fish, you could not very easily fish those spots with conventional gear. I caught a bass on it at Pelican that’s was about 4 pounds once, I thought for sure it would break it but it handled it. Mine are made by Lews and Zebco, Sportsmans Warehouse might sell them or you could find online they are a blast to use and very effective. They used to be pretty cheap not sure about now.
Mildog out

 I have a couple of similar poles; a $12.00 Walmart version, and a very nice 20' bamboo job given to me on my LDS mission to Taiwan.  They are a blast. I have used them at Mantua from my kayak at the edge of the willows, etc.

On this trip, I would have struggled with the length in the trees, but I don't love say, a 5' ultralight rod, either. Some places I wouldn't have been able to lift a fish, and I was spooking fish at 20 feet or more, too. Normal casting is tough, too. Lots of creative flipping, skipping, and lot's of failed casts. .

I laugh at how much I put in to this two-day-per-year affair, sometimes, but it's usually my first good spring trip of the year. I'm usually packing an 8 ft, 4 wt fly rod I sawed the reel seat off of, trimmed off half the line guides, and I tape one of those goofy "under-spin" reels to it. I used to have a 7' ultralight rod with an ultra-fast taper starting halfway out its length, so the tip was really responsive and bendy, but I left that on the roof of my car once, and it was sucked into the void.

[TubeDude]

I have been "dip-sticking" for decades from my float tube.  Started by stringing a fly rod with mono and dropping small jigs into cover for crappies and other panfish.  Graduated to buying some of the long "crappie rods" now sold by B &N rods and other manufacturers.  I think you can get them up to about 16 feet.

While living in Arizona and dip sticking for panfish I often found myself in hand-to-fin combat with a largemouth or a big ol' catfish.  So I started making long rods on stout blanks and deliverately dunking large baited jigs for larger fish.  Caught channels over 10# and successfully rassled some flatheads in the 30# range.  Anything bigger usually just powered back into cover...dragging and my tube with it.

Making careful vertical presentations with a long rod is a good way to finesse finicky fish in the shallows.