Everyone has their methods, so I don't like to tell you what to do.
Just something else to try.

quick tips, local events and tournaments

Largemouth are still hitting great. About 7:00am to 9:00am and 3:30pm to 6:30pm. The water is colder, so I like to use a white mid-size to small spinner with gold spoons. Very slow retrieve, just enough to keep the spoons spinning. Let it hit bottom every third to fourth cast. After about 5 minutes I change the size then color. If I get no strikes, I switch over to a jig head, a little darker then the water, with a dark colored skirt and top it off with a salamander not as dark, but close, to the skirt color. I let the jig hit bottom and wait, leaving little slack to feel any sluggish hits. Then a slow crank, about a 2 second count, as my retrieve. Using the pole tip to jump the jig off the bottom in a non-random motion. Up left, crank, up right, crank, up right more, crank and so on.

I've gotten my two largest largemouth this year this way, and that was from the shore. As in Piney'e Points, the link above, the lake, ponds rivers and streams of New Jersey, are in many shapes and sizes. So if I do not feel like hauling out the boat, or just want to go fishing for an hour, I choose a lake or pond I can cast to a good looking spot. Either across the larger part or to a structure I know of. Structures I like would be a ledge or cliff in the water, a stump or tree mostly in the water or even submerged, a bulldozer someone told me about or any thing a fish can use to hide itself from the sun, predators or pray. We all know bass like to supersize their pray, this is why we always try top-water. But in New Jersey, in my experiences, I always go back to spinners or rubber baits. These two types of bait have brought me more "Fish-on" then any other artificial bait.

Please send me your stories, pictures or techniques at admin@fishingSJ.com, and we'll use them on the site to help others in their quest for the one that didn't get away...

South Jersey's fishing information site.