I fished a private pond this weekend that I fish about 4 times a year with my Mom. It's a place I can take her to catch fish without her having to work too hard.

Usually we just dropshot small worms. That's easy for her. The average fish is between 1 and 2.5 lbs with the occasional 3 or 4 pounder. This weekend I threw some trout plugs and bigger baits, because I can. }( None of the plugs produced, but the 'Rodent' by Bettencourt Baits did! Nothing huge, but my best 5 on the rodent went almost 16 lbs. All these fish were really long, but skinny. There was literally hundreds, if not thousands of baby bass in the water.

There is no structure to fish and lots of moss on the bottom, so whenever I saw the bass chasing the fry, I would just pull the Rodent through real slow on top. It's an awesome bait for realism!

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/2340.jpg


http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/2341.jpg


http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/2342.jpg

Attachment #1, (.jpg file)
Attachment #2, (.jpg file)
Attachment #3, (.jpg file)

Hey Deacon here(we met in Santa Rosa when you came up here for the Spring Lake tourney). Man you get some nice quality fish. Nice to see you have some nice places to go. You have to make your way up here. The bite is off the hook in all the lakes around here. Nice looking fish. I caugth a fish on a lucky craft 70 ghost minnow that was the exact same length as the lure. CRRRRRRRAAAAAZZZZZZZYYYY.

Deacon

Deacon, what's up man? I'm gonna be up at Clear Lake for the Open in May, so I know I can't afford to come up before that. Are you gonna be at the Open?

Very cool :)
Wish my mom would come along on some of my fishing outings.
Maybe then she would stop telling me I fish too much..:D

That's a hairy beast! I've heard great things about the Rago Rat. Have you ever fished the Rago Rat, and how do they compare?

Nice basket of five, average over 3 lbs. Could almost place in a tournament with those fish. Gotta love those small ponds.

Steve, I haven't fished the Rago Rat yet. I've heard that the Rago is pretty loud though. The Rodent is a real subtle and natural bait. If you're trying to attract those real sketchy bass by using realism and a subtle approach, use the Rodent. If you want that 'in your face' come and eat me because you can't stand it approach use the Rago!

The video I've seen of the Rago looks good. It puts off a nice wake to draw attention.