early season bass fishing in the midwest

[ifish2much]

i live in illinois. i have been fishing for bass since the ice came off. i am tring to figure out what to use and where to find them. the lake i fish is at the deepest 6 feet. it is a little high from the rain so i tried soft plastic crawlers and other soft plastics. no luck. so i tried some live shad i caught in my cast net. i got 2 nice four to five pound bass but the hook didnt hold in the right spot and as soon as i got them to the surface id look at the fish and he would either drop the bait or spit the hook. they never jumped so i know that the were still to lazy to jump this early in the year. i just want to know if anyone has any helpful information. the air temp is currently about 50 degrees. the pond is a little dirty from the previous rain and the bass are definetly sticking around them. but i want to know which lures to use to catch some of these bass. i know for a fact that there are bass in this pond pushing 10 pounds.

[hans79]

i grew up on a lake in northern illinois and after ice out i would only fish with four lures. first is a spinnerbait usually white and would work it slow over the clump of weeds. also used a white mepps aglia. sometimes the mepps would work the best. i would also throw a shallow crank bait like a manns minus one or the rattletrap. sometimes the most deadliest was a four inch tube. take a four inch tube and insert a softplastic trailer like you whould use on a spinnerbait and use a wide gap worm hook. the extra weight in the tube makes it work like a jerk bait and will glide through the water. with those lures you should be able to judge the mood of the fish. good luck

[dahlberg]

Hi IF
Stick with what they're eating, but go to a circle hook and you'll likely catch them all!
best,
L

[Raoul_Duke]

[quote="dahlberg"]Hi IF
Stick with what they're eating, but go to a circle hook and you'll likely catch them all!
best,
L[/quote]

Larry,

Do you still set the hook the same way with a circle hook?

[openmeplease2]

ay larry have you ever been fishing in n.c