What Do You Throw When You Hit Your "panic Button?"

[Shoop05]

You are fishing in a relatively tough tournament. You need one fish and you only have 1 hour, it's panic mode time. What lure/setup do you choose? What kind of water do you look for? Ex. laydowns, vegetation, humps, riprap etc.

 

Just want to see the different thought patterns!

[quanjig]

Keeper or kicker?

[J Francho]

I grab a jig rod and start looking for shallow cover. There's always a couple of shallow fish.

[flyfisher]

I am not a tourney fisherman but when I want to avoid the skunk I go with a fluke or a weightless Texas rigged stick bait and head for shallow vegetation. Of course that is summer time behavior but I seem to be able to always pull out one or two keeper size bass from a grass bed or lily pad field regardless of the time of day or weather.

[aharris]

If I need a 5th fish, I grab a spinning rod with a 1/8 oz weight and a zoom speed craw and hit the banks.

[MIbassin]

Spinnerbait in shallow vegetation or a t-rig

[Teal]

I dont fish many tourneys, but tourney or not when its crunch time and things arent working or when im looking for a big fish, i take out my jig rod and my one of my go to jigs. (Either a green pumkin with orange or an Okeechobee craw color) and i got look for stumps and hydrilla or boat docks that have water willow and hydrilla in and under them.

[lazeebum]

Fat Albert grub, 3 inch.  Sometimes I will go smaller and fish a two inch grub on a lighter head.  I don't fish tournaments, this is what I do to avoid getting skunked.

[JigMe]

baby rage craw T-rigged, and start pitching at covers at shallow water.

[Shoop05]

Sorry guys, I shouldve been more specific. Now I can't put every situation up here, ex water color, temp, etc. How about 1 choice for a keeper, and your 1 choice for a kicker?

[Shoop05]

My panic for a keeper is a Zoom Big Critter Craw (Grn Pmpkn or Black and Blue depending on water clarity) on a 1/4oz shaky head with a rattle in the craw, and hit every piece of visible cover I could find.

 

My panic for a kicker is a 1/2 to 1 ounce Strike King Flippin' Jig tipped with a zoom big critter craw as a trailer, same colors as above, and hit the sloppy stuff or really thick stuff on my flippin' stick.

 

When in doubt, I head for the bushes!!!

[papajoe222]

If I'm looking for a kicker and it's post spawn through fall, I break out the buzzers, hard or soft depending on the cover I'm targeting,

If I'm still looking to get my limit, as much as I don't like to, I break out the spinning gear and smaller tube baits and head for some docks. 

Of course, if it's pre-spawn or spawn time, a whole different approach could be necessitated to fill out my limit, but I'd still give the buzzer top billing for the kicker as you can cover so much water with it in that short time frame.        Yea, I'm old school.

[Teal]

Sorry guys, I shouldve been more specific. Now I can't put every situation up here, ex water color, temp, etc. How about 1 choice for a keeper, and your 1 choice for a kicker?

Ok...

Keeper - Jig/trailer

Kicker - Bigger Jig/bigger trailer

[quanjig]

Keeper: baby brush hog 3/16 pegged, get shallow, hit everything I can paying close attention to spots that previously productive.

Kicker: deep, 1/2 or larger football jig and look at some ledges or 1/2 scrounger with disco green fluke chartreuse dipped tail way off points targeting suspended fish.

[11justin22]

Keeper smaller ribbon tail worm like the zoom u tale on a 1/8 shakey head. That helped me fill my limit several times last year. For a kicker jig with a paca craw.

[11justin22]

Should have said also that if I'm going after a keeper and its that late I'm going to get a Kentucky.

[roadwarrior]

Senko

 

 

 

 

[tbone1993]

If  my pattern turned on late and most of my fish came off one bait I will continue with that pattern to  finish that hour off. It doesnt make sense to try something that I have not caught any fish on all weekend vs a bait that has caught me fish. But if you my pattern fell apart ( weather changed etc) then I would switch up my bait. For a kicker I would go with the biggest jig I could get away with. 

[DINK WHISPERER]

I grab a jig rod and start looking for shallow cover. There's always a couple of shallow fish.

This exactly^ never been to a lake that didn't hold a few nice ones in shallow cover. 

[Felix77]

Keeper = senko

Kicker = Magnum Shakey Head

[webertime]

GP fat ika. Thick junk in shallow water to 25' on rocks they get bit.

[ww2farmer]

Depends.............if it's down to a hour to go, and all I have is for rats, I am pretty much out of it...........at least in 99.9% of the tournaments I fish. But I'll be dipped if I am not brining a limit in, if only to save face. So I just pick up the dropshot with a small plastic, and make a milk run of spots  I KNOW I can catch a 12" fish on.

 

On the flip side, if I have 4 fish, and they are good ones, and need to cull a smaller one, or just get another bite to be in contention.........I usually try to just grind it out doing what I am doing, and hope for the best. After all , what I am doing has already put a couple decent ones in the boat.

[wakeeater]

i grab a 1/4 ounce black/blue jig with a black&blue ragetail craw and start flipping docks.  for both keeper & kicker.

[jhoffman]

Kicker - Jig - RipRap on a point adjacent to the main channel

 

Keeper - Drop Shot - Trick Worm, Road Bed or Creek Channel

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Keeper: jig or a fluke in shallow wood. Money.

 

Kicker: jig on deeper brush piles or the swimbait. Go big or go home.