No Reaction Baits In Still Water?

[JeziHogg]

A lot of tips people give are what works for them, that doesn't necessarily mean it will work for the next guy. 

[Catt]

All lures are reaction lures...bass sees lure...bass reacts!

[BuckMaxx]

clear water is  fluke water...

[pbrussell]

All lures are reaction lures...bass sees lure...bass reacts!

This had me laughing pretty good.

[Jucas97]

I generally try not to listen to all the hype, I find what I like and use what the bass tell me.

[gallowaypt]

I caught a couple tonight on dead still water with a chatterbait.

[Paul Roberts]

I wouldn't put any hard and fast rules to it. Likely he was offering general advice, and overstated things. Going subtle is good general advice but not all there is to the subject.

 

IME the issue with clear water, bright skies, calm surface is spooking the fish in the first place. It can be darn difficult not to clear the path of your retrieve of fish with every cast under such conditions, at least in shallow water. So.. the talk tends to go toward light and natural, or fish deep. And this is good GENERAL advice.

 

But I've tried some (not entirely convenient) things that have illuminated some ... reality. In frustration from spooking fish under such conditions I've at times taken to casting way high and off to one side of sighted fish, then walking or moving the boat to bring the retrieve over the fish. This has worked. And they took just fine. I found that I could not let the line saw through the water's surface though, and found a tandem SB to work well (in white/silver to obscure it in the surface film) that I could bulge just beneath the film offering enough resistance to hold the line up off the water. A bulged tandem is a commonly used "reaction bait", but one that can scare the hell out of bass under high vis conditions. But when applied appropriately, it can still catch them.

 

KVD introduced the idea of using speed (and flash) under bright conditions, not giving the fish a good view of your lure. It does work, but better under some surface chop I find than through a calm surface, unless you can throw mighty far.

 

I do find it easier to just reach for the light spinning rig and jigworm -preferably translucent- for those flat sunny periods that come and go during the day here. I almost always have one with me. But it doesn't always save my butt. Which brings up the second problem with those conditions: Lures can look really stupid in "swimming pool" conditions. I've had days when I've watched sighted fish ignore or spook at my best and most subtle worm presentations, I watching those bass eyeball my ultra-cool 5" slim Roboworms in those complex cool translucent color schemes they have, and say "Nope."

[Raul]

I´m not going to promise you it will work all the time, clear to crystal clear water, still mirror like surface, sunny cloudless skies can be very tough conditions to fish but difficult doesn´t mean you should rule out baits and techniques. Some of my most successfully memorable topwater/jerkbait fishing days were preciselly with those conditions, it doesn´t mean that all days with those conditions were successful, others were quite lousy, but I would have never known if I hadn´t try.

 

 

So, reaction baits for still water ? -----> why not ? you may have a purty fun day if you try.