Creature Baits ?

[rboat]

I never really use creature baits even though I have several bags of them. My question is when does a creature bait with all the appendages and whatnot work better than say a regular curly tail worm? Thanks.

[WRB]

When the bass wants them. A curl tail worm get action from the tail motion, creatures have several appendages to move and create action. They will not catch any bass if kept in the tackle box. Spring; Pre spawn to post spawn are good time to give them a try.

Tom

[Phil_M]

For me, just this past weekend a Gambler Little Otter was preferred by the fish over the curly tail worm.  The fish wanted movement, but weren't hitting spinnerbaits, flukes or topwater.  I made the switch from curly tail when I realized the fish were nipping at the tail and not inhaling it and swimming off.  Yeah, the curly tail was drawing strikes but not with same gusto as the creature bait.  I guess sometimes they just need that little extra wiggle/vibration/size..whatever it is.

[ww2farmer]

I fish them year round...........or at least our "year".........that is from the time the ice melts till it freezes again. I catch a lot of big fish on them, and personally I think the compact, yet bulky profile attracts a "better" average size fish than a worm.

[Catt]

I'm a Texas Rig Freak because I love plastics!

For the last 2 or 3 yrs creatures have slowly edged their way into my top two, second only to a worm.

I cast em, flip em, pitch em, punch em, 24\7\365!

Small water, big water, deep water, or shallow water!

[Loop_Dad]

I never really use creature baits even though I have several bags of them. My question is when does a creature bait with all the appendages and whatnot work better than say a regular curly tail worm? Thanks.

 

I have the same question as yours, so I just rotate my plastics and let fish tell me.

 

Some days, slim profile of stick bait works better, and other day bulky profile of creature works better. I go by the bulk more than length of the bait. Also I've noticed I have better luck with creature baits on certain waters than others for the reason I don't know. As long as I catch fish, I'm good.

[Bluebasser86]

I almost always go with a creature bait before a swimming tail worm unless I'm fishing really clear water or I'm fishing deep. In those cases the worm is less for a bass to look at and determine it's fake and in deep water a worm offers less resistance so it gets down quicker. 

 

No real science to why I fish them, they just work better for me and catch better quality fish. 

[Bankbeater]

Over the past few years, creature baits have caught more than plastics worms have.  I always have some in my tackle bag.

[roadwarrior]

Give the MegaStrike MegaBug  try:  http://www.megastrikefishingproducts.com/shop/mega-bug-soft-plastic/

[coryn h. fishowl]

I fish them year round...........or at least our "year".........that is from the time the ice melts till it freezes again. I catch a lot of big fish on them, and personally I think the compact, yet bulky profile attracts a "better" average size fish than a worm.

And cabin fever season begins...now.  First day of frozen roads

[whitwolf]

I fish creature baits a lot and have a supreme confidence In them. One of the newer ways I have been fishing them, mainly early Spring through the spawn, is on a shakeyhead. I prefer a R.I.. smallie beaver but I would Imagine any smaller creature bait will be effective.

[Bluebasser86]

I fish creature baits a lot and have a supreme confidence In them. One of the newer ways I have been fishing them, mainly early Spring through the spawn, is on a shakeyhead. I prefer a R.I.. smallie beaver but I would Imagine any smaller creature bait will be effective.

I've done really well with a baby brush hog on a shakyhead, mainly for largemouth. The small beaver baits are killer for smallies on a shakyhead though. 

[Sam]

By all means throw your brush hogs and lizards, etc., especially as suggested above.

 

Texas rig them and hit any bushes in the water, wood, docks, piers, pilings, stumps, etc. you can.

 

You may want to finesse them on a spinning rig to have more control and use the pitch and flip presentations.

[rmcguirk]

I use them all year.  I'll rotate between worm type baits and creature baits until I find what's working.  My experience is that creature baits get the more violent (fun) strikes.  Generally, the strikes are unmistakable.  Instead of a classic t-rig or shakey head, I use a jig head by fin tech called a title shot.  I get a much better hookup ratio than with a shakey head and much less weed fouling. 

[mjseverson24]

I use some form of creature bait much more often than I do a worm. I use worms almost exclusively for dropshotting and weightless wacky rigging. I feel that creature baits look much closer to the natural forage found in the lakes, you can crawl it and make it look like a craw or swim/hop it and look like a bluegill/minnow. the worm unless wacky rigged or nose hooked on a dropshot just doesn't do it for me.(most of the lakes I fish are weedy bottom so a shakeyhead is not the best option, but i know that technique is great with worms.)

 

Mitch

[Bobby Uhrig]

I have gone to the Megabug more and more in the last two years. I was a jig freak for 25 years -probably threw it 90 % of the time Now I throw the bug on a shakey head.

[WRB]

A shaky head jig.......is a jig Bobby!

Tom

[Chris S]

Don't laugh but I have spent a few hours in my driveway with my kids play pool filled up, tossing in different baits with different rigs to see how they reacted and positioned themselves under water.