Unlucky Lure/rig

[Templeton]

Spinning or baitcasting?

Mono line has the least strike detection feed back and a medium action 2 piece rod is not a good T-rig or jig rod. Spinning reels combined with the rod you defined would make your strike detection even more difficult.

What size weight and hook do you use?

Tom

Spinning, Shakespeare Conquest medium action. I also changed my line to fluorocarbon, which I used before hand.  Now that I thought about it, you all were right about the sensitivity part of line.  Don't even know what I was thinking. LOL

[J Francho]

Swimming Senkos....I know they should work.  Not for me.  Been through several packages, on many different rigs.  Nothing, lol.

 

Now you can't bit on Texas Rig? I gotta think it's location, not the bait.  Or something is seriously wrong with your presentation.  There's a ton of resources, including our articles and video section that cover the basics.  Remember, it's just a terminal rig!  It simply solves the issue of getting the bait down to the fish, and through the weeds without collecting too much junk.  There's a ton of baits out there that can be T-rigged.  I'd start with a 6" straight tail worm, or slightly larger ribbontail worm.

[WRB]

Spinning, Shakespeare Conquest medium action. I also changed my line to fluorocarbon, which I used before hand. Now that I thought about it, you all were right about the sensitivity part of line. Don't even know what I was thinking. LOL

If you used a 3/16 oz sliding bullet sinker and 6" to 7" curl or ribbon tail soft plastic worm like Berkley's Power worm and fished it slowly, bass will eat and swallow this worm if given slack line, hard to miss.

Better yet, get some Carolina Keepers and place the keeper about 24" above the hook to hold the weight like a finesse C-rig and slowly drag that along the bottom, good rig for your tackle set up.

Tom

[bassin is addicting]

1st there must be fish where you are....otherwise it makes no difference what rig you are fishing..

2nd...it has got to be your presentation... use as light as weight as possible, i use 1/8...and a i do like the Zoom u-tail for fun fishing for numbers.......i don't hop it.....i have had the most luck just reeling slowly...  watch your line and wait for the tap...tap..

i don't know that color makes that much difference.  i've had the most luck with either watermelon seed or red shad.  depending on water clarity.

good luck.

[Felix77]

For me it's a bulky 4" Flippin Tube.  Don't know why but I can't ever seem to get bit on it so I choose other baits to flip/pitch with instead.  Mainly rage craws, hawgs and ribbontail worms.

[J Francho]

Alberto, come on up to Oneida in fall for smallies - can't cash a check without one!

[Ratherbfishing]

Alabama rigs and Carolina rigs are tie for being my least favorite and least productive methods.

 

Must be where you are fishing that is the problem (location, location, location).  So long as you aren't sleeping (and sometimes not even then), Texas rigs can hardly be fished wrong.  Last summer my g-friend was dragging a texas-rigged worm behind the boat.   It was practically water skiing we were moving so fast.  Just about when I was going to tell her that method probably wouldn't work and she ought to tie on a crankbait if she wanted to troll, she caught a bass.  So hush my mouth!

[Templeton]

I think my biggest problem is feeling the bite itself.

[ww2farmer]

I hate dragging things around behind the boat. It dosen't matter if it's a tube, a drop shot, a c-rig, a football jig, etc......I HATE IT..................but I have caught lots of fish doing it, but it is the only thing I actually think I can't stand doing.

[thehooligan]

Jigs and Carolina rig are my unlucky baits.

For everyone That doesn't have luck with buzzbaits, keep on fishing them. That was the one topwater bait I didn't use till this year, sorta wrote them off and stopped using them. I put the sammies away for a bit and start working the cavitrons and they caught my three biggest bass this year, lol.

[basshole8190]

Jigs and Carolina rig are my unlucky baits.

For everyone That doesn't have luck with buzzbaits, keep on fishing them. That was the one topwater bait I didn't use till this year, sorta wrote them off and stopped using them. I put the sammies away for a bit and start working the cavitrons and they caught my three biggest bass this year, lol.

for sure. a cavitron caught my big fish of the year a 6-3 beauty.

[bigbill]

I like to test lures and sooner or later we will figure out what presentation works.

With T-rigs, C-rigs, Split Shot-rigs it's a very very slow presentation and sometimes boring. I'm a cranker and like moving lures. But I do switch to the rigs too. It's a matter where we use them too. From shore I look for drop offs, channels with slow moving water, the flats, the pads, submerged weeds etc.

I like to use the rigs with plastics near the edge of the moving water near the channels. Sometimes the slower moving waters won't slow the backwashes. Because the water is slow and deeper that river backslashes. Sometimes there are weedlines beside the slower moving water too. I find fishing along side this edge parallel to the slow moving water

and the weedline can be very productive with the rigs. Remember we never know the size of the bass we will pull out of this area too. They seem to be well fed because they waiting to grab anything that comes by looking for an easy meal. The two words that go together is, "plastics / slow" in most cases depending on the fishes mood and it's additude. Some bass are more aggressive than others. Some of the slower to strike bass will take more teasing. This is when the bite is slow with cranks is when I switch to my C-rig with a senko or brushog and fish rather slow. I know the fish are there it's figuring out making them strike. Don't hesitate to throw a inline spinner too and reel it just fast enough so the spinner spins. It will also run deeper the slower we reel it.

If we move it too slow we get snags. I do not use inline spinners in weeds. The mepps timber doodle is for the weeds. I have no clue why it works but it's one of my best weedless lures.

Using lures, it's where and when to use them plus the presentation we choose to use too. We do find ourselves fishing then way too fast thinking there like spinnerbaits. I say slow down till you find the correct speed were the action is.

Pick the correct lure color for the water conditions.

Try different presentations.

Pick a good area to fish from. Look for drop offs, Rocky points, channels, submerged weeds, weedlines etc.

The more you practice everything I say your catch will increase even shore fishing I'm sure of that. It's skill not luck in fishing, luck if for the casino. It's takes skill to catch fish. Remember on days you couldn't buy a bite it's skill that catches fish.

I change lures and colors till the action happens. That's the challenge to me to make them strike. Good Skill to Ya, bigbill

Btw, I have one area in one of my hot spots that produces no fish everyone I cast it. After getting my hummingbird wristwatch fish finder I casted it to this area and never found any fish there. It's the only time I used the portable fish finder for fish. I figured out there is a swampy wet land area feeding this spot so the PH levels could be way off. These tools are available for shore fisherman too. Those little casted out pods work awesome when we use them. I have one rod setup with braided line just for casting the pod for the hummingbird wristwatch fish finder. I've mainly used it in the past to learn how the bottom is structured. How deep it is, where the holes and flats are at.

Remember it's skill, do not beat yourself up for being shunked. Ask yourself what could I have done different while on the way home. Remember to keep a log book. Record where, when and how you caught fish. And when you didn't. Write down the time of year too pre and post spawn etc. Record everything. You can graph it out and fish it the exact same way next season. Trust me us shore fisherman can be very successful too.

Walk up slowly to your spot and don't step on any rocks. Even in the earth rocks sticking out of the ground sends vibrations into the water warning the fish that your there. Be very stealthy with your tackle. Be very quiet like your not there. Cast past where you want your lure to go. And bring your lure slowly near that spot. Be very quiet I don't talk too. I'm in my zone, my own zip code when I'm fishing. As I fish I scan the water while I watch behind my lures for flashes from short strikes. The more you look you will see fish. Once you learn to do this you automatically wear your polarized glasses and practice watching the water. This works.

If you go out thinking you will be skunked your beating yourself before you go out. Stay home when you think like that.

Be POSITIVE!!!!!!!THINK POSITIVE!!!!!!+++++the world will be a better place for you when your upbeat and positive.

[tholmes]

I've probably caught more bass on a T-rigged worm than any other bait. Keep fishing it, if there are fish in the area, you'll get bit.

 

The one lure that, for me, is spectacularly unproductive is a Zara Spook. I can catch fish on other topwater baits, even other "walk the dog" types, but the Spook...nada. I don't have any problem "walking" the lure, I just NEVER catch anything with it.

 

Also, any bait that is firetiger color. I have a whole sack full of firetiger crankbaits, never caught a fish on any of them.

 

Tom