How Long Before You Change It Up????

[jbsoonerfan]

How long do you fish a certain lure before you change colors or change lures or even change spots? If you pull up on a spot where you think the fish are at and you think a lipless is the key and you feel like a craw color will work, how long do you use that bait till you change? If you change, do you change the color of the bait, do you change to a different bait or do you move on along and keep using the same bait and change locations? Sometimes I fish the same bait for 30 mins without a bite and wonder if that is too long. Is 10 min ideal, or is 30 about right? Does your strategy change if you are using a moving bait vs a soft plastic? If using a soft plastic, how often do you change colors or different types of bait or sizes? I realize water temp, air temp, water color, etc etc etc will affect different techniques, but how long before you change it up?

[bigbill]

I fan cast the area by skipping around. I may try a few longer casts, then change lures.

But when I first arrive there I put on a top water lure soaked with bass scent on a long cast so the bass scent has scented a very large area. Then I start throwing my ritual of lures.

[Coopdog72]

How's it going JB ? I'm no KVD but can hold my own on the water. I think everyone here struggles with that question from time to time. I think we all fish a bait to long even when the fish gives us signs that they want something else( following the bait or short strikes) and sometimes we give in to early. I've

LEarned also it's not the bait or color sometimes it's our retrieve. The final judge is and always will be the fish and remember like us humans somedays they just don't wanna cooperate,no matter what. Hard baits vs soft I feel it matters if the fish are in the mood for something fast or very slow it still boils down to what are you willing to do to catch a fish, will you keep changing baits until you find that lure or are you just stubborn enough to waste a day fishing the same lure and never get to the bottom of your tackle box. Have you ever looked through your box and seen all those lures you never or hardly used... Well that's what I use those days for when they aren't biting and I don't feel like changing lures all day i tie on something I don't use much or not that good at( deep cranking ) and a secret when all else fells and I don't wanna go home I catch me a little blue gill get a bobber now it's hard for mister large mouth to say no to that. Just my 2 cents JB ...Tight lines BUDDY

[FlipnLimits]

I like the 30 minutes rule.  For one area, 30 mins but I'll change to a different bait altogether.  I'll use the first bait again in a different area.  For me, it's location and lure, not so much the colors.  But generally, a certain color will be chosen based on time of year and water stain, so changing colors too much isn't needed.  Like fishing muddy water in Spring, I'll use dark colors and changing to a lighter color of the same bait will not help.  This is how I attack it, may not work for others.

 

FL

[geo g]

For me it is never a constant. If I have confidence in the bait, color, size and weight, I may stay with the pattern for a long time. If its a new bait, that I had not spent much time throwing, I will get rid of it quicker then a Squirrel in a nut house. Confidence goes a long way, almost to the point of boredom. I am often guilty of staying with a favorite bait way too long.

[SirSnookalot]

When I bass fish I only have 2-4 lures with me, not unusual for me to stay with the same lure.  My extra lures are mainly backup if I get snagged and lose one.  I keep it simple and I don't over think it.

[Lund Explorer]

I never set a time limit on the lure I'm using as I am more concerned about the location I'm on.

 

If I find a piece of structure/cover I think holds fish, I will throw 3-4 different lures in random order until I find something the fish want.  How large or complex that spot is determines how long I will spend on that spot.

[Catt]

I never set a time limit on the lure I'm using as I am more concerned about the location I'm on.

If I find a piece of structure/cover I think holds fish, I will throw 3-4 different lures in random order until I find something the fish want. How large or complex that spot is determines how long I will spend on that spot.

Yelp!

[Megastink]

I asked this same question last year in the Tournament forum: How Lon before you switch techniques? For me, it's 30-45 min. If you can't get a bite in that amount of time, you're doing it wrong.

It can be something as simple as switching colors, or something big like doing a whole new technique.

[Catt]

I asked this same question last year in the Tournament forum: How Lon before you switch techniques? For me, it's 30-45 min. If you can't get a bite in that amount of time, you're doing it wrong.

It can be something as simple as switching colors, or something big like doing a whole new technique.

Or something as simple as switching locations

[Mike L]

During tournaments I've had boaters leave an area after 5 cast's, while some wouldn't move 50 yds in an entire day. Most of the time 30-45 min is about average.

If Im with friends just messin around we'll move after we've tried what we wanted too, changing baits based on what we're seeing and where we're at.

Mike

[Grizzn N Bassin]

I don't really put a set time on it. I fish for fun so what ever I wanna try. But now the last 3x I've been out its been swimbaits all day. Which I plan on doing a lot

[bigbill]

I watch my two newly adopted kittens. I use a piece of leather shoe lace to play with them. One brother Garfield(Orange/white) will be playing the split second I grab the shoe lace he is on it. Now his brother Cole(black/white) will Mosley on over and think about the situation. It takes a few times with the shoe lace to execiete him. He's not as easy to motivate like his brother is.

My point is the bass are no different after all there predators too. Sometimes we can put a time limit or limit our number of casts too.

I run through my ritual of different lures if nothing bites I go through them again with different presentations.

Don't forget to keep a logbook. The place your fishing, the time, the day and month. The weather conditions, the water conditions and the lure and presentation. The air and water temps. Scents used, fish caught.

[SirSnookalot]

 

 

Don't forget to keep a logbook. The place your fishing, the time, the day and month. The weather conditions, the water conditions and the lure and presentation. The air and water temps. Scents used, fish caught. 

Is the weather exactly the same as was 365 days ago or even yesterday for that matter?  Wind, water levels and temperature, amount of vegetation and rain can and will vary year to year.  Baitfish do not always show up the same day each year, nor does the insect hatch.  I know there is no under water calender that the fish pay attention to telling them it's fluke or crankbait time.  Fish react to whats's going on that day, fishermen should be reacting to the fish not the calender.

[NJSalt]

Normally? too long. I don't change it up nearly as much as I think i should... 

[gobig]

I have to agree with not putting time constraints on a particular bait. There is not really way to gauge how long you should throw a bait other then through experience. Learn to rely on your intuition.

[NathanW]

Normally? too long. I don't change it up nearly as much as I think i should... 

This is my most common regret when reflecting over a poor perfromance on the water. I have days where I catch them really really well in the morning on moving baits and try to re create that for the rest of the day...

 

Last Saturday I would consider my worst performance in a couple of years... I started the morning with a quick 7.5lbs/3 fish on an SR5 fishing the same type of stuff. It was like clockwork for the first three keepers. I kept grinding, running SR5's, SR7s, glass raps, and LC Pointers over the same type of flat/transitional bottom structure ALL over the lake and each one of my proven honey holes. I did not reviece a single bite on any of those baits the rest of the day!!

 

When I am fishing like this I always check the edge for arches on the graph and drop down to them with a drop shot. I was able to get bit 4 times on this just couldnt get the fish in the boat (they were biting really funny). But probably only spent 20 minutes doing this the whole day.

 

In hindsight it is ovbious how I should have been fishing but I basically spent 7 hours ignoring logic.

[NathanW]

Is the weather exactly the same as was 365 days ago or even yesterday for that matter?  Wind, water levels and temperature, amount of vegetation and rain can and will vary year to year.  Baitfish do not always show up the same day each year, nor does the insect hatch.  I know there is no under water calender that the fish pay attention to telling them it's fluke or crankbait time.  Fish react to whats's going on that day, fishermen should be reacting to the fish not the calender.

Dude, trust me. Keeping a log will pay huge dividends for guys who are on thier fist couple years of serious fishing. And is smart for lakes you dont visit often. But it significantly loses its luster once you get a few thousand hours under your belt.

 

You are right. I have never seen grass grow in the same way from one year to the next, the spawn will shift from year to year, etc.

 

I still keep a log but honestly its only to keep record of my best five. I want to know when I am ready to go compete against the big boys, and I'll be honest, I've got a long ways to go.

[jbsoonerfan]

Thanks guys. I appreciate all the input. I am always trying to learn and what better way than to get opinions from other anglers.

 

Now, Daiwa or Shimano. LOL  

[tcbass]

Probably too long. lol.

[fishva]

I almost never change colors until I figure out what they're biting. I prefer to start out by making drastic changes.

 

For example, if I don't have luck with a plastic, I might go to a lipless crankbait. If I don't have luck with that, I might switch to a spinner. If I don't have luck with that, I might switch to a jig. Or maybe a topwater. Whatever. By making drastic changes, I feel like I'm able to get bites quicker than if I were to make subtle changes like color. 

 

That said, I'll give each bait a good chance before switching. If a spot looks really bassy, I'll cover it real thoroughly a few times before switching up. Depending on the spot, that might be 10 minutes or might be 30.

[ClackerBuzz]

i don't measure according to time.

i measure location... and lure type.

locations vary according to lots of variables like shallow to deep water, sun, wind, weeds, main lake points, back creek channels etc etc etc.

and i make sure to vary the lures from horizontal reaction w/ vibrations (spinnerbait etc), w/o vibration (swimjig  a rig etc), vertical slow fall (seknos, tubes) vertical fast fall (jigs etc), down to bottom lures (dead sticking ie shaky head) to bottom bouncing (jigs, t rig ribbon/lizard etc). throw topwater in there too.

 

a bite usually turns up after crisscrossing these variables...or i get a headache and go grab a beer.

 

that all being said...i won't spend more than 20 min casting a single lure on a particular spot. i'll try 3-4 vastly different lures on that spot and if no takers i move on.  but feel free to revisit that spot 2 hrs later with 3-4 new lures