Big fish baits and tactics

[Fat-G]

What are some of your baits you throw when you're lookin' for a good'un? We all have our techniques to just "catch" fish, but what catches you the more quality fish?

I'll start, and break it down into categories, but first I'll state that for me, 95% of my quality fish come on plastics or jigs.

1. Hard cover; laydowns, stumps, trees (standing), docks, etc.

Pitching and flipping really come into play for me in hard cover. I usually throw a t-rigged plastic or jig. Noteable baits include Rage Tail Hawgs, Roosters, Craws, Lobsters, Monkeys, Berkley Chigger Craws, and GY Flappin' Hawgs. Jig and plastic combinations as well.

2. Soft cover; matted vegetation, Hydrilla, pads, grass and weeds, etc.

Punching and flipping and big here as well. I also have probably my best success with topwater frogs. Noteable baits are all the plastics mentioned above, with Spro and River2Sea frogs, and Rage Shads added in.

3. Isolated cover; weed patches, rockpiles, drainage pipes, etc.

Weightless plastics on a spinning rig are big here for me. Noteable baits include Senkos, Trick Worms, Baby rage Craws on a t-rig with a 1/8 oz. tungsten weight, Ikas, and hopefully the Jackall Flick Shake will produce some good fish this year for me.

[BASSclary]

10" Strike King Iguana (Lizard) pitched weightless on a 5/0 Gamakatsu Superline EWG hook (Red to get that bleeding action) to standing timber in ~ 4ft of water on Sufix Performance Braid 50# 8-)

[Hooligan]

Most generally, my big fish are crankbait fish.  In terms of hard cover, I find myself slinging crankbaits more and more because they're so versatile compared to what we had even a few years ago.  More depths, more bill/lip designs,, that sort of thing.

I'd have to say that jig/trailer is my #2 producer of big fish.  Usually a 1/2oz Green Pumpkin or black/blue with some sort of plastic behind it.

[bandsr4me20]

a jig with a paca chunk sr

[WanderLust]

Fat IKA produced great quality for me last year. After doing some more reading I have added the big IKA to the mix as well.

Generally speaking I rig it tex-posed with 4/0 EWG hook, weightless. Swift, silent and deadly.

Tubes (standard tube jig) were my best big smallie baits.

All my larger bass came from less than 20' of water.

[hookingem]

I catch most of my good fish on Jigs pitched or flipped to various cover. Most of the time in less than 5 FOW, although I did catch one 5+ last year in about 20 FOW on a jig.

[J Francho]

You want five big bites in a day, or a shot at the biggest fish in the lake?

For five big bites in one day, jig.  Anywhere, any time of year there is open water.

The second deal, swimbaits.  Might take you all summer, ubt you'll be the man.

[Fat-G]

You want five big bites in a day, or a shot at the biggest fish in the lake?

For five big bites in one day, jig. Anywhere, any time of year there is open water.

The second deal, swimbaits. Might take you all summer, ubt you'll be the man.

LOL, I'm going to try a little swimbaiting this year. I have a Mattlures Baby Bass that I could a couple three pounders on last year, but I have almost no confidence in the technique yet. I got some good advice from SPEEDBEAD, so maybe that will change.

[eyedabassman]

Here are my go to big bass baits ( not in order ).

Brush Hogs

Netbait C-Mac 11 in. 15 in. worm

Any NorthStar jig and a Paca chunk

Big Black  Jitterbug

Snag proof Phat frog

[bilgerat]

Some of my biggest fish have come on the smallest baits in my box. The most extreme example was a 4 lb I got on a 2" Senko. Two years ago I lost a BEAST on a 4" tube.

I read somewhere years ago that on average the size of most bass forage is in the 2" to 3" range. Of course there are exceptions, the swimbaiters prove that.

You need to be where the big ones are. They're not going to come from the other side of the lake because you are fishing for them.

Agreed on the big black Jitterbug. Big ones will crush them at night. Just be sure to change the crap stock hooks.

[Big-O]

You want five big bites in a day, or a shot at the biggest fish in the lake?

For five big bites in one day, jig. Anywhere, any time of year there is open water.

The second deal, swimbaits. Might take you all summer, ubt you'll be the man.

Same here    And don't underestimate a 10" bulky worm as well. Another thought is, any large bulky soft plastic that represents the same basic profile as a jig and trailer will work in many situations too. And even then, you'll find that the smaller fish will eat it with regularity... I think that if a fish thinks it's the "Full meal Deal", it's gonna GIT BIT   

Big O

www.ragetail.com   

[Hooligan]

The "fish eat what they see as being the greatest benefit with the least expenditure" rule is usually pretty true.

I wish I had the picture of a fish I caught that had the tail of a sucker sticking out his face.  Sucker must have been 10" or so, the bass was only about 2.5lbs.

[Catt]

#1: Texas rigged plastic of some kind

#2: Jig-N-Craw

#3: Rat-L-Trap

#4: DD-22

#5: spinner baits or buzz baits

[IntroC]

I have caught all three of my biggest bass on a 7 inch Texas rigged plastic worm in Junebug which is kinda odd because I really don't fish plastic worms that often or in Junebug. Might have to start fishing it more.

1. 6lbs7oz

2. 6lb3oz

3. 5lb12oz

[KC Bass Fanatic]

I'm going to add another factor to this in my answer because it changes for me based on season:

Spring: 10" worm

Summer: 10" worm, Crankbait, jig

Fall: Spinnerbait

Winter: Jig

[roadwarrior]

PB: Norman Fat Boy (redear)

Most consistant: 1/2 oz black jig/ Rage Tail Craw

Fewer bites, better size: 3/4 oz GMAN MopJig/ Lobster

Lifetime Achievement: 6" Senko

Projected future winners: Smokin' Rooster, Anaconda, Thumper

8-)