Misconceptions About Catching Big Bass!!

[hoosierbass07]

First let me say that location, location, location, is so over used and over rated especially on this site. That's right I said it and I'll own it. I have seen many post where a guy asks for lure suggestions and at least one person chimes in with location. 

I live in possibly the most pressured fishing area in the US. I have no problem finding big bass. That's easy. Now catching them is adifferent story.

Learn to stack the odds in your favor. Learn to recognize the percentages.

 

My whole point to this post is help guys sift through the bad info posted on forums about how to catch big bass. If the answer is coming from a Barney then pay no attention. If the answer is simply "location" then that is so obvious it isn't helpful either.

 

 

 

 

  You are ranting against location and yet you are posting from southern California?  Isn't California one of the best bass states in the U.S. along with Florida?  That's like a beautiful wealthy person telling ugly poor that beauty and wealth is not everything in life.  Yeah, sure.  In my humble opinion - 90% of catching bass is location and time of year.  

[Catt]

Brian one of the great things about swimbaits is you can cover a lot of water. Many times you dont have to hit the fish on the head to catch it. Most swimbaits are big and push a lot of water. Big bass can see, hear, and feel them from farther away then other baits. I look for structure or cover that has close deep water access. I especialy like points working them up hill and down hill at an angle across. One huge benefit of throwing swimbaits is the amount of big fish they draw out. Even if you throw one all day and don't get a bite your are likely to see more big bass then you would ever think. By doing this they reveal a lot about where they hang out on that particular body of water. You add that info to big fish that you have caught, structure that you have graphed and you can start piecing together your swimbait milk run. In general each spot has an optimal way to fish it. It has an optimal angle depending upon how the fish are sitting on that spot. When I fish a new lake I will start by throwing a swimbait and working along the shore. Usually outside of the normal shoreline boat path. I will take inventory by marking spots where I have seen big bass. Then I will comeback later and graph the area and try and figure out the best approach to the spot. Eventualy after several trips I will have located several big bass holding spots. I will try and learn the best way to hit those spots. After a while I can show up to that lake and go through my milk run. It can be very productive. Of course some of the spots only hold those fish at certain times of the year and other spots hold them year round so I adjust accordingly. I will also just cruise around looking at my side scan and mark spots sometimes without making a cast. After a while you can really get tuned into a specific lake. Oh I also turn off electronics and make long casts when I am approaching a known spot.

Structure fishing 101 regardless of lure choice!

[Mattlures]

  You are ranting against location and yet you are posting from southern California?  Isn't California one of the best bass states in the U.S. along with Florida?  That's like a beautiful wealthy person telling ugly poor that beauty and wealth is not everything in life.  Yeah, sure.  In my humble opinion - 90% of catching bass is location and time of year.  

No I am ranting against people just saying location as their answer to everything. Somebody asks about baits and then somebody has to come in with the condescending answer of "location" as if the op wasn't smart enough to consider that.  I am ranting that location is not the only important factor.

[Mattlures]

Structure fishing 101 regardless of lure choice!

Wrong as usual Catt.   my run and gun method is specific to my style of throwing swimbaits. The lure choice is extremely important. Once I have my milk run planned out I only make a couple casts and move on. Sometimes there is no structure. When I am "Structure fishing 101" I am dissecting a spot with multiple techniques. Sometimes I will even anchor.

[Catch and Grease]

Do you guys think big bass can coexist with other top predetors?

Like areas on the lake that have a good population of pickerel or gar, could these areas still produce big bass or would you not waste your time and find an area where the bass are more dominate and fish it.

There are places on the lake I fish that seem perfect for big bass in my eyes but they have good populations of pickerel, small gar, and bowfin.

[Paul Roberts]

I know where your going with this but I see it a bit differently.

 

Do big baits catch big bass...Yes and its very common But what's the time involved? I know it's no where near smaller baits catching smaller fish, but is it equal in time with smaller baits catching bigger fish? I've read a lot about swimbaiters putting in much time to get their bigger catches, what I don't know is does it take a similar amount of time as the guys who throw smaller baits and finally run into a bigger fish? Would it still be considered very common?

 

I know the points of using swimbaits, one is to help drop the rate of smaller fish and to focus on the bigger ones. But beyond that, is it really that effective? I mean the basics like a jig/craw or a worm are still very effective.

I'm not a big bass specialist, but think I can offer something relevant. I think Matt’s claim that big baits attract big bass at a higher rate than smaller baits is valid. Not that there aren’t other ways and places and times to catch big bass at satisfying rates, of course; largemouth are highly adaptable creatures and much of fishing is very local. But I think the big bass big bait concept is simply a part of the largemouth’s nature.

 

A while back now, I took a shot at the big bait game, dedicating part of a summer to throwing big baits in some of the small waters I frequented. This was in the early 80s and swimbaits were spanking new and essentially unavailable to me in NY. So I threw muskie plugs (Swim Whizz), muskie-sized spinnerbaits (One SB I had threw such a wake it caused wavelets to lap the shore of some of those ponds lol), and 13" worms. And I broke two pond records and my PB in the process.

 

I found that it decreased catches of smalls, but took fish of 3lbs up (18") just fine. A friend did the same thing and his overall catch rate dropped below what satisfied him, but he broke his PB twice doing it.

 

Interesting thing was, these were small waters –captive audiences more or less– meaning it wasn't primarily a location or timing deal; it was just up-sizing my lures.

 

I came to the conclusion that bigger baits attract and trigger larger bass at a higher rate than average sized baits did. And it supported my original suspicion –the reason I tried it in the first place– that many outsized largemouths are big, in large part, because they had simply broken into the next trophic level (a critter’s position in the food chain). In short, those fish target bigger prey.

 

A stop, or gap, in the chain is called a trophic barrier or trophic threshold and it’s the point where fish quit growing, having to spend too much energy to catch too little food. There may be bigger food around, but the bass aren’t big enough to swallow it. Food chains are rarely complete enough in most waters (unable to offer enough food of the right size or energy content per effort) for bass to grow big. This is even more likely to be so in the north, compared to the south where productivity is so much higher and where prey fishes may produce more than one brood per year.

 

I became hip to this from chasing big stream brown trout (and through my fisheries background) and finding that most streams, even small ones, have a few browns in them that dwarf the run-of-the-mill insect eaters. The dry-fly guys aren’t going to even know these fish exist. The nymph fishers will stumble on one every now and then. But the guys who fish hardware and certain big flies, in the right locations and times (water temperature and food availability are key), find them. Some target them, but very few do for the same reasons most bass fisherman don’t target out-sized bass.

 

How does an individual brown, or largemouth, grow beyond its brethren? It jumps the gaps in the food chain by obtaining more food than the others, growing larger and thereby allowing them to capture and swallow still larger prey that are normally safe from the hordes of smaller bass. Doug Hannon has stated that bass get big by being extra aggressive individuals. (I suspect this is at work in brown trout too.) Those largemouths you occasionally find choking to death on prey that was a bit too big? They may just bear witness to the on-going selection battle between largemouth and their prey.

 

Here are a few examples of largemouths (and one spot) that tried to break the bank:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmnAIx7FueQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPmq4oulSiM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXVOGtZqGh4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtgNprDqijs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EehujHwR70w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKBmONt_dds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8lvtRM8SgQ

[RoLo]

I don't believe Matt is degrading the importance of location, he's saying that fishing is a 'percentage game'

with several elements. In order to boat trophy fish, you need the right lure, in the right place, at the right time.

That's a mighty tall order, but when we come up short on any one element, our odds fall off dramatically.

 

For many years I've refrained from stating flatly that Big lures catch Big bass. However, one has only to look

in my tackle box to see that big lures is basically all I throw. Fishing with large lures doesn't promise anything,

but a large lure is going to boost your trophy potential more than a small lure can. On the contrary, many anglers

who parrot the phrase: "Big lures, Big bass" are apparently not targeting big bass. When you look inside their

tackle box you will often see single-tail grubs instead of double-tail grubs, Rage Craws instead of Rage Lobsters,

Skinny Dippers instead of Big EZs and so on. In central Florida at least, the majority of my heaviest bass

during the past 5 years have been taken on soft swimbaits. On the other hand, most of my wife's largest bass

have been taken with a Deps Twin-Tail Grub on a homemade skirted jig. In both cases, a hefty lure with good bulk.

I like pitching hard swimbaits but exposed hooks don't go very far in our shallow, weedy lakes.

I've tried the weedless Hudd with good results, but the weedless feature doesn't hold up well under my cruel abuse.

 

Roger

[SirSnookalot]

I'm in agreement with Catt and Raul.

It is location, not only the existing structure of one's local area but location of the country (Mexico too), I never caught bass close to what I catch in Florida when I lived in Michigan, it's a whole lot easier here too.  My biggest bass come from canals, usually there is too much vegetation or floating grass and sea lettuce and shallow water nothing seems to work better for me than a weedless fluke.  I fish ponds too and some of these ponds hold some really nice sized fish, I can't justify using a rod heavy enough to handle a swimbait for maybe a 24" fish.  90% of the time it's a ml spinning rod and a good portion of my fish over 20" come from a top water lure.

No knock on big baits, but it isn't for me.

[Catt]

Wrong as usual Catt. my run and gun method is specific to my style of throwing swimbaits. The lure choice is extremely important. Once I have my milk run planned out I only make a couple casts and move on. Sometimes there is no structure. When I am "Structure fishing 101" I am dissecting a spot with multiple techniques. Sometimes I will even anchor.

Wrong again!

That's exactly what I do execpt I do it with Texes Rigs & Jig-N-Craws.

If y'all can get Steve "Big- O" Parks on here he does the same thing with the same techniques I do.

I've friends who do it with cranks!

Your job is to sell Swim Baits so you have to convince every one they are #1!

[Mainebass1984]

Right location. Right lure. At the right time.

[mod479]

Do you guys think big bass can coexist with other top predetors?

Like areas on the lake that have a good population of pickerel or gar, could these areas still produce big bass or would you not waste your time and find an area where the bass are more dominate and fish it.

There are places on the lake I fish that seem perfect for big bass in my eyes but they have good populations of pickerel, small gar, and bowfin.

 

The bass in my lake compete with big pike and brown / rainbow / lake trout. Both LMB and SMB in here...they are healthy fish for a lake less than 300 acres. Stocked annually with small rainbow trout. No follows on my hudd 68 yet, but have got bit on trout pattern jerkbaits. Likely operator error, not the hudds fault. In my opinion its a 2 tier fishery, the lake trout usually take the deep water, rainbows and browns all over the place surface to the bottom and anywhere in between, and most of the SMB can be found near the mouths of bays and off rocky points / rock piles, not all that deep. The largemouth seem to be around the limited laydowns in summer time. The pike are elusive, have seen some in the weeds/ posted up next to docks/ generally shallow. This is not absolute, just my own observations. Occasionally these fish seem to work together, herding large schools of suspended bait over 50+ feet of water. Bass on one cast, trout on the next. They're doin alright for getting dumped in the lake outta milk cans in the 1800s.  

[Lund Explorer]

Wrong again!

That's exactly what I do execpt I do it with Texes Rigs & Jig-N-Craws.

If y'all can get Steve "Big- O" Parks on here he does the same thing with the same techniques I do.

I've friends who do it with cranks!

Your job is to sell Swim Baits so you have to convince every one they are #1!

 

To paraphrase a sage:

 

"Yelp!"

[K_Mac]

Catt I don't think that selling swimbaits is Matt's primary concern in this thread. He has dedicated himself to catching big bass and has come to the conclusion that swimbaits increase the odds. Sure he is going to advocate for their use. Big O has come to believe, as you do, that the right plastic in the right presentation can be just as effective. Is selling Rage products his primary motivation? I don't think so, but one could cynically draw that conclusion.

I have said for a while now that I target bigger fish. My average size caught supports this claim. Could I improve my percentages by throwing quality swimbaits? I don't know because I haven't made the commitment to do so. I think Matt and others make a compelling case that I could. Catt could I improve my percentages by spending more time with a jig learning to better understand structure? Based on my history I know the answer to that is yes.

I think this is a fascinating and informative discussion with some really good big bass guys offering their honest views. Success, confidence and ego are all part of the ingredients here. Good job guys!

Thanks for the thread Matt.

[F14A-B]

I don't even, not even, slightly, believe Catt or Raul or myself or hundreds of fisherman are Wrong... These Basic fundamentals are well know and have been proven over decades...

California's force feeding of Rainbow trout to the non- native FLMB... I dare say, Mr. Doug Hannon has caught more Giant FLMB than most anyone and did so in a natural environment, not in a state sponsored soup kitchen. And primarily, on a 7" strait- tail soft plastic worm... In his early days Native Golden Shiners. So I know the whole argument that small baits are only occasional Big or Giant Fish catchers is bogus....

[einscodek]

theres many factors involved here and a few have been mentioned

clearly big fish have been caught on ordinary worms and jigs

the majority of texas sharelunkers if I recall were caught on senkos or senko size worms

 

I think yall should forget the "other guys is right or wrong" bs and just fish

its not rocket science going after big fish.. know yer prey, its behavior, and its habitat and tendencies

there are times mr big will eat BIG and times it will eat SMALL .. and some mr bigs eat more BIG and some mr big eat more small

and there are some variations on that across the country and it varied bodies of water..

yer going after the apex of the apex predator in most lakes.. numbers wise you;d be targeting the select fish and its fewer bites on an outing going after mr big .. i'd prefer larger lures to go after mr big (this my preference & experience)

 

alot of the negative things said on this thread on the back of right or wrong are personal experiences yea if it works for ya fine but dont push it onto someone else and degrade them

none of the things said here are backed by real solid data or studies and wouldnt make it into a scientific journal

as with all things in life with advice and fishing for mr big included.. caveat emptor

[WRB]

Do you guys think big bass can coexist with other top predetors?

Like areas on the lake that have a good population of pickerel or gar, could these areas still produce big bass or would you not waste your time and find an area where the bass are more dominate and fish it.

There are places on the lake I fish that seem perfect for big bass in my eyes but they have good populations of pickerel, small gar, and bowfin.

 

I took a look at Banks lake, GA where you fish, great looking bass lake with cypress trees, weed beds etc, typical southern natural lake. My problem helping you locate bass in this type of water is I don't have much experience fishing natural southern lakes. There is a wildlife refuge at one end, a road running along one bank area, some docks and lots of trees. I couldn't find a topo map showing bottom depth contours, so my observation is visual surface areas, not much help.

the predator fish are located where prey is available, pickerel and gar are fish eaters and have teeth to grab prey fish. Bowfin are opportunity eaters like bass, more bottom oriented with a turned down mouth. 

Largemouth bass may be located in the same areas, usually feeding first as they are a higher order predator. I would fish the areas you see feeding activity before the feeding gets started by the pickerel. Looking at cypress trees, try the trees located further out on the water, that should be where a big bass would locate. There is a reason the trees stopped growing, the water should be deeper. Depth changes in a shallow natural lake of only a foot or two is a big percentage change compared to the surrounding water. Example the average water is 2 feet deep and you find a break where the depth changes to 4 feet, big change and that is what you should be looking for. Any isolated structure or stump near or on a break is a good bass location.

I said before that Matts hard Gill, jigs, spinner or buzz baits and big worms  would be an excellent choices for this lake and nothing has change that.

Tom

[Catch and Grease]

Thanks that's really helpful info WRB!

I've also tried finding a topo map with no success, anytime I try to contact someone that maintains the lake about something they give me the run around....

I'm sure those hard gills work great but there are a lot more things I'd rather spend 70$ on right now, like a heavy rod....

[buzzed bait]

This question depends a lot upon the angler and the area he fishes. The time leading just up to the spawn is when bass are at their heaviest. Not because of the eggs but because the fatten themselves up in preparation for the spawn. They feed a lot. This is the favorite time for most swimbait fisherman. The actual spawn is a great time to hunt a huge bass because you can pick with fish your going to attempt to catch. Summer time is one of my favorite times because I can catch a lot of big bass on my bluegill baits. Summer at night is probably the easiest for me. The big bass come in shallow at night to feed. They are easy to locate and you can just work down a shoreline on foot. Slow and steady top water baits like waking swimbaits both hard and soft  and buzzbaits are my favorites.

 

hang on, so is location important or isn't it?

 

matt, agree with most of what you're saying but i think the main takeaway from this thread are that there are a number of variables that play into catching big fish (be it consistently or not).  Now why you decided to isolate location as one of those variable and then essentially downplay its importance i do not fully follow.

your hardgill bait for example (which i would still like to get my hands on) will be far more effective near the bluegill beds during the spawn (location/timing) than say in 50 feet of water far from said beds.

Not to be in one camp or the other, because my point is that there are many camps and they are all right, all the time.....

[Catch and Grease]

hang on, so is location important or isn't it?

 

matt, agree with most of what you're saying but i think the main takeaway from this thread are that there are a number of variables that play into catching big fish (be it consistently or not).  Now why you decided to isolate location as one of those variable and then essentially downplay its importance i do not fully follow.

your hardgill bait for example (which i would still like to get my hands on) will be far more effective near the bluegill beds during the spawn (location/timing) than say in 50 feet of water far from said beds.

Not to be in one camp or the other, because my point is that there are many camps and they are all right, all the time.....

You obviously haven't read this thread well.

He has already stated multiple times that he is not trying to say location isn't important, he is trying to say that location isn't the ONLY important thing and that many other key factors like lure selection and time of day can play a huge part in catching big bass.

[F14A-B]

Thanks that's really helpful info WRB!

I've also tried finding a topo map with no success, anytime I try to contact someone that maintains the lake about something they give me the run around....

I'm sure those hard gills work great but there are a lot more things I'd rather spend 70$ on right now, like a heavy rod....

Check with you're county land surveyor, if they are worth a grain of salt they should have a usgs topo. On the lake and surrounding area, then again, maybe not.

[buzzed bait]

You obviously haven't read this thread well.

He has already stated multiple times that he is not trying to say location isn't important, he is trying to say that location isn't the ONLY important thing and that many other key factors like lure selection and time of day can play a huge part in catching big bass.

 

ok.  sentence #1 of OP, "location is over rated".  i'm saying that all variables mentioned play an equal importance in consistently catching big bass.  to say that any one is more important than the other for catching them consistently is really just false.  now to matt's point, one could argue that a particular one of those variables was more important in catching that "one" big one in 100.  But again to his point, consistently catching the big ones requires fishing with the right lure, right place, blah blah blah. 

So all I was saying is that downplaying one of those essential ingredients in the consistency formula or saying one is more important than the other, is really just contradicting his otherwise very valid points.

 

side note, another word that is over used here and every where else in the world: OBVIOUSLY

[Mattlures]

ok.  sentence #1 of OP, "location is over rated".  i'm saying that all variables mentioned play an equal importance in consistently catching big bass.  to say that any one is more important than the other for catching them consistently is really just false.  now to matt's point, one could argue that a particular one of those variables was more important in catching that "one" big one in 100.  But again to his point, consistently catching the big ones requires fishing with the right lure, right place, blah blah blah. 

So all I was saying is that downplaying one of those essential ingredients in the consistency formula or saying one is more important than the other, is really just contradicting his otherwise very valid points.

 

side note, another word that is over used here and every where else in the world: OBVIOUSLY

My opening sentence was to bring attention to the other variables. In a bunch of other threads guys would ask questions about which baits to use and a couple guys would simply post "location" as their answer. Many times their post was condescending with no explaination. Just "location". Basicaly telling the OP that their question was irrelevant and they shouldnt even ask about baits because location is all that matters. But if you read my whole post you would see that I say location is obviously important. It is only over rated when guys use it as the only important variable.

[Mattlures]

I'm not a big bass specialist, but think I can offer something relevant. I think Matt’s claim that big baits attract big bass at a higher rate than smaller baits is valid. Not that there aren’t other ways and places and times to catch big bass at satisfying rates, of course; largemouth are highly adaptable creatures and well much of fishing is very local. But I think the big bass big bait concept is simply a part of the largemouth’s nature.

 

A while back now, I took a shot at the big bait game, dedicating part of a summer to throwing big baits in some of the small waters I frequented. This was in the early 80s and swimbaits were spanking new and essentially unavailable to me in NY. So I threw muskie plugs (Swim Whizz), muskie-sized spinnerbaits (One SB I had threw such a wake it caused wavelets to lap the shore of some of those ponds lol), and 13" worms. And I broke two pond records and my PB in the process.

 

I found that it decreased catches of smalls, but took fish of 3lbs up (18") just fine. A friend did the same thing and his overall catch rate dropped below what satisfied him, but he broke his PB twice doing it.

 

Interesting thing was, these were small waters –captive audiences more or less– meaning it wasn't primarily a location or timing deal; it was just up-sizing my lures.

 

I came to the conclusion that bigger baits attract and trigger larger bass at a higher rate than average sized baits did. And it supported my original suspicion –the reason I tried it in the first place– that many outsized largemouths are big, in large part, because they had simply broken into the next trophic level (a critter’s position in the food chain). In short, those fish target bigger prey.

 

A stop, or gap, in the chain is called a trophic barrier or trophic threshold and it’s the point where fish quit growing, having to spend too much energy to catch too little food. There may be bigger food around, but the bass aren’t big enough to swallow it. Food chains are rarely complete enough in most waters (unable to offer enough food of the right size or energy content per effort) for bass to grow big. This is even more likely to be so in the north, compared to the south where productivity is so much higher and where prey fishes may produce more than one brood per year.

 

I became hip to this from chasing big stream brown trout (and through my fisheries background) and finding that most streams, even small ones, have a few browns in them that dwarf the run-of-the-mill insect eaters. The dry-fly guys aren’t going to even know these fish exist. The nymph fishers will stumble on one every now and then. But the guys who fish hardware and certain big flies, in the right locations and times (water temperature and food availability are key), find them. Some target them, but very few do for the same reasons most bass fisherman don’t target out-sized bass.

 

How does an individual brown, or largemouth, grow beyond its brethren? It jumps the gaps in the food chain by obtaining more food than the others, growing larger and thereby allowing them to capture and swallow still larger prey that are normally safe from the hordes of smaller bass. Doug Hannon has stated that bass get big by being extra aggressive individuals. (I suspect this is at work in brown trout too.) Those largemouths you occasionally find choking to death on prey that was a bit too big? They may just bear witness to the on-going selection battle between largemouth and their prey.

 

Here are a few examples of largemouths (and one spot) that tried to break the bank:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmnAIx7FueQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPmq4oulSiM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXVOGtZqGh4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtgNprDqijs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EehujHwR70w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKBmONt_dds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8lvtRM8SgQ

Thank you Paul, that was an excellent post!

[Mattlures]

Wrong again!

That's exactly what I do execpt I do it with Texes Rigs & Jig-N-Craws.

If y'all can get Steve "Big- O" Parks on here he does the same thing with the same techniques I do.

I've friends who do it with cranks!

Your job is to sell Swim Baits so you have to convince every one they are #1!

My job is to design and make swimbaits. My job is to help people catch big bass. I do that wether they are using swimbaits or not. My job may also be to sell swimbaits but I am not a salesman. I do not go to any trade shows,.I have no decals on my boat or truck. I do not call or visit stores for orders. They call me and I fill orders. I am almost never able to accumulate stock as I sell what I make as its made.

I also do not need to convince anybody that swimbaits are #1. the results speak for them selves. All you have to do is look at all the pictures and videos from the last 8 years and you will see that swimbaits have produced more huge bass then any other bait. And consider that only a small percentage of guys are using them. I am on these boards because I like contributing and  helping guys catch big bass. I rarely if ever even mention my baits on here and I often recommend other brands and other baits.

[gulfcaptain]

Matt, Tom, and Raul as well as CATT all catch big fish.....mind it in different ways. But  Matt's point, " bigger baits"  catch bigger fish regularly.  Having only gotten back into bass fishing in the last 3 years, I can say, bigger baits catch bigger fish.  But not all are on big swimbaits...yes some of them were caught on those, others on jigs.  Main point, bigger fish eat bigger baits, and as stated, you want to know the size of some of the bigger fish where you fish.  Throw a swimbait and see what shows up behind it.  Will they always bite...no.  But it is fun to see them.  All four have one major thing in common with one another though, each are extremly confident in their presentations and bait selections that catch them bigger avg fish then the weekend or everyday "Barney".  I would rather catch fewer fish of greater size then have a bunch of small fish. Am I trophy hunting, no, but I will up my odds using larger profile baits to target the larger fish in the populations I fish weather it be a jig or a swimbait.  Both are tools and each have their places and times.