Lizard Questions

[daviswill]

Local knowledge says that lizards are killing it on the lake right now. I have never fished lizards so does anyone know what size, color, brand, and hook size to use?

[roadwarrior]

https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AwrBT7XXSQZXEM0ApPGl87UF;_ylc=X1MDMjE0MjQ3ODk0OARfcgMyBGZyA3NmcC15ZmYyOQRuX2dwcwMxMARvcmlnaW4Dc3ljBHF1ZXJ5A3JhZ2UgdGFpbCBsaXphcmQgdmlkZW8Ec2FvAzE-?p=rage+tail+lizard+video&fr=sfp-yff29&fr2=ond_moz_off&iscqry=

 

[Bluebasser86]

I don't fish lizards often anymore, opting for small creature baits instead since they look so similar.

When I did, the Zoom and Berkley lizards were my baits of choice. Watermelon seed, pumpkin chartreuse, black and blue, and black where the colors I liked. I usually went with the 6" versions, but the 4" and 8" baits both had their places. Usually fished them with a 1/8-1/4 ounce bullet weight and 3/0 EWG hook. 

[tander]

I mostly throw a 6 inch lizard in Junebug color on 16# test Sniper with a 4/0 wide gap hook with a 3/16oz sinker. Works for me.

[Ski]

[scaleface]

I think most of the time it doesnt matter if its a lizard , craw , worm... Lots of times I just grab whatever floats my boat. The big exception is when I'm targeting smallmouths then I almost always choose a craw . 

 

 The Zoom Lizard is widely available. One thing I like about most lizards is they are smooth and easy to see teeth marks ,. if you have a question whether you had a bite or not .  I like to use smooth baits like Zoom Lizards on carolina rigs where it is harder to feel strikes . If I see teeth marks , I know I missed one and will be more ready to set the hook .

[Bass2124]

I like BPS Squirmin Lizards in Green Pumpkin and Magic Pearl.  Lizards are the best plastic in my opinion on Carolina rigs, especially when trolling.  This is my go to method when searching for smallies especailly when the river gets muddied up.  When my kids invite their friends who have never fished before this is a sure way for them to catch bass, and safe.  My wife loves carolina rigging a fly rod and trolling using s turns.  The rise and fall of the bait drives them crazy and they always hook themselves, no setting hook required.  I have caught bass on every body of water doing it this way.

[buzzed bait]

zoom are effective and available at Walmart even.  I picked up some Rage Tail lizards last year and they have some very nice action, just rarely fish them so i haven't caught on them yet.

[lo n slo]

i'll throw a lizard from March thru December, shallow, deep, dragging, stroking, and swimming. usually it's a zoom 5" (depending on lake and species) and often a 6" if situation warrants. green pumpkin and june bug on a Texas rig. i've caught some big bass on a 5" lizard but they do attract smaller fish. i fish alot of spotted bass waters and that factors into my game plan too. 

[Fishes in trees]

I fish lizards on my jika rigs quite a bit.   Actually I always have 2 jika rigs ready to go, with a lizard on one and a creature on the other - identical rigs, rod, reel, line and weight of jika rig.    Some days they want the slightly fatter profile of the creature and other days the slightly slimmer lizard gets the not.   Over the years I have accumulated numerous brands & shapes & colors of lizards.    Colors vary day to day, depending on what I think the water color is doing.    Shapes - currently I impartial to the YUM Zellemander (recently discontinued I think), the YUM Sallemander (also recently discontinued I think) and Berkley Powerbait Lizards.   If Berkley still made the Powerbait Lizard in the 8" size, that is the one I'd primarily use.   The Zellemander has 2 ribbon tails.   The Sallemander has small paddle tails on each of the appendages.   I don't know if that is an advantage or not, but it is a different look, one that a lot of guys in my neighborhood don't throw.  I like the texture of the YUM baits in that they seem to hold up ok and I don't think I've had any hook setting issues with them.

[Wprich]

I throw lizards spring-fall and it's usually zoom or rage.  I went overboard and bought many many colors lol, but the best to me are the basics watermelon seeds, green pumpkins, pumpkins, blacks, and junebug.  In the zoom brand my go to is the moccasin blue 6 inch and the black emerald magnum lizard, those 2 colors always come thru.  I throw mine on a 1/4oz-1/2oz swing head with 8-10lb fluorocarbon or copoly on spinning tackle just my preference.  I also carry red and chartruese spike-it to dip the tails, some days I feel it does make a difference.

[Raul]

3 hours ago, daviswill said:

Local knowledge says that lizards are killing it on the lake right now. I have never fished lizards so does anyone know what size, color, brand, and hook size to use?

 

3 hours ago, Ski said:

That pretty much puts an end to the thread, personally I like watermelon green metal flake and green pumpkin red metal flake.

[smr_hga]

Here in Florida there are these little lizards that are always around, anoles i think they're called. So i picked up some Zoom 6" green pumpkin lizards. The only pond i fish on a regular basis is my neighborhood pond. With that being said, i can say with confidence that these are the greatest lures of all time. Watermelon seed as mentioned above is also great. Try a texas rig, they love it when it sinks since its limbs flail around like a grub. Matter of fact i caught 7 bass in 1 1/2 hours on a texas rig yesterday. Overall great lure and i'd highly recommend it to anyone especially if you live in Florida.

[CarolinaBoy4Life]

I will fish the Rage tail lizard carolina rigged or texas rigged. I got a buddy who bed fishes and uses a lizard and wears em out, I don't bed fish but he has caught some monsters running the lizard up in the bed big girl picks it up and fish on. He of course puts it right back after a picture but to each his own

[buzzed bait]

6 hours ago, CarolinaBoy4Life said:

I will fish the Rage tail lizard carolina rigged or texas rigged. I got a buddy who bed fishes and uses a lizard and wears em out, I don't bed fish but he has caught some monsters running the lizard up in the bed big girl picks it up and fish on. He of course puts it right back after a picture but to each his own

a buddy of mine fishes them regularly on lake norman and wears the fish out with them, t rigged.  watermelon green or black/red is all he owns i believe.  absolutely wears them out somedays.  

[daviswill]

Thanks for the help everyone, I'm gonna Texas Rig the pumpkin seed/chartreuse tail. Would you do just a dragging retrieve or a drag drag hop, or a flipping style retrieve?

[Wprich]

20 minutes ago, daviswill said:

Thanks for the help everyone, I'm gonna Texas Rig the pumpkin seed/chartreuse tail. Would you do just a dragging retrieve or a drag drag hop, or a flipping style retrieve?

Honestly i would begin dragging, but try both retrieves they will let you know which retrieve they want on a given day.

[CarolinaBoy4Life]

Retrieve will depend on how they want it. Try dragging it then hopping it. Let the fish tell you how they want it. There's no one set way to fish any type of lure especially a T-rig

[Bass2124]

I often find a faster retrieve after the drop works best, again depending on the conditions.  When I am doing s turns while trolling during the outside turn when it is raising it is moving very fast.  This is when I get my most vicious strikes.   I started swimming them with baitcasting equipment mimicking the same movement as the s-turns and find after the drop to the bottom followed by a very fast retrieve the bass smash them.

[Hurricane]

Black zoom lizard...

[scaleface]

I have caught fish dragging them , swimming them , buzzing them and hopping them . The vast majority comes from the lift and drop .

[dday07]

The lizard is my fav. go to bait during the spawn..and almost always a Rage Tail in watermelon and red flake

[Nitrofreak]

The only time I really use Lizards is when I am tossing a C-Rig around or using a pegged weight, it's not that it's not effective on a T-Rig because it is, I just prefer my T-Rig to be used for my slower presentations, as for your retrieve question, it can be any number of ways and as others have stated, you have to find out what the fish want or the way they want it, most of the time it's just a smooth sweep of the rod, starting out sweeping fast enough to allow the weight to barely make contact with the bottom then slowing down just to the point that the tail and appendages are moving, maybe a pause or two in there for good measure or a twitch or two.    

[GTHenson]

This is the time of year where I fish that I want to be throwing a lizard. I use a strike king rage tail, 6" The color I use is based on water clarity, weather, etc. and If they are biting a lizard. I am going to have a weightless rig tied on my spinning rod to skip docks, the biggest fish I have ever caught have came from skipping a big lizard under docks. But make sure you pay close attention to the fall thats when most of your bites will occur. As far as retrieve goes like said before try different retrieves. the fish will tell you exactly what they want. Pay attention to every bite you get and if you come to a piece of cover that you think you should have gotten a bite, throw back in there a couple or more times a piece with different retrieves. Good Fishing and God bless.

[atcoha]

I fish lizards pretty often. I like the zooms, but sometimes splurge on the rage brand lizards.

Junebug, green pumpkin, watermelon and black. 3-4/0 hook.