What would you throw?

[Dypsis]

Hypothetical question here:

You go out for a small club tournament you have been out for about 4 hrs and have boated a few and caught some small ones as well.  All were caught on a squarebill or pitching.  You are fishing grass lines in about 3-5' FOW.  You move to the next spot - do you start with a squarebill or a pitching.  I'm thinking squarebill to catch the aggressive ones then maybe come back and pitch?

Does you answer change if you are fishing laydowns?

[Catt]

So ya saying aggressive bass will not hit a flipped/pitched lure?

[Gundog]

1 minute ago, Catt said:

So ya saying aggressive bass will not hit a flipped/pitched lure?

I think what he is trying to say is you catch them on a crank bait then pick areas apart with a slow, methodical approach by flipping or pitching. To answer the OP's question I would say yes. Start with a crank bait then break the spot apart with a flipping/pitching technique. Just my opinion.

[Catt]

Flipping/pitching Texas Rigs & Jigs catch larger bass

In a tournament isn't catching the 5 largest bass what ya wanna do?

[Bluebasser86]

I'm switching to a bladed jig. Shallow water, fairly aggressive fish, and a grass line? That screams for a bladed jig. 

[Gundog]

24 minutes ago, Catt said:

Flipping/pitching Texas Rigs & Jigs catch larger bass

In a tournament isn't catching the 5 largest bass what ya wanna do?

If you could catch big bass on soft plastics flipped/pitched/ t-rigged only that's all the pros would throw but we know that isn't the case. Pros use crank baits and other lures/techniques as well. If you are catching bass on those techniques/lures keep using them and culling when you can. 

[Dypsis]

Again, this was just a hypothetical question and maybe the wrong way to ask it.  

I guess I'm just asking what factors do you consider when approaching a similar area (grass, laydowns, whatever the case) after having success with a faster paced (cranks, spinners, chatter, etc) as well as a slower technique (shakyhead, jigs, t-rig).    

Yes, this is basically what I'm thinking - "I think what he is trying to say is you catch them on a crank bait then pick areas apart with a slow, methodical approach by flipping or pitching."   Is there a correct answer maybe not like with most things in fishing.  Just seeing what your thought process is for choosing one or the other first.  

[Ktho]

If i've been catching them on a crank and pitched plastic I'm going to continue that. I'd take note of how it happened. Did I get em on my crank working submerged weed edges? Did i get my plastic fish pitching into pockets? Did the pockets have rock on the bottom? Did I catch fish equally in all areas seemingly at random?

 

[Airman4754]

This time of year I'm pretty much only throwing a jerk bait/fluke, craw colored jig, natural colored worm, an underspin, and a crankbait that doesn't dive below 12ft. 

At least for here I've never found anything that produces more as they start to move back shallow to fatten up. Of course if it's a slow day we just break out the big stuff and swing for the fences and it's the right time of year for it. 

[Catt]

#1 top producing bait for tournament wins, number, and size is the plastic lures!

I've researched all bass tournaments (Pro & Amateur) that I could find on the world wide web. What I would have to mention is under the category of plastics would be T-rigs, C-rigs, Wacky, Drop Shot, ECT which are techniques. This list includes all worms, craw worms, lizards, creatures, tubes, Fluke type, & Senko type baits; which is why it's listed as plastic lures.

After looking at my data it shows a staggering 5 to 1 ratio!

The #1 technique hands down is the Texas Rig which can be cast, flipped, pitched, or punched.

If the bass in your hypothetical question are aggressive I'll be flipping/pitching for the win!

[Gundog]

41 minutes ago, Catt said:

#1 top producing bait for tournament wins, number, and size is the plastic lures!

I've researched all bass tournaments (Pro & Amateur) that I could find on the world wide web. What I would have to mention is under the category of plastics would be T-rigs, C-rigs, Wacky, Drop Shot, ECT which are techniques. This list includes all worms, craw worms, lizards, creatures, tubes, Fluke type, & Senko type baits; which is why it's listed as plastic lures.

After looking at my data it shows a staggering 5 to 1 ratio!

The #1 technique hands down is the Texas Rig which can be cast, flipped, pitched, or punched.

If the bass in your hypothetical question are aggressive I'll be flipping/pitching for the win!

I hope the bass read your research cause I really love flipping and pitching. 

[Catt]

Another major misconception is that flipping & pitching is "only" productive when done slowly.

I aint saying squarebills or bladed jigs will not produce large bass because they will.

I was given a hypothetical situation & asked  "You are fishing grass lines in about 3-5' FOW.  You move to the next spot - do you start with a squarebill or a pitching."

My answer; 4 hrs of a tournament day has passed which means the day is closing so I am gonna swing for the fences by picking the structure/cover with a jig or t-rig.

[Rick Howard]

I'd pick off the fish from a distance with the crank then come back with the jig.   To me it's not about aggression but about boat position and catching fish that are close to the cover with less chance of spooking them and those that are in the cover that I might manage to get closer too.  I'd venture to guess that the fish that are just closely relating to the cover are more aggressive than the fish buried in it.  Those fish may be more likely to chase down the crank bait.  Just my thinking.

[WIGuide]

To answer your hypothetical question, I'd hope that the first 4 hours of the tourney that you have been catching them, you've managed to figure out a pattern as to where the bass are located on the weeline. whether it's the points of it or the cuts of it or what have you. If you have figured that much out I'd probably zip from area to area with the crankbait, maybe throw a few casts around the area you think that is holding them and then swithch to the flip/pitch and pick that area apart. 

If you haven't figured out what they're keying on, I'd probably work the weedline with the crankbait and mark the areas where you caught them, then turn around and hit those areas again with the pitch/flip. 

If this were a laydown situation instead, I'd work the area around the laydown with the crankbait, and slowly work my way in switching to the jig or plastic when I get in closer and then pitch all the way to the heart of the laydown. 

[Scarborough817]

On 10/9/2016 at 11:47 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

I'm switching to a bladed jig. Shallow water, fairly aggressive fish, and a grass line? That screams for a bladed jig. 

totally agree then if fishing laydowns switch to a rage blade instead of a traditional bladed jig 

[smalljaw67]

If I'm getting fish on a square bill and the bite is consistent and the fish are all smaller, there are a few things I'd do. The first thing I'd do is upsize the bait, if I'm using a smaller square bill I'd move up to something like a DT Fat 3 or a SK 2.5. If I was already using a bigger bait I'd switch out to a spinnerbait, 1/2oz with a Indiana main blade with a Colorado secondary blade in a patter that is as natural or as bright as the square bills that were drawing strikes. Another thing you can do is move off the bank to deeper weed lines if there are any or look for cover in mybe 6' to 8' and throw a deeper running crank or slow roll the spinnerbait, it is just another option. The reason I wouldn't be flipping or even pitching right away is because the fish are moving after your bait being they are being caught on square bills, I always prefer to get a limit quick and going after the most active is the best way, you also cover more water and have a better chance at getting larger fish.

[Dypsis]

Thanks for the replies everyone, just trying to learn people thought processes when on certain patterns and moving to the next similar spot.  Lot's to learn as always.

[scaleface]

i'm in a tournament and I have two lures putting fish in the boat   .  If  one is catching noticeably bigger fish then I'm going to throw it more. If they are both performing equally well then I would stick with whats working and that may very well be too throw the faster moving lure first .Now add laydowns in the equation  , I'm probably not going to risk snagging a crankbait and spoiling a potentially superior spot .