Square bill or soft plastics

[Sittin there reelin em in]

Ok, so today while I was fishing, my friend decided to tie on a square bill. Automatically he caught three in the next thirty minutes. So should I stick with soft plastics and fish slow or go parallel with the bank.

with a square bill.

 

[scaleface]

Were you catching fish ?

[Sittin there reelin em in]

I did late in the evening but they would get off right at the bank every time. I was using a Gary Yamomoto sexy shad square bill.

I lost my Pb for sure.

[flyingmonkie]

Guess I'm having a hard time following this.  Regardless, don't get stuck assuming you have to do one thing.  Both techniques, as well as a hundred others, will catch fish right now.  Learn and adapt.  If your buddy is catching fish and you aren't, try something different.  If you're catching fish and losing them at the bank, it's a different matter altogether.

[IndianaFinesse]

I'm confused, are you asking whether to fish slow or parallel to the bank, or are you asking if you should use square bills or plastics? There is no one right answer to either one.

[JLWoodman]

Personally, I would have tied on something similar that could cover water as fast as a squarebill.  I would have paid attention to the color of his squarebill and what kind of cover he may have been pulling them out of and at what water depth.  If he was still catching a lot more than me I would have tied on a squarebill in the same color type as his.  

Pay attention to the pattern and listen to the fish.  Let the fish tell you what they want.  

[Cranks4fun]

Know the seasonal trends (Cold- S. jerkbaits, jigs, lipless, dropshot, shaky; pre-spawn-Sq. bills, lipless, t-rigged worms/ lizards,... you know) and experiment based on those trends. Find the fish and find what works and stay with what works until it stops working and then you change up. There is another method I've used called the MEWES method. MEWES stands for Make Excuses While Eating Snacks. You just sit in the boat (or on shore) and say things like "When the Wind's out of the East the fish bite Least- That's our problem. Hand me some more chips!"

[gulfcaptain]

Difference between a worm and a squarebill can be a huge difference depending on conditions.  Prespawn feeding fish, you're going to catch more on a squarebill for two reasons.  One, reaction, and two, you're covering A LOT more water.  Your buddy can probably make 3 casts of not more with a squarebill to your one with a worm.  Now cold water, hot water, non-aggressive bass not willing to chase a bait sitting on cover or structure, then a worm dropped on their head will probably equal more fish then a squarebill reeled past them.  Fish what the fish and conditions are telling you.  If you and your buddy are fishing two different ways and he's catching and your watching, I'd switch.  But you can always cheer him on if you refuse to pay attention and adapt to what the fish are telling you.  

[S. Sass]

10 minutes ago, gulfcaptain said:

Difference between a worm and a squarebill can be a huge difference depending on conditions.  Prespawn feeding fish, you're going to catch more on a squarebill for two reasons.  One, reaction, and two, you're covering A LOT more water.  Your buddy can probably make 3 casts of not more with a squarebill to your one with a worm.  Now cold water, hot water, non-aggressive bass not willing to chase a bait sitting on cover or structure, then a worm dropped on their head will probably equal more fish then a squarebill reeled past them.  Fish what the fish and conditions are telling you.  If you and your buddy are fishing two different ways and he's catching and your watching, I'd switch.  But you can always cheer him on if you refuse to pay attention and adapt to what the fish are telling you.  

 

As gulfcaptain said,"Fish what the fish and conditions are telling you." His other points are spot on as well. 

[scaleface]

I'm not following either .Your personal best is listed 7 to 8 lbs and you lost a fish that was easily your personal best . I would ask why I lost that fish . A poor hookset , trying to horse them in ... I have lost   a few big bass by trying to bring them in to quickly , especially on treble hook lures . Did the bass throw the lure ?  Sometimes fish just get come unhooked .  

[king fisher]

I would have tried a lipless crank, spennerbait,or chater bait to see if it was the square bill that was the difference, or the bass just wanted a more aggressive presentation.  You might have found a lure that worked better that his.  If these other baits drew blanks, and you still wanted to catch fish, switch to what your friend was using.  I would probably have kept experimenting with other lures.  Just my curious nature.  When a friend is killing them on one thing, I love to see if I can find something different.  At the very least I would use a different color of square bill.   I get out fished often, but always mange to learn something from it.
 

[Sittin there reelin em in]

6 hours ago, scaleface said:

I'm not following either .Your personal best is listed 7 to 8 lbs and you lost a fish that was easily your personal best . I would ask why I lost that fish . A poor hookset , trying to horse them in ... I have lost   a few big bass by trying to bring them in to quickly , especially on treble hook lures . Did the bass throw the lure ?  Sometimes fish just get come unhooked .

 

Well when I was bringing in the fish it got caught up on a ten foot log about two foot from the bank and he shook it. So I throw back out there for about an hour longer, same spot, then I hook into the same fish and lose him on the bank. She spit it out when I was getting ready to flip her on the dam.

Sorry guys for making it sound complicated. What I meant was should I throw square bills parallel with the bank because that's how my buddy was catching them. Or should I try something totally different and fish slow with a soft plastic.

I was throwing a Strike King Red Eye Sexy shad rattletrap. They were the exact same color so I guess it was the action. Thanks guys for trying to understand sorry for the trouble.

[IndianaFinesse]

3 hours ago, Sittin there reelin em in said:

 

Well when I was bringing in the fish it got caught up on a ten foot log about two foot from the bank and he shook it. So I throw back out there for about an hour longer, same spot, then I hook into the same fish and lose him on the bank. She spit it out when I was getting ready to flip her on the dam.

Sorry guys for making it sound complicated. What I meant was should I throw square bills parallel with the bank because that's how my buddy was catching them. Or should I try something totally different and fish slow with a soft plastic.

I was throwing a Strike King Red Eye Sexy shad rattletrap. They were the exact same color so I guess it was the action. Thanks guys for trying to understand sorry for the trouble.

I wouldn't worry so much about using the same color as him, the other differences such as lure type, retrieve, etc. are far more important.  If he was really catching them that good, then using a similar crankbait and retrieve could be effective, or something completely different might catch more and bigger bass. There are no certainties in fishing, fishing is an ongoing experiment.  

Oh, and you might want to bring a net next time. 

[Sittin there reelin em in]

Yeah well we're going back tomorrow so hopefully I'll beat him. I normally get the lunker of the fishing trip in the summer, fall or spring. This is my first year winter fishing so its kinda different.

[gripnrip]

Sounds like a no brainer to me.  If I was getting the bigger bite throwing the plastics, that's what I'd be throwing.  But if you want to catch and not worry about size start doing what he is doing.

[Sittin there reelin em in]

I'm definitely worried about size so maybe I should stick with my confidence bait (soft plastic) instead of a square bill thanks everyone.