Seems like a lot heavier weights being used nowadays

[mheichelbech]

I have been out of the serious bass fishing scene for several years.  20 years ago I fished a lot of tourneys with moderate success.

 

One of the big changes I have seen since then is the move to heavier baits. I can understand this for punching matted weeds and big swimbaits but even heavy jigs (heavy to me is more than 3/8), seem to be used a lot more.  

 

Am am I missing out on something by not going to heavier style baits if my primary fishing is shallower water, boat docks and visible cover with maybe some creek channel and river structure thrown in?

[Outdoor Zack]

52 minutes ago, mheichelbech said:

I have been out of the serious bass fishing scene for several years.  20 years ago I fished a lot of tourneys with moderate success.

 

One of the big changes I have seen since then is the move to heavier baits. I can understand this for punching matted weeds and big swimbaits but even heavy jigs (heavy to me is more than 3/8), seem to be used a lot more.  

 

Am am I missing out on something by not going to heavier style baits if my primary fishing is shallower water, boat docks and visible cover with maybe some creek channel and river structure thrown in?

 

I like to fish light myself, as in no more than 3/16 oz on a typical t rig.  Can't say that I have any reason to go up anymore in weight when fishing the vast majority of plastics.

 

 Flipping and other techniques may be a different story, but I don't do them enough to give you a serious opinion 

 

 

 

[ThatZX14Fella]

Just depends on the situation for me. If I'm fishing a narrow and shallow creek, I'll keep it light. If I'm fishing deeper water with an area where I can make long casts, I go up in weight so I can reach spots most people can't.

[mheichelbech]

Very similar.  3/16th is really my favorite weight to fish although I always let tactics and conditions determine the weight I am using.  I remember watching a show with KVD where he talks about using heavier weights around socks to trigger more bites on a faster dropping tube.  

[Catt]

Rate Of Fall

[BassThumb]

Rate of fall is huge, as Catt mentioned.

 

Heavier baits allow for better control in the wind. That's a big determinant for me when deciding on lure weights. 

[junyer357]

Another thing too is the diffrence in electronics nowdays too compared to 20 years (or even 10).  With side/down imaging its become much easier and more common to fish offshore too. Heavier weights get down there and stay down there better. 

 

Im like you, i mostly fish shallower and alot of "junk fishing". One of my local lakes i fish (weiss)  has an average depth of around 5' at summer pool, deepest spots are 30' and only in main river channel. I usually use lighter weights, but will go up some depending on where and what im fishing. Used to be 3/8 was as heavy as i kept, now i keep up to 1oz for use before i get into my punching only weights. 

[Catt]

Rate Of Fall

 

How fast do the bass want the lure moving through the water column?

 

A 2# bass can stop a 1 oz jig before it hits bottom in 5' of water!

 

It's called reaction strike

[scaleface]

I use the same sizes as I did twenty years ago .

[bagofdonuts]

Catt has it. Reaction baits of all kind are much more popular now. Seems the pro's are much less about catching numbers now and more about getting five big bites. It trickles down from there to the rest of us.

[RichF]

I think the first flipping jig I ever threw (when I was 10 or 11) was 3/4 oz.  That's still my go to and I have a lot of success.  I almost never go less than 1/2 oz.  I'm just too impatient for the finessy, light weight stuff.

[GoCougs14]

Higher weights definitely make it easier to control and pitch. Ive stuck with 3/8th on calm and shallow water, but Ive already started to transition into 1/2ounce for that application. 

 

 

For me atleast if the bite gets tough, I dont have any really small jigs to downsize to, at that point I usually just go to a dropshot or ned rig

 

 

[Team9nine]

That's just today's media and the influence of professional tournament angling. There's always been heavy bait users just like there has always been fans of lighter compact stuff. The media controls the message.

[sully420]

I use a 3/4oz jig or slither rig most of the time and bass seem to crush it before it drops a foot. if I'm not getting that bite on the drop I'll swim it and if I get biters I might switch to a 1/2oz and swim it back. I live in Minnesota and you could be pitching huge fields of milfoil that are 18ft deep or pads that have 3' of water and the efficiency and mass of a heavy bait seem to really help catch good size bass. 

[WRB]

Depends on the depth you normally fish, the wind and type of cover or structure. 

Back in the '50's we only had Doll Fly hair jigs 1/4oz to 3/4oz and used all the weights. In the '60's  1/2, 5/8, 3/4 is football jig was popular, 70's 1/2 and 3/4 oz Arkie style flipping jigs, 80's up to current times 1/8 oz to 1 oz are popular and a few 1 1/4 to 2 oz punch jigs are being used, I wouldn't say they very common.

My favorite jig is 7/16 oz with 5/0 hook that I made in the 70's and works for me 90 % of the time.

Use what works.

Tom

[XpressJeff]

Has the changes in equipment effected this? 

 

I have been away from fishing for a while and I will say that rods and lines are nothing like they were 20 years ago.

 

This has definitely led to different techniques. 

[WRB]

20 years ago would be 1997. Fluorocarbon line and super braids, Gamakatsu and Owner hooks, Lamiglas and Loomis 956 SB rods all date well before that. Rod blanks have become lighter weight, most of the rod weight loss is via removed handle materials, no fore grip and light weight micro giudes. The big change is price point, in 1997 a $150 rod or reel was high end. 20 years ago all jigs were lead, tungsten came after that date and allows for smaller size heavy weights.

Tom

[Catt]

The Pros have always fished heavier weights than the average Joe because they understand Rate Of Fall.

 

A fast falling Texas Rig or Jig-N-Craw will trigger a reaction strike!

 

As will stroking em up off the bottom

[RoLo]

 

 

With regard to the weights used by professional anglers, I haven't seen any paradigm shift.

From day one, the pro angler tended to use more weight than the recreational angler.

To begin with, pro anglers are pitted against the clock and finesse fishing eats the clock.

In addition, the majority of a bass’s life is spent “OFF-the-feed”, which plays right into the hands of a faster sink rate.

There’s no better example than KVD, who built his career on the effectiveness of the 'impulse strike'.

 

I will say this, 20 years ago (mid 90s), fluorocarbon rose to fame as the new 'leader' material

(I used it for saltwater leaders). Today however, a fluorocarbon main-line has become commonplace.

Fluorocarbon is 'twice' the diameter of braided polyethylene of the same breaking-test.

In spite of the overblown property that fluorocarbon line sinks, let me pose a question.

Which main-line do you believe would require a 'heavier sinker' to hold bottom during a brisk drift:

Fluoro or Braid?

 

Roger

[WRB]

I was buying 14 lb  Sunline Shooter 200 yard spools in the early 90's from a Florida supplier named GS Trout  Supply. Agree leader spools were first from Seagaur.

Let me think, 1/2 the line drag going through the water hmmmm...braid!

ROF can be critical, keep in touch with the jig is essential.

Tom

[N Florida Mike]

Maybe I missed something with this "rate of fall" thing. I used  to use a 1/4 oz weight a lot and switched mostly to no weight.Occasionally I will use a bb shot now but only to help cast very light baits.

Since I switched to weightless,my catch rate has gone up 75%.

Not saying anyones wrong but its different strokes for different folks I guess.

I will fish more weight if its real windy or deep water but otherwise,its weightless.

[papajoe222]

Welcome Back

I,too, fished mostly 1/4-3/8oz. jigs back in the day, but I don't believe I even own a bass jig under 3/8oz. and the majority of water I fish is under 12ft.  Rate of fall isn't the reason for my switch. Maintaining bottom contact and the information transmitted back to me by the heavier/denser weight is.  It's much easier to feel the loss of weight when a fish gently picks up a 1/2oz. jig than it is with one half that weight. Even with bullet weights and T-rigs the 'use the lightest weight you can' mentality has been cast aside for my bottom contact presentations. A bass, IMO, has no difficulty picking up a heavy jig, but I have difficulty feeling the bite, or when the bottom composition changes with a light jig.

That lighter/no weight presentation is great for finding what part of the water column the fish are using, but once I figure that out, I'm switching to something that I can cover that depth with in a more efficient manner.