How often do y'all switch baits?

[beginningfisherman]

This weekend I was fishing with a buddy and we couldn't buy a bite. Sometimes I felt like I wasn't sticking with one technique long enough to know whether the fish weren't liking that bait or if the fish just weren't in the spot where I threw it. How long do you all stick with a bait without catching fish before switching?

 

Also, how long do you fish one particular area (pads, a certain bay, etc) before moving?

[Bluebasser86]

I'll have several rods rigged and on the deck so I can "switch" to a different bait for just a cast or two and then pick something else back up. I'm a junk fisherman, so I do that a lot. 

How often I move depends on if I'm getting bit or not. No reason to move around if they're still biting in one area. 

[JustJames]

I don't change enough I guess, since sometime I wonder if I'd get a better bite with that lure on those plastic. I try at least to cover top water, between water column and bottom contact.

BTW, I'm in learning mode so I try to stick what I have plan on.

[bigturtle]

It really depends on a lot of stuff, but for normal sizes of lures, i use for 20min or so, and for big baits, an hour or so

[Fishes in trees]

I don't like wasting time tying knots while I'm fishing.  I'll take time to re-tie if line gets scraped or bait gets lost , thats ok , but just taking time to put on a new bait seems to me a waste of time.   Therefore - at the start of the day I've got 15 or so rigs laid out on the deck.  Switching baits is pretty simple - just pick up another rig.  I do that a lot.   It isn't unusual to try 3 different baits before moving off to a different spot.   How & what I throw pretty much depends on how I'm feeling and what I think will work and that is a moment to moment decision.

[scaleface]

Sometimes often sometimes not . When I do switch its  its thought out . I dont  change for the sake of changing . Same thing when it comes to changing locales .Try to  make decisions based on intellect .   

[Choporoz]

It's a perpetual question that you may never feel you're comfortable with your answer.

 

One peculiarity of mine that I've noticed is a tendency to change baits when I get bit after a drought.    If I go hours without a bite, and for no apparent reason, catch a fish....I tend to want to switch baits.  Something in my brain says "the fish are there....and they're willing to bite...I probably got the one bass that didn't care if I offered the wrong color...but if I'd have been throwing something else, I'd have caught a lot more"

[NYWayfarer]

Not very often.

 

I bring two rods set up for two different techniques. For example a Wacky rig set up and a drop shot. That's usually all I need.

 

I can switch the wacky rig for topwater or jigs and the dropshot for ned rig if need be.

[BassNJake]

Like some of the other replies I have multiple rods on the deck and they cover the different water columns I try to fish.

I usually fish from 0-6 feet, 6-12 and then 12-20 feet deep. I don't have the skills or the electronics to confidently fish deeper than that. I am trying to target active bass that are feeding or find places they are located where I can trigger a reaction bite.

 

I always go at daybreak so I'm throwing my frog most of the morning targeting active fish that are feeding closer to the bank and/or cover(6 feet or less) and trying to get some clues as to what the day will bring.

 

If I can get some early frog action, it might be the only lure I throw til lunch. The early success will keep me fishing my favorite way because now I have confidence there are fish shallow and actively feeding.

 

If I don't get a sniff and see some baitfish activity, I'll back through the same area fishing a jig/senko something slower I can fish thru that 6 foot zone.

 

I noticed, the deeper I fish the more rods/lures I use and I think its a confidence thing

 

[WRB]

The 3 most important things to know are;

1. How deep are the bass and bait.

2. What is the seasonal period.

3. What is the weather doing today.

Lure selection should come after you know the above.

Tom

[BuzzHudson19c]

I don't switch that often. Sometimes I'll just decide I'm going to throw one bait all day (that's usually frogs).

[Sam]

Add your gut feeling plus your confidence intuition and you have the answer.

 

Sometimes I don't throw enough and at other times too much.

 

I have been known to leave the fish and go to another place and then again, I have found the bass in places I had no idea they were there.

 

Times where I change baits and presentations after 10 casts and other times I stick with a bait for way too long.

 

Same is true for places I fish.

 

Just depends on how long it takes to catch two and formulate a pattern.

 

 

[Glenn]

 

[Paul Roberts]

Not all that much. I tend to fish conditions and "experiment" with relatively few choices.

[Rick Howard]

I don't switch often.  I have a pretty simple approach.  I have 4 rods.  They are almost always rigged as follows.  A jig, a spinner, a Texas rig, and a rapala minnow.  All of these baits can be fished several ways in various conditions.  I cover an area ptryy thoroughly with these.  As I get bit or don't get bit I start to establish a pattern and adjust accordingly.  Sometimes nothing develops. Other times it happens right away and I'll catch them all day or several days with that pattern.  I'd say more often a few things are working just okay.

 

I am pretty simple when it comes to color also.  

 

Jigs are black or brown.  Black in muddy water.  Brown in clean water.  Trailers are always a craw chunk.  Black/blue with the black jig.  PBJ with the brown jig.  

 

spinners are white with willow blades.  black with Colorado blades.

 

Minnow is black and white

 

Texas rig is normally a craw or worm.  Worm is black or brown.  Craw is black/blue flake or green.  Again depends on water clarity.  

 

I try different baits or colors out of curiosity sometimes.   If I'm trying something new I set out that day to for that reason.  I stick with that for the entire time.

 

 

[Koz]

I bank fish and bring only one rod so my usual routine is to fan cast the area 3 or 4 times and if I don't see any fish or get any strikes I'll try another bait. I change baits 3 or 4 times and if there's still no action I'll relocate to another spot in that lagoon or move on to the next lagoon.

 

What I find a lot of times is that when I'm standing up and bank fishing I'm more impatient and I tend to change baits and move around. If I'm in a boat or have my portable stool in a shady spot I'm more patient with the bait I'm using and less likely to move around.

 

What I find ironic is some of the posters in this thread probably have hundreds of lures and baits and fish just one or two of them. For me if the fish aren't biting I may end up going through most of what's in my tackle box that day.

[Boomstick]

It depends on the time of year. At this time of year, I'm pretty patient. I'll switch baits every 30 minutes or so. Come fall however, I may switch baits sooner or perhaps switch spots in the lake as the bass will be more active in different parts of the lake.

[d-camarena]

i am very patient, i usually throw senkos, keitechs and frogs all day. sometimes ill venture out to whopper ploppers, jigs and the occational spinnerbait but not often. 

its hard for me to change baits when my senko/frog pattern works so well

[scaleface]

 Say for instance you are getting hits on a noisy crankbait but not hooking up, a switch to a less aggressive crankbait like a Fat Rap might do the job . Or   the fish are not hitting  worms , cranks... but the fish do seem to be active . A switch to a surface  disturbing buzzbait , something they dont get a good look at , may start catching them  . These were two recent scenarios and bait switches that worked for  me . 

[fishwizzard]

I only change lures when I get bored.  Usually I go out it is to try a specific lure or technique, so I will fish it until I get bored, at which point I am not going to gain anything by forcing myself to keep going, so I change up to something different.  Rarely do I go out with just "Today I wanna catch some bass" as a goal, it is almost always "Today I wanna catch some bass on a dropshot" or something like that.  I usually go out with whatever lure/technique I want to work on and maybe two other options, something very different then my "target" lure.  So if I am going out to fish t-rigged worms I might bring a spinnerbait and some paddle tails along as well.  If I am not catching on the t-rig and get sick of counting rocks I will switch up to the spinnerbait for a while to see if that works before I go back to the worm.   

[CybrSlydr]

As someone with only two rods/reels, and I typically only use one of them, I use snaps a LOT so I'm not constantly re-tying and wasting line.

 

I'll go about 10-15min before I switch lures.  

[Catt]

How often do y'all switch baits?

 

As often as necessary!

[the reel ess]

All the time. I have 6, sometimes 7 rods with me.

[NHBull]

I usually go with a friend.  We usually will start with different rigs and seldom use the same bait, until we see what is working.  We usually end up using the same bait