3 questions about switching gears when the bite is off

[Bass_Akwards]

Hi all.  My biggest fishing weakness is sometimes not being able to switch gears when it's slow or when I know the bass are there but they're not biting.  What's your process for switching gears when the bite is off?

 

1. How much time or how many casts do you generally go without catching a LMB before you switch baits/tactics?

 

2. If you start the day fishing "fast" and the bite is off, do you go to another "faster" bait? OR Do you start to slow down? OR do you do something else? (keep using the same bait but switch bait size, or switch to different types of structure or cover etc)   What do you do if your secondary bait or tactic fails?

 

3. If you start the day fishing "slow" and the bite is off, do you go to another "slow" bait?  OR do you start to speed up? OR do you do something else?  What do you do if your secondary bait or tactic fails?

[A-Jay]

Interesting questions.

I can't really answer them with anything specific; may boil down to ones local & / or personal preference.   

For me it's about finding bass.  Hopefully active bass.

The Season, the weather conditions, water clarity & temperature can all play a role on where I might start.

But for sure the above will determine 'what' I'm throwing while I'm looking. 

Once contact is made I prefer to offer something that has shown it can get a big bite.

That's often a jig. (If I'm not throwing it already).

A-Jay

 

 

[WRB]

I depth question pun intended.

You are asking a basic bass behavior question that can't answered without knowing more about seasonal periods. 

Somewhere in nearly lake, pond or river the bass are more active then where you are fishing or at a different depth in the water column then you are fishing.

It's my belief* that you should spend time observing what is going on around you and use your sonar unit to help determine what depth to start at by locating the bass and prey they are feeding on. Select lures that can be presented effectively where the bass are located. Then it's trail and error.

Bass, IMO, are inactive more of the time then active, find active feeding bass if possible. If you are on a bite and it slows down determine why those bass are at the location and find another similar location, then repeat what you were doing, it's called pattern fishing. Then revisit those locations every few hours is better then trying to catch bass that are not willing to eat.

Tom

* Cosmic Clock and Bass Calendar, Google search.

[Catt]

Most anglers start the day off shallow because of the early morning bite.

 

I start the day off deep which by the way also has an early morning bite!

 

Like A-Jay I'll start with either a Jig-n-Craw or Texas Rig. If the bite is slow I'll change cadence before I switch lures or locations. Depending on depth I may switch to a crankbait, spinnerbait, or chatterbait.

 

Until you have put a lure in the Bass's face ya can't say for certain if that bass is active or non-active. Getting one bass to react may fire up the whole school.

[Columbia Craw]

The conditions will first dictate if I think I can get a reaction bite or feeding bite. If the weather and temps aren't conducive to  a faster moving bait, vertical or horizontal, I will fish slow.  I always PREFER to fish fast to cover water quicker but that may not be the most effective.  Case in point:  covered a large rocky bottom area with a shallow crankbait last year. The fish were just swiping at the bait or I caught them skin hooked by the rear treble hook.  I picked up a wacky worm and refished the area slower and loaded the boat. Another scenario: I fished a jig slow around brush lines and cover and had limited success.  I had two bites reeling in.  I started to throw a swim jig and spinner bait and did pretty well.  I don't know if that helps. If i'm confident I'm around fish, I just do something different if the bass don't cooperate.

[Montanaro]

Two key aspects I think are worth heeding is

 

1.  Have confidence in various baits/techniques.  It does you NO good to "slow down" if you have no confidence in the bait youre slowing down with!  People get spun out quick throwing a senko in the wrong depth or getting line twist on dropshot.  If you have confidence you can sense the right conditions.

 

2.  Youd be surprised at how speeding UP a fast presentation can result in more fish activity.   Burning balsa cranks on the edge of blowout is sometimes ths only option.  This ties into your confidence and sense.  It is important to stay focused in order to vary your retrieves and casting angles.

[jeff25]

I always start fast, switching between multiple different moving baits such as crankbaits, spinnerbaits, swim jigs, swim baits or jerkbaits deppending on water clarity,cover, bottom comp, and fishing multiple different types of structure and cover. I probably switch baits every 5-10 minutes. 

 

If I still don’t get bit I then switch to slower baits and fish the pieces of structure and cover slower with a Texas rig, jig, or drop shot.

[J.Vincent]

Fish tighter and more methodical; And be prepared to read the situation and leave inactive areas when your gut instinct tells you ! 

[Mike L]

To me what you're asking is the very definition of being able to Improvise, Overcome and Adapt to everything around you. 

You got some great advise with that underlying message. 

 

There is no one correct answer      

I wish there were.  

 

 

 

 

Mike

[bagofdonuts]

For me its totally a gut feeling kind of thing. If conditions are tough and I'm confident in what I'm doing, I may go at it all day knowing I'm only gonna get a few bites. I still probably switch between a couple of presentations. This spring i had a pretty good stretch flipping a jig or a texas rigged beaver. They are very similar presentations, but some days they'd bite the t-rigged better  and some days the jig.

 

 But if I feel like they should be aggressive and what i'm doing feels wrong I'll switch up real fast.

All i can say is that you should trust your gut.

[FishStickHunter]

Keep an eye on water temp, water clarity, barometric pressure, cloud cover, temp, time of day, and any environmental queues.  Keep a log of what's hot and not based on those queues.  You will also need to track depth you're catching the fish,  depth of the water that you're finishing, speed of retrieve, and any twitch/pause retrieve pattern that works (or doesnt).

 

Based on this you will learn what works for you and when a technique works.  Collecting and analyzing data isn't fun but that works in the long run.   Often what doesn't work is more important than what does

 

I will sometimes just keep moving to different types of terrain with the same methods to see if it's just the speed, retrieve pattern, water depth, or the bass have just moved instead of tying on a new lure.  Use your gut instinct based on the data/experience you have.  Sorry I have no great shortcuts to total fishing matter young grasshopper 

[geo g]

I usually start with a faster presentation, like a swim bait, or swim frog, or a top water.   Then if the bite is slow I will go to plastics like senko, U-vibe.  If that shows little action I will down size to a centipede, beaver bait, or wacky rig finesse worm. and slow down, sometimes painfully slow.  Then lastly I will go big, with plastics and vary the pace until I get some action.  Lastly I usually go home, and have several adult beverages!

[Troy85]

I generally start faster.  Usually I start with a spinner bait or topwater and go on from there.  As far as knowing when to switch lures and presentations, I try to check all the conditions, temp, wind, bait activity, water clarity when making those decisions.  Sometimes I'll switch to another bait and after like 5 casts it just feels wrong, so I'll put down that rod and try something different.  I Can't be more specific because it literally changes from trip to trip, sometimes multiple times during a trip.  Sometimes I'll throw a specific half the day at different spots, sometimes I'll pick it up for 5 minutes, then not use it again for the rest of the day.

[papajoe222]

For me, it depends on whether the bite slowed or stopped, or it was slow to begin with.  If the bite was there and slowed, something has changed. I know the fish are in the area and I'll adjust my retrieve speed and depth until I contact them and either continue with that presentation or possibly change to one that better suits it.

If the bite is slow, I normally opt for changing location/target depth. I'm not big on changing baits as I'll have something tied on one of the rods on my deck that will cover most depths and presentation speeds (spinnerbait).

[Ratherbfishing]

On 4/28/2018 at 11:47 AM, Bass_Akwards said:

1. How much time or how many casts do you generally go without catching a LMB before you switch baits/tactics?  There are too many variables to say.  Because it's easier and more efficient, I'll usually switch baits/tactics first, before I switch locations.  How MANY casts I'll make BEFORE changing is predicated by the weather and the conditions.  If it's cold front conditions, I'll make fewer casts but that's usually because the time BETWEEN casts is usually longer.  If it's an area I'm confident in, I may just downsize my bait some.

 

2. If you start the day fishing "fast" and the bite is off, do you go to another "faster" bait? OR Do you start to slow down? OR do you do something else? (keep using the same bait but switch bait size, or switch to different types of structure or cover etc)   What do you do if your secondary bait or tactic fails?  It depends on the conditions and whether I think the fish are there and/or OUGHT to be biting.  I generally DO fish fast at the beginning and then slow down if I think I need to.  The downside to doing this, of course, is that you can't cover as much water and/or find the aggressive fish.  So I try mix it up until a good balance is struck (if I can).  But there is only so much time and so many opportunities before the "clock runs out."  Sometimes you eat the b'ar and sometimes the b'ar eats you.  

 

3. If you start the day fishing "slow" and the bite is off, do you go to another "slow" bait?  OR do you start to speed up? OR do you do something else?  What do you do if your secondary bait or tactic fails? Rarely do I start out by fishing slow UNLESS the conditions dictate it.  But sometimes, when something isn't working that "ought" to work, I'll try the exact opposite and see, for instance, if reaction bait might work if the bass don't seem to be actively feeding.  If my "secondary bait"  isn't working either, I'll switch locations AND/OR tactics.  Sometimes this means working my way out closer to the main lake or vice versa.  There are too many variables to say and what I may try one day may be different then the next.  Ultimately, I TRY to let the bass tell ME where they are and what they want.  Sometimes I don't listen or sometimes, again, the clock runs out.