Question On Techniques

[Lord Castlereagh]

Hi, All:

 

What is the best technique that does NOT involve S-L-O-W-L-Y working the bottom.

 

I really prefer to throw a lure and retrieve it, vs. slowly dragging the bottom. That's probably why I loved trout fishing this past fall and winter.

 

So, what's the best such technique and does it work in the spring?

Thanks

[Angry John]

Small swim baits an or an arig.  Them meeting bottom is no good.

[Graham]

Crankbaits and spinnerbaits work great in the spring!

[scaleface]

If your looking for fun , its hard to beat a buzzbait when they are working .

[J Francho]

Spinnerbaits, soft boot tail swimbaits, buzzbaits, cranks, walking type topwater are a few.

 

You WILL have to learn when it's time to slow down, if you want to catch bass.

[WRB]

You retreive lure faster with more splash and flash then work for trout. You apparently never soak bait or used flies for trout or slow troll lures.

Trout tend to be more open water fish then bass that prefer cover edges so lure selection needs to take into account where the fish located and what they are feeding on. The pace or speed you retreive lures depends on how active the bass are and willing to chase down a faster moving lure.

Tom

[Catt]

Not quite sure who came up with this notion that bottom contact techniques must be done slow!

 

One can flip-n-pitch cover as fast as a spinnerbait or crankbaits. Plus I'm hitting high percentage target while you're covering dead water between targets.

[Lord Castlereagh]

I see "buzzbait" mentioned several times... Is this the same as a "chatterbait"?

 

Thanks

[frosty]

Just now, Lord Castlereagh said:

I see "buzzbait" mentioned several times... Is this the same as a "chatterbait"?

 

Thanks

No. A buzzbait is topwater

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Chatterbait is a bladed jig. It's a good bait for what the original poster wanted. 

 

Throw a paddle tail trailer on it and burn it through grass an such

[Lord Castlereagh]

3 hours ago, Angry John said:

Small swim baits an or an arig.  Them meeting bottom is no good.

Did autocorrect mess this up? "An arig." What is that?

 

Thanks

[frosty]

A-rig. Alabama rig

[FishStickHunter]

Poppers, frogs, walking baits, buzz baits, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, spoons, and swimbaits have all produced some nice sized bass.   I do catch more bass dragging the bottom but my biggest ones have all been top water

 

With trout I'll work a body of water much quicker than with bass but the options above will allow you to work the bank at a good pace

[MickD]

Two of the best active techniques for bass in the spring are 1. blade baits (Silver Buddy types) and 2.  5 inch swim baits on a darter head jig snapped off the bottom-experiment with the cadence to find what they want.  Oh, forgot hard jerkbaits.

[EGbassing]

21 hours ago, J Francho said:

Spinnerbaits, soft boot tail swimbaits, buzzbaits, cranks, walking type topwater are a few.

 

You WILL have to learn when it's time to slow down, if you want to catch bass.

Agreed. I used to hate fishing bottom-contact baits but now I've caught most of my bass on them...

[NYWayfarer]

Jerkbaits and Crankbaits of the lipless and square bill variety.

[Brad in Texas]

23 hours ago, Catt said:

Not quite sure who came up with this notion that bottom contact techniques must be done slow!

 

One can flip-n-pitch cover as fast as a spinnerbait or crankbaits. Plus I'm hitting high percentage target while you're covering dead water between targets.

And to add along to Catt's theme, if you aren't the angler type to soak a finesse bait, prefer a little more action, with many of the finesse presentations, what you will find is pitching them out to what Catt calls high percentage targets, that often they'll get bit on the drop itself or not long after landing on bottom. So, instead of soaking a plastic, working it methodically in the event it isn't bitten rather fast, just pitch it out, let it drop, wait/twitch for 10/20 seconds, then reel it back in and quickly move a few feet away and do it again. You might make 15 presentations in 5 minutes this way. This might feed your "need for speed." That's a pretty good cadence.

 

Both ways work well, the slow finesse retrievals after a long soaking and also "searching" for a fish that will bite it on the drop or as it thuds into the bottom. In general, the more active fish are feeding, water temps play a role, too, the more likely they are to make a "snap" decision and pounce on your lure fast.

 

Another post somewhere I read today, one poster mentioned tossing a spinnerbait out like on a pitch to lay-downs, that a spinnerbait can be fished "finesse" and not just as a way to cover a lot of water making long casts. Pretty cool idea to give a go.

 

Brad

[soflabasser]

On 5/7/2018 at 5:03 PM, Catt said:

Not quite sure who came up with this notion that bottom contact techniques must be done slow!

 

One can flip-n-pitch cover as fast as a spinnerbait or crankbaits. Plus I'm hitting high percentage target while you're covering dead water between targets.

That's one of things I enjoy most about bass fishing that there are so many ways to catch a bass.There's a time and place for most if not all bass fishing techniques and it's up to the person to figure out what works best on a particular day. 

On 5/7/2018 at 4:05 PM, scaleface said:

If your looking for fun , its hard to beat a buzzbait when they are working .

Buzzbaits are very fun to fish with and its hard to beat a bass blowing up on a topwater.

[Catt]

1 hour ago, soflabasser said:

That's one of things I enjoy most about bass fishing that there are so many ways to catch a bass.There's a time and place for most if not all bass fishing techniques and it's up to the person to figure out what works best on a particular day. 

 

Agreed!  ?

 

My issue is the misunderstanding than Texas Rigs & Jig-n-Craw are slow presentations. 

 

[WRB]

I watched KVD explain how he retrieved soft plastic tubes for smallmouth to cover a lot of water, he rips them. Makes a cast and let fall to the bottom on slack line, the tips it fast for 10' and let's fall and repeats. When KVD say rips it fast he means it, uses 7'4" rod and size 50 high speed spinning reel.

As Catt is saying you don't always crawl or drag a jig or T-rig!

Tom

[Brad in Texas]

11 hours ago, WRB said:

I watched KVD explain how he retrieved soft plastic tubes for smallmouth to cover a lot of water, he rips them. Makes a cast and let fall to the bottom on slack line, the tips it fast for 10' and let's fall and repeats. When KVD say rips it fast he means it, uses 7'4" rod and size 50 high speed spinning reel.

As Catt is saying you don't always crawl or drag a jig or T-rig!

Tom

I think that is a great technique, Tom. My guess is he is trying to repeatedly re-create a large fall over and over, that it is this more than the ripping itself to attract fish. 

 

Of course, pulling a C-Rig across the bottom, a sound search technique, works very well because the weight out in front kicks up some "dust." Fish seem to see this and are attracted to it. I wouldn't be surprised if KVD's technique doesn't also catch some just alerted to the speedy little plastic whizzing by more so than just the ensuing fall.

 

Brad

[Choporoz]

I, too, like to be more 'active' fishing for bass.  I will soak a worm in the summer, and I have grown to love shakey heads.  Still hate drop shots, but that may change this year.

    But, I still feel the need to work my lures.  Good suggestions above; spinnerbait, especially.  Two things I suggest you try that will do you well in most seasons:

1. Lipless crankbait - steady or stop-go or ripping -- will catch you fish, cover water and keep you busy.

2. My favorite rig is a weighted swimbait hook with something Rage Tail; usually a Rage Bug or Cut-R or Menace.  This will offer you the versatility to flip into cover, slowly drag on the bottom, skim over salad, or swim anywhere in the water column....You get to fish it and play around until you find what the fish want.

I typically use 1/8 oz 3/0 weighted hook with a hitchhiker.  Owner Weighted Twistlock CPS Hook is a great one.  Load it up with a green Cut-R or Rage Bug and you may not need another lure 'til fall.  A truly great extra benefit is that this rig is hard to lose.  So if youkeep that hook point in the skin, it is pretty safe in most conditions.