Biggest bites...

[the reel ess]

Location. My last few PBs were frog, spinnerbait & jig (current PB). Those are big fish baits, but they really reflect the ways I like to fish. The last two PBs came from the same body of water. I'd have more confidence there with a Ned than I would most places with a monster bait. I've caught 5+ pounders on most of the usual bass baits at this same place.

[burrows]

On 9/9/2018 at 9:23 AM, WRB said:

Location, location, location, then the right lure at the right time. 

Jigs are excellent choice when big bass are feeding on crawdads.

If you use bottom contact lures like jigs and worms 90% of the time your odds are good that is what you will catch big bass on if they are in the location you are fishing.

Tom

When you say worms are you talking senkos or trick worms?

[Catt]

2 hours ago, Burrows said:

When you say worms are you talking senkos or trick worms?

Tom will be a long shortly ?

 

There are far more "worms" than Senkos & Trick Worms!

 

Today it plastics...all of em!

[Harold Scoggins]

Jigs, 9 or 12 inch jelly worms, and my all time favorite, a skirted Boss Hub pegged against the Hoo Daddy Sr.

[Fishingintheweeds]

50 minutes ago, Catt said:

Tom will be a long shortly ?

 

There are far more "worms" than Senkos & Trick Worms!

 

Today it plastics...all of em!

Funny, I just made a post about this. The when's and why's for everybody and their preferences. 

 

 

[WRB]

My 1st DD bass, 11 lbs,  was caught on a live water dog (Tiger salamander) at lake Havasu Roads End dock, I was 12 years old. 

Between 1965 to 1973 fishing San Diego lakes Lower Otay, San Vicente,El Capitan, etc, when the Florida bass were 1st introduced it was believed you needed to use live bait like crawdads, shiners and waterdogs to catch these big bass. About 1968 big 9" to 16" hand poured plastic worms became popular in the SD lakes. I caught 100+  DD bass during this time period, all on live crawdads and big worms none on jigs in SD lakes. I caught my PB northern LMB on a jig at lake Castias in 1971 at 12 lbs 3 oz.

Started fishing lakes Castiac and Casitas more during late 70's, SD lakes boom had faded. Stopped using live bait in the early 70's and focused on using big worms, jigs and swimbaits in the deep rock structured lakes. Caught my top 5 FLMB on jigs between 1981 to 1993 at Casitas and Castiac. 

Jigs are excellent choice however difficult to detect the very light strikes on a small compact lure. Big worms and swimbaits the strike is obvious because the bass doesn't reject as quickly. Jigs take intense concentration every moment you fish them, most big bass strikes go undetected by the majority of bass anglers.

Tom

[Fishingintheweeds]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

Jigs are excellent choice however difficult to detect the very light strikes on a small compact lure. Big worms and swimbaits the strike is obvious because the bass doesn't reject as quickly. Jigs take intense concentration every moment you fish them, most big bass strikes go undetected by the majority of bass anglers.

Tom

So, I guess the next obvious question for a lot of people, me also, no matter how many times I great the answers, might be, how DO you detect them or learn to get better at it? 

 

Maybe the first answer is time and practice and concentration...ha, it's the right answer but it also sounds frustratingly vague! But here is a thread on that, 3 pages worth. It's helpful and it leaves me looking back wondering which bites I missed. 

 

I guess the next question I have would be, Tom, what do you suggest as an alternative to jigs that would be most likely to attract the same fish as the jig? For the big worm and the swim bait, how do you rig them if you're really trying to target the big fish? Is there a rigging and retrieve for these baits (or whatever else you may prefer for bigger fish) that you find attracts larger fish? 

[WRB]

First we need to break down jig presentations into at least 2 groups; vertical flipping and pitching and horizontal casting and retrieving. The 1st group being vertical means short casts less then 30' to visual targets with the jig falling down through the water usually les then 8' feet deep. Vertical is the popular presentation. The vertical jig is a more compact design with a fiber weed guard so it can go through cover without hanging up.

Being a short cast it's easy to keep in contact with jig and you a higher % of strike detection, but it's difficult to get close enough to the biggest bass without spooking them in shallow water during day light. The DD size bass don't usually get into shallow cover unless spawning, preferring more open ddep water. If you manage to hook a DD bass in heavy shallow cover controlling it is very difficult.

The second group being horizontal meaning casting the jig 30 yards or more anywhere from shallow water to over 25' deep. The horizontal is usually a football head type design with a longer hook and may or may not have a weed guard depending on the cover. This is the presentation that has a higher missed strike % because it's difficult to stay in contact with the jig. Being further away from the bass tends not to alarm the biggest bass increasing your chances of getting a strike and this is where consentration is essential by feeling your line for any changes. You present a big worm or a jig the same technique when casting horizontally. I prefer a sliding bullet weight with a faceted glass bead for Texas rigged worms. I try to keep the jig or worm on the bottom or within a foot unless working it up and over something.

Always sharpen the hooks and keep them sharp. Weights should heavy enough to keep in contact.

Tom

             

 

[Fishingintheweeds]

Thanks, Tom.

 

On these long casts, to water that is 20+ feet deep, what size of weights and worms are you talking about? And for jigs? 

 

What about longer casts to water that is relatively the deepest, but maybe 10-12 feet, with dense vegetation? 

 

Based on your reply, it sounds like you prefer the worms over jigs, for longer, horizontal casts?  

[WRB]

I prefer using 7/16 oz hair jig with 5/0 Gamakstsu hook and pork rind trailer if possible.

The lakes I fish have mostly steep rock banks and structure with sparse wood cover good jig water. The more gradual sloping dirt and clay banks with heavier wood or aquatic plant cover I prefer worms. Making a long jig cast into cover is a low % presentation during day light in my experience, at night shorter cast is an option.

I also like to use 10 to 12 lb mono or FC line with jigs because the smaller diameter increases strike detection with jigs, 14 lb for big worms.

Preferred worms Uptons Customs 9" to 13" hand pours, make my own jigs.

Tom

[Catt]

1 hour ago, Fishingintheweeds said:

Thanks, Tom.

 

On these long casts, to water that is 20+ feet deep, what size of weights and worms are you talking about? And for jigs? 

 

What about longer casts to water that is relatively the deepest, but maybe 10-12 feet, with dense vegetation? 

 

Based on your reply, it sounds like you prefer the worms over jigs, for longer, horizontal casts?  

 

I catch most of my big fish on deep water structure (15-30') casting Texas Rigs & a Jig-n-Craw.  Cover will be grass, brush, & timber all on the same piece of structure.

 

My everyday Texas Rigs are 3/16-1/4 oz weight & some type of plastic but generally I start with a Ringworm 7-8" in Cinnamon Pepper Neon Junebug Laminate (camouflage).

 

My second choice is a Gene Larew Salty Hawg Craw 6"; black-n-blue or black neon. Also Rage Tail's Lobster Falcon Lake Craw.

 

My jigs will range in weight from 1/4-3/4 oz depending on depth more than cover.

 

As for feeling the bites!

 

Experience, fish nothing but Texas Rigs & Jigs!

 

 

I know you've read this one, that's pretty much all I can say.

 

 

[Fishingintheweeds]

Yes, but these threads are worth reading again. I appreciate everyone's feedback!

[Hillbilly Bennett]

On 9/9/2018 at 6:37 AM, Pickle_Power said:

Jigs do get a lot of big bites for me.  Also, topwaters during peak times have gotten me some of my best fish.

Agree on topwater. My PB bites have came on big topwater walking baits and frogs. Cranks and spinnerbaits have also yielded some really big bites for me but these Lures don’t produce year round like a jig can. It would definitely be on my short list of Lures to have tied on if I needed a big bite. 

[Fishingintheweeds]

I think I've got the next right question...and maybe someone can help of this has been covered in the past, even though the answer may seem obvious.

 

So, you know you are going to throw your jig (or whatever else. The jig seems like you would need to be more specific when looking for where) and look for big fish. Electronics be a big part of this for some and maybe not others.

 

If you DO use them, what are you going to find (aside from being able to see exactly where the fish are)? 

 

If you don't use them, what is your approach to finding your targets?

 

These answers seem obvious but I'm sure there must be some finer points that the rest of us may not have considered.

[Hillbilly Bennett]

Electronics definitely help. I’m always looking for anything different in the areas and depths where I believe/know the fish are. Rock piles, brush piles, deep clumps of isolated grass or just areas of hard bottom on points, humps or just plain irregularities. Basically I look for a “spot on a spot” and try to target it from as many different angles as possible until I get a bite. When I do get a bite I try to repeat that cast as closely as I can. There was something that caused that fish to eat that Lure coming from that particular direction and in my experience more often than not if you can replicate the cast you will get bit again. 

[Mike F]

I’m shocked how few people mentioned frogs, even when a one pound fish hits a frog it’s a big bite lol, and imo the most exciting way to fish (when they’re aggressive) That being said my PB largemouth came on a deadsticked drop shot on 6lb fluoroclear, standing on an elevated dock... bring a net!

[Bankbeater]

The majority of my big bass have been caught on jigs, but I have been fishing in lakes that I know have hawgs in them.