Search Bait strategy?

[WRangler506]

So my new plan for this year fishing new water is to use faster moving baits on new spots. Crankbaits, spinnerbaits and small swimbaits like Keitech 4" are what I plan on throwing at any new spots Im fishing. Are those the right baits? How long do you go before moving? Do the searchbaits usually produce at least 1-2 fish? Some spots Im not sure if I should start with something more subtle if I think there are fish there.

 

Once I catch a couple on those and no more, then I plan to switch.

 

Then I plan to use a dropshot, shakeyheads, tubes and senkos to pick off a few more, or some ribworms in the current. How long to you try to catch a few more with slower baits before moving?

 

Any tips to this are appreciated. I seem to fish a lot of bigwater sections of water as well during the year and searching really seems to be a big part of it. Im usually fishing SM and walleye.

[Spankey]

Sounds good. Great to have a plan. But in my years of experience the plan usually goes out the window and the smallies tell me what they are gonna hit. 

 

I’ve had some of the best plans rolling around in my head only to have the opposite side of the spectrum be what they were after. 

 

You might get on a spot were you throw what they want, you found what they are after and you might not be in too much of a rush to move off of it. Especially if it’s a nice point with different types of drop offs and structure. Heck in that one area you might pull off some topwater, cranking and fishing some soft plastics in one spot. Stay in a stealth mode and don’t spook them. Maybe even back off the spot for awhile and move back into it. 

 

Have fun. 

 

 

[roadwarrior]

Rage Tail Swimmer

Rage Tail Menace

BPS Tender Tube #71

 

[CroakHunter]

On 5/20/2019 at 1:28 PM, WRangler506 said:

Once I catch a couple on those and no more, then I plan to switch.

Why switch if you are catching them?

[TnRiver46]

48 minutes ago, CroakHunter said:

Why switch if you are catching them?

I interpreted the "and no more" as he stopped catching them. I use a plastic worm for search bait and for slow bait. I like to search slowly and thoroughly. I'll stop the day the fish quit eating it....... Been waiting 3 decades so far. Just because you whizz a fast lure by a bass doesn't mean he has to eat it. I've fished a spot for hours with no luck and jumped in with a diving mask only to see big smallmouth everywhere that had been ignoring us

[Dangerfield]

I would add a glide swimbait to that collection of search baits, I also like casting a walking bait.

[rejesterd]

If you listen to enough pros talk, I think there's one common thing they all hint at when it comes to forming a strategy to find bass.  And that is: they don't blindly search with any particular set of baits.  They estimate what seasonal pattern the bass are in (based on recent weather, historical weather, wind speed/direction and water temperature), and they use that info (along with contour maps and sonar) to focus on certain areas of whatever waterway they're fishing on.  Many of them will hint at this by joking about how they're now part-fisherman, part-meteorologist.  To me, that's pretty revealing.  Any new spots you try should be based on some kind of science and educated guessing.

 

But once you decide which spots to focus on, yes, those would be good baits to start with.  However that doesn't necessarily mean you should stop using them and slow down once you catch one.  Especially during the middle portion of the day.  I would be more mindful of boat position and being careful to not spook the rest once you catch one (as opposed to thinking about what slower bait to try next).  

 

Think of all baits as bass triggers, not bass locators. 

[Turkey sandwich]

Seasons and conditions will indicate how active the fish SHOULD be. ("Should" is a 4 letter word in fishing)

 

If you mean reaction baits to locate aggressive fish weather, season, water clarity, and the structure/cover they're hanging out on is going to determine what your best options are going to be for any given day.  If you can effectively fish a crankbait, spinnerbait, a jig, and top water like a walking bait or plopper you have the basics more than covered. 

[Jleebesaw]

I like a carolina rig too. A lot of smallmouth fishing for me is roaming big, shallow, offshore flats and humps. My go to starting baits are lipless cranks and carolina rigged plastics. I'll fan cast those around. The nice thing about a c-rig is that you can fish it somewhat fast or very slow. Just another thing to help you put together a pattern.

[Todd2]

3 hours ago, Jleebesaw said:

 The nice thing about a c-rig is that you can fish it somewhat fast or very slow. 

In theory ....but around here, if I don't slow waaaaayyy down I get nothing. I catch myself dragging too fast, I slow down and it's back on. But I'm fishing for green fish, maybe that's the difference.