When do you use what bait

[Flatrock]

I'm curious as to what lures do people switch to at what time of the day..   I get top water works nicely at first light, but spinners, jigs, worms, cast baits,ect..   I would be curious to hear what Glen does when and where

[Jig Man]

That varies from day to day, wind, water color, sunshine all change things.

 

Basically, I like 6 setups on deck and 4 under the passenger’s console.  All rigged differently.

 

i pick a number, make that many casts, if no bites change setups, repeat until I find something that works or just dig out my Ned setups and catch a few.

[Bass Ninja]

Spring through fall its all about the frog!! I'm addicted haha! That being said, I look at water temp, water clarity,  wind direction and speed, and if its going to be more sunny or more overcast. If its below 80 degrees, I know they wont all be buried in the weeds sucking oxygen. So then I look at my lures and what I know about the lake and the types of cover and I try to figure out my route. And then all through my route, what lures will best fish what is front of me? a lot of times several lures will work, but I go with my confidence baits. I try to let the conditions tell me what to throw by always asking myself where do I think the fish are, and when I get there, what lures will best fish the water/cover in front of me? and then if its sunny and the water is clear, I go with more natural colors. The muddier the water or the more overcast it is, I go with darker colored lures that make more noise to help the fish find it. Last year the chatterbait and frog produced the most, but this year a bluegill colorado bladed spinnerbait and the frog have been by far the most productive for me. 

[the reel ess]

I take combos rigged with topwater, spinnerbait/buzzbait, lipless crank, jig/trailer and hollow bodied frog. I try these every trip with the exception of the topwater & frog when the water is really cold. But I will try it early spring and late fall just to be sure.

• Conventional wisdom says the topwater won't work well when the sun gets high, but I've been able to pick off a few fish later with it, especially if a cloud rolls over or the water gets choppy-make it a noisy one like a Pop R. If it stays overcast you might catch fish all day on it. Anywhere with shade is worth a throw. And if you see bass busting bait, even at high noon, throw it and make some noise. What I find later in the day is not that they won't bite it at all, but they'll strike short on it.
• The spinnerbait tends to excel when there's a breeze as well. But I'll always try it because the bites tend to be bigger.
• I toss the jig at laydowns, overhanging brush, docks, stumps, etc. any time of day. Mostly targets. I catch fewer bass on the retrieve than I do on the drop.
• I throw the frog at shallow water cover or vegetation. Anywhere vegetation and cover/structure converge such as the shallow end of a dock can be killer. You'll be surprised how often bass will be very shallow, even in summer. Throw it all the way into the weeds and retrieve it into the water if you can. If you walk the bank, throw it parallel to the bank and walk it back.

I'll also take some other baits that I "guesstimate" are seasonally appropriate or that I just feel like using. I like to try new techniques from time to time. Often times you have to adapt to succeed.

 

[Hook2Jaw]

I started to type out a reply like I had a set pattern like we think fish do, but I often head to the water to try something new.  Then I'll cycle through baits from there.  My fishing normally starts with what I've most recently added to my tackle.

 

For instance, I headed out Saturday with the intent of trying to catch fish on a dropshot.  A shakeyhead, wacky rig, and a squarebill later, I proceeded to catch double dinks on one jerkbait just power fishing the absolute crap out of it and had a 20 fish day from there.

 

 

[Sam]

Flatrock, good question but just too many variables to consider to give you a valid reply.

 

Then, you take all of the variables and multiply them by each fisherman to get a total and you have a good idea of what to throw and when.

 

All I can add is experience and your confidence in whatever bait and technique you want to use. Just focus on using that bait and if it does not work you go with something else. if it works, congratulations! You have found the pattern.

[CrankFate]

At around midnight to one am in water where there are lights and fish looking up, top waters and weightless worms can be deadly.

[N Florida Mike]

I know it sound simplistic, but I just fish the heck out of a variety of soft plastics. Which ones I use each trip mostly depends on kind of an instinctive direction I get, which I believe is partly or even mostly based on experience. I’ll go fishing and just kind of think of a bait I want to use and so usually go with that direction. Some of it is based on the weather, time of year , etc. but the bait that I want to fish is often what the fish seem to want that day. I may change it up a few times and often it works.

I fish spinnerbaits occasionally also , following the gut feeling also.

I also do some frog and top water fishing at night or low light conditions, again following the thought of those baits and following the desire to fish them. 

I realize this is more philosophical than “ how to “ , but it seems to work for me .

[scaleface]

I have no rule of thumb . Although top waters work well  in low light conditions , I may stick with them all day .

[soflabasser]

A person can do very good in bass fishing if they are proficient in fishing 5 different types of lures. It also helps to learn how to read the water and know where bass are located in different times of the year. 

 

 

[BigAngus752]

I'm with @Sam.  There are too many variables.  For the sake of argument lets just say you stumbled into some conditions that you weren't expecting, as in the weather and water are completely different than you thought they would be.  When that happens I just throw through the whole water column both fast and slow.  I usually start at the top (spook, pop-r, whopper plopper), then something in the middle (lipless crank, spinner, Shad Rap, underspin with a paddletail), then the bottom (slow rolling a vibrating jig, T-rig, Carolina).  My "no skunk" technique is the Ned Rig.  1/2 of a Zinker Z on a 1/10th mushroom head will always catch something.  Usually a T-rigged Zoom Trick Worm will catch a bass and a lipless crankbait will catch something that swims.  Could be a crappie.  Could be a water snake.  Everything likes the lipless.  

[Flatrock]

Reel Ess thank you for your detailed response.  

 

I realize weather conditions, season, sun or clouds, barometer pressure, temps, ph level, O2 or if the guy in the next boat had beans the night before and can call a bull alligator during mating season with a fart...   All have something to do with how a bass will react that day.   But more experienced guys have a system they use and getting to talk about it is like talking to a politician...  they love to beat around the Lilly pad, god forbid if they accidentally cough up some knowledge.

 

Maybe I'm not specific enough...  So lets say Tenn river / lake system.  2-3' visibility, air temps 75-85*   water temp 75*, water brownish color, minimal vegetation, more submerged trees, rocks and mud bottom.  Depts can go from 5' to 40+ feet in a 100 or less feet. Lots of shallow 5-10' to 35' deep coves followed by rock bluffs water 40' deep.      Sunny / Cloudy you choice... how would you fish this day from sunrise until 2 pm, heat of the day...

 

And Go.....

[Bass Ninja]

Now I could be totally wrong here, But I'm thinking with air and water temps close to 80, they're either pretty tight to cover, or deep on some humps somewhere. With the water being pretty muddy, that means they'll probably be extremely shallow, especially if the water level is rising. I'd be looking for submerged trees or laydowns super close to the bank and I'd either be flipping with a jig or a colorado bladed spinner bait for the most noise, since its muddy and they can't see as well and I want my lure to make a lot of noise for them to find it. If its more open water, such as rocks or a submerged tree off the bank, a crankbait like a chartreuse squarebill deflecting off the limbs might get me a few reaction strikes. I'd just start going through the coves and bluffs, and when I catch a couple fish, try to start putting together a pattern. Maybe they're only on the shallow laydowns that are pretty close to deep water, or maybe they're on the submerged brush in the back of the cove, etc. Hopefully after a couple of hours I've figured that out, so then I'd start skipping around and only fishing what fits that criteria. Like others have mentioned, when all else fails and I think I might get skunked, I just resort to a senko, throwing it and anything and everything. Like I mentioned before, for me its factoring in all the variables to make an educated guess on where I think they might be, and then when I get there, what lure do I have that would most effectively fish that? Do the fish want more noise or less noise? Do they want a more natural color or darker/flashier color to help them find it? You can drive a nail with a large wrench, but a hammer just works better for that particular task. The whole figuring out where they are is half the fun for me. 

[Koz]

Honestly, I always start with a bait that I like to throw based upon the season and the current conditions. If that doesn't work I'll throw another bait I really like based upon those conditions. If that doesn't work I usually fish a bait or technique that I don't like so much. It's surprising how many baits that I initially didn't like that much made it to my favorable list.

 

In the past when fishing was slow I'd go through the bag. Either that of suffer through paralysis of analysis and overthink color and bait choices. But I think through my own experience, reading here on BR, and watching their videos, I do OK with my initial choices on most days.

 

 

[SWVABass]

I usually have very little time to prefish so I have to use my first 2 hours or so trying to figure it out. Based on your description I would have a buzz bait, pop r to cover the early morning bite. Spinner bait and squarebill to try to switch off to if top water wasn’t playing. Then to different trigs set up with a different weight to cycle too. Last but not least a drop shot to finesse with of non of the above produced.

 

this gives me multiple options to cover the water column and also different speeds to retrieve to try to figure out what’s going on. Pretty simple approach but it is what works for me. After getting some clues I would try to dial it on from there.

[BassNJake]

On 6/6/2019 at 12:10 AM, Flatrock said:

Reel Ess thank you for your detailed response.  

 

I realize weather conditions, season, sun or clouds, barometer pressure, temps, ph level, O2 or if the guy in the next boat had beans the night before and can call a bull alligator during mating season with a fart...   All have something to do with how a bass will react that day.   But more experienced guys have a system they use and getting to talk about it is like talking to a politician...  they love to beat around the Lilly pad, god forbid if they accidentally cough up some knowledge.

 

Maybe I'm not specific enough...  So lets say Tenn river / lake system.  2-3' visibility, air temps 75-85*   water temp 75*, water brownish color, minimal vegetation, more submerged trees, rocks and mud bottom.  Depts can go from 5' to 40+ feet in a 100 or less feet. Lots of shallow 5-10' to 35' deep coves followed by rock bluffs water 40' deep.      Sunny / Cloudy you choice... how would you fish this day from sunrise until 2 pm, heat of the day...

 

And Go.....

I'd be covering water fishing a toad most of the time followed up with pitching a senko reverse rigged.

I would also mix in a walking topwater bait on any points that have current hitting them.

 

Why, for me the topwater bite is the most exciting and that s what I'm chasing.

 

If I was tournament fishing I'd be looking at the points extending into the main channel, places where the current breaks, the ends of bluff walls and I'd be spending 90% of my time on the main channel trying to find these places and not in the backs of creeks.

[Harold Scoggins]

On ‎6‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 9:13 PM, BigAngus752 said:

Everything likes the lipless.  

 

On ‎6‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 11:10 PM, Flatrock said:

But more experienced guys have a system they use and getting to talk about it is like talking to a politician...  they love to beat around the Lilly pad, god forbid if they accidentally cough up some knowledge.

Those guys have been around since man invented the hook, @Flatrock. I'll sometimes test a guy as I'm launching on a lake I know real well, and ask him where I should go to catch some fish. If he's on the up and up, I've been known to hand him some of my choice Jelly Worms or one of my hand tied jigs (Sieberts) for him to try. If they ignore me or feed me BS, I'll talk smack under my breath as I head out.

@BigAngus752 is right on about the lipless. They are not just a fall bait and can be used all year. When it slows down after the spawn and I find them on the graph sitting around deep or shallow structure, I'll sometimes tie one on and yo-yo that thing all around where they're sitting. Landed a few choice bass doing that. (Background: Rising Sun over the Wildlife Refuge) 

[Spankey]

Tomorrow morning the point I'll be fishing will get topwater first. I like fishing a skitter pops and the x rap pops. Finally come across this one color pattern that I've been hot to find and finally did, so I know how I'm starting. Right into some trap fishing and a few cottons. Most likely leave that spot and drift fish a few piece of river bank. Not sure what will be thrown. Might be on structure, maybe not. I'll have to find the smallies for sure.  

[Flatrock]

44 minutes ago, Harold Scoggins said:

 

Those guys have been around since man invented the hook, @Flatrock. I'll sometimes test a guy as I'm launching on a lake I know real well, and ask him where I should go to catch some fish. If he's on the up and up, I've been known to hand him some of my choice Jelly Worms or one of my hand tied jigs (Sieberts) for him to try. If they ignore me or feed me BS, I'll talk smack under my breath as I head out.

@BigAngus752 is right on about the lipless. They are not just a fall bait and can be used all year. When it slows down after the spawn and I find them on the graph sitting around deep or shallow structure, I'll sometimes tie one on and yo-yo that thing all around where they're sitting. Landed a few choice bass doing that. (Background: Rising Sun over the Wildlife Refuge) 

 

Thanks...  I would have never thought about yo yo'n a lipless.  I have seen them or something deep and sat there trying to figure out how the heel do I go after them... So I would toss a jig and work to them.   I do have that "One" R/T that looks like a bluegill that has produced results so far...  I suppose you can call it my go to lipless... but I never though about jigging it.

 

I don't care to do tourns, don't have the confidence or knowledge or time.. I'm just trying to figure how to approach the process of making the right lure/bait choices... am I making sense here ?  Again Thanks

[Todd2]

On 6/5/2019 at 9:20 PM, N Florida Mike said:

I know it sound simplistic, but I just fish the heck out of a variety of soft plastics.

If this is wrong, I don't want to be right..lol

 

Swim, hop, or drag....T-Rig, Drop Shot, or my rekindled old love the Split Shot rig is giving me a pretty good year.  Oh, lets not forget Ned.

 

I will throw a jointed shad rap and a couple others from time to time but 90% of the time there is a soft plastic attached somewhere.

 

 

[Fishes in trees]

What bait do I use when?   I know this sounds like a bs answer, but I don't know, it is whatever I decide to use at the time.   When I leave the dock I have 20 or so rod & reels rigged up with different baits.   I might have some pre-conceived notions of what could work, might not.  Just start trying stuff.   In the parking lot cove of the lake I fish the majority of the time, there is a row of trees that go due west for 200 yards or so, from 6 to 16 or so feet of water.   That normally screams "throw a square bill" to me.  Then after a conversation with the conservation agent who manages the lake pointed out to me where he put an assortment of brush piles - 8 to 10 feet in front of the tree line, that says, "son, you might want to be throwing a tx rigged stick bait or something similar to the brush piles rather than running over the top of them and throwing a square bill into the trees"

 

The best advice I can give is to access the current situation, make your best informed decision, go from there.   In my case, there have been days where my best informed decision was "I really don't care if I catch any fish for the next couple of hours, I'm going to practice throwing spinnerbaits."  This is as much an exercise in boat control ( weaving in & out between visible stumps & trees, foot on the trolling motor, varying speeds, making low trajectory casts at various objects) as it is trying to catch fish on a spinnerbait.

I don't know, I ought to be able to give a better answer to this question, but I can't.   This is probably part of my evolution as a fisherman ( making better informed and successful starting decisions at the beginning of the fishing day.)

[Tennessee Boy]

On 6/6/2019 at 12:10 AM, Flatrock said:

But more experienced guys have a system they use and getting to talk about it is like talking to a politician...  they love to beat around the Lilly pad, god forbid if they accidentally cough up some knowledge.

Take a look at the results of any major tournament and you’ll learn a lot about the “system” used by the best anglers in the world.  Look at the bottom of the results and you will see that for a significant number of the anglers,  there system failed them.  Look at the leaders and how they caught their fish and you will see that they usually all found different lures/techniques that worked for them.  

 

We all have to develop our own “system” based on the skills we’ve developed.  Remember that your “system” will fail you often.

 

That’s probably not the answer you were looking for so I’ll add this local tip.  Last Friday,  I fished Old Hickory and couldn’t get anything going on deeper structure so grabbed my t-rigged worm and caught several fishing the bank.  That usually works for me this time of year. ?

[Flatrock]

Quote

That’s probably not the answer you were looking for so I’ll add this local tip.  Last Friday,  I fished Old Hickory and couldn’t get anything going on deeper structure so grabbed my t-rigged worm and caught several fishing the bank.  That usually works for me this time of year. ?

 

I hate Old Hickory..  with the exception of the southern end.   You either have 40-50' channel of you're in the shallows with hull damaging stump, logs and god knows what else just under the surface.