Fishing It Wrong

[Herbert Lorenzo]

Earlier this week I was fishing the shoreline with the boat in about 7 foot depth casting towards shore useing a buzzbait . No bass was interested fishing it topwater as it is meant to be fished . Later I got distracted while reeling lure back towards boat , stopped reeling  and lure fell down to bottom and a bass hit lure the moment I started to reel again . I then purposely kept the lure close to bottom as I slowly reeled it back , in a short period of time landed two more bass that literally tried to destroy the lure they struck so violently. Honestly maybe I should have changed lures and put on a spinnerbait to do it correctly  but , maybe sometimes working a lure "wrong" gives it a different look that bass have not seen before and take a bite . .

[Mike L]

If you would have changed you probably wouldn’t have gotten bit again. 
I learned a long time ago there really isn’t a “correct or wrong” way to use a lure. 
There are recommended, suggested and “if it catches a fish it’s the only way” 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[the reel ess]

You never know what a crazy ol' bass will do. Their brain is pretty small.A couple of times lately I've had bass chase my jig back to the boat as I reeled up for another pitch. I caught one. Burning the flipping jig is not the usual presentation. I usually get some of my biggest or best bites while distracted or picking out a backlash.  Go figure.

[Mobasser]

Growing up, I was always taught to fish a popper super slow, with pauses in between. Zell Rowland helped change all that. Now, lots of folks fish a popper quickly across the surface to imitate shad. Completely different style of fishing a popper, than many of us learned years ago. Both ways can work.

[redmexican5081]

The only way you're fishing a lure the wrong way is if you limit yourself to "it needs to be fished this way".  Look at some of the more productive techniques with worms. Who in their right mind would have thought to rig it sideways for a wacky presentation?  Someone did and it flat out catches.  If it catches fish it is never the wrong way.

[TnRiver46]

53 minutes ago, Mike L said:

If you would have changed you probably wouldn’t have gotten bit again. 
I learned a long time ago there really isn’t a “correct or wrong” way to use a lure. 
There are recommended, suggested and “if it catches a fish it’s the only way” 

 

 

 

 

Mike

I thought the exact same thing. Had you changed to a spinnerbait they probably wouldn’t hit it haha

[the reel ess]

1 hour ago, Mobasser said:

Growing up, I was always taught to fish a popper super slow, with pauses in between. Zell Rowland helped change all that. Now, lots of folks fish a popper quickly across the surface to imitate shad. Completely different style of fishing a popper, than many of us learned years ago. Both ways can work.

I've had days they want that Pop R walking all over the place and days when they only wanted it sitting still.

[wis bang]

During a period of unemployment, I was fishing and got a call from the wife who WAS working....stopped bringing a wacky rig 1/2 way back. Finished the call and almost instantly hooked a bass. You never know

[Captain Phil]

There are many effective ways to work a spinnerbait other than on a straight line retrieve.  Letting the lure helicopter down a straight bank or bluff can be deadly at times.  Bumping them off bottom structure is another. 

 

Some year's back, the Harris Chain was full of anglers prefishing for a big tournament.  To get away from the crowd, I rode into the Gator Hole on Lake Eustis.  The gator hole is a round circle of water about 200 feet wide and 10 feet deep. There were four wrapped bass boats sitting in the center casting to the edges. On the bottom near the center of the hole is a large tree stump. The boats were directly over it. I had a spinner bait tied on, so I sat on the side of the hole and cast to the stump and let the lure sink all the way to the bottom.  When I started to turn the reel, I felt the spinnerbait hang on the stump.  I jerked the bait off the stump and was immediately hit by a large fish.  The fish ran under the boat and gave me one heck of a fight.  Being alone, I lipped the fish and held it up so I could look at it.  The fish weighed at least 10 pounds.  I dropped it back in the water, started my big motor and left.   I didn't stay around to see the look on their faces. ?

[Todd2]

I've told this story before on here.. I was fishing with my non-fishing brother-in-law years ago. He was burning a Texas rig worm across the pond. I was in mid sentence telling him to slow down when he connected with biggest Bass I'd ever seen in that pond... I shut up..lol

 

Swimming a worm has been working for me as well this Summer..it probably doesn't qualify as fishing a lure wrong but it is a forgotten technique.

[geo g]

When things really get slow I always slow down regardless of the bait being used.  I have had this happen many times and often have it happens when I am picking out a bird nest, or have to answer a cell call, and the bait just sits on the bottom for a while.  This just reinforces my belief that during the summer doldrums slow down and when you think your fishing slow, just stop for a while.  I have caught big bass doing this in the 8 to 9 pound range, when nothing would bite for an hour of normal fishing.  Be a line watcher while it is sitting still because bites are often soft ticks on the line.  Bass that are just investigating this object that entered their domain. This often happens at drop-offs associated with flats close bye.  Painful summer fishing!

[scaleface]

I was fishing with a  young cousin  just last year . We had   Texas rigs tied on  and I instructed him to cast the direction of the buoy I tossed on a point. "Do not cast behind us , its too deep and there are no fish out there ". And of course he did the "wrong" thing   cast behind us and caught a 4 lber , biggest fish of the day .

[king fisher]

Back in the 70's one of the first buzz baits made was a Burke Deadly Dudley.  I bought one because  slow rolling Colorado spinner baits was my go to technique.  They advertised that the Deadly Dudley blade would turn at a slower retrieve speed than any spinner bait. You could even get the blade to turn just by blowing on it.  I bought it so I could fish on the bottom even slower than I did with the Colorado blades.  I did catch some fish that way, but soon learned it made a better surface lure.  The next year a dozen companies made buzz baits, and Burke changed their add promoting the bait as a surface lure. A person could argue that catching a bass with one on the bottom was really the correct way to fish it. lol. 

 

[papajoe222]

I discovered this 'wrong' way to retrieve a buzzer years ago on an early spring day.  I found I could retrieve it slower than a Colorado bladed spinnerbait and still keep it up in the water column. I do just the opposite also, letting the blade of a Colorado spinnerbait break the surface multiple times during the retrieve.  Both baits get some bone jarring strikes at times.

[galyonj]

6 hours ago, wis bang said:

During a period of unemployment, I was fishing and got a call from the wife who WAS working....stopped bringing a wacky rig 1/2 way back. Finished the call and almost instantly hooked a bass. You never know

It drives a bass absolutely nuts to kill a lure and just let it sit there for a while, then suddenly pop it back up. It's like it startles them or something.

[NavyVet1204]

6 hours ago, Todd2 said:

I've told this story before on here.. I was fishing with my non-fishing brother-in-law years ago. He was burning a Texas rig worm across the pond. I was in mid sentence telling him to slow down when he connected with biggest Bass I'd ever seen in that pond... I shut up..lol

 

Swimming a worm has been working for me as well this Summer..it probably doesn't qualify as fishing a lure wrong but it is a forgotten technique.

This is exactly my experience minus the brother in law and I was about 10 years old. I had only seen a curly tail worm in a bass fishing magazine. I was allowed to walk to the back part of our pasture where we had a medium sized pond that had a decent amount of bass for its size. I saved up my money and bought a pack of Zoom purplish maroon curly tail worms and some hooks(the wrong ones) and some bullet weights. Not only did I buy the wrong hooks, I put the worm on completely wrong. BUT, I did straight retrieve because I didn’t know any better and still caught some nice bass lol 

[galyonj]

3 minutes ago, NavyVet1204 said:

Zoom purplish maroon

Like Tequila Sunrise?

 

Love that color.

[NavyVet1204]

Just now, galyonj said:

Like Tequila Sunrise?

 

Love that color.

It very well could be my friend. That was over 20 years ago and I remember thinking that surely a huge fish would love it. The exact name I don’t have a clue to what it was. It was purple and maroon with silver flakes in it.

[galyonj]

Just now, NavyVet1204 said:

It very well could be my friend. That was over 20 years ago and I remember thinking that surely a huge fish would love it. The exact name I don’t have a clue to what it was. It was purple and maroon with silver flakes in it.

It's possible back then they had a version with flake in it, but the version I'm familiar with now is like a purple/maroon laminate. Like so:

 

[NavyVet1204]

1 minute ago, galyonj said:

It's possible back then they had a version with flake in it, but the version I'm familiar with now is like a purple/maroon laminate. Like so:

 

Bingo!! If that’s not it, it’s very very close. You’re good lol

[galyonj]

1 hour ago, NavyVet1204 said:

Bingo!! If that’s not it, it’s very very close. You’re good lol

I'm... somewhat familiar with that color. A tequila sunrise Mag II is what I caught my first fish on when I got back into the hobby after a long time away. ?

[Bluebasser86]

If it's working, it's not wrong.

[Captain Phil]

10 hours ago, king fisher said:

Back in the 70's one of the first buzz baits made was a Burke Deadly Dudley.  I bought one because  slow rolling Colorado spinner baits was my go to technique.  They advertised that the Deadly Dudley blade would turn at a slower retrieve speed than any spinner bait. You could even get the blade to turn just by blowing on it.  I bought it so I could fish on the bottom even slower than I did with the Colorado blades.  I did catch some fish that way, but soon learned it made a better surface lure.  The next year a dozen companies made buzz baits, and Burke changed their add promoting the bait as a surface lure. A person could argue that catching a bass with one on the bottom was really the correct way to fish it. lol. 

 

The Deadly Dudley spinnerbait was a great lure.    It had a completely different action than any other spinnerbait.  Fantastic night lure.  Haven't seen one in years.  Thanks for the memories.  

[Mike L]

18 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

There are many effective ways to work a spinnerbait other than on a straight line retrieve.  Letting the lure helicopter down a straight bank or bluff can be deadly at times.  Bumping them off bottom structure is another. 

 

Some year's back, the Harris Chain was full of anglers prefishing for a big tournament.  To get away from the crowd, I rode into the Gator Hole on Lake Eustis.  The gator hole is a round circle of water about 200 feet wide and 10 feet deep. There were four wrapped bass boats sitting in the center casting to the edges. On the bottom near the center of the hole is a large tree stump. The boats were directly over it. I had a spinner bait tied on, so I sat on the side of the hole and cast to the stump and let the lure sink all the way to the bottom.  When I started to turn the reel, I felt the spinnerbait hang on the stump.  I jerked the bait off the stump and was immediately hit by a large fish.  The fish ran under the boat and gave me one heck of a fight.  Being alone, I lipped the fish and held it up so I could look at it.  The fish weighed at least 10 pounds.  I dropped it back in the water, started my big motor and left.   I didn't stay around to see the look on their faces. ?

I Love it when that happens!

I’m sure you were the topic of conversation and a few colorful metaphors were directed your way. 
??

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[AmmoGuy]

On 7/21/2020 at 10:36 AM, Herbert Lorenzo said:

Earlier this week I was fishing the shoreline with the boat in about 7 foot depth casting towards shore useing a buzzbait . No bass was interested fishing it topwater as it is meant to be fished . Later I got distracted while reeling lure back towards boat , stopped reeling  and lure fell down to bottom and a bass hit lure the moment I started to reel again . I then purposely kept the lure close to bottom as I slowly reeled it back , in a short period of time landed two more bass that literally tried to destroy the lure they struck so violently. Honestly maybe I should have changed lures and put on a spinnerbait to do it correctly  but , maybe sometimes working a lure "wrong" gives it a different look that bass have not seen before and take a bite . .

The bass were hammering a white buzzbait Sunday night at one of my spots..... But I didn't catch one single fish with the lure buzzing on top of the water. 99% of the fish hit it while it was falling after it hit the water, or within the first 6-8' of retrieve before I got it back up to the surface.  

 

The best fish of the evening (about 4.5lb) I caught about 12' from the boat. I was burning the lure back to make another cast, and stopped right before I got it back to the boat to swat a mosquito on my arm. When I started reeling again... WHAM. He hit it like it owed him money.  Bass are goofy.