Realative newbie bank fishing what to use at dusk

[wilsjay]

Relative newbie just getting into bass fishing with my 11 year old son in the last month or two.  Needless to say we are having a blast.  The lake by our house seems to have tons of bass in it.  So far we have been using senkos Texas rigged.  Best luck has been on green pumpkin color.  I have not had any luck with crank baits and we seem to get them hung up more than anything.  It is a good size lake with really shallow banks and lots of weeds, downed trees etc.  My question is our bite always seems to fall off right at dark.  Is that common, should I be switching to something else at that time?  Also I would love to (and see my son) catch something on a top water jig, but have not had any luck.  Since it has been dead of summer hear and 85- near 100 degrees even in the evenings when we go, I am wondering if it is just wrong time of year for that or when is best to try them?

[Luke Barnes]

I fish mainly ponds but ive had the same happen. A gap between evening and dark where nothing hits. But once it's dark ive been killing them on topwater. Berkley Choppo in all black and a SK Pad Perch on my frog rod have produced 2 out of 3 of my biggest bass of the year just after it turned dark. Slow roll a Choppo or Whopper Plopper along the weed lines and listen. Its so exciting in the dark not seeing the blowup but hearing it and setting the hook and feeling the weight of the fish! Good luck!

[Deeare]

Heddon torpedos Would be a good choice for your son.  just cast and reel.   I love whopper ploppers but the smaller sizes can be tough to get on plane in the dark.  
 

[MidwestBassAttack]

Based upon the lake profile you described, stick with Texas rigged plastics and throw in a black/blue or black frog for top water.

 

i love weed less Texas rigged baits.  The Rage Swimmers and Keitech’s might also enhance the bite.  
 

Match your colors to the baitfish you see on the shallows. Silvers for shad and a mix of green, blue, spec of orange for bluegill.

[Talio]

How often are you moving spots?  If you're staying in the same spot most of the time, it's conceivable that you've caught enough to spook the others into not eating or push them into the deeper, off shore water.  It's also possible that you're fishing a spot that your bass like to hang out in during the day and then they leave that spot to hunt when it gets dark.  Senkos are a really slow presentation and it's possible after dark they want something faster.  Forget crankbaits for now if you're having trouble getting them hung.  Treble hooks can be tough on beginners.  I would recommend going with a spinnerbait or chatterbait to get a good moving bait fish imitation.  The senko is going to look like something dying or an easy meal to a bass.  If they're in the mood to chase something, you can experiment with your retrieves on those baits to trigger that reaction.  Top waters can be really good in the dark, especially on the big ones.  I like to use baits that create a wake and reel it back to me.  More often then not I'm just using a regular 3 or 4 inch grub on a light enough wire hook to not sink it and just cast and reel it in.  If you're fishing casters, wakebaits and buzzbaits are super fun.  Mice get really active when it's getting dark and often swim across the water.  Big bass love that in the dark.

[wilsjay]

2 hours ago, Deeare said:

Heddon torpedos Would be a good choice for your son.  just cast and reel.   I love whopper ploppers but the smaller sizes can be tough to get on plane in the dark.  
 

Never heard of them.  Will have to check that out.  After 2 recommends and watching a couple youtube videos I think we need to try these whopper ploppers!  Although at $12-15 each I am going to cry if we get snagged!  :)

 

34 minutes ago, Talio said:

How often are you moving spots?  If you're staying in the same spot most of the time, it's conceivable that you've caught enough to spook the others into not eating or push them into the deeper, off shore water.  It's also possible that you're fishing a spot that your bass like to hang out in during the day and then they leave that spot to hunt when it gets dark.  Senkos are a really slow presentation and it's possible after dark they want something faster.  Forget crankbaits for now if you're having trouble getting them hung.  Treble hooks can be tough on beginners.  I would recommend going with a spinnerbait or chatterbait to get a good moving bait fish imitation.  The senko is going to look like something dying or an easy meal to a bass.  If they're in the mood to chase something, you can experiment with your retrieves on those baits to trigger that reaction.  Top waters can be really good in the dark, especially on the big ones.  I like to use baits that create a wake and reel it back to me.  More often then not I'm just using a regular 3 or 4 inch grub on a light enough wire hook to not sink it and just cast and reel it in.  If you're fishing casters, wakebaits and buzzbaits are super fun.  Mice get really active when it's getting dark and often swim across the water.  Big bass love that in the dark.

Moving spots after maybe 10-15 minutes of not catching a fish there.  Any specific recommendations on spinners/chatters?  I have no idea and would just grab something from the store shelf.  I have a couple of different frogs and have not caught anything on them.  They look fun and would LOVE to see something hit one of those!  You lost me on that last bit as newbie I am not sure what caster, wakes and buzzbaits are yet!

 

[BlakeMolone]

Poppers in the evening work great especially in ponds and they are cheap and easy to use

[scaleface]

12 hours ago, wilsjay said:

It is a good size lake with really shallow banks and lots of weeds, downed trees etc. 

Willow leaf spinnerbaits and buzzbaits .

[plawren53202]

The low light at dusk becomes a factor in color selection and presentation. I frequently switch from a Yum Dinger in a color more appropriate for bright light/clear water (like green pumpkin/blue) to a curly tail worm in Junebug when the light starts to get low. The darker colors like junebug or black/blue present a silhouette that is easier to spot as it gets dark, plus the curly tail puts off more vibration. Nothing unique to the curly tail, it just happens to be the smallest plastic with some action in my box for the dinks in my pond; you could just as easily go with a junebug/black and blue Rage Craw, Rage Bug, etc. etc.

[Catt]

The reason for your lull ?

 

The eyes of a bass go through a night adaptation cycle beginning at twilight and are usually adapted for black, white, and all shades of gray within an hour after darkness.

[Talio]

I don't do spinners often, so I'd just google around on that.  When I do throw them, I like 3/8's oz with multiple silver blades with a white skirt.  I think it kinda looks like a small school of shad skittering by.  A lot of folks like chartreuse, but I think that looks more like a bluegill, which I think can be done better with a chatterbait.

 

For chatters I either like the Zman Freedom because you can rig your trailer Texposed which keeps it from hanging up in the thick stuff.  But my go to chatterbait is the Zman Custom.  Both in bluegill and some kind of white for a shad presentation.  My trailer is normally a Caffeine Shad Jr. in white and baby bass or a Berkley max scent jerkbait in green if I feel like I could use a little scent for confidence.  I feel like ripping a heavily scented baits over and over again in the same area can stir up fish on a slow day.  If I'm getting weeds on my blade that stops the vibration almost every cast, I'll sometimes put a paddle tail swimbait on there because you'll still get some water displacement and noise from the tail.  Otherwise, I don't want a lot of movement in my trailer.  The Caffiene Shad has an awesome little wiggle to it when you do a straight pull and also doubles on it's own as an excellent soft jerk bait.  I like lighter weights, usually 3/8ths at the max.  If I'm going half ounce in the really deep stuff (20ft+), I'll throw the Freedom in a half ounce since you can rig it weedless.  Every once in a while, if I know I'm on a lake that have a good trout population, when the bite gets really tough or I just want to see what kind of panfish are in the area I'll throw the Zman Flashback mini in the natural silver and fire tiger 1/8th oz.

 

That makes up like 50% of my fishing system.  I almost always start on a chatterbait because they're fun to fish and have so many triggering characteristics depending how you rig them.  If those won't produce, I'm probably going to a soft jerk bait and then some kind of heavy texas rig or jigs.  Something slow and quiet, because I think that normally if they won't hit a chatterbait, they're probably a little skittish that day.  But I've caught them in all four seasons and a bunch of different places and conditions here in the Northeast.  They just seem to always work for me.

 

Good luck!

[r3825]

Try a black jitterbug

[soflabasser]

22 hours ago, wilsjay said:

I would love to (and see my son) catch something on a top water jig

Try fishing with a buzzbait or a Rebel Pop-R.

[Dorado]

On 9/11/2020 at 4:49 AM, Deeare said:

Heddon torpedos Would be a good choice for your son.  just cast and reel.   I love whopper ploppers but the smaller sizes can be tough to get on plane in the dark.  
 

I fish a similar pond you describe frequently and there’s a 30-minute topwater window from 7:00 -7:30 PM. It’s like clock work . 
 

 

If the weeds cooperate, I also recommend a Torpedo for any beginner. Just cast and reel. I just recently introduced my gf to night bass fishing and a Tiny Heddon Torpedo (Black Shiner -killer at night). It’s all she wants to use. She out fished me last night and I was using a MB Pop X and Zara Spook Puppies lol. 

[Boomstick]

So here's the thing, at dusk your normal colored spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, crankbaits and various topwater lures will kill it. Once it gets dark, visibility is gone so you are gonna want to switch to black that move a lot of water.

 

My choice for a crankbait is the original Storm WiggleWart in the Black Glittertail Chartreuse color. These move aggressively side to side, so they do really well at night.

 

For a spinnerbait, look for one with a single colorado blade in a black color. Variants like black and blue, black and red or black and chartreuse also work.

 

For a chatterbait, all you need to do is put on a black color. If you can swing it, the jackhammer in black and blue should be your best bet because of the blade designed to move the most water possible - but I haven't shelled out for one yet, I usually go with the project Z's and sometimes the originals.