Take me through your lure progression

[lunkerboss923]

Ok, so here's the scenario. It's around 4PM in the afternoon. You just got to your spot. It's partly cloudy, semi breeze on the water, but not choppy, air temperature is around 83*F, and the water is semi clear to clear (give me your murky water lure progression too). What your plan of attack, what is your lure sequence? Do you through a search bait first, then a squarebill, a fluke. Take me through your thought process and explain why you chose to throw that certain bait? This is aimed to help some of us beginners to intermediate fishermen. Thank you 

[MGF]

What kind of water? 

[Guitarfish]

I'm probably going to throw a small spinnerbait for a while, then a suspending minnow bait, then a 1/8 ball head with a grub, then if none of those produce, a jig n pig.  Then when the sun starts to go down I'll try a buzzbait, then a jitterbug.  When it's dark I'll toss a 10" worm into the shadows, alternating with the jitterbug.  If the action is slow, I'm going home.  No real method to my madness.  I just go with lures I've had success with.

[lunkerboss923]

1 hour ago, MGF said:

What kind of water? 

It's a hypothetical 2 acre pond. Maybe you have some cypress knees coming up in the shallows. You have bass running baitfish in the shallows to shore busting them. 

 

Here's my progression: 

 

1. Moving bait...check the scenario observe what is happening. My goal is to find fish

• Active fish = chatterbait
• Moderately active fish = spinnerbait
• Neutral or negative mood fish = swim jig

 

2. If I see bass busting shad or baitfish, I'll try a weightless fluke. I like white or baby bass 

 

3. Shakey heads (trick worms) or wacky rigs on a 6'10" medium fast rod and a baitcaster. 

 

4. Lipless crankbaits/Squarebills...to give them another candidate to look at...I like black 6th Sense lures, purple and chartreuse or red crawfish. 

 

5. Topwater, spook, popper or whopper plopper...late in the evening 

 

6. Buzzbaits...evening bait

 

I don't know if this is right, it has worked for me in the past. Just curious what you do. I want to learn. 

 

 

 

[roadwarrior]

 

[Captain Phil]

Stained or murky water - Spinnerbait, Rattle Trap, Texas Rig Worm.  Clear water - Top Water, Frog, Wacky or Mojo Rig

[MGF]

It really depends on what the cover and bottom are like. The only small pond I fish has a pretty soft muddy bottom. I think a texas rig would sink out of site. There are enough weeds and sticks that I don't throw any real snag prone baits.

 

I don't know that I really need a search bait on two acres...my pond is actually only one acre. I move around and fish the entire bank and I catch fish all over but I already know where the "better" spots are.

 

Also, I've never seen shad in a body of water that small but small sunfish and whatever kind of little minnows.

 

On small ponds I try to stay quiet. I walk quiet, fish ahead and when the water is clear I even squat down low.

 

Baits: My most productive has been a wacky rigged senko type worm as long as the weeds aren't too thick. That's something that changes through the season and from year to year. If that's grabbing too many weeds I go to a TR worm either weightless or a split-shot rig. I have caught bass using a heavier TR and dropping it right into the heavy grass that's flooded or overhangs the bank into the water.

 

I've done pretty well with a swim jig.

 

I haven't used a soft jerk bait there but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

 

I haven't used surface baits much there but, again, I would stay on the quiet side...a hard floating minnow, frog, small walking bait, popper or maybe a torpedo.

[lunkerboss923]

8 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

Stained or murky water - Spinnerbait, Rattle Trap, Texas Rig Worm.  Clear water - Top Water, Frog, Wacky or Mojo Rig

Do you use a spinning rod or baitcaster for Mojos? I've seen it both ways. Some people fish finesse smaller tackle with spinning rods. While others use a baitcaster and go medium heavy or scale down to Medium Fast.

[Bankbeater]

I would be fishing with a jig and craw, Texas rig plastic, and some kind of moving bait.  Probably a shallow running crankbait or a chatterbait.

[keagbassr]

I'm throwing a buzzbait to start. Why? Cuz it's a buzzbait. From there I'm going to a willow leaf  spinnerbait.  Then a bladed jig. If that gets bit then i might backtrack to a colorado spinnerbait. Then I'd  go to a bottom bait. If course of there is pads or algae mats then a frog or toad gets thrown into the mix as well.

[Sphynx]

On a 2 acre pond? Chatterbait, or a swim jig, or a swim bait depending on cover/clarity of water, if it's got a lot of wood to bounce off of, squarebill and T-rigged craw/creature, topwater option would depend on grass/vegetation, if little/none, whopper plopper/buzzbait would work for a moving option, walking style/popper for something slower, if we are talking muddy bottom grass pond, replace the T-rig with a C Rig, the Squarebill with a lipless, and the topwaters for a selection of frogs...I generally agree that for a 2 acre pond you aren't likely to need to do much with search baits, a spinnerbait would work too, and is almost never a liability in a tackle box

[Captain Phil]

14 hours ago, lunkerboss923 said:

Do you use a spinning rod or baitcaster for Mojos? I've seen it both ways. Some people fish finesse smaller tackle with spinning rods. While others use a baitcaster and go medium heavy or scale down to Medium Fast.

I use a spinning rod with 8 pound mono for Mojo baits.  I go to it when the bite is difficult.  It's a great tournament backup bait when everyone else is power fishing.  My preferred Mojo rig is a 1/4 oz. weight and a Zoom finesse worm. It's won a lot of tournaments.  You don't hear much about it for good reason.

[John Diamond]

I always start off with what I think is going to catch the biggest fish.  If it's evening, definitely a big topwater jitterbug or hulapopper in a quiet pond.  In a river, a large crankbait suitable for the depth.  

 

If nothing hits, I start going a little smaller, or a little deeper.  If nothing hits after that, I throw inline spinners, and if nothing hits after that I go home because the bite is off.

[Bird]

41 minutes ago, John Diamond said:

I always start off with what I think is going to catch the biggest fish.  If it's evening, definitely a big topwater jitterbug or hulapopper in a quiet pond.  In a river, a large crankbait suitable for the depth.  

 

If nothing hits, I start going a little smaller, or a little deeper.  If nothing hits after that, I throw inline spinners, and if nothing hits after that I go home because the bite is off.

I always target bigger fish but agree......if you can't get bit on an inline spinner, go home. 

[J Francho]

In relative terms, I'm going to start deep and close to the bottom, and work my shallow and to the top as the sun sets.  The cover and bottom composition will determine which specific lures.

[txchaser]

With just two acres you'll be able to sort out really quickly if the fish are active and interested in what you are fishing. 

 

Most of the smaller bodies of water I come into contact with are likely to be weed and mud heavy, and stone and wood light, so here's the progression:

 

Buzzbait (chart/white/red) or a frog, depending on weed cover, these have been big fish getters for me if they are willing to get up and moving for it. 

 

Chatterbait (bluegill mostly, GP/red was good this spring), fished both mid-column and as slow and low as I can get it.

 

Keitech 3.8 in bluegill flash on a colorado underspin (occassionally a swimjig if the water is really clear or they are picky),

 

Senko or Fat Ika (usually at targets or high probability spots),

 

@WRB 's finesse carolina with a rattlesnake (kind of like a 4.75 ring fry), I've almost stopped fishing this because it gets bit on the drop so much, and it's really easy for me to miss the bite and get a gut hook, and I try to be as gentle as I can on smaller water. Rattlesnake did a lot better for me than the 4" zoom curly tail worm. I think all these people saying mojo/split shot/finesse carolina is under-fished and under-appreciated are right. 

 

Ned rig. 

 

Crankbaits are just a PITA to fish, too much time picking off the gunk. Chatterbait seems close enough and gets big fish. Perhaps I should try it more to see if I can pick up new fish. 

 

If it is colder a jerkbait and a fluke probably start to get some play. 

 

Texas rigs and jigs mostly just bury up in the mud or weeds, but a light tokyo rig with a creature or a worm (size depending on season) seem to work, but don't seem to produce fish that the other stuff above woudn't have picked up yet. Maybe if you knew they were holding on the bottom but needed to move faster than an Ika it'd be worth throwing. 

[Nibbles]

On 9/21/2020 at 11:40 AM, J Francho said:

In relative terms, I'm going to start deep and close to the bottom, and work my shallow and to the top as the sun sets.  The cover and bottom composition will determine which specific lures.

Ditto.

 

Start off deep cranking across points and humps with my MD and DD cranks ranging from 9' - 20' diving depth. If I see what I suspect to be suspended fish on the fishfinder but can't get them to bite I will switch over to a DD suspending jerkbait in the 5 - 9' range and do a second pass-through. Then finally try a 1/2 oz or heavier jig or t-rig if I don't decide to move shallower at that point.

 

Once I move shallow, I start power fishing the flats and weedlines with a shallow running crank in the 3' - 7' range or a chatterbait. If I'm not seeing much of a response I will switch to a sinking or suspending shallow hard jerkbait in the 2 - 3' range, or aa paddletail on an unskirted finesse jighea and work the same areas once more.

 

If I still don't get bites I will start alternating between pitching heavier pegged t-rigged creature/craw plastics into heavy cover and wacky/t-rigged soft jerkbaits like Senkos and SK Caffeine Shads along weedlines and into pockets within weed mats.

 

I don't really fish topwater minnows/frogs or buzzbaits much. The buddy I normally fish with is not an early bird and also doesn't really like fishing after it gets dark, so not a lot of opportunities to hit productive time windows for those lures.

[scaleface]

Its 4 in the afternoon ,so  I dont have much time to fish .  I'm heading to the nearest creek shady side armed with spinnerbaits , buzzbaits , and toads for the grass and a texas rigged something for brush and laydowns . Once the shade reaches the other side of the creek I'll fish my way back . Its my spot , I know it well , I'm going to catch fish .

 

Oh , I didnt see it was changed to a two acre pond . Never mind .