Having trouble making the switch to bass

[Matthew Pye]

Thanks for all the advice!  I'm gonna head out to a BREC pond tomorrow to practice some of this :)

[Craig P]

As a person who was exactly where you were 3 years ago......I found my early success with Senkos, throwing them wacky rigged.  That's just a fancy name of a size 1/0 hook, hooked through the center of that stick or Senko bait, no other weight.  Throw it to a fishy looking spot and watch your line on the top of the water, if it moves, he has it in his mouth, there is only one thing left to do.  You can follow advice earlier posted about setting the hook or use your style.  I like to set it hard and get them out of the wood quick.

 

I do not know the conditions you fish but being an accurate caster when casting to banks is paramount in Pa.  If you can get your bait just one foot further into the brush than the other guy, you're going to catch ALOT more than the other guy.

 

One thing to add, don't get caught up in buying too man baits in the beginning.  Keep it simple and don't overwhelm yourself with choices.  You'll get them to bite once your preferred method is done right.

[Matthew Pye]

2 hours ago, Craig P said:

As a person who was exactly where you were 3 years ago......I found my early success with Senkos, throwing them wacky rigged.  That's just a fancy name of a size 1/0 hook, hooked through the center of that stick or Senko bait, no other weight.  Throw it to a fishy looking spot and watch your line on the top of the water, if it moves, he has it in his mouth, there is only one thing left to do.  You can follow advice earlier posted about setting the hook or use your style.  I like to set it hard and get them out of the wood quick.

 

I do not know the conditions you fish but being an accurate caster when casting to banks is paramount in Pa.  If you can get your bait just one foot further into the brush than the other guy, you're going to catch ALOT more than the other guy.

 

One thing to add, don't get caught up in buying too man baits in the beginning.  Keep it simple and don't overwhelm yourself with choices.  You'll get them to bite once your preferred method is done right.

What kind of hook did you use wacky rigged?  I've been using my same EWG worm hooks, but have lots of different types including various circle hooks and j hooks.

 

Wacky rigs is what I've been trying along with weightless texas rigs, figuring I'd see the line take off easier.

 

As far as cast accuracy, I'd say I'm better than average, able to skip baits under low hanging limbs, etc.

 

I mainly have soft plastics, 1 frog, 2 spinners (white, black/blue), a chaurtreuse buzz bait, and a Rat-L-Trap.

 

Plastics are pumpkin green senkos (one pack pumpkin green w red flakes), berkeley stick baits in the same color, and watermelon green baby brush hogs.

[soflabasser]

On 12/1/2020 at 8:48 PM, Matthew Pye said:

Similarities between bream and bass?  I've had multiple days of catching 100+ bluegill, and a couple accidental small bass in the process.

 

I DID notice that the bass I catch were on live worms, as I usually catch bream on worms under a cork or on beetle spins.

 

I have an assortment of yamamoto senkos and baby brush hogs.

 

I have trick worms as well, I just can't tell if I'm getting a bite or not, or how to tell if a tap "feels different"

If you are good at catching bluegills, crappie, and other sunfish you will have no problem transitioning to bass fishing. The soft plastics you mentioned are good choices. Try fishing soft plastics weightless near aquatic vegetation or structure such as rocks, bridges, etc. Watch a couple videos on how to learn to watch the line while fishing weightless soft plastics, it is a very effective technique for picky bass. 

On 12/1/2020 at 10:14 PM, Matthew Pye said:

I don't know why, it just has a certain mystique about it to me, like it's the "ultimate" in fishing to use a soft plastic worm or creature bait and know how well enough to regularly catch bass.

Fishing with soft plastics is fun but it is nowhere near the ultimate in lure fishing, at least for me. A topwater blow up from a big bass is much more exiting than catching the same bass on a soft plastic.

[Craig P]

26 minutes ago, Matthew Pye said:

What kind of hook did you use wacky rigged?  I've been using my same EWG worm hooks, but have lots of different types including various circle hooks and j hooks.

 

Wacky rigs is what I've been trying along with weightless texas rigs, figuring I'd see the line take off easier.

 

As far as cast accuracy, I'd say I'm better than average, able to skip baits under low hanging limbs, etc.

 

I mainly have soft plastics, 1 frog, 2 spinners (white, black/blue), a chaurtreuse buzz bait, and a Rat-L-Trap.

 

Plastics are pumpkin green senkos (one pack pumpkin green w red flakes), berkeley stick baits in the same color, and watermelon green baby brush hogs.

 

I like to use Gamakatsu Octopus hooks.  Past experience catching salmon have proven it to be a winner for me.  A little pricey but if you buy the larger packs they are more reasonable.

 

Can't go wrong with pumpkin colors.  One thing we did learn on my one local lake, a one color plastic like Pumpkin Green or Black does not get as many bites as a 2 color senko like a green pumpkin / orange.  I cannot explain it but we've proven it time and time again on a green stained lake.  When we go to a clear lake, we found no difference.  Just something I thought I would mention as food for thought.

 

 

[Matthew Pye]

CraigP: So you are using 1/0 gamokatsu octopus circle hooks?  I have a bunch.  I'll definitely give it a shot!  Thanks for the advice!!

 

P.S. I use gamokatsu circle hooks for catfish, usually 7/0.  Caught three today in fact.  Smallest was 2.5lbs, largest was 9lbs.  Had to fight lots of snags though.

 

soflabasser: yes, I'm primarily a bream fisherman.  It's usually what I target in my kayak, and had many 100+ fish days.  Fewest I caught in one trip this past summer was 34, so I have no problems catching lots of bream.

 

I've become addicted to kayak fishing so much that I haven't even taken my boat out since I bought it this past April.

 

Bass fishing from a kayak would be like Christmas every day for me since my hunting days are unfortunately over...can't hold a rifle or shotgun anymore after needing surgery on my arm...so fishing it is!

[Craig P]

16 minutes ago, Matthew Pye said:

CraigP: So you are using 1/0 gamokatsu octopus circle hooks?  I have a bunch.  I'll definitely give it a shot!  Thanks for the advice!!

 

P.S. I use gamokatsu circle hooks for catfish, usually 7/0.  Caught three today in fact.  Smallest was 2.5lbs, largest was 9lbs.  Had to fight lots of snags though.

 

soflabasser: yes, I'm primarily a bream fisherman.  It's usually what I target in my kayak, and had many 100+ fish days.  Fewest I caught in one trip this past summer was 34, so I have no problems catching lots of bream.

 

I've become addicted to kayak fishing so much that I haven't even taken my boat out since I bought it this past April.

 

Bass fishing from a kayak would be like Christmas every day for me since my hunting days are unfortunately over...can't hold a rifle or shotgun anymore after needing surgery on my arm...so fishing it is!

Yep, exactly on the hooks and size. I’ve fished the Salmon River in NY for many years and they were the hooks I always used so I always had them and tried them for Bass and they just worked perfect for me. Make sure you tie them on with a snell knot. It’s very important to increase your hook ups.  I won’t sugar coat it, you will get snagged and lose your hook / Senko with that setup but it’s part of the game. 

[WRB]

I plan to go bass fishing on Wednesday the 9th of Dec, next week.

I haven’t bass fished in 2 1/2 years prior the My last trip 2 weeks ago. The bite has been tough for everyone fishing this lake. Catching any bass is succuess.

I will not use any spinnerbaits or top water lures because+it’s the cold water seasonal period and don’t expect  to find aggressive bass. I expect the bass to be deep and non agreesice 90% of my time on the water.

The lures that should be effective are deep structure spoons, tail spins, jigs, slip shot rigged soft finesse plastics.

Early light the bait fish may be in shallow water cover where unweighted Senko’s May work and late afternoon small crankbaits could work as the shallow water warms.

Tom

 

[soflabasser]

35 minutes ago, Matthew Pye said:

soflabasser: yes, I'm primarily a bream fisherman.  It's usually what I target in my kayak, and had many 100+ fish days.  Fewest I caught in one trip this past summer was 34, so I have no problems catching lots of bream.

 

I have also had many +100 fish days and those are some of my most memorable fishing trips. What is your favorite species of sunfish to catch? 

[the reel ess]

On 12/1/2020 at 9:01 PM, Matthew Pye said:

I'm assuming using a spinner bait is very similar to beetle spins for bluegill, so my real question is about detecting bites on texas rigged soft plastics.

 

I have ZERO idea what I'm doing with them besides just throwing them in the water near laydowns.

It takes practice to feel a bite. But if you're using a T rigged worm or even a lizard, which I highly recommend as THE starter bass bait, you'll feel a tap-tap-tap and it's in the fish's mouth. Set the hook. Big bass won't tap so much as just inhale the bait and move along. Again, set the hook. The T rigged worm in 6" or 8" is all my dad would ever use for bass for years. And I'll admit he wore me out often because stuck it out, whereas I would switch up lured quickly.

 

The spinnerbait is a great lure for covering lots of water. Bump it into stuff and reel it over limbs. That turns the bass on. A lot of bites will come just because you made contact. In my experience, and mind you I don't live in the north, you can fish a double willow leaf spinnerbait in the winter pretty fast and still get bites as long as you can locate shallow fish. I caught the bass in my profile pic on a gold shiner War Eagle 3/8 oz. spinnerbait on a 38 degree morning. She bit as soon as it hit the water. And the cool thing about the SB is you don't even need to feel the bite.

 

Now you have lures for the bottom and middle of the water column. If the water is warm, you can use a couple topwaters. The first two I would buy just based on my own experience are the Rebel Pop R and a buzzbait. If I were forced to choose, I'd take the popper. A Chug Bug is another great topwater that I've caught a lot on. It seems to have a better hookup ratio than the Pop R. The latter has smaller hooks.

 

These three things should get you bites. The first and second will get you bites more often. Topwaters are usually warm water baits and often they don't produce during warm months. Warm meaning greater than, say 60 degree water temp. But they're extremely fun to use when bass want them. I rule them out in winter. In fact, when I fish in actual cold water, I'm usually fishing for maybe one bite a day.

[Bankc]

On 12/2/2020 at 6:46 AM, galyonj said:

I guess all I can add is this general advice:

 

If you feel something when you don't expect to, or you don't feel something when you do expect to, you probably ought to set the hook.

That's the ticket, right there.  You have to have a bit of experience to know what to expect, but once you figure out what your lure feels like running through rocks, wood, and grass, you'll be able to deduce what a bite feels like.  If you're unsure, reel down the line to tighten it a bit.  If you have a fish on it, you'll feel some movement.  If it's just rocks, wood, or grass, you'll just feel your line tightening, but not move.  You'll lose some fish that way, because you're not setting the hook fast enough, but you'll get a better feel for what a bite feels like.  Then, if it's a bite, you're in a good position to set the hook.  And if it's not a bite, then you haven't jerked the line hard enough to lodge the lure into something, making it hard to retrieve.  After you've learned what a bite feels like, you can set the hook more aggressively.  

 

Also, this is a bad time of year to start bass fishing.  The water is getting colder and the bass are starting to go deeper and become more lethargic.  Bass are easiest to catch in shallow water.  Come the spring and the spawn, they'll be a lot easier to catch.  So don't get too frustrated if you don't catch much over the next couple of months.  It's a hard time for (almost) everyone.  Come spring, your luck should start to change.  

 

Outside of white bass, black bass don't tend to school up as much as panfish.  So you often have to cover more water and not spend as much time in one spot as you would with panfish.  There are days where they will school up and you can catch a bunch in one area, and anytime you catch one, it's a good idea to continue fishing a few more casts looking for others.  But don't keep fishing the same area for long periods of time without moving, expecting the bass to come to you if you aren't getting any bites.  They tend to hide and ambush their prey rather than patrol the area and chase them down to corner them.

[galyonj]

12 minutes ago, Bankc said:

But don't keep fishing the same area for long periods of time without moving, expecting the bass to come to you if you aren't getting any bites. 

 

This advice I really need to take to heart. I'm real bad about  beating an unproductive spot to death.

[the reel ess]

Just wait until early spring and they'll heat up. You'll be able to beat the banks and catch them. My biggest adjustment to bass fishing was, coming from crappie, I didn't know how to sense a bite or set a hook. But also, we would fish for whatever species was biting. No bass? It's crappie season. No crappie? It must be catfish season. 

[Catt]

16 hours ago, Matthew Pye said:

Thanks for all the advice!  I'm gonna head out to a BREC pond tomorrow to practice some of this

 

If I remember right you mentioned you're from South Louisiana?

 

Mentioning BREC ponds says you're probably in the East Baton Rouge area?

 

I'm over near the Texas state line ?

 

[Cdn Angler]

23 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

 

Not to disagree, but I have found casting a 5” Senko wacky rig or weightless TR to be about foolproof as far as detecting strikes. If the line starts running, it’s a bass. If it sinks and stops on the bottom, 99% of the time it’s not. 

 

Agree with this. Cast it, let in sink. You'll know. I'm guessing you haven't felt bites simply because you haven't gotten any. It isn't THAT much of a skill to detect bites, they aren't THAT subtle. I'd say just keep at it and focus on finding fish.  Lighter rod/line also make bite detection easier, but it may make it harder to wrangle a fish once hooked. I'd say the latter is the least of your worries right now so go light. I'll toss a senko on 8-10 lb flouro, medium to medium light  spinning rod and I feel everything. 

 

I'd also disagree with the poster that suggested moving baits first. These baits basically hook the fish themselves. It is simpler, but when you switch to soft plastics requiring a good hook set you'll have some bad habits and will be slow to pull the trigger. I started bass fishing 100% crankbaits so I can say this from experience. 

[N Florida Mike]

On 12/1/2020 at 9:22 PM, Matthew Pye said:

Good point I suppose.

 

I mean, I could stick to crankbaits, spinner baits, or topwater, but there's just something appealing to me about learning how to fish with soft plastics.

Im the most successful with soft plastics. Yam. senkos are great, and zoom super flukes, both Texas rigged with a 3/0 wide gap Gamakatsu hook. I fish them weightless. After casting, watch the line as they will often take it on the fall. If not bit on the fall, Wait 10-15 seconds and gently lift until you feel contact with the bait. A fish will usually be moving with the bait and you’ll feel a distinct peck usually . If its just dead weight, no peck or movement, it’s probably a weed or log. But it doesn’t hurt to set the hook if you arent sure. You will learn the more you do it.

[Matthew Pye]

On 12/3/2020 at 9:36 AM, Catt said:

 

If I remember right you mentioned you're from South Louisiana?

 

Mentioning BREC ponds says you're probably in the East Baton Rouge area?

 

I'm over near the Texas state line ?

 

Yep!

 

Just trying to learn!

On 12/2/2020 at 10:23 PM, soflabasser said:

 

I have also had many +100 fish days and those are some of my most memorable fishing trips. What is your favorite species of sunfish to catch? 

Bluegill hands down.  Pound for pound, they're HARD fighters.

 

Resears are fun as well

[Matthew Pye]

On 12/3/2020 at 9:49 AM, Cdn Angler said:

 

Agree with this. Cast it, let in sink. You'll know. I'm guessing you haven't felt bites simply because you haven't gotten any. It isn't THAT much of a skill to detect bites, they aren't THAT subtle. I'd say just keep at it and focus on finding fish.  Lighter rod/line also make bite detection easier, but it may make it harder to wrangle a fish once hooked. I'd say the latter is the least of your worries right now so go light. I'll toss a senko on 8-10 lb flouro, medium to medium light  spinning rod and I feel everything. 

 

I'd also disagree with the poster that suggested moving baits first. These baits basically hook the fish themselves. It is simpler, but when you switch to soft plastics requiring a good hook set you'll have some bad habits and will be slow to pull the trigger. I started bass fishing 100% crankbaits so I can say this from experience. 

I'm just dead set on finesse fishing for bass.  Even though I have not actually caught any yet this way, I find it SO relaxing and exciting at the same time, for a reason I cannot explain.

 

I have two dedicated bass combos right now, both Abu Garcia Revo S combos.  The spinning setup I have 10lb fluoro on, and the baitcaster I have 20lb fluoro on.

 

I also use Abu SilverMax combos, of which I have three, all set up specifically for catfishing with 30lb berkeley mono.

[Bigassbass]

It's going to take a while for you to read all this info, which is good stuff!  So, I'll keep it simple and short;  buy a inline spinner in med or small size they come in #2, 3 so on Rapala blue fox is one of the best get a white and a yellow, cast it out anywhere in the water, reel it back slow, fast, med slow, etc.  One of the best lures for beginners don't be disappointed when you catch some brim also!

[soflabasser]

2 hours ago, Matthew Pye said:

Bluegill hands down.  Pound for pound, they're HARD fighters.

 

Resears are fun as well

 Pound for pound a bluegill fights harder than any black bass. I have been fortunate to have caught +2 pound bluegills and +2 pound redear sunfish. There are places I fish where the average size bluegill is 7-9 inches with a good possibility of catching a couple over 10 inches. Another good thing about bluegills is that they are not picky and you can easily catch over 100 of them in a day.

[Matthew Pye]

9 hours ago, Bigassbass said:

It's going to take a while for you to read all this info, which is good stuff!  So, I'll keep it simple and short;  buy a inline spinner in med or small size they come in #2, 3 so on Rapala blue fox is one of the best get a white and a yellow, cast it out anywhere in the water, reel it back slow, fast, med slow, etc.  One of the best lures for beginners don't be disappointed when you catch some brim also!

Nice!

[Sam]

Matthew, bass strikes can be:

1.  A "tap-tap."

2.  Nothing other than seeing your line move to the right or left.

3.  A hard hit.

4.  The bait feeling "heavy."

5.  The bait stops while falling and there is nothing around to stop it from falling.

6.  The bait "feels different" in any way.

 

Keep a finger on your line at all times to feel the bites.

 

Set the hooks for plastics hard over your head.

Set the hooks for treble hook baits by swinging rod to left or right.

 

And as stated previously by Hank Parker and the guys on the Forum: setting the hook is free so if  you fell anything "different" you set the hook.

 

Good luck and please keep us informed about your adventures and what you catch.

Welcome to the Forum.

 

P.S.  To get more strikes you really need to wear something purple and gold!

Geaux Tigers!!!!

[roadwarrior]

9 minutes ago, Sam said:

P.S.  To get more strikes you really need to wear something purple and gold!

Geaux Tigers!!!!

 

[N Florida Mike]

Naww.. He needin’ some of that Orange and Blue! ??

[Hewhospeaksmuchbull]

I wish someone had told me to fish a finesse jig when I was first starting out. Get your self a few Bitsy bug jigs and some curly tail grubs for trailers.