my "next new thing" lure for the coming year.

[jimmyjoe]

   Every year, I set my sights on a new tactic or a new (to me) type of lure. It's just something I want to explore and try. Heck, in less than 4 months I'll be 70; I probably don't have that much time to enjoy new stuff. ?

   I'm a shorecaster, a bankbeater. There are a lot of things that boatmen use that aren't applicable to me. Although I used to fish somewhat open water (rivers) I now fish lakes 50% of the time (or more) with the attendant rockpiles, sunken Christmas trees, standing timber and weeds.

   I thought earlier that I was going to try a twinspin spinnerbait. There's another thread here about that. I didn't really understand how they are used, that they're a vertical lure rather than a chuck-n-wind like a regular spinnerbait. So I think that's out.

   So now, I'm at an impasse. I don't know what to try this coming year from shore. I'd appreciate it if you guys threw some opinions at me for new stuff to try.

   In the past, I tried:

  

   1) Wake baits, including spinnerbaits. Nice, but not the thing to use as often as I had originally thought.

   2) Plastic worms. After pulling plastic worms out of fish, I've determined to give up all soft plastic baits except flukes. And I have flukes.

   3) Jigs. Those of you here who think my mouth is prissy-clean have never been around when I lose jig after jig to the Snag Monster. Sailors stare at me and whisper to each other, "Have you ever heard someone cuss like that before?"   So ..... no jigs.

   4) Soft swimbaits (boottails). Meh. Okay, I guess. I'll continue to use them.

   5) Frogs. OH, HECK YEAH! Hit a bingo on that one!

 

   I've never tried punching. I doubt that it's really a bankbeater thing, y'know?

 

   So my main "things" are spinnerbaits, spoons, in-lines, a few cranks and jerkbaits, blade baits, flukes and frogs.

   I haven't any idea of where to go from here. Anyone have an idea for the New Year, so that this old man doesn't have to snooze off from boredom?

 

   Thnx.    jj

  

[Jigfishn10]

Topwater dog walking bait?

Buzzbait?

[jimmyjoe]

30 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

Topwater dog walking bait?

Buzzbait?

 

   I've got buzzbaits.

   I haven't "walked the dog" for many years. I do use larger spoons to "sub-walk", and it usually works. That's something I used in the rivers, and it translated over into lakes very well.

   But I haven't used stuff like Spooks since before 1980. Maybe I could try it again.

   A while back, I asked in a thread how far fishermen have seen bass move to intercept a lure.  I was thinking vertical as well as horizontal. At the time, I was thinking in terms of waked spinnerbaits and possibly shallow jerkbaits, but topwaters would fall into the same category.

 

   Good suggestion; I'll keep it in mind.  ?    jj

[txchaser]

1 hour ago, jimmyjoe said:

 

   3) Jigs. Those of you here who think my mouth is prissy-clean have never been around when I lose jig after jig to the Snag Monster. Sailors stare at me and whisper to each other, "Have you ever heard someone cuss like that before?"   So ..... no jigs.

pm your address and water clarity and I'll send you some trashmaster jigs. They are pretty hard to get hung up. 

 

[MGF]

If I had to be without a boat I would spend most of my time on rivers that I could wade. I have a canoe and a boat and I still go wade the river often...especially on a hot summer evening after work.

 

If you're really determined to stay away from plastics I don't have many suggestions because that's what I use most. What about a tube? There are so many ways to rig them. NED rig? There are ned heads with ewg hooks that handle snags pretty well or something like a tiny child rig.

 

I would expect a lot of the baits you mentioned to get hung up more than a jig. What about a swim jig or bladed jig?

[jimmyjoe]

52 minutes ago, MGF said:

What about a tube?

 

   Duh. I never thought of that.  ? 

   I'll read up on it a bit. Thnx.    jj

[WRB]

A shore angler has a advantage during spring working lures uphill. Always a disadvantage of limited access to locations and snagging lures.

When I fished from shore my choices are limited to worms, top water, wake baits, swimbaits, weedless swimming spoons. I would suggest rats.

Working jigs uphill is expensive imo. 

Tom

[jimmyjoe]

9 minutes ago, WRB said:

Working jigs uphill is expensive imo. 

 

   Uh ..... yeah. I found that out.   ??   

   I don't know yet, but I might try to get around that problem. I need to think about it, and my thinker is stuck in low gear.   ? ?        

   I would like to note one thing for the benefit of all: I'll try bottom lures around brushpiles, around culverts and around submerged timber, but I WILL NOT use them around riprap. That's just plain suicide for a shorecaster, and I'm sure that's what Tom was referring to.     jj

[jimmyjoe]

39 minutes ago, WRB said:

I would suggest rats.

 

   What would rats do that frogs don't do? I ask because nobody around here seems to use rats.    jj

[WRB]

Frogs are weedless, rats are wake baits fished along weed lines. Rats are very common everywhere year around, frogs are summer critters.

Spro 40 rat can be fished with standard bass tackle.

Tom 

[GreenPig]

Jerkbait. Something like a Damiki Slim Jack runs 8 to 16 inches deep and slowly rises. Rats do work.

[Choporoz]

Maybe a craw lure that isn't as likely to lose plastic in the fish...like LiveTarget or Dahlberg.

Or shallow weed and flutter spoons?

[jimmyjoe]

6 hours ago, GreenPig said:

Jerkbait.

 

   Got'em. Might buy more, don't know, but I got'em.

 

2 hours ago, Choporoz said:

shallow weed and flutter spoons?

 

   Got'em ..... in spades.

 

   Thanks anyway guys. I appreciate you help!    jj

[roadwarrior]

Original Floating Rapala, Johnson Spoon (white pork trailer), Siebert Outdoors

swim jig/ Rage Structure Bug trailer.

 

[Mike L]

Punching is hard from shore but can be done in the right location with certain conditions. If you can find a mat that you can reach with deeper water not too far off and punch from an elevated position it can be very productive. 
 

Also, as you approach look for beds. 
Scout out an area you want to try a few days before you go. 
If you find any approach very stealthy and cast a few yards farther back. 
 

Point is sometimes bank fisherman walk right by the best fishing on the pond. 
 

 

 

 

Mike
 

[MGF]

9 minutes ago, Mike L said:

Punching is hard from shore but can be done in the right location with certain conditions. If you can find a mat that you can reach with deeper water not too far off and punch from an elevated position it can be very productive. 
 

Also, as you approach look for beds. 
Scout out an area you want to try a few days before you go. 
If you find any approach very stealthy and cast a few yards farther back. 
 

Point is sometimes bank fisherman walk right by the best fishing on the pond. 
 

 

 

 

Mike
 

Yes...sometimes the guys in the boat cast the bank while the guys on the bank try to cast to the middle of the lake.

 

I remember a lake where we used to vacation. It was small enough to notice that the people staying at the resort on one side of the lake boated to the other side to fish in front of the resort on the other side of the lake...and the folks staying at that resort did the same.

[jimmyjoe]

   Okay. I've been watching videos about swim jigs, and I have a question.

 

   What can a swim jig do that a spinnerbait can't do?

 

   In my mind, ANY jig gets hung up more than a spinnerbait. If there isn't anything that a swim jig can do better than a spinnerbait, or can do that a spinnerbait can't do, then why use a swim jig?

 

   I know I'm old and senile, but am I missing something here?         jj

[BlakeMolone]

Can’t image not fishing soft plastics. Just use screw locks and or super glue and you shouldn’t have problems with baits ending up in a fishes stomach. Also you can fish a jig just off the bottom If you give it a hop right before it reaches the bottom or even higher in the water column.

[roadwarrior]

59 minutes ago, jimmyjoe said:

   Okay. I've been watching videos about swim jigs, and I have a question.

 

   What can a swim jig do that a spinnerbait can't do?

 

   In my mind, ANY jig gets hung up more than a spinnerbait. If there isn't anything that a swim jig can do better than a spinnerbait, or can do that a spinnerbait can't do, then why use a swim jig?

 

   I know I'm old and senile, but am I missing something here?         jj

 

Sometimes the fish just want a more subtle offering. I do MUCH better with swim jigs vs

spinnerbaits.

[MIbassyaker]

1 hour ago, jimmyjoe said:

   Okay. I've been watching videos about swim jigs, and I have a question.

 

   What can a swim jig do that a spinnerbait can't do?

 

   In my mind, ANY jig gets hung up more than a spinnerbait. If there isn't anything that a swim jig can do better than a spinnerbait, or can do that a spinnerbait can't do, then why use a swim jig?

 

   I know I'm old and senile, but am I missing something here?         jj

 

A good question, but I can think of one answer: A swimjig does not have blades to get fouled up in stringy vegetation.  If I'm fishing anywhere that blades won't get much opportunity to spin and flash/thump, I feel like the spinnerbait's advantages are neutralized, and it loses out to a swimjig.

[jimmyjoe]

2 hours ago, BlakeMolone said:

Also you can fish a jig just off the bottom If you give it a hop right before it reaches the bottom or even higher in the water column.

 

   Now THAT makes sense. Of course, you realize this is applicable where there is no riprap, right?  Certain places in the river and most of the lakes are lined with riprap to stabilize them. I have no idea what the heck I'm gonna do there.

 

  

1 hour ago, roadwarrior said:

 

Sometimes the fish just want a more subtle offering. I do MUCH better with swim jigs vs

spinnerbaits.

 

   Wow.  So ..... you're talking about using a swim jig the way you would a spinnerbait? Like on the bottom, or just under the surface, or across limbs  as well as mid-column, right?

[roadwarrior]

Always ticking the bottom, structure or cover. I don't fish it slow like a traditional jig,

hop it or burn the lure. Any time I hit something solid I drop it or pop it.  Otherwise,

slow and steady, but always moving.

 

Trailers kinda run the gamut without any rhyme or reason. Sometimes I feel like

a nut, sometimes I don't. These are my plastics: Rage Bug, Menace, Shellcracker,

Swimmer and Eeliminator; GYCB Swim Senko and Zako; LFT Live Magic Shad and

YUM Pulse.

 

[jimmyjoe]

   Okay...............

   I think it boils down here to swim jigs or tubes. BUT THE PROBLEM IS RIPRAP.  I have no idea how to deal with this stuff, other than my preferred method, which has always been squarebills shallow, and spinnerbaits deeper.

   Of the two I mentioned (swim jigs and tubes), would either one be better than the other in riprap? I'm hoping so, because if not I might as well go with Tom's advice and try rats.

 

   Why do new things have to be so complicated?   ??    jj

 

 

 

P.S. - I guess they only are for old people.    ?

  

[roadwarrior]

You can fish rip rap with a swim jig, but you have to keep it off the bottom. 

I like a Menace or Baby Craw, T-rigged, 1/4 oz bullet weight. I also fish the 

BPS Tender Tube (#71) with an internal weight.

[TnRiver46]

I’m going with @MGF’s tube jig suggestion. Those things are awesome! I’ve caught more smallmouth on tubes than anything (except maybe plastic worm or live fish). I use them in rip rap. Anything will get stuck in rip rap but you should learn to fish all lures around it anyway. Because fish LOVE rip rap. You can fish tubes weightless if they get stuck too much. I like weightless worms and tubes around rip rap, but my favorite lure for it is a rattle trap followed closely by a curly tail or paddle tail on a jig head . When waves slam rip rap it dislodges stuff that draws in shad and bream, and subsequently bass. 
 

also, which part of the country are you fishing? That always helps a little......... pop R works awesome next to rip rap on a summer morning