Freshwater Lures for Saltwater Fish

[Jigfishn10]

I know there have been some crossover tactics and lures, but was wondering if spinners and spinnerbaits have made the crossover?

I’ve had really good success with lipless crankbaits. I’m pretty sure I’m up to 11 or 12 species fresh and salt combined on my favorite bait?

What are some of the lures you use for both salt and freshwater fishing?

[bulldog1935]

The obvious choice is spoons - Johnson's sprite caught my first smallmouth at 12-y-o, and spoons (gold silver minnow, Kastmaster) are staple for both big seatrout, and Spanish macks from the jetties. 

A black nickel silver minnow is also a perfect crab imitation for wading the flats and sight-fishing - it both flutters down like a swimming crab, and crawls across the top of the grass like a crab, walking sideways and threatening with his big claw.  

We start our mornings on the flats with dog-walking plugs (Megabass Dog-X) and wakebaits.  Most of what we use are also freshwater lures, with the hooks swapped with salt-resistant.  

Suspending twitchbaits are right behind the morning with the rising sun.  

When we're imitating glass minnows, Rapala-type plugs are pretty typical, generally smaller than what people are using in freshwater - as light as 1/16 oz.  

This is a YoZuri sinking Pins minnow.  

 

We use swim shad for fishing deep, in various sizes to imitate mullet, croaker and poecilids (killifish, mollies) and blennies (mud minnows).  

We fish a lot of these tied in tandems for schooling bait and pelagics - and get a few doubles because of it.  On the flats, 3", 2" and smaller - offshore 6-9 inches

 

We fish a lot of plastic swim baits, depending on how deep we're fishing, neutral-density up to 3/8 oz

TSL grasswalker just above was designed for the flats, but my friend Tobin reports a lot of people chasing freshwater bass with them, especially on weighted swimbait hooks.  

Z-man Texas-eye jighead and 3" paddle tail

Out of production Stazo flex-jighead with double hook on cocahoe minnow

[TnRiver46]

Well I was going to post about some things I’ve caught saltwater fish with but what @bulldog1935 posted is coming from a place of far more experience and expertise

[Jigfishn10]

22 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Well I was going to post about some things I’ve caught saltwater fish with but what @bulldog1935 posted is coming from a place of far more experience and expertise

Post it up! Especially you man, I need the 411! @bulldog1935 is a wealth of 411 but so are you. 

I want to make the most of 2021 in the water this year. I’ll take any info I can get. Even if I have to get your orange volunteer butt up here with your fiancé! I DONT CARE! ?

[TnRiver46]

I toss paddle tail grubs or gulp minnows. I sure think a jerkbait would work though . Frozen shrimp on a jig head is what I use most often, ain’t no shame in my game. This is in FLA 

[bulldog1935]

One of the most effective offshore lures is Halco Max usually in 110 (mm).  

You can cast it to pelagic fish sign, troll it, and my friend Glenn reports that when he's dealing with one rod and just drifting, he often gets kings on his second rod from the lure hanging idle.  

he's been doing this a long time and makes it look easy

 

[soflabasser]

I have caught saltwater fish on soft plastic frogs, soft plastic swimbaits, lipless crankbaits, spinnerbaits, topwaters, and other freshwater lures.

[bulldog1935]

23 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I toss paddle tail grubs or gulp minnows. I sure think a jerkbait would work though . Frozen shrimp on a jig head is what I use most often, ain’t no shame in my game. This is in FLA 

When the pompano migrate through in the surf (right now), they primarily eat sea lice, and little pieces of gulp are the main bait.  

The feeding competition can get so strange that bull redfish in the surf reject live mullet and eat the gulp pieces, too.  

 

@TnRiver46 yes, bucktail jigs.  My dad has fished pre-package "Spec Rig" tandem bucktail jigs as his go-to on the flats all my life, and he has caught every double combination on the flats with them, including snook.  Along with spoons, were also the main change-up lure on the jetties for fall smacks.  

Redfish on his 78th birthday trip to Estes and a Palm Harbor house for 5 days.  

A glorious trip with 5 friends rotating through.  

[TnRiver46]

Oh yes and hAir jig! That’s what I hooked my only tarpon with . Didn’t catch it 

[Jigfishn10]

Agreed @TnRiver46, in the hair jigs, most of of the striped bass I caught were on a bucktail jig.

[bulldog1935]

Showing some diminutive plugs and spoons modified for imitating winter glass minnows on salt UL rockfish rods.  

These are 30 to 50 mm, 2.5 to 3.5 g (1/8 oz) - all weighted sinking.  

They're sold in Japan for freshwater trout, and came with fine-wire bronzed hooks, which I swapped with salty Owner singles and Vanfook stingers. 

 

[Jigfishn10]

That's great stuff @bulldog1935. 

I got in some squid skirts to be used on a dropper loop for the deep fish I'm targeting. Where they're pretty much a tube, I have this idea of making up a few flying C type spinners in a #5 with them and using for the surf. Those hooks you have on the glass minnows would be perfect!

Thanks for posting this. Great mods you did on those spoons too,

[Chris at Tech]

5 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

Showing some diminutive plugs and spoons modified for imitating winter glass minnows on salt UL rockfish rods.  

These are 30 to 50 mm, 2.5 to 3.5 g (1/8 oz) - all weighted sinking.  

They're sold in Japan for freshwater trout, and came with fine-wire bronzed hooks, which I swapped with salty Owner singles and Vanfook stingers. 

 

Ooohhhh...I may need one or two of those glass minnow imitations in my box.

[bulldog1935]

Specs are more interested in the flash, and will hit the 3/16 oz YoZuri sinking Pins minnow, 2-3/4 inch (70 mm).  

The Smith and Duo plugs match this weight in a smaller size, but takes some really fine split-ring pliers (#2) to work on them.  

 

Reds are more picky about the size.  

In the winter, if you see a group of reds milling about, and can't turn them with anything, they're probably sipping from balls of glass minnows.  A fly rod and small clausers also works.  

The beauty of these lures, you cast them farther and with less effort.  

 

[Jigfishn10]

Alright @bulldog1935, not finished yet, the paint is drying on the blade so I’ll finish tomorrow, but ‘what you say’?

My version of a flying c spinner:

The hook is actually a freshwater hook. This spring I’ll see how it casts and swims.

you think the back needs a little trim?

[Junger]

4 hours ago, Florida Tabdigger said:

I've had luck with Yo-zury 3Ds, Gold and black Rapalas, and snook really love the white Tiny Pop-Rs. I'll usually put a larger treble hook on the back.

 

Yep, learned that the hardway recently on my trip to Sanibel.

 

[fishdawg]

I've caught reds and trout on freshwater jerk baits, swim baits, crank baits and top waters. As others have noted, freshwater hooks are not always up to the task, especially for snook and tarpon. 

 

The biggest lesson for freshwater fishermen to learn is to wash everything off with freshwater after fishing in the salt, lures, rods, reels, boats, engines . . . . 

 

A lot of saltwater baits will translate back into bass fishing. Mirrodines can catch bass just fine.