More than meets the eye...

[DitchPanda]

What is a technique that looks and seems relatively easy but once you get into it there is much more to it? To me a few that come to mind are jigs and spinnerbaits. I think because of there versatility in almost all water temps and colors there are a tons of subtle tweaks and nuances that take years to learn and master. For instance I've been fishing jigs at least half of my times out the last 3 years and I'm just starting to really figure it out. Everybody says its just like fishing a texas rig but I feel like there is a little more to it.

[Mbirdsley]

Jerk baits.  I can’t get the rythem right atleast on a bait caster.  I’m going to try on a spinning set up this year.  I had decent success with them on a spinning rig accidentally  before.  That was before  I knew what I was doing fishing wise 

[Cgolf]

I would definitely agree with jerkbaits, but also think Texas rigged plastics, on slider heads for me. 
 

fishing on vacation over the years I have found that each year it takes a little something different to trigger them. Some years it’s the drop, or letting it sit, or subtly shaking it in place on bottom, and on and on. There are so many different ways to retrieve them it can give you a headache figuring out which way they want it retrieved that day or minute. 

[jbsoonerfan]

Alabama rigs and swim baits. I am headed out here in a few hours and I will try them both and probably end up empty handed. I can catch white bass on an A rig but that's about it. I guess I don't have the patience for a swim bait. 

[scaleface]

Crankbaiting , for me has been the most difficult to do efficiently . What makes it hard is not knowing how deep the lure is diving . I really stepped my game up the past several years and now confident that I will get a lure to the proper depth from the surface to 24 foot . I havent mastered it but I'll show a  lure to the fish . There is something real satisfying about  catching  bass deeper than 20 foot on a deep diving plug .

[Catt]

All of em ?

 

Fishing can be as complicated as you want it to be or a simple as you want it to be.

[NHBull]

Small swimbaits have been my Achilles heel.

 

......but admittedly it's probably due to the lack of commitment on my part

[Dens228]

Definitely jigs.   I find with a lot of lures you feel, hook, most fish that hit your lure.  Especially quick moving baits and treble hook baits.   Once I started to put a lot of effort into jigs and got better at it I realized how many bass took my jig and I never even realized it. 

[BrianMDTX]

52 minutes ago, Catt said:

All of em ?

 

Fishing can be as complicated as you want it to be or a simple as you want it to be.

There’s a lot of truth in that opening statement! 

[Spankey]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

All of em ?

 

Fishing can be as complicated as you want it to be or a simple as you want it to be.

 

33 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

There’s a lot of truth in that opening statement! 

Could not agree more. It has only been a handful of years on certain types of lure presentations that I fish now. Had a real phobia of even trying to fish a few of them. 

[A-Jay]

13 hours ago, DitchPanda said:

What is a technique that looks and seems relatively easy but once you get into it

there is much more to it? 

I'll offer 4 - that perhaps on the surface, could seem quite different from each other.

However, that might not be the case.

For me, it's an A-Rig, A Spy bait, A Hair Jig, & the Ned Rig.

All presentations I do best with when they are fished in the middle of the water column.

So it's ALL About Speed & depth control.

With little to no bottom contact being made, it's often pretty tricky to find, maintain and repeat,  the 'magic depth' & the 'perfect 'speed' to get bites.

Especially before I find out where the bass are at and what they want. 

I've heard term 'hover through the water' column, used to describe what needs to happen with these baits, and I get it.  It's just a challenge to duplicate and gear selection here can be critical.

Finally, seems many bassheads present The Ned Rig as more of a 'bottom bait', and that will no doubt get plenty of bites.  But I have a fairly wide selection of other baits/presentations that can & do the same.  But very few, if any of those, will produce the same, mid-water magic,

as a fairly light Ned Rig simply strolled along, well off the bottom. 

YMMV

A-Jay

[Jigfishn10]

To me any lure or technique takes so long to get the hang of because of seasonal change, fish location and conditions of water and atmosphere. Seems like these factors need technique adjustments constantly. To say I have my favorite lure or technique dialed in would be a lie. My saving grace is that I picked a few that I have confidence in and cut my learning curve waaaaaay down,

Good luck and hope you find your happy place.

[Shimano_1]

Basically every technique I think fits in here. Sure you can tie on most anything and probably catch a couple but to really get dialed in and effective with any technique it takes time and effort. Ive found just reeling a spinnerbait or a rig gets bit, but pausing and twitching occasionally gets way more bites. Changing the fall rate and profile of a jig can make or break the bite. Color can have zero effect and also be the deal breaker on most things. Over or under working a jerkbait can make a big difference.  You get the point. Only time on the water can let you figure all these things out

[Team9nine]

2 hours ago, Catt said:

All of em ?

 

Fishing can be as complicated as you want it to be or a simple as you want it to be.

 

This ^^

 

...but I will add, Rat-L-Traps and Carolina rigs are the two techniques that seem to get a lot of flack as “mindless” cast and wind approaches, but can obviously be much more nuanced than that.

[Sphynx]

From a technical standpoint of finding repeated success I am of a mind with @A-Jay that middle of the column baits are often the most difficult to be consistent with, fortunately the fish will let you know in a hurry whether or not your doing it right, or if you need to pay more attention. I think that walking small bodied frogs, poppers and stick baits is a very difficult thing to do well, as is properly balancing a jerkbait to suspend, it has the obnoxious habit of moving the goal posts based on water temperatures, I think sooner or later I will have to simply take a few days to figure out at what temperatures things change, and get jerkbaits set up for each range that suspend and label them in their own box for the temp range and solve it that way...frighteningly expensive solution though.

[BlakeMolone]

11 hours ago, cgolf said:

I would definitely agree with jerkbaits, but also think Texas rigged plastics, on slider heads for me. 
 

fishing on vacation over the years I have found that each year it takes a little something different to trigger them. Some years it’s the drop, or letting it sit, or subtly shaking it in place on bottom, and on and on. There are so many different ways to retrieve them it can give you a headache figuring out which way they want it retrieved that day or minute. 

Do you fish the arkie shaped sliders or the bullet weight style sliders? I always wonder which one people mean when they talk about slider fishing.

[Mobasser]

For me, the jig was the bait of 1000 cast. I fished them a lot before I caught my first jig fish years ago.

[GaryH]

3 hours ago, Catt said:

All of em ?

 

Fishing can be as complicated as you want it to be or a simple as you want it to be.

 

Which is why we love it so much. You can enjoy it whether in a lazy mood or let's get it on mood.

[Cgolf]

1 hour ago, BlakeMolone said:

Do you fish the arkie shaped sliders or the bullet weight style sliders? I always wonder which one people mean when they talk about slider fishing.

The spider head which is a bullet shape. I haven’t used a worm weight in 20ish years. Luckily my plastic targets are shallower so the 1/4 ounce is enough weight for my needs. 

[BlakeMolone]

5 hours ago, cgolf said:

The spider head which is a bullet shape. I haven’t used a worm weight in 20ish years. Luckily my plastic targets are shallower so the 1/4 ounce is enough weight for my needs. 

I just bought a 20 pack of the pro spider heads and I’m excited to try them out. What are your favorite baits to fish with these?

[Columbia Craw]

Crankbaits.  It’s the one lure category that requires or seems to require the largest  selection of baits and combos.  Crankbaits don’t all reach the same depth zone. Each bait provides a signature vibration and sound.  The forage base requires at least three to five color patterns. I consider lipless and jerkbaits their own animal.  Effectively fishing from one inch deep to twenty five feet deep is quite a variance for a bait that floats and requires some fashion of bill to reach a depth zone.  I love it though.  When you get it dialed in,  it can lead to a break out day.

[Boomstick]

Jigs and spinnerbaits is definitely fair, although I would say spinnerbaits generally aren't that bad as in once you find the right spinnerbait for your waters, that same spinnerbait will generally work for most of the season.

 

The jig really is sort of like the texas rig, but finding the right jig for the right situation is a little bit harder. With Texas Rigs, you basically determine your hook size by the size of your bait, the hook thickness based on the cover you're throwing in and the size of the fish you expect to be getting, the weight based on the water depth and also the rod you're using and the size of the bait based on what size fish you're targeting. With jigs, you have the additional factor of the size of the skirt.

 

I would say any presentation has more than meets the eye though.

 

On 1/8/2021 at 8:04 PM, Mbirdsley said:

Jerk baits.  I can’t get the rythem right atleast on a bait caster.  I’m going to try on a spinning set up this year.  I had decent success with them on a spinning rig accidentally  before.  That was before  I knew what I was doing fishing wise 

Sounds to me like maybe that was before you started overthinking it?

[Cgolf]

4 hours ago, BlakeMolone said:

I just bought a 20 pack of the pro spider heads and I’m excited to try them out. What are your favorite baits to fish with these?

Pretty much anything. Tubes, menaces, arsenal assault bugs, gambler ugly otters, and Kalins 5” single tail to name a few of my personal favorites. Also some finesse worms too, but the lighter wire hooks do work better for those. 

[TnRiver46]

On 1/8/2021 at 11:04 PM, Mbirdsley said:

Jerk baits.  I can’t get the rythem right atleast on a bait caster.  I’m going to try on a spinning set up this year.  I had decent success with them on a spinning rig accidentally  before.  That was before  I knew what I was doing fishing wise 

I bet that was merely coincidence, You’ll get on them with baitcaster.  I catch fish with jerkbait at what seems to be an even ratio spinning gear and casting gear. The advantage of the spinning gear is lighter diameter line , thus deeper jerkbait. The advantage of baitcaster is fishing bigger jerkbaits around shallow cover, helps to have muscle once you’re hooked up. As far as cadence, I just bounce them along fairly constant but not super hard rips. If it’s below 50 degree water I leave it alone quite a bit 

On 1/8/2021 at 11:23 PM, jbsoonerfan said:

Alabama rigs and swim baits. I am headed out here in a few hours and I will try them both and probably end up empty handed. I can catch white bass on an A rig but that's about it. I guess I don't have the patience for a swim bait. 

And you caught a monster ! 

[Jaderose]

Frogs