Worms, creatures, craws, oh my! How do YOU choose?

[papajoe222]

For me, it's a simple choice. Worms for horizontal presentations and craws, creature baits and beavers for vertical ones. I'm sure that I'm likely missing out on a few bites at times, but I do basically the same thing with jig trailers. Slimmer style ones for swim jigs and more bulky ones with casting or flipping jigs.

[Fishin Dad]

9 hours ago, papajoe222 said:

For me, it's a simple choice. Worms for horizontal presentations and craws, creature baits and beavers for vertical ones. I'm sure that I'm likely missing out on a few bites at times, but I do basically the same thing with jig trailers. Slimmer style ones for swim jigs and more bulky ones with casting or flipping jigs.

First, I have probably mentioned it before, but your name “papa joe” makes me smile every time I read it.  My grandfather, who taught me how to fish, was also “papa joe”.   Thanks.  
I was always thinking that craws would be a good horizontal presentation as they crawl along the bottom.  Is there a reason you use them more vertically?   I like the simplicity of your system, just wondering how or why you came to it?   
I also use your theory for swim jigs.   
Thanks!

[papajoe222]

14 hours ago, Fishin Dad said:

I was always thinking that craws would be a good horizontal presentation as they crawl along the bottom.  Is there a reason you use them more vertically?  

Bringing you another smile.

I do use them on the bottom, but rarely, if ever, do I crawl them along. It's either a hopping or stroking presentation as a jig trailer and I feel that is more a vertical presentation because the hits come on the fall.  I use them for vertical presentations because of the action most of them have on the fall.  The same goes for beavers and creature style plastics. 

[Fishin Dad]

21 minutes ago, papajoe222 said:

Bringing you another smile.

I do use them on the bottom, but rarely, if ever, do I crawl them along. It's either a hopping or stroking presentation as a jig trailer and I feel that is more a vertical presentation because the hits come on the fall.  I use them for vertical presentations because of the action most of them have on the fall.  The same goes for beavers and creature style plastics. 

Thanks for the smile, I honestly did smile.  That all makes sense.  I am not much of a dragger per se.  we used to have a cabin on Balsam Lake when I was young.  Really like that lake.  I was more into walleye and panfish back then.   I would bet the stumps hold some bass if that is still viable after all these years.   I like the fact that you fish natural lakes in the Midwest too.  More relevant to my fishing.  Thanks!

[Mbirdsley]

It’s kind what ever I feel like doing.  I feel like I fish a straight t-rig more in the spring/early summer.  Mid to late summer I switch to jigs.  
 

Brush hogs I feel work better when there is cover on the bottom IE a bunch of sunken logs or cat tails. 
 

hard bottom even though I’ve gotten away from them I like throwing a tube on a tube jig. 
 

This was the first year I’ve thrown a ribbon tailed worm. The only reason for that is I had been striking out on craws and jigs consistently on the major river I fish.  I did a lot of big river fishing this year. IMHO with the 2 dam failures up stream last year it super charged the river with nutrients that brought in millions of shad from the Saginaw bay.  So I feel the bass were keying in on fish type bodies more than craws 

 

senkos are more of spring/early summer thing for me unlesss I’m using 4inchers on a mojo.  I prefer to wacky rig when I’m sight fishing.  Also t-rigging them during the same time period.  I think the last k of action helps in under 70 degree water. 
 

Plastic swim baits I’m finding work good in the spring and fall 

 

still haven’t had a ton of success with beaver type baits.

 

im actually trying to trim down the plastic tackle selection.

 

however, sometimes you have to throw the kitchen sink at them and see what sticks.  That’s how I stumbled upon the ribbon tail worm t-rig combo.  They were buried in a mangled pack in my worm bag which, I had forgotten about even having. A couple trips it felt like I was just whistling my time do I had to try something different until it worked 

[RB 77]

Well, I sort of have a method to my madness other than the ol' "let the fish tell ya what they want"... For T-Rig or C-rig anything is game. Worms, lizards, creatures, etc. With "fly-lined" baits (IE: F-Rig, skin hooked, no weight) Senko style worms get majority of the work duty, with drop shot getting Robo style worms the majority of the time. Fluke style can get in the mix for these two techniques as well. This encompasses most of my plastics fishing techniques. At least for "worm draggin" anyway. Then there are swimbaits, swimgrubs, etc which can go on Shad heads, underspins, A-Rigs, swimjigs, etc. The possibilities really are endless.