Big bass baits???

[Justbass11]

OK its getting down to the nitty-gritty. I’ve entered a big bass tournament in May. My question is what kind of baits should I use for this tournament? I have been doing research for this lake on what lures to use but I have never fished this lake before. So any advice would be good thank you.

[Big Swimbait]

Not knowing the lake makes it a crap shoot, but the lakes I fish in May call for crankbaits and 6 in swimbaits. And maybe a big top water in the AM. If there are mats of vegetation, I would also have a frog tied on.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Swing for the fences with a big Swimbait ?

[georgeyew]

Black and blue jig!

[Hammer 4]

Without knowing where you will be fishing, as someone said, it's kind of a crap shoot. Anyway, I'll give it a go. First, if the water is on the cool side, big bass do not like to Chase food, so in that respect, a big easy meal is the key. I'd throw a 8" Hudd and very Slowly creep it along the bottom, unless there is heavy vegatation, this makes an easy meal for the big girls. I like doing this especially if you have a riprap.

Now if there is vegagation, then I would opt for a 6" weedless Hudd, and again move as slowly as possible, think easy meal. IMHO if the water is warmer, then the bait can be worked  a tiny bit faster, if the bass are active.

Also, jumbo size worms like the Uptjohn 10-12" worms could be a good choice. Then there are Jigs with big profile trailers that will get big bass. Just make sure to fish Where the big bass are, remember, the bigger the bass the better ambush spot they will have.

 

[JediAmoeba]

Soft or Hard swimbait. Or a big worm on a shakey head because they will probably be on beds. You could also run a gigantarel with a nose weight to run it through beds - bass hate bluegill screwing with their beds...

 

[Jar11591]

Spinnerbaits consistently catch the biggest bass for me. 

[Pat Brown]

Big spinnerbait, big glide bait,  big soft plastic swimbait, full skirted black and blue jig with a big blue trailer, Swim Jig with a full size trailer, big jerkbait, lipless crankbait, big lipped crankbaits, Chatterbait with a big trailer, magnum soft plastics on shakey heads and Texas rigs.

 

I used to think you could go too big until I started throwing big glide baits.

 

Fish just reveal themselves to you and then you can figure out how to get them to bite.

[killobet]

I like 6 to use 6 inch wacky rig senko or weightless texas rig.

[a1712]

Big profile Jig/Trailer and a 6"-8" Paddletail. Lock them in your hands and throw, throw, throw. Brian.

[scaleface]

top waters consistently catch big bass as do Jig and pigs [pork]   . The most important thing, in my opinion, is to fish where big fish like to hang . Cover and/or structure.

[LrgmouthShad]

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

Big spinnerbait, big glide bait,  big soft plastic swimbait, full skirted black and blue jig with a big blue trailer, Swim Jig with a full size trailer, big jerkbait, lipless crankbait, big lipped crankbaits, Chatterbait with a big trailer, magnum soft plastics on shakey heads and Texas rigs.

 

I used to think you could go too big until I started throwing big glide baits.

 

Fish just reveal themselves to you and then you can figure out how to get them to bite.

You just named like half of possible lure categories ??

[Catt]

Location, location, location ?

 

Throw what y'all want, if they ain't there it doesn't matter!

[Pat Brown]

1 hour ago, LrgmouthShad said:

You just named like half of possible lure categories ??

 

 

You better believe those big girls have preferences and when you find em it's nice to have some options! ???

[LrgmouthShad]

1 minute ago, Pat Brown said:

big girls have preferences

How tall do I have to be?

[Catt]

3 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

 

 

You better believe those big girls have preferences and when you find em it's nice to have some options! ???

 

My #1 big bass lure is a 7 1/2" worm, #2 a Jig-n-Craw.

 

Not exactly big lures 

[Pat Brown]

Just now, Catt said:

 

My #1 big bass lure is a 7 1/2" worm, #2 a Jig-n-Craw.

 

Not exactly big lures 

I would say those are bigger than small and smaller than giant and that's usually a pretty safe size for targeting big bass in general. A big crankbait is 3 and 1/2 in long. I think any bait that's about 3 and 1/2 in to 5 in will get a big fish's attention. I think profile and action are more important than 'big' but really, really big fish do seem to come up and inspect really, really big baits and it's interesting because you kind of figure out where they live when they do that. ?

[LrgmouthShad]

I ain’t got time to rotate through a bunch of baits on a spot, unless I’m really really confident in the spot. I’ll throw a few, sometimes a couple, and if I don’t get bit, I’m moving on. 
 

Ponds and other small bodies of water are different. You can learn where the productive areas are, and rotate through baits until you find something they like

[WRB]

13 hours ago, Justbass11 said:

OK its getting down to the nitty-gritty. I’ve entered a big bass tournament in May. My question is what kind of baits should I use for this tournament? I have been doing research for this lake on what lures to use but I have never fished this lake before. So any advice would be good thank you.

Looking for one lucky cast is less likely then finding a needle in a hay stack.

What lures are you skilled using?

Go big or go home might as well be go

home unless big swimbaits are in your skill set.

If Butch Brown was fishing this contest then he would use a big swimbait and odds are he would win hands down.

If I were fishing this contest my choice would be a hair jig with pork trailer because that’s my go to big bass lure.

Tom

[Catt]

13 minutes ago, WRB said:

If I were fishing this contest my choice would be a hair jig with pork trailer because that’s my go to big bass lure.

Tom

 

Not exactly a "big" lure 

[WRB]

8 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Not exactly a "big" lure 

It’s 3” long +4” trailer  = 7” is big enough out in front of a big bass ?

Tom

[Mike L]

Read the water, learn as much as you can about any unique areas of the lake, if you have electronics use it to find any submerged structures, inspect any and all visible cover for hard bottom spawning areas near deeper water. 
 

Bottom line is You’re gonna have to look at the overall layout to try to eliminate water before you concentrate on high value targets. 
After that use the baits you have the most confidence and experience in. 
 

You got a lot of good suggestions of what to use. I can add to it but unfortunately they are from each persons own experiences which work for that individual but based on the same criteria. 
 

No one is exactly right or wrong. 
 

Find them first, then throw the book at ‘em 

 

 

 

Mike
 

 

 

[Bird]

Spinnerbaits and Jigs in cover.

Buzzbait on top.

[Mobasser]

My two votes for big bass go to plastic worms( 7" or longer"). And a spinnerbait at night( dark color).

[Cbump]

If this is one of those 2000+ boat big fish tourneys, good luck is all I’ll say.