When everyone Zigs, do you Zag?

[SpellCaster]

Apologies if this belongs in a different forum category...

 

There's plenty of lures/techniques that are widely regarded as "tried and true" for catching bass consistently: senko, popper, spinnerbait, etc. People keep throwing them because they keep working. At the same time, I've heard plenty of talk about how bass wisen up to certain presentations/profiles/colors and become harder to catch with the same lures. These two ideas seem to be at odds with each other, do they not? 

 

Not to say that they can't both be true. For instance, it makes sense to me that younger bass will generally be easier to catch on just about any lure because they haven't seen as many lures - and my brief experience fishing reinforces that notion for me; whereas older bass, having been caught maybe a few times, are more tight-lipped and not as easy to fool. 

 

To varying degrees I've heard Pros and Joes alike talk about picking and throwing lures that are intentionally different from what everyone around them throws. When everyone is zigging, they're zagging. 

 

Sure, they can zig and catch fish. But maybe they can catch MORE and BIGGER fish if they zag...

 

I'm curious to hear what y'all think: do you stick to the same exact lures or do you try to modify/change things up to stand out from the crowds?

[Woody B]

One of my "gifts" is the power of observation.  When I see......everyone throwing jerkbaits I'll do something else.   A few months ago EVERYONE was burning buzzbaits.   I would go right behind them with.......anything else, and catch Bass.  Shortly after than I realized I could burn a buzz bait a few times myself, then catch Bass on anything else.  I think the Bass were used to seeing the buzz baits, and thought the fishermen were gone with the buzz baits went away.   

 

IF this year is like last year they'll all be fishing jerkbaits(way too fast) for the next couple months.   I had really good luck last winter fishing a DT6 or 8 like a jerkbait, but slower than the others.   I'd put slightly heavier hooks on them and they'd suspend perfectly.  I think the bass recognized the long slender jerk baits as....baits, but the fatter (and slower) suspending Dt's would fool them.  

[king fisher]

My problem is, while I'm Zigging, and Zagging, every one else is busy catching bass.

[Junk Fisherman]

I feel some of my mainstay baits over the last couple years were not as productive this past year.  One of my main goals for 2024 is to search for different presentations to offer side-by-side with my confidence baits.  So I'm going to see if I can zag a little this next season!

[N Florida Mike]

I try real hard to fish where there are no crowds…

But when I do fish a pressurred lake, most of the people I run across aren’t fishing with the same baits I do. 
I do believe and have seen that bass do get used to the same baits. So I try to rotate my go-to baits when I fish the same water a lot…

[WRB]

Bass don’t live very long if they are aggressive striking a variety of different lures. It’s like low hanging fruit gets picked 1st. The concept that bass learn to avoid specific lures imo is beyond their capability, they do learn to stay out of harms way.

Very active feeding bass are the easiest to catch, inactive bass are extremely difficult to catch, look for active bass.

The lures you choose is always a crap shoot or educated guess take your pick. I like to use lures that look like something the bass are feeding on and can be presented effectively where those bass are located. 

Been catching bass on hair jigs with pork trailers about 50 years, same jig and colors. Same with soft plastic worms but a wider variety of sizes and colors, bass can’t resist plastic worms and jigs.

I have very few hard lures anymore, sold them a few years back. The hard lures I kept are 2 Bomber 7A’s custom painted in ghost, 1 bluegill color Zoner Hunter, 3 LC 98 Pointers 2 Ghost Shad and 1 clown, 1 Wooden Shad Sammy, 1 Micheal baby bass popper, 1 Smithwick Buck ‘n Brawl, Shad, 3 Laser minnow structure spoons Shad color, 1/2 dozen home made tail spins, 1 buzz bait, 2 Nichols spinnerbaits Shad color, All but the Zoner are at least 20 years old. The reason I kept those lures is they all catch bass. 

The balance of my lures are bottom contact jigs and worms that catch bass year around. Not using lures everyone else is because I have confidence is what is tied on to catch bass, always have marched to my own drummer.

Tom

[Susky River Rat]

I don’t zig and zag. I flip than I flop. 
 

Everyone “crushes” fish when you aren’t in the boat with them. I’ve been told it’s been called junk fishing but i will stay in an area and kind of throw the book at it till it produces or it doesn’t. 
 

Sometimes people just have that special wiggle to their rod that day and crush them. You can do the exact same thing next to them and not have the same results. 

[softwateronly]

My zig or zag is usually just related to size and speed.  I throw big or small, erratic or methodical at an area that I believe is holding bass.  This usually gives me a clue as to what they want.  Funny enough though, your list "senko, popper, spinnerbait, etc" are baits I barely or never throw and have to remember to bust out on days when I'm not connecting. 

 

scott

[gim]

I just had my second best season ever.  I used about 7 different lures 90% of the time, in various colors.  Guess I'm not really that sure what everyone else is tossing on the lakes I frequent, so I'm not sure if I'm zigging or zagging.  I try to target less-pressured waters that don't get pounded with tournaments all the time.

[A-Jay]

2 hours ago, SpellCaster said:

To varying degrees I've heard Pros and Joes alike talk about picking and throwing lures that are intentionally different from what everyone around them throws. When everyone is zigging, they're zagging. 

 

Sure, they can zig and catch fish. But maybe they can catch MORE and BIGGER fish if they zag...

 

I'm curious to hear what y'all think: do you stick to the same exact lures or do you try to modify/change things up to stand out from the crowds?

If Zigging is what everyone else does,

my personal version of Zagging to catch bigger fish looks like this . . . . 

Be on water when/where there is no crowd.

Fish presentations that I have confidence in, ignoring what others do,

because it has zero effect on my results.

Fish my own fish. 

Fish gear that is up to the task and perhaps even a little overkill.

Either way, being at the right place, at the right time, using what has worked for me in the past, might trump zigging & zagging in my book.

Fish Hard

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

[GRiver]

One of my friends I used to fish with, ( he moved) would always say “show them something they haven’t seen” . He would be fishing creatures when they rest would be saying they’re catching on worm or flukes. …… we all still caught fish.

I always like to try new baits,  but will revert back to my “tried and true” to catch when when “the going get tough”.

[LrgmouthShad]

17 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Be on water when/where there is no crowd.

 

17 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Fish presentations that I have confidence in, ignoring what others do,

 

17 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Fish my own fish. 

 

18 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Fish gear that is up to the task

A whole lotta goodness here 

[Pat Brown]

I try to do both every time I fish!

[Catt]

Not since the 70s 😂

 

[RipzLipz]

Some very good words of wisdom above.

 

Bass will always bite the classics - not always today or tomorrow or this decade. Plugs, spinnerbaits, worms, jigs, spoons - the rest, to me, are just tweaks to those core lures, most to catch fishermen which they do quite well. I’m certainly dumber than a bass given the size my ridiculous collection of lures has grown. I feel in a sense, lure usage can come & go in circles. For instance, you don’t see many folks throwing jitterbugs or hula poppers on TV or in tournaments but given the right time & place, they can still put bass in our mitts. A lot of success is dependent on for what it is you’re fishing, tournament, trophy, meddle, recreation and for many, addiction.

 

Sure, anglers zig when others zag - it may be more than what’s tied on the end of one’s line in that regard. Others have already alluded to it: where, when & how are just as important as what is used.
 

I just try to throw what the fish are telling me to throw but I don’t always hear or listen to them.

 

 

[Team9nine]

2 hours ago, king fisher said:

My problem is, while I'm Zigging, and Zagging, every one else is busy catching bass.

There’s a lot of wisdom in this simple statement, as you can really waste a lot of time ‘chasing your own tail’ around in a circle trying to be different or clever. Most days I simply stick to the basics, often the same stuff everyone else might be throwing, but I just try and fish them better (more thorough, precise or intelligently, if that makes sense). Otherwise, if I throw different, it’s often just slightly different (color, size, profile, depth, speed) - or fish the same baits, but just “boldly go where no man has gone before.”

 

[Catt]

28 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

fish the same baits, but just “boldly go where no man has gone before.”

 

Pretty much 😉

 

Lots of anglers talk about flipping-n-pitching-n-punching heavy cover but I seldom see em putting it where I do. 

 

I worry about sticking em first, then I worry about how I'm gonna get em out. 

[Swamp Girl]

 

16 hours ago, gimruis said:

I just had my second best season ever.  I used about 7 different lures 90% of the time, in various colors.

 

Me too, gimruis. I remember one of the BR anglers stating that we just need three lures: a surface lure, a mid-column lure, and a bottom lure.

 

14 hours ago, Catt said:

I worry about sticking em first, then I worry about how I'm gonna get em out. 

 

I'm good at the first and still working on the second.

 

My zagging is trying to be quieter than other anglers. I think that matters more than what's on the end of my line. As I shared in the past, my canoe's bow bumped a few bass in 2023. I think I get as big a kick out of sneaking that close to a bass as catching them. 

 

Say, @WRB, I now own seven Nemire Red Rippers, all gold and all bought on Ebay. I am so excited to try them in the spring. I'm going to chuck them into aquatic jungles and hang on!

 

17 hours ago, WRB said:

The lures you choose is always a crap shoot or educated guess take your pick.

 

When a great angler like Tom asserts ^this,^ I doubt articles with titles like "25 Surefire Ways to Catch more Bass." There are too many variables to ever say "surefire."

[scaleface]

If they're zigging and catching fish and I'm zagging and not,  then I'm not that dumb. Zigging it is.

[OmegaDPW]

I fish a worm 90% of the time. If it's not a worm it's usually a lizard. Rarely throw hard baits at all. The only things I change up are the rigging. 

 We have a PFA down the road with a lot of lakes- big and small. My wife likes to kayak and she'll usually go around picking up the lures and bobbers she finds while I spend the majority of time fishing. Almost 100% of the time she brings back a bag full of Ozark Trail hard baits. Big, little...they're usually something you can find at Wal Mart. On the off chance that I throw a hard bait, it's not one of those. I figure the fish have seen hundreds of them over a week or two. I'll stick to the soft baits and I intentionally go to the ponds that have lots of noticeable weeds. Most of those "once a year anglers" with their new crankbait aren't going to risk losing it in lily pads. 

[Tennessee Boy]

There are many variables in fishing.   Location,  depth,  speed of retrieve, lure,  color,  action,  direction or retrieve,  the list goes on.   To be dialed in means you have most of the variables figured out.   If the locals have reached a consensus on one of the variables,  I’m probably going to go with it and focus on dialing in the other variables.  Everyone’s not gonna to be doing something if it’s not working.

[TnRiver46]

I’m just fishing 

[FishTax]

I throw what I think they'll bite and try several different presentations of each lure. When I prove myself wrong I throw something else or change location. I don't really know what everyone else is throwing, but I do make the assumption it's a chatterbait so I don't throw them 😎

[Catt]

6 hours ago, scaleface said:

If they're zigging and catching fish and I'm zagging and not,  then I'm not that dumb. Zigging it is.

 

Sometimes changing just for the sake "change" ain't the right choice.

 

[SpellCaster]

On 12/23/2023 at 6:26 PM, softwateronly said:

Funny enough though, your list "senko, popper, spinnerbait, etc" are baits I barely or never throw and have to remember to bust out on days when I'm not connecting. 

 

YEAH. I rarely throw those either. Just listed them b/c it's often the first lures mentioned in many of the "If you could only use 1 lure forever" threads... I catch more bass on flukes than senkos, more bass on spooks than poppers, and I've never caught a bass on a spinnerbait.