squarebills, topwaters for lmb - do you switch them out or move a lot, or keep throwing in the same spot

[fishhugger]

i fish from the bank, and i don't toss squares or tops very far, maybe 60'.  i fish them in shallow waters, under trees, or by reeds, etc.  but they seem very noisy landing in the water, and i'm guessing that if mr or mrs bass is down there, they're hearing this distinctive plop, then they're seeing this insane looking thing go cruising by.  

i try to cast past my targets, but then you're running it through deeper water to get to where you want to go. but that's my basic strategy. that plus just picking up, and moving further around the lake, bit by bit.

are these the types of baits that you're moving around a lot, rather than working one area?    to me they just seem like the bass in your spot will catch on pretty quickly to them, as opposed to a more natural or slower presentation.

[Cgolf]

So if fishing a lake from the bank and I don't have the option to move around, I will switch out baits often unless the bait is producing. I do have a quicker hook on a lake vs the river. If I am spending 30-50 minutes at the same spot on a river system, I will ride the bait till it stops producing. Generally in my head I do a 5 or 10 more casts countdown, and then switch. It seems river fish move in and out of a spot more than lake fish.

[throttleplate]

1 hour ago, Cgolf said:

Generally in my head I do a 5 or 10 more casts countdown

 

I try to stick to 2 casts countdown unless the lure comes back fouled then i call a do-over.

[Cgolf]

6 hours ago, throttleplate said:

 

I try to stick to 2 casts countdown unless the lure comes back fouled then i call a do-over.

Mine is worse, say I caught 4 fish already on the bait, I will add 4 bonus casts. This is only on the river. On the lake in the boat it’s a gut thing, and I change much quicker. On the river or shore fishing a lake, I only carry one rod so that may play a factor too. 

[fishhugger]

i only carry one or two rods. i don't like carrying many more. it takes some of the fun out, carrying a lot of gear. so it sounds like i need to move around. after only a few casts --- move on.  i guess if i was fishing more a finesse bait, i could stick to one spot a lot longer.  sometimes on the way back around, i'll fish a couple of the same spots again.

thanks for the advice!

[Cgolf]

2 hours ago, fishhugger said:

i only carry one or two rods. i don't like carrying many more. it takes some of the fun out, carrying a lot of gear. so it sounds like i need to move around. after only a few casts --- move on.  i guess if i was fishing more a finesse bait, i could stick to one spot a lot longer.  sometimes on the way back around, i'll fish a couple of the same spots again.

thanks for the advice!

So if I go to the river for 30 minutes before work I may start with the action bait and follow up with finesse. Say a bandit 100 followed up with say a crawbug or Ned. Kinda depends on the conditions if I start with finesse or action. On a good day I never take off the lure I start with. You need to figure out what they want that day. 

[Munkin]

Try sidearm casting versus overhead and while the bait is in flight about to hit the water try lowering the rod tip like 12". This will cause the bait to make less of a splash when entering the water. As for baits if you are limited to the area you can fish you need to learn to pick apart an area. The biggest change for me when I bought a boat was not having to carry a bunch of different baits and colors. If you are limited to a 200 yard stretch you have to make subtle color changes while in a boat I can stick with one color and just move 300 yards up or down river.

 

Allen

[scaleface]

When I fish from bank I carry one rod and a lot of times just one bait. The bait has to be cast  easily and perform where I'm fishing . Crankbaits dont get a lot of playing time for me. They are just not versatile enough  plus snag frequently. Spinnerbait's and Texas rigged worms  cover pretty much anything I encounter.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

This time of year I know those fish are in shallow cover, stump and lily fields.  From the bank I'll hit the cover from every angle I can.  You can catch fish just running by cover, but getting them to react by bouncing them off cover will gives me best results.  It helps to have a shallow SB from the bank, like kvd 1.5 shallow or ima bill lowen.

[fishhugger]

@scaleface right now i'm just trying to work on crankbait type things --- and i assume? squarebills and lipless crankbaits are somewhat similar, at least in general technique? altho, i assume squarebills are for shallow, lipless for deeper....  i'm assuming similar 'feel' when reeling in, tho.

@GetFishorDieTryin that'd be nice - if they're in close! i've been hoping for that - i fish later in the day, when the water's hopefully are warmer, especially shallow and in the sun............

[Bankc]

It all depends, of course.  But if you're fishing from the bank on a quiet day that doesn't see a lot of human activity, the fish are usually going to be easily spooked.  Sometimes so much, that I'll cast from 10 feet back from the bank and try to hide in the reeds so they don't see or hear me.  

 

Now, sometimes the sound of a splashdown can attract the bass.  Sometimes it can scare them away.  Sometimes it's a good idea to cast it out, and then let it sit for a minute or more before reeling it in.  Give it enough time for the fish to forget about the splash.  I do this a lot with top waters, especially poppers.  And sometimes it's good to pitch your bait, or side arm it low to the water and kill it just before it hits the water to minimize the splash.  There are lots of ways to play it, and it depends on a lot of things, like the angle of the sun, the wind, normal human activity, and the normal ambient noises.  

 

So if they're acting like they spook easily, I'll try not to overfish an area, and I'll move around a lot.  I feel like if you're not making too much of a ruckus, you can double back over your spots in about 15-20 minutes, and the fish will have forgotten you were there earlier.  But if it's windy and the water is pretty stained, I may hit the same area over and over for 15 minutes straight.  

[fishhugger]

28 minutes ago, Bankc said:

It all depends, of course.  But if you're fishing from the bank on a quiet day that doesn't see a lot of human activity, the fish are usually going to be easily spooked.  Sometimes so much, that I'll cast from 10 feet back from the bank and try to hide in the reeds so they don't see or hear me.  

 

Now, sometimes the sound of a splashdown can attract the bass.  Sometimes it can scare them away.  Sometimes it's a good idea to cast it out, and then let it sit for a minute or more before reeling it in.  Give it enough time for the fish to forget about the splash.  I do this a lot with top waters, especially poppers.  And sometimes it's good to pitch your bait, or side arm it low to the water and kill it just before it hits the water to minimize the splash.  There are lots of ways to play it, and it depends on a lot of things, like the angle of the sun, the wind, normal human activity, and the normal ambient noises.  

 

So if they're acting like they spook easily, I'll try not to overfish an area, and I'll move around a lot.  I feel like if you're not making too much of a ruckus, you can double back over your spots in about 15-20 minutes, and the fish will have forgotten you were there earlier.  But if it's windy and the water is pretty stained, I may hit the same area over and over for 15 minutes straight.  

when i fish, which is in the afternoons, the pond is very quiet.  which is just really enjoyable.  it's a beautiful pond.  but it's very quiet, and the pond can be like glass...

i'll work on my splash down, altho maybe i'm just using the wrong technique right now.  it's what i want to work on, (cranks) lol.  it's very hard to let the bait sit for a minute --- i'd do it for a top water ----  i just don't have that patience with a squarebill.  

i do try not to stomp around, etc...  i try to stay low.  i've considered getting a tree costume to wear....  (lol again)  

thanks for replies!

[GetFishorDieTryin]

On 3/18/2024 at 1:02 PM, fishhugger said:

@scaleface right now i'm just trying to work on crankbait type things --- and i assume? squarebills and lipless crankbaits are somewhat similar, at least in general technique? altho, i assume squarebills are for shallow, lipless for deeper....  i'm assuming similar 'feel' when reeling in, tho.

@GetFishorDieTryin that'd be nice - if they're in close! i've been hoping for that - i fish later in the day, when the water's hopefully are warmer, especially shallow and in the sun............

Don't worry about water temp, just let the fish dictate the pace.  Once the fish get that shallow in cover, the prespawn is well underway.

Traps are almost as variated as lipped cranks, shape, size, rattle, weight, rate of fall etc.  from the bank, yo yoing them late winter through the pre spawn is prime time.