Favorite method of catching fish and why?

[Drew03cmc]

So, if you only got to use one method of catching fish the rest of your life, what would you choose? Why? Could your mind be changed? 

 

For me, it's a buzzbait, without a doubt. While I love the big baits and throwing a finesse soft bait on my pseudo-BFS setup, the buzzbait is my jam. Specifically, give me a 1/2oz CrockoGator Headknocker without trailer or X-Bite with either a Horny Toad or Toadz on it. I can fish these in grass, wood, docks, rivers, creeks, open water over points and right against a bank. The strikes you get on a buzzbait are some of my most fun hits of the year. So far this year, I've not had any of the big explosions, rather it's been the more calculated "suck the bait down" hits. 

 

Anyway, I'm curious what your opinion and preference is.

[LrgmouthShad]

Jig has the best year-round, universal appeal across various bodies of water IMO. Texas rig is close, but the jig outshines it so much in cold water that the t-rig falls behind. 

3 minutes ago, Drew03cmc said:

Could your mind be changed? 

No. Why would it? 

[gim]

I like a good buzz bait bite too.  Actually, topwater in general is a highly entertaining way to fish.  Unfortunately its just not effective for me anymore here.

 

I like a good jerk bait bite.  I caught a bunch of smallmouth and a walleye with a jerk bait recently and its really cool when you snap back and rod bends over.

 

I'll also give a second choice to skipping plastics under docks.  I've done a lot of it the past few years and I've gotten to be pretty good with it.

[Zcoker]

I'm topwater guy all the way because, you see, there's nothing more exciting than watching (or hearing) a BIG bass destroy a topwater lure. At night, especially, it's like the life gets jerked away from your entire being....everything is so calm, so quiet, so serene with twinkling stars overhead and then KABOOM! And you just know that it's BIG. That kinda anticipation is like a drug, keeps me going back for more. All the other styles of fishing are okay and I've tried every single one of them with good results. All types of fishing do have their place. But nothing beats that topwater bite; it's very special and appealing and I always know that she's out there, like a bomb ready to go off. 

[Functional]

If were talking about excitement....double jointed 5/8oz jitterbug in black at nighttime. If I could bottle that excitement and sell it I'd have a lot more time to do it!

 

If were talking about producing results under a variety of conditions....Swim Jig hands down. I can fish that thing about 10 different ways to get the type of strike I need. 

[scaleface]

Buzzbaits have always been my favorite but a long way from my most productive.  They are so much fun. Most productive is a worm.

[Zcoker]

10 minutes ago, Functional said:

If were talking about excitement....double jointed 5/8oz jitterbug in black at nighttime. If I could bottle that excitement and sell it I'd have a lot more time to do it!

 

 

 

Ain't lying about the jitterbug. Out of all the lures, that one makes them about as angry a stirred up nest of hornets. Catches big ones, too!

 

 

 

[A-Jay]

Favorite method of catching fish and why ?

 

That's a tough one.

My initial reaction was, "whatever the plus size brown bass are eating".

And there's some truth to that.

But favorite doesn't necessarily mean most effective all season. 

And as looked a little deeper into my bass fishing soul,

a few more things started to percolate. 

I do LOVE to chunk & wind - I mean it's in my DNA.

So spinner baits, Vibrating Jigs, Rattle Baits and just about any type of crank bait;

all have a special place in my heart.

And who doesn't love topwater - Walking baits & Poppers have accounted for several very respectable fish for me over the years and the fun meter is always pegged over hard on that deal. 

However beyond even all of that, there's lies the jerk bait.

In the hands of a tuned in basshead, it's so deadly. 

The fact that it's right down there in the fishes face,

Twitching, pausing, long stroking, and all manner of movements.

It's so dependent on angler in put.

Beyond where I cast it and when, it's all about selecting the right one

(and I have a few to chose from) and then talking a Big Brown Fatty into taking a poke at it. 

Nothing makes me feel like I do after a day on the water

when a wide open jerkbait bite has been the deal.

Nothing.

And there's no changing my mind on that. 

YMMV

Fish Hard

A-Jay

 

 

[Dwight Hottle]

X2

[king fisher]

Inline spinner.  Works every where I go, for every species of fish.

[Functional]

@Zcoker really an under rated bait. I got nervous one year they were going to stop making them and cleaned out 2 tackle stores. Got enough now for even my kids to pass some on. 

 

@A-Jay I was going to be flabbergasted if the jerkbait wasnt your top bait 😂. One of the few baits I plan on focusing on learning this year. 

[Zcoker]

3 minutes ago, Functional said:

@Zcoker really an under rated bait. I got nervous one year they were going to stop making them and cleaned out 2 tackle stores. Got enough now for even my kids to pass some on. 

 

 

Very underrated. I modify mine similar to Brasher with a formed front cup, bigger hooks, split rings front and rear. I also fish them with extra heavy rod minimum 65lb braid...no room for finesse in my neck of the woods! They do work better with specific sounds and bending and forming that front cup just right guarantees a big fish.

[geo g]

When fishing from the boat everything is in play for that day, that minute. 

1). I love top water in heavy cover with frogs,

2). Outside weed lines with rapalas, zara spooks, chug bugs, and weightless U-Vibes.

3). Ledges with Texas rigged plastics, swim jigs, crank baits.

 

When bank Fishing: All our bodies of water have heavy cover surrounding the banks.  Even deep water have bottom veggies growing up from the rocky bottom.  They have jagged limestone wall that catch treble hooks easily.  So when bank fishing I stick with Texas rigged plastics, weightless or with a very light 1/32 bullet weight.  Heavy weight will snag on the rocky bottom and walls.

I use Texas rigged Flukes, Trick worms, Senkos, Zoom Centipedes, U-Vibes, plastic swim baits, and Creature Baits.  I will rig a wacky rig with a special hook with a weed guard, and very light weight.  Absolutely nothing with a treble hook from the bank, you have ten to twenty feet of pads surrounding the deep water ledges.  It's a jungle out there!

[Fried Lemons]

Big soft swimbait. There’s just something therapeutic about fishing one low and slow, bumping into rocks and anticipating that tick. Every time it happens the anticipation that there could be a giant on the end is there, even if that is often not the case. It works well in the cold months but a weedless bait thrown into grass is also effective in summer, so it can be a year round deal. 

 

[looking45]

Fishing strictly with one bait and/Or method is going to get you frustrated as there will be lots of times you won’t get bit. That said,if I could only have one bait in the boat, it would be a hand poured senko. . There would be no limit to color and I could fish it from the top to the bottom of the water column. YMMV

[Pat Brown]

Topwater.

[Bankc]

I want to say umbrella rig.  I like the idea of saying "I got one!  Now I've got two!"  But that's never actually happened to me. 

 

I also want to say glide bait.  They're just the most fun to fish, in my opinion.  And they catch big fish.  But I tend to catch more catfish than bass with them. 

 

So maybe I'll just go with a popper.  They're a lot of fun.  Or any kind of "walk the dog" topwater. 

[Mike L]

Magnum UV Speed Worm

Over, through and under any and all cover. 
 

Sight Fishing beds is 1b

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[OmegaDPW]

Beetle Spin. It's what I fish 90% of the time anyways. It just catches fish of all kinds. 

[Catt]

Texas Rigged piece of plastic.

 

Why?

Cause I can fish it 24/7/365, in any cover, on any structure, at any water depth.

 

Can my mind be changed?

 

[LrgmouthShad]

17 minutes ago, Catt said:

Texas Rigged piece of plastic.

Wow! Feeling freaky today? What a surprise answer. Definitely didn’t see that one coming, whew. 
😄

[Jar11591]

Casting poppers to clear water smallmouth on mountain lakes at dawn is my favorite way to fish. Honestly, probably my favorite way to be, not just fish. 

[casts_by_fly]

I love the ‘tick’ when a bass picks up a Texas rigged beaver knowing that he just inhaled the entire thing and then the resultant hook set. Doing that at short combat range is a ton of fun, but not my favorite. 
 

I just started fishing bigger swim baits the past two trips and like Fred Lemons says, that thunk when a fish hits it is something. You can tell they are hitting it to kill it. I can’t say it’s my favorite after just two trips, but I can’t say it won’t get there. 
 

A buzz bait is the answer though, fished an hour before the sun comes up right through to sunrise. It’s the painfully slow plop-plop-plop when it’s dark and quiet out, so quiet that you can hear your rivet squealing from 20 yards away, and then the sudden gulp when a big one makes a bucket sized hole in the surface of the water. And all of that on a chuck and wind bait that you can throw in open water or in cover.

[webertime]

I live on the edge...  Carolina Rig 

[steve carpenter]

Plastics for me because I catch fish and love finding ouut what that small tap is hiding