My first creature bait fishing

[Swamp Girl]

I'll be casting my first creature baits tomorrow morning. I'll T-Rig them and use a tungsten weight. It'll reach 49 degrees tonight, so the shallows will be cooled and I'm going to start there, in a foot to two feet of water. I'll work deeper if they're not there. I'm always excited to try a new bait. So far in 2024, I caught my first bass strolling, walking the dog, and on a spinnerbait. I'm pretty confident with the creature bait because it'll fish like a soft plastic worm, lizard, or crawfish, which I already use. It'll just be bigger and weirder. 

[Pat Brown]

Yeah - you're spot on - it's just a funny shaped worm!  They definitely catch the bass though!

 

I like pegging my weight with the beavers so they can plummet along with the bait and hook as one unit into cover!  Others will feel differently but this has worked best for me.

 

Sometimes that bulkier flatter profile really seems to appeal to them over the longer slenderer profiles.

 

The gliding action on the way down seems to be the biggest trigger and I tend to get 90% of my bites on a creature bait on the fall near a target.

 

Enjoy!

[Swamp Girl]

10 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

The gliding action on the way down seems to be the biggest trigger and I tend to get 90% of my bites on a creature bait on the fall near a target.

 

Good to know. I'll be on red alert when the bait falls. 

[GRiver]

34 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

It'll reach 49 degrees tonight

Wow! 49, only time I see that around here is the walk-in beer cooler at 7-11. It was 80 here this morning.

    Creatures seem to work best here shallow too, docks are good too. I use a little of weight as possible to have a slow erratic sink, sometimes weightless depending on the bait.

 

[Mike L]

What did you get?

There’s different shapes and sizes with different actions and fall rates

(Especially in the depths you’re talking about)

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[The Baron]

Agreed with @Pat Brown - I haven’t been flipping creature baits much this year, but especially on target flipping (a blowdown or hole in the weeds) I get a lot of bites on the fall.  I find it a tricky balance between feeding line so the bait falls straight down, but not being slack and missing those immediate bites.

 

That’s a chilly night - I’d expect your water temps will start dropping and bass will be on the move soon, headed to hard cover that’s holding heat (logs and rocks).  We’re already seeing some weed areas turning brown up here, and bass will be gone to green weeds are hard cover. 

[Catt]

Since the Bait Monkey is already winning!

 

6th Sense Hogwalla 😉

[Pat Brown]

My favorites are a 6" zoom lizard, D Bomb, Rage Bug, Palmetto Bug, baby brush hog, z HAWG, z craw.

[Spankey]

I’ve river fished for smallies forever with craws. A favorite bait to this day. But I fish a lot creatures/bug baits. They are not the same as a craw but to me so similar it was no learning curve to get over. What I love about them is generally they have a bit more appendages that move around. Enough to give the fish a bit different look. T-rig and split shotting them for the most part. I like slider fishing a lizard also. The soft plastic world is huge. Majority of my fishing tomorrow morning will be soft plastics. Some of it will be creatures. 

[Mobasser]

My all time fave is the Baby Brush Hog. For some reason, I haven't done well on the full size Brush Hog.

[GRiver]

Berkeley Maxscent Hawg creature - black blue flake, they seem to hold on a little longer.

Like @The Baron said keeping slack line while on the fall and being ready for a bite.

19 minutes ago, The Baron said:

 I find it a tricky balance between feeding line so the bait falls straight down, but not being slack and missing those immediate bites.

 

[Mike L]

1 minute ago, Mobasser said:

My all time fave is the Baby Brush Hog. For some reason, I haven't done well on the full size Brush Hog.

I always find it interesting how different we all are when fishing the same conditions using the same things going after the same fish. 
(That could be its own thread!)
 

A full size Brush Hog for me has been my #1 follow up creature bait for years. 
I can’t catch a thing on the little one and gave them all away. 

 

 

 

Mike

[Spankey]

At the shop they have a new Rapala version called a Bronco Bug or something on that line. Looks good but I haven’t bit on it yet. I see where you fish some of the Crush City stuff. You will most likely like it. 

Baby Brush Hog is a great bait. Maybe not a lot of color patterns available but not really that necessary. 

[Mobasser]

13 minutes ago, Mike L said:

I always find it interesting how different we all are when fishing the same conditions using the same things going after the same fish. 
(That could be its own thread!)
 

A full size Brush Hog for me has been my #1 follow up creature bait for years. 
I can’t catch a thing on the little one and gave them all away. 

 

 

 

Mike

Mike, I can't explain it. I think Catt has mentioned here that he hasn't done good on the full size Brush Hog either. I gave my big ones to my grandson and his buddy. 

My own observation is that most creature baits get taken for crawfish. They don't have to have the exact shape of a craw. 

[Catt]

@Mike L & @Mobasser I've never caught a bass I'm a full size Brush Hog but I do on 6th Sense Hogwalla.

 

Go figure 

[Spankey]

Years ago I got hooked on the larger brush hogs also. Bigger bait bigger fish. That went out the window. Still have a few. Gave some away. I never bought a ton of them. The baby version by far are more productive for me. BUT everyone’s situation is different. Water and fish are different. When you can catch a 4” bass on a 7” worm makes you wonder. 

[Mike L]

57 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

Mike, I can't explain it. I think Catt has mentioned here that he hasn't done good on the full size Brush Hog either. I gave my big ones to my grandson and his buddy. 

My own observation is that most creature baits get taken for crawfish. They don't have to have the exact shape of a craw. 

 

31 minutes ago, Catt said:

@Mike L & @Mobasser I've never caught a bass I'm a full size Brush Hog but I do on 6th Sense Hogwalla.

 

Go figure 

That’s my point. 

I’d say there’s not an angler on the planet who hasn’t used a piece of plastic on the bottom of a lake to catch a bass. 
 

And before someone says it, it’s not a confidence thing. 
I’ll work a big one the same way in the same spot being certain not to change a thing and hook up where the little one gets bypassed. 
 

You 2 guys can apparently do the same thing and have a total different outcome. 
 

Maybe down here bass are more accustomed to seeing and eating bigger prey and turned off by the little stuff. 
But then again @Catt fishes the same type of water I do. Go Figure 

I guess in the greater scheme of things it just doesn’t matter. 

Anyway, I’m not smart enough and care enough to understand why. 

 

 

 

Mike

 

[Swamp Girl]

2 hours ago, GRiver said:

Wow! 49, only time I see that around here is the walk-in beer cooler at 7-11. It was 80 here this morning.

    Creatures seem to work best here shallow too, docks are good too. I use a little of weight as possible to have a slow erratic sink, sometimes weightless depending on the bait.

 

 

I was planning on using a small weight. Nice to have my choice confirmed. It's gonna sound weird, but I don't think Maine bass relate to docks. I cast at docks, but don't trigger bites. I am pulling more bass out of liedowns. 

 

2 hours ago, Mike L said:

What did you get?

There’s different shapes and sizes with different actions and fall rates

(Especially in the depths you’re talking about)

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

 

I bought a KVD Strike King Magnum Game Hog in Junebug.

 

2 hours ago, Spankey said:

At the shop they have a new Rapala version called a Bronco Bug or something on that line.

 

I fish the Bronco Bugs a lot, but T-Rigged and on spinnerbaits and underspins. 

[Bluebasser86]

I like the baby brush hog and full size brush hog. 
 

Kind of an in between that gets overlooked by a lot of people but is one of my favorites for flipping, especially for big fish, is a Big Bite Baits Craw Tube in Hematoma. Kind of a tube, kind of a creature, kind of a craw, 100% a fish catcher.

[Munkin]

Creature baits are one of my top 3 baits overall for bass fishing. Like a couple people said the full-size Brush Hogs just don't work for me. Tiny, baby, super, and even the new mid-size all work well. Below I will list my top 5 Creature baits in no particular order.

 

1. RI Smallie Beaver=GP, California 420, (actually let me know if you find a color that doesn't work)

2. Zoom Baby Brush Hog= GP, Scuppernong, Avacado

3. Zoom Super Hog= GP, Scuppernong

4. Yamamoto Kreature Bait= GP, Orange with green and black flake.

5. Berkeley Power Hog 4"= GP, Solid Black, Castaic choice

6. Honorable mention goes to Berkeley Mud Critter= GP, Solid black, Pumkinseed.

 

Now I know everyone has favorite baits of their own. The list about is based on 20 years of fishing and not a single good day with a bait. If you notice there are only a few colors that have stood the test of time.

 

Allen

 

 

 

 

[NorthernBasser]

@ol'crickety good luck, and report back! And if you plan on trying other creature baits, the Berkley Pit Boss is a must-have.

 

FYI- there's also a mid-size Brush Hog now, which I like a lot.

[Swamp Girl]

My takeaway is that I am so far behind the BR crew in using the many baits. You not only have favorite creature baits, you have lists of favorites in specific colors. And here I was proud to be trying a creature bait for my first time. Sigh. Fingers crossed I catch one. I'm rigged and ready, but only have 1.5 hours to fish due to other commitments. Off I go!

[Choporoz]

18 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

 

I fish the Bronco Bugs a lot, but T-Rigged and on spinnerbaits and underspins. 

I wouldn't hesitate to put Bronco Bug in the creature pile.  

 

As to more specific brush hawg style, I haven't carried any for a few years.  Lizards fill that segment for me.  I am another who never got bit on Brush Hawg, but did ok with baby brush hawgs.  

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, Choporoz said:

I wouldn't hesitate to put Bronco Bug in the creature pile. 

 

Yep, it's a crawdad. Someone just mentioned it and I replied to that.

 

Well, I caught NOTHING on the Hawg. Didn't get a single bite. In 1.5 hours, I caught nine, but they wanted flash, a Whopper Plopper and clownish spinnerbait. 

[bottom_dollar]

Hell if they biting a plopper and spinnerbait no reason to pick up a creature bait. Even though you can T- rig or C-rig them I still consider them to be on the finesse-y side and usually start throwing it when the reaction bite is off. baby brush hog fish from a week or two ago.. only bite I got that afternoon haha