Snake-like lures

[Long Mike]

In reading Doug Hammond's (The Bass Professor) responses to questiona, he continually recommends the use of snake-like plastics, regardless of where you are located, or the time of year.  I know from his web-site that Doug is selling his own plastic snakes, and I know the guy needs to make a living, but I have yet to see any poster to this site recommend a snake as a viable lure.  That said, I have a Woo Daves CD, wherein he promotes a 10" top-water pink snake.  I would appreciate any input, pro or con.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

i use manns augertails in 12 inch just as good and yes they catch big bass summer spring and fall in MD u get like 10 in a package at 4 dollars about 15 diff colors

[SPEEDBEAD.]

In reading Doug Hammond's (The Bass Professor) responses to questiona, he continually recommends the use of snake-like plastics, regardless of where you are located, or the time of year. I know from his web-site that Doug is selling his own plastic snakes, and I know the guy needs to make a living, but I have yet to see any poster to this site recommend a snake as a viable lure. That said, I have a Woo Daves CD, wherein he promotes a 10" top-water pink snake. I would appreciate any input, pro or con.

I thought the same thing, however there is a strong love of Mr. Hannon here on the site...I wasnt sure how it would be perceived. I have never caught a bass anywhere near 10lbs and this guy has caught a bunch.

He does seem to answer some of his questions as though it were an infomercial. Personally, I put more faith into what members (regular people) tell me anyways.

Wayne

[BadKarma42]

I smell a long winded argument coming.....

[Siebert Outdoors]

I've used 10.5" old monsters for pulling across weeds/lily pads works pretty good at times

[CrazedL.IFisherman]

To answer your question long mike, my fishing buddy and i did purchase his snakes and i thought they were garbage, not to take anything away from the man, hes a great fishermen and extremely smart when  speaking about bass and their habitats,  but as far as the lure goes, the eyes would constantly fall off, the plastic used was junk, within about 10 minutes in the hot sun, either directly in the sun or in its original packaging and shaded by being inside a tackle bag, the lures would melt together and their would be gooey plastic everywhere, ive owned roughly 200 different types of plastic lures and none have done what these have, the hooks that came with the lure did noy stay rigged proper after fixing them constantly, overall i think this lure could have been perfected better and more field testing could have been done, i know when i saw these things the first time on the internet i was psyched and when i used them i couldnt be more dissapointed and for the price of the kit they werent cheap either, id steer clear from these, as far as the big snake comment, just using big 10-12 inch worms can get the job done, it doesnt have to be a snake but more likely if its a big worm it resembles a snake and works, these are all my experiences and my opinions, just throwing it out there so im not attacked haha

                                                                                               Jon

[TravisLovett]

Well I've never tried these certain snake plastics, but I have tried floating plastics "10 or so.  In my simple opinion, there an ok option, but for nearly all situations there is a better option.

[roadwarrior]

To answer your question long mike, my fishing buddy and i did purchase his snakes and i thought they were garbage, not to take anything away from the man, hes a great fishermen and extremely smart when speaking about bass and their habitats, but as far as the lure goes, the eyes would constantly fall off, the plastic used was junk, within about 10 minutes in the hot sun, either directly in the sun or in its original packaging and shaded by being inside a tackle bag, the lures would melt together and their would be gooey plastic everywhere, ive owned roughly 200 different types of plastic lures and none have done what these have, the hooks that came with the lure did noy stay rigged proper after fixing them constantly, overall i think this lure could have been perfected better and more field testing could have been done, i know when i saw these things the first time on the internet i was psyched and when i used them i couldnt be more dissapointed and for the price of the kit they werent cheap either, id steer clear from these, as far as the big snake comment, just using big 10-12 inch worms can get the job done, it doesnt have to be a snake but more likely if its a big worm it resembles a snake and works, these are all my experiences and my opinions, just throwing it out there so im not attacked haha

                                                                                               Jon

Well, I have yet to hear an independent report where anyone has ever caught a fish on a snake. I would like to hear someone say ANYTHING positive about these baits, who isn't associated with the company. I have never fished a snake and don't actually know anyone else who has either.

So, Let's hear it. What's the deal?

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

For those of you who are willing to think outside the box, there is a lure made for saltwater by a company called Williamson.  It's a soft plastic of a ribbon fish.  Long, skinny, sick action.  This is a trolling bait, has a small lip.

[wzt4z3]

My girlfriend bought me some wobblehead lures and worms and i didnt think much of them, but she SWORE they looked cool in the video at BPS. So i tied one up for her to use a few times this year while i fished with a worm/jig/etc. I cast out the first time to see what they looked like and they did look like a snake swimming back towards the boat. Anyways, she ended up catching a few decent size 2-4lbs on them during the summer. Now all she wants to use is a wobblehead.  Its not necessary my go to bait, but she can fish with those easier than teaching her to fish a worm or anything else, and she caught some decent fish on them. I would use them more often, but i dont have the confidence with them that i have using a jig or a worm.

[bocabasser]

i have seen doug's snakes, and they are junk. way too expensive, and they material is just weak. living in florida, snakes are a great bait. i make my own 16" snake and it is killer during the summer in the everglades. sometimes the bass down here do not want the big snakes, but will eat a smaller version. when this is the case, a black zoom trickworm with a 5/0 gama ewg is flat out deadly! jmo

[BassHunter69]

when i was a kid around 13 i used to buy those toy rubber life like snakes at walmart and put a hook on them the ones i used were about 6 inchers or so i caught many bass on them since they were soft plastic rubber types. these days i cant find any worms like that any where.

ive got some wobblehead worms which my dad bought for me at gander mtn but ive yet to try them

[rondef]

I tried them and I am also extremely disappointed in them.  They do melt together if they are in a takle box and it is hot outside, even though I keep them covered in the boat as to not allow them to get direct sunlight.  I have never so much as gotten a hit onthese things.  I think they are the worst investment I have ever made for my bass fishing.  They are definately not worth the money, go buy some worms instead.  I challenge Doug to prove that they will work in the Northern Virginia area, I think they will not.

[BassHunter69]

i challenge doug to make a better snake that wont melt

[RoLo]

For years I've listened to ole salts who proclaimed that stripers hit a live eel harder than any other bait.

As a kid I believed that this was pure nonsense, that food is food. However, after striper fishing with live eels one day,

I learned that the evidence was more than anecdotal, that stripers do indeed wallop live eelsHARD!

But that only begged the question, why? Well, today I know a little more than I did back then.

While spiny-finned fish may be the most dangerous and uncomfortable to swallow, prey that is Slender, Tubular and Muscular

is the most difficult for predators to swallow. Try holding onto to an eel without a dry rag in your hand, and you'll quickly

understand what I mean. An eel that is carelessly or lightly engulfed by the predator is sure to escape.

An eel is capable of writhing around in the predator's stomach, making a complete U-turn and literally

swimming back out of the mouth. Predators instinctively know this, and make a special effort to get the eel

quickly past the gullet and into their stomach. In addition, they probably clamp their esophagus shut to block the escape route.

For this same reason, I believe that largemouth bass pass-up the majority of live snakes and oversize plastic worms.

Differently put, the plastic worm is my very favorite lure for largemouth bass, regardless, once the worm exceeds

a given critical length, I believe its success rate falls off dramatically.

Can A Worm Be Too Long?

We've all heard excerpts of bass seizing ducks, whole beer cans, musky lures and 18 plastic worms.

Although no one refutes the validity of these incidents, they are merely exceptions that prove the rule.

In year 2000, my wife & I were fishing Lake Walk-In-Water, Florida. We watched as a live snake swam

directly toward a promising looking bed of lily pads (snake ~13 long). The slender snake undulated seductively

through the pads, pausing invitingly for a moment, and my heart was in my throat as I fully expected a topwater explosion.

Much to our disappointment the snake made it safely to the bank without incident. Less than 60 seconds later

I pitched a 7-1/2 black shad culprit worm over the snakes path, and dragged it across the pads exactly

where the snake had just passed. A big bass immediately blew-up on the plastic fake! Although the girth of the live snake

was similar to the artificial worm, the bass apparently judged the lure as something he could easily engulf at once,

unlike the much longer snake. For the scientific minded, the bass weighed 5 lb, 12 oz and it refused a 13 long snake

(based on my best guess) but accepted a 7.5" snake.

Are Bass Wild About Snakes?

When I lived in Georgia, I constructed a tiny backyard pond that I stocked with bass we caught in local farm ponds.

Our shallow pond was only about 20-ft wide by 30-ft long, but it allowed me to observe everything that was going on.

We had a 10-acre tract and whenever I found a small live snake in my backyard, I'd toss it into the pond and watch the action.

Surprisingly, the snake generally made it to the opposing shore unmolested. On a few occasions however,

the snake would be slurped-up off the surface, but in every case it reappeared moments later, obviously regurgitated.

Although I have no explanation as to why, I can attest first-hand to this behavior.

For the record, the Hannon snake is not a new lure that needs more time to catch on.

Doug's original "Swimmin Worm" was first marketed in 1986 by Burke.

Roger

[BassHunter69]

rolo great post very informitive   8-)

[Guest avid]

I have yet to hear anyone say anything positive about this lure.

It's incredible to me that a Florida boy would create and extol the virtues of a bait that melts in the hot sun.

It's why I can't use 3x baits.  They work, nice and stretchy, and hold up real well, but leave your tackle box in the garage like I do and you'll find a multicolored puddle of goo instead of a bag of worms.

doug H. has alot going for him in terms of credibility and props in the bass fishing world,  why he keeps shillin' this turkey completely escapes me.

Swim a merthiolate trick worm in the back of weedy cove.   It won't go far.  rig it high up over  the hook eye so on the retrieve you get a side to side motion.  Deadly.

[BassHunter69]

avid,

i do belive your right as rain, i went fishing today and i used a worm exactly that by wobblehead i cought 14 dinks and a 2 lber from 6 am to 7 pm   8-) i was litterly having a ball  

[Bassn Blvd]

The instructions that come with the Snakes tell you to keep them refrigerated when not using them.  Hot or cold, they still suck though.

[BassHunter69]

The instructions that come with the Snakes tell you to keep them refrigerated when not using them. Hot or cold, they still suck though.

this is something my friend didnt tell me. no wonder they melted and its bad enough keeping worms in the fridge   ;D ;D

[Guest avid]

avid,

i do belive your right as rain,

You mean you actually doubted????  

[BassHunter69]

avid,

i do belive your right as rain,

You mean you actually doubted????

who me Naw ive been around BassResource.com enough to know you might   a little but but generally its in good fun   but when it comes to bass'in your usually dead on   :)

[nec237]

dont know if someone posted this already

if it has been posted sorry

[BassHunter69]

like the video says almost indestructable  ;D ;D ;D dang things melt  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[dman]

im up in the northeast and tried the original Snakebait when they came out many moons ago.   I honestly had a lot of rises and some big hits on them near lily pads but was never able to get a hookset.  Then i would throw on a topwater frog and catch 'em.