Best Bait for creeks

[krisjack69]

Can u tell me the best bait for creeks.I've tried senko's and flukes but no luck other than losing alot of baits.Is there a bait out there that works in moving current creeks.

[Rob G.]

How big is the creek?  I occassionally fish creeks for smallmouth usually at least a mile from the river they dump into.  I find that light line and using VERY small baits is key.  Baits made for crappie, trout, and panfish are good ones.  Try inline spinners, jig heads with tubes, 1/8 or 1/16 oz buzzbaits and spinnerbaits, Yo Zuri Gobi's and Snap Beans, and very small floating rapalas work great.  Also those little Rebel crankbaits that resemble crawfish.

[jb_adams]

If it's big enough for a lot of moving water, a spinnerbait is always a good bait.  They fish are not used to seeing this and it's a good all around bait / search bait.  It relates to their forage and offers vibration and flash.

If the water is not flowing really fast, I like using any kind of plastic.  A c-rig is good if the bottom is pretty clean and doesn't snag a lot of baits.  If you're getting hung up a lot, try to stay closer to the top.  You could even try a float-n-fly.  Cast up stream, watch it float down and if no bites, real it in and cast back up stream again.  You can cover a lot of water that way.

[Davis]

Said it a lot on here.

7" Berkley Power Worms in a black color with chartruse tail.

Weightless. Just let it fall down the current or rapids.

Or if you want to add a bit of weight. Put on a split shot and jerk it like a jerkbait. Pause....let it fall.

Big time smallmouth producer for me.

I have a lot of rocks in my creek. While they would be great to bang into with cranks....I would lose way to many to make it worth it.

So plastics are the way to go for me.

[FishTank]

I like using a Mepps #3 Black Fury inline spinnerbait.  

[Avalonjohn44]

I like using a Mepps #3 Black Fury inline spinnerbait.  

Ditto to that.  I would also try a Bandit 100, a Bagley KB1, a Rebel Crayfish (it always puts fish on the line...) or a 3 inch Power Craw.

[krisjack69]

The creek i fish is fairly small creek.It does not have smallmouth since there aren't any around here.It just have largemouth bass in it and bream and few other things.The current is moderate.I fished rooster taills but kept losing them.I'm fishing from the bank since i dont have a boat.

[BassFishingMachine]

You try jigs? The creek I fish the water isn't moving to fast so I can get away with a light jig. But Im sure you can find yourself a jig that should stick to the bottom, start with a 1/8 and if that doesnt stick, go to a 1/4. They should work well, every creek I fished so far a jig always does the trick for me.

[jb_adams]

Said it a lot on here.

7" Berkley Power Worms in a black color with chartruse tail.

Weightless. Just let it fall down the current or rapids.

Or if you want to add a bit of weight. Put on a split shot and jerk it like a jerkbait. Pause....let it fall.

I think you have got a good suggestion there.  You can do that with just about any decent size plastic.  A finesse worm with a bright colored ribbon tail would be a big producer as well.  You could put the split shot just in front of the worm and make it look like it's nose diving and that little tail just flutters all the way down.

Heck, I gotta try that now!

[fishnaddiction]

i fish alot in creeks alot  and every one seems alittle different but a tube will work on all of them  also try a bereky powerbeast in watermelon on a light jighead or light weighted texas rig.  a 5in powerworm rigged texas also works well alot when fish are plentiful and will caught big ones.   i like to let the worm sit on the bottom if nothing picks it up  i reel in a few turns and let it sit again   the time you let it sit all depends on all many fish there are in the area  if there is alot i let is sit just for a few seconds  if there is not some many fish i work it alot slower  

[Other.]

I wade through small creeks a lot! (If you do not wanna read the wall of text just scroll down to the bottem)

My Go-to bait would have to be the Berkley PowerBait original Power Grub in the 2" or 3" in Pearl White. This size and color works really good for even large bass in creeks. There are only 2 downfalls. This lure also attracts Panfish, trout, catfish, chubs and w/e is swimming in the water. The other problem is that you need to have a smaller jig for this lure so you will often loose nice size fish because they have no problem bending such a small hook. However if you are after for more then just large mouth I suggest using this because its the only lure I think you are going to need  

For a larger lure I also like the 5" GYCB Single Tail Grub in Smoke color. Candy for the larger fish in the creeks and also stops the small dinks from avoiding you catching something nice.

My Next lure of choice is always a Bass pro Shop Tender Tube in Root Beer Pepepr. (Sort of biased in this color because its my favorite one for tubes) You have the choice to rig it weedless (Really helps to avoid getting snagged on rocks and tree roots) Or having the hook exposed (You will get a better hook set on the bass)

(Just to sum it up with out having to read the wall of text I wrote)

1. Berkley Original Power PowerBait Grub 2"-3" in Perl White rigged with a 1/16th oz jig head (You can go to as low as 1/32oz if you do not mind panfish)

2. Bass Pro Shop Tender Tube (Or a other thin tube that stretches easily) 3 1/2" In Root Beer Pepper rigged with the jig head inside the tube. (Its not to hard to get it un-snagged from a rock)

3. GYCB Single Tail Grub 5" in Smoke rigged with a 1/8 or 1/4 jig head.

[flippin]

i use bps green tender tube and rebel craw

[luckyinkentucky]

I've had a lot of luck for smallmouth using a fly and bobber.  Not too many people use this rig anymore, but it keeps me catching decent sized smallmouth all year long.  

We have a fairly large creek here called Panther Creek, and there are a lot of smallmouth that travel through it all year long.  I use a Medium action 6' rod with a mid-size spinning reel to cast, and a small 1" to 1 1/2" red/white bobber with a 18" leader on the fly.  It works wonders, and is really under utilized in my opinion.  The bobber doesn't affect the action of the fly, and it keeps it from going too deep.  

[fishnaddiction]

try senkos on a drop shot rig  if u still cant get anything to hit   this rig is slow and boring i think but it is a fish catching rig    this is my last resort if im having a badday and nearly always works

[Cory20]

I agree with those that said inline spinners and tubes.  Might want to try a light casting spoon too.

edit: not that I disagree with what everyone else said, just haven't tried those techniques enough to comment.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

I like throwing small topwaters like the little Rebel Pop R.

Panfish can eat them, so can the bass.....good times

[Tin]

Every creek I have ever fished always had, laydowns, brush, undercut banks and such so a jig is the best creek bait imo.

[apathy]

What about creeks that stop moving and are covered with duckweed? The creek is usually moving, and then i'll throw my all-time favorite lure- a 1/16 white/red Johnson beetlespin, but when it stops like now during this drought and gets covered in muck, I'm not really sure what to throw. I tried a ScumFrog but the water is like numbingly cold..so I didn't get any strikes. What would you guys try?

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Soft plastics really slow....or stay at home, wishin you were fishin