Good Creature/craw Baits For Pressured Lakes

[Brand0n]

This time of year? ive used the rage tail craw with moderate luck and started using baby brush hogs...anything else? im limited to throwing out in open water and banks. there is a dam with underwater structure like lay downs and such. Are super hogs any good texas rigged in open water?

[JIGFISHERMAN.]

Might sound kinda harsh, but an answer to this question, when received online, won't be a good one.

What I mean is, if you get a consensus from guys on here, it's already being used enough, that it's one of the baits used to increase pressure.

Plus things like this can be regional. Big time.

[River Rat316]

I agree, I don't think you are going to get to many unconventional answers, and if its pressured there probably isn't much they haven't seen, but that doesn't mean they won't bite. The things I would throw are hair jig, finesse jig, lightly t-rigged tube, jerk bait (pointer 78), if there is any open water, shakey head with a small 4' straight tail worm, and a small spinnerbait slow rolled along the structure. Some things they haven't seen is probably bigger jigs like mop style jigs and I would throw those also.

[mr.mallard]

shakeyhead with a roboworm or trickworm

[JIGFISHERMAN.]

shakeyhead with a roboworm or trickworm

Like I said, it's regional.

Everybody and his brother throws a shakeyhead up here.

I do think fish become less conditioned to some of the soft plastic presentations, but with that said, the shakeyhead doesn't work like it did a few years back.

[Bluebasser86]

Try a beaver bait. Everyone fishes them but they keep catching fish and they work pretty well in cover or open water.

[Brand0n]

shakey heads arent thrown here much at all. i havent seen atleast. mostly spinnerbaits and 6" plastic worms. ive burned my local lake up with senkos. they wont touch them anymore unless i throw a new color each time.

[Gangley]

If its highly pressured, you might need to go small and more detail oriented. Try a YUM Crawbug dragged SLOW along the dam structure or a drop shot with a finnesse or trick worm. Best of luck to you.

[Bass_Fanatic]

When Im fishing pressured fish I like to rip a Red Eye Shad through them so fast that they just react to it and bite. If that doesnt work, I'll take a weighted hook and rig a baby rage craw on it. It glides through the water, but you have to fish it SLOW!

[JigMe]

I have fished several pressured lakes, and each lake is some what different. I don’t think there is a go to bait that will work for ALL pressured lakes. For example, I will throw a NorthStar finesse Jig which do work in some of the lakes. And then, I will throw a rage tail on certain days and it will catch bass. For me, there isn’t any bait that will work every time.

[A-Rob]

You mentioned if super hogs are any good in open water

I usually pitch them to cover and shallow structure.

But I bet it would be nice on a C-rig in deeper water to

Or fished in deeper weeds no problem.

If there is no structure around (truly open water) I'd stick to something faster like a crank or football jig...but then we are dealing with the pressure issue haha so maybe a spoon??

I understand everyone's point about the secret bait thing. I tried to read the rest of you question and answer the rest.

[hookset on 3]

Try a Yamamoto Fat Ika. Road Warrior Recommended this for presurred bodies of water. Do a search here, in the tackle forum and you will see the favored rigging options, like backwards for one.

[Hooligan]

I very much disagree that it's a regional thing. If you fish a bait, have confidence in it and are putting it in the right places you'll catch fish. That can range from craws, to beavers, to swimbaits, to jigs, and spinnerbaits. The key to it is having the confidence in it and fishing it every bit as methodical as you would on any other body of water. It's been proven time and time again that a straight T-Rig is one of the most fish catching lures of all time. I don't believe for a second that fish are conditioned to the worm, not at all. I'd start with a T-Tig Robo or other finesse and give it everything I've got. My second choice would be a hair jig with a Rage Craw; I'm a believer in high action large profile trailers regardless of water temps. The more they look alive with the least amount of forward movement of the jig, it's money. Jerkbaits would also be in my arsenal, as well as a couple other lures. Typically with cold water, sub 60 degree range, I have five major baits I fish; I've yet to blank this fall and the water temps are from 33 to 37 right now.

[1234567]

When Im fishing pressured fish I like to rip a Red Eye Shad through them so fast that they just react to it and bite. If that doesnt work, I'll take a weighted hook and rig a baby rage craw on it. It glides through the water, but you have to fish it SLOW!

^^^This Its true what they say, I do the same with a king shad in shallower water and it gets bit with a quick retrieve. Funny how the bass just can't help themselves!

[Brand0n]

just started using baby brush hogs...my local wally world only had the watermelon red flake color. what is a good hook and weight size for texas rigging these? i have 14lb on my baitcaster....i tried using a 1/8 weight with a 2/0 hook and no hits.

[Bass Junkie]

Finesse is much more presentation and speed than the actual bait. Slow and low profile rigging are the ways to go....

[WCCT]

I reach for a Norries Bug creature bait when everyone else seems to be using beavers or brush hogs. I like these texas rigged, on a football head and C-rigged. Largemouth and smallmouth kill these things. It is a little more subtle than most creature baits out there.

[JIGFISHERMAN.]

I very much disagree that it's a regional thing. If you fish a bait, have confidence in it and are putting it in the right places you'll catch fish. That can range from craws, to beavers, to swimbaits, to jigs, and spinnerbaits. The key to it is having the confidence in it and fishing it every bit as methodical as you would on any other body of water. It's been proven time and time again that a straight T-Rig is one of the most fish catching lures of all time. I don't believe for a second that fish are conditioned to the worm, not at all. I'd start with a T-Tig Robo or other finesse and give it everything I've got. My second choice would be a hair jig with a Rage Craw; I'm a believer in high action large profile trailers regardless of water temps. The more they look alive with the least amount of forward movement of the jig, it's money. Jerkbaits would also be in my arsenal, as well as a couple other lures. Typically with cold water, sub 60 degree range, I have five major baits I fish; I've yet to blank this fall and the water temps are from 33 to 37 right now.

I will type a more thorough response when I'm able to get to the comp. But I will say I very much disagree on how much and to what fish are conditioned to. Some observations I've made watching bass in the creek in the back yard

[Bigbarge50]

My first suggestion was also going to be a fat Ika. The two things that popped into my mind were maybe a tube bait (not sure how popular they are at that lake) or a double tail grub (maybe with a skirt).

I know those are not "creature" baits but they all can present a different action in a smaller package.

If your hell bent on a creature..... what about eh original gary Kreature. Those started it all right and yet I do not know a lot of guys who throw them still, everyone seemingly has moved onto other "newer" lures.

[bman310]

Very good advice mentioned. I also wanted to add one more. I used a Yamamoto Kreature Bait this summer at a couple different very hi pressure Los Angeles city lakes in two different colors....Black w/blue flake and Green Pumkin 297. I threw them weightless backwards or regular and threw them Texas rigged with 1/8 & 3/16 tungsten weights & glass bead. I nailed the bass in areas where there were rock piles and areas where they were in cover. Sometimes I could swim them like a jig or work em slow. It seemed like a high percentage of my catches were good quality fish too. I did recently at some Rage Tail products, but I haven't been able to use them enough to give any good advice on them yet.

-b

[JIGFISHERMAN.]

I will type a more thorough response when I'm able to get to the comp. But I will say I very much disagree on how much and to what fish are conditioned to. Some observations I've made watching bass in the creek in the back yard

We live on a creek, not far from where it dumps into the lake. The creek is clear water, decent amount of current, with rock bass, bluegill, and largemouth (no smallmouth, but the lake has plenty of them)

Anyhow, those fish become very conditioned to just about everything. The closest I have found to not being conditioned is with a wacky worm, but even then you have to change up colors.

With jigs, you have to use them every other week, or so.

Based on observing bass in the creek I've changed my position on a few things. Color and how important it is, how much fish become conditioned to certain things, and their reaction to different speeds/actions.

[Hooligan]

We live on a creek, not far from where it dumps into the lake. The creek is clear water, decent amount of current, with rock bass, bluegill, and largemouth (no smallmouth, but the lake has plenty of them)

Anyhow, those fish become very conditioned to just about everything. The closest I have found to not being conditioned is with a wacky worm, but even then you have to change up colors.

With jigs, you have to use them every other week, or so.

Based on observing bass in the creek I've changed my position on a few things. Color and how important it is, how much fish become conditioned to certain things, and their reaction to different speeds/actions.

Oh, I do believe that fish are able to be conditioned to lures. But the one lure that I don't believe fish ever condition to is a TX rigged worm. Be it a straight tail or curl. I've seen far too many studies that show they don't, and I've been a participant is as many in grad school that showed the same. I've also spoken with some of the best known researchers in the US on the subject and it's nearly unanimous that the worm is the one bait or lure that it doesn't happen with. There's one case, actually, that a single fish was caught once a day for thirty days during peak feeding on the same worm. Same color, same rig, same style. I've seen it far too many times in my own pond, too. Drop a TX rig Augertail in front of a 6 year old green fish that has been caught on the same rig a thousand times, almost literally, and she's fool enough to eat it again. It's not about forage or base, it's just that they don't condition to the worm.

[pussiwillow]

try reaction innovations sweet beaver 4:20 size, split the tail, fish it sloooooow, drag it on the bottom with few quick short hops every once and awhile, kills them here, that or some north star jig with rage tail trailer to match or paca chunk trailer to match, i fish jigs EVERYWHERE and they produce killer results, hair jigs especially when water temp is low, remember, sloooow painfully slow retrieves my lake is highly pressured, especially at the 3 docks we have when i dont feel like launching the boat, i manage to pull fish out of areas the locals call "fished out" and they always get skunked

[nwibass]

Try drop shotted live minnows;)!

[aavery2]

My thinking on highly pressured lakes may be a little different that some of these posts. I don't like to fish a slow moving or drop shot, shakey head type bait. Why? I don't want to present them with anything that they can swim up to and decide if they want to eat it or not. I go the other route and fish heavy jigs that fall fast, spinnerbaits fished quickly in the upper water colum, frogs and sammy's that I can move across the top of the water quickly. I am going after the reaction bite. Fish have to feed to survive, they do this out of instict, and triggering the reaction bite is the key to getting bit in highly pressured waters. Just my .02