September 27, 2005 Which Bait to Throw and Why

[Ouachita]

This time of year bass of all species have a lot of forage to eat. Competing with natural prey is a little more challenging now so I change up my timing. I've caught some nice bass that have been chasing shad all morning, and found they were not able to catch enough to fill their stomach. It's a fact that while they are excellent pack hunters, shad have also learned how to survive, so the bass are having to use up energy stored all summer and though very hungry after a long chase, will have to rest and revive. Finding their resting place can be a much better strike zone than casting to surface breakers. Frustrated over having a 1/2 filled stomach they will snap at anything that looks like an easy target, not able or willing to chase anything down until rested. Now's the time to drop shot right on top of a suspended school. I'll drop shot anything that makes sense, like a Husky Jerk or 4 inch french fry worm, anything that will get their attention. Where to look for largemouths? Not far from where the baitfish congregate for a feeding frenzy, off long points leading into the mouth of a large creek, a hump in the mouth, a ledge, a creek channel. The bass will hang out close to where they can predict a return of baitfish.

Jim

[Lipripper]

Any time of the year when you pull into a cove or fishing from the bank look I try to find a tree that is hanging over the water and close to the top of the water too and throw a sroadrunner under the overhanging branches and most of the time you will find some fish under there .

[OHbassaholic]

When the sun is shining I will look for any targets that require a lure skipped under to get to the area that is shaded.  This includes low hanging tree limbs, bushes, docks and pontoon boats.

[Ouachita]

Topwater baits are becoming prime choices now, as even when there is no surface activity they can draw bass up from the deep from 20 feet or more. I don't waste much time determining whether that's a possible pattern. If I can spot potential bass on the sonar I'll watch them while doodling a Zara Spook near the boat. If the bass are ready for that I'll see straight lines rise up on the screen. If the lines stop short of reaching surface I'll switch to a shallow diving jointed minnow to keep a lure above where their comfort zone is. If they don't rise, no straight lines showing on the screen, I know to go deeper with a crankbait, Carolina rig if they stick to bottom but are cruising by, or drop shot if they are not moving at all.

Jim

[Kal-Kevin]

when the wind is blowing toward a shore line i will at lease run over to that shore line to see if the feeding is active or if I need to move toward a cove for the fish to hide in!

[Ouachita]

Another prime strike zone for largemouth will remain brushy tops near shore where lunkers often remain no matter how tempting roving schools of shad might be. It's hard to ignore the activity behind me, but if that activity includes stripers I'll turn and work the ambush spots along the shoreline. Those spots are often totally neglected during this time of high surface feeding, anglers motoring from break to break. That's when a 10 inch Zoom Monster worm fished weightless and weedless will draw some great responses. So will a Brush Hawg and any number of creature baits. I figure the Gambler Otter will be great for those places, fished weedless, let fall into tree tops in shallow water. Those big bass have learned the shad often move in very shallow to get a rest break and feed on their own forage when wind drives it against the shore. Instead of expending a large amount of energy chasing shad, they just inhale wanderers coming in too close. That's what makes big bass bigger...smart, energy efficient feeding.

Jim

[Ouachita]

Unless someone is with me that wants some stripers I'll hold off fishing a big breaker in open water that usually has a huge school of the monsters working shad. I wait until they make several passes through, swatting shad, then returning to eat those they can find. Largemouths won't be far away. They'll stick around a good long time after the stripers have moved on, vacuuming up the dying, crippled shad the stripers missed. They will be looking for slowly drifting targets like soft jerkbaits rigged to spiral down slowly, or Senkos, rigged with just enough weight to take it down an inch a second.

Jim

[Warpath]

If I see bait fish schooled up and being feasted on, I tie on a Blue/chrome or black/chrome Diamond Shad and cast it through the school hoping to catch fish like white bass or SM LM bass.

Eric

[Warpath]

If I can locate a mudline in cooler water I like to throw crankbiats along the mudline to see if bass are using it as an ambush site.

Eric

[Ouachita]

I know a lot of anglers will toss a topwater bait into a large area working alive with constant little pecks of surface action seemingly in every square foot over acres, hoping a big bass will get it. I watch some folks spend hours casting a Pop-R into such events and never catch a fish other than an occasional bream or jackfish. Most of the time all there is are lots of baitfish and panfish, so no matter how hard you try there are no bites. Pulling a crankbait through them just parts them to let your bait swim by. I doubt those little fish would be so happy and care free if large predator bass were skulking around under them. So I look for bass in the outer edges in customary ambush spots. Drawing a lipless crankbait like a Diamond Shad out of the masses into lonely waters is where the bite is most likely. Fished in a very arbitrary, erratic manner a bass could mistake it for a foolish fish no paying attention. Swimming with his thousands of buddies a little fish is pretty safe, able to see an attack coming because of other fish suddenly moving out of the way. But out there on the edge of the group it's fair game and requires a lot less energy from a bass.

Jim

[Warpath]

When I find submerged stumps and the sky is overcast, I like to throw buzzbaits to get reaction strikes from bigger bass.

Eric

[Warpath]

Around bridge pilings and deep docks, I like to vertically jig Stinger spoons to entice bass to hit.

Eric

[Warpath]

When a cold front passes and I have difficulty getting bites, I tie on a finesse worm 4 or 5 inch worm) and peg the sinker.  I shake the worm around heavy cover, and let the worm sit in between shaking for long periods of time (30 seconds).

Eric

[Warpath]

On windy points, I like to throw suspending jerkbaits like HJ 10 Husky Jerks.

Eric

[Warpath]

Ealry in the morning during the spring and fall, I like to find riprap banks or dams and work crankbaits over them.  The riprap will retain more heat than water w/o it, and the fish may group up there because of the temp difference.

Eric

[Lipripper]

When fishing for Big Blue Cats in the Big rivers find where a stream or creek runs into it and find the deepest hole and drop a rig with the weight on the bottem with the bait about 2' up on it and either fish it with cut bait and fish it on the bottome or 3 or 4 ' off the bottem.

[Ouachita]

Wind certainly can change lure choices. Just a little ripple on the surface can totally obscure a quiet topwater like a Boy Howdy or Pop R that are pretty noisy on calm water. If the bass are feeding shallow I'll resort to something louder than the distraction of the water. Instead of a single blade buzz bait maybe a double bladed buzz bait or tandem spinnerbait will break through and get noticed. If those don't work then I go with a deeper lure that will work well with the scattered light waves caused by surface waves or ripples. That's when a Shad Rap excels, anything that moves quickly, and is no time for a suspending crankbait. It takes something that will rip through light beams while making a vibration bass can home in on.

Jim

[Lipripper]

When looking for flatheads in the river I look for the closest log jam to the channle on an out side bend close to deep water and fish live bluegills or sunfish just on the outside edge of the jam.

[Warpath]

When I fish lily pads, I like to tie on a Pro Scum Frog and twitch it through the cover.

Eric

[Warpath]

When I find an area with laydown logs I like to fish spinnerbaits around them.  Depending on water clarity, I will use colorado blades in stained or muddy water, and willowleaf in clearer water.

Eric

[Ouachita]

I realize this one won't count, but I just want to say ya'll are putting together a lot of great tips. Keep it up. Good subject.

OK, so maybe I can make it count.

I'm packed up and ready to go out if that cold front comes through. It should trigger thunderstorms. I won't fish the storms, but want to be there just before they form. My most glorious largemouth fishing has been in similar conditions. I'll have my newly won Turbo Rattler Spinnerbait and Sqworm Buzzbait tied on two rods ready for the action. I figure the bass will be leaping out of the water and willing to attack anything, all the more a spinnerbait they haven't seen before. A Gambler Otter will be tied on a flippin rod to be put into some submerged brush piles that hold bass that will be energized above the brush. It's going to be an Ultimatebass fishing day. Come on front and yer cooler weather!

Jim

[getthenet]

When fishing in the summer I use Senko's light colors in the daytime and of course black at night.

[getthenet]

If its windy I will use a Senko with a weight the size depends on how much wind there is.

[Bman]

I always check the water color, clear or stained. This tells me water color baits to start with.

Bman

[Bman]

Check the cloud cover or lack of.  Cloudy I fish fast. Not cloudy I slow it down a bit.


Bman