mrl0004

So, I am still overwhelmed at the possibilities when bass fishing. Maybe thats why I like saltwater so much! There is always something to eat anything you throw! So here we go:
1) choosing a bait. How do you know whether to go with crankbait, worm, lizard, spinner, etc?
2) presentation. How do you know if you want lipless or a lipped crankbait? How do you choose a carolina or texas rigged worm?
3) bodies of water. How does the body of water affect the above? What do you look for to maximize catch rates in a body of water?

These can be as general and detailed as you can offer. I think there are so many options today, that people are often discouraged from fishing due to the overwhelming amount of options. I am not discouraged but I am overwhelmed. Maybe something like this could help!

Chuck7

First of all...don't be discouraged..We all don't have the same opportuities to fish or hunt..For me..to get a shot at any deer is a trophy..and yet there are some on here that see a dozen deer per outing and let 120 class bucks walk.so..is that hunter a better hunter than me because I only shot a 80 inch buck in a highly pressured WMA in Florda..?? I don't think so..The same with fishing..if you were with me..you'ld be catching 5 pounders too.

Before we answer your 3 questions let me tell you how to beat the odds..you have to find a spot that is tough for others to get to.Yesterday and today there was no one else in this lake..although the newspaper said this lake was producing some very good sized bass...It has no ramp and I busted my leg pretty bad this morning crossing the cable to get my heavy jon down the hill...but I did...then I found a lake off this lake that very few kow about..that's where I've been catching them..so I always hunt and fish where no one else is..

Also..before I answer your questions...CONFIDENCE is the name of the game..this morning I put a new jig on..I tried it twice..I just didn't feel it...I put my other one on..too many hang ups for my liking..then my heart said LIZARD..I put on a lizard..my son again laughed..until I caught a nice one..and eventually he tried it and caught a nice one too,,,So I go by my heart..which is ruled by Jesus..



1) choosing a bait. How do you know whether to go with crankbait, worm, lizard, spinner, etc?



For me...time of the year..In Flordia from FEB- APR....I'll be flipping ..flipping ..flipping ..the lure doesn't really matter..it's what you have confidence in they all catch fish...lizard..worm..tube or jig..you will need something heavy enough to penetrate the weeds or whatever..color...fish dark colors in dark water ..lighter in lighter..they say..All my waters are dark so I like grape, dark green , reds and especially black..Another good spawning lure is the frog...NOW during the 1st 3o minutes of daylight...a spinnerbait of some kind just off the weedline will catch fish..most pros find a spot...spinnerbait the perimeter..and then come back and flip it..inside the structure..IF the fish aint there..they are most likely just off the shoreline in about 6-10 foot of water..takes patience but you will need to make long cast...and cast from shoreline back to the boat..we ended up doing that today as the fish had moved.



2) presentation. How do you know if you want lipless or a lipped crankbait? How do you choose a carolina or texas rigged worm?
you don't...if you read Out on the lake with a Pro..in every months BASS magazine..{ They bring a pro to a new lake he had never fished and they make note of what he does. I'll tell you what he doesLOL he's switching lures every 10 minutes to find out what the fish are wanting today..LOL..there is no secret..I use what I have condidence in ..and I go with my heart 100% of the time..I hardly ever use a jig..my heart told me to yesterday so I tried it..and had results..this morning I got one weak jig hit..so my heart said lizard..so I went lizard and caught fish..up to this time;;I'd only caught one fish on a lizard { I wanted to show the fish something new.}

Carolina ?? most guys have depth finders..say the lake is 20 foot but the fish are suspended at 15 foot..they will use carolina...or a rattle trap becasue most lipped crankbaits won't go down that far..


3) bodies of water. How does the body of water affect the above? What do you look for to maximize catch rates in a body of water? I have a small jon...so I try to fish spots no one else can..I covered this in the top..

Something else..I talk with people who are GREAT in hunting and fishing..I humbly act stupid and it make them feel smart when they teach me something LOL ..but as they are teaching I'm putting it all down in my LONG TERM MEMORY..here's a few nuggets I've learned..if from HNI I share the author..{ -;

"Try a jig..you won't get a lot of bass but the bass will be bigger than usual." MTHands...and he was right..

I watched a man THIS year fish in back of me..I had caught 8 small but he was flipping and caught 2 monsters..he reminded me ..I needed to be flipping this year..I never looked back.

" You need a 7 foot rod for more leverage." Josh Keller he is correct..my hook ratio went way up with a longer rod.

"you need to use Power Pro to get rid of memory and for more strengh when fishing structre..Oneshot7..I've never looked back..

"If you all want to catch big hawgs..use a Horny Toad," Childers..DANG!!! was he right..

"try terminator spinnerbaits" I did and they are GREAT

"Let the worm and jig sit a while before moving it." Doug Hannon bass professor..he is correct..

"You got to fish the moon phases...great days before new and full moons." WOW!!!super right on..

"dig the bottom up when fishing crank baits..it turns fish on..this is where you will get your hits." Paul Elias...set a record using crankbaits on Lake Falcon

Chuck7

Deleted......

mrl0004

As usual, great tips chuck! I am a lot like you too, in that no matter what I know, or think I know, I don't know everything. Although I am rarely ever skunked, fresh or saltwater, I always like to learn from others. I am pretty confident with catching bass in general, but trying to get a trophy (to me 8lb or better) is where the overwhelmed feeling comes in. To me, the jig is my confidence. Just like spin fishing is my confidence. However, I don't want to be a one-dimensional fisherman. So I took up fly fishing, tried bait casting but too many birdnests. So I don't want to only jig. I would like to do some topwater, some crankbaits and some carolina and texas rigging. However, with that want comes a great overwhelming feeling as you walk down any sporting goods store and look outside your comfort zone. So many options.........just trying to narrow the options I guess......

Alpha Capo

1) Learn how to read the water....alot of times i can tell when a spot will produce just by looking at the water...( i fish the misssissippi and the water changes alot, levels, clarity, current.) Obviosly you wont beable to do this very well unless you are familliar with the water to begin with.

2)water clarity is very important...fish dont like dirty water like you dont like a smokey shop...cleaner water is almost always better...(im not out west so im not talking about stuff you can see 20 ft down in) im talking like water that has a 4 foot visibility is better than water with 2 foot visibility, water with 2 foot visibility is better than water that looks like chocolate milk.

2)Fish slow...use soft plastics, especially when you know your fish are there.
dont waste time when passing over low percentage waters, go ahead and fish with something fast like a spinnerbait.

3)Be precise, (very important) with your casts. 1 foot off is the difference between getting a fish to bite and not, or just plain spooking a fish. It doesnt matter what your bait is Be precise with it...

4)when fishing calm shallows learn to land your bait softly, And stay quiet in your boat.

5)Use scent.

i can fish 5 minutes behind a average guy whos using a spinner bait and catch all kinds of fish while he doesnt even get bit. All becuase i am precise. Granted that same guy that always fishes a spinner bait, will have days that he just hammers the fish becuase they are attacking very agressively.....

the reason i like fishing soft plastic is because i can keep my bait in high percentage water for a longer time over the course of one cast. very rarely a bass chases a bait out of the high percentage areas and when they do chase its almost always a little fish... Also the precision of the presentation thats involved with soft plastics will make you a better fisherman with your other baits. they are the hardest to master.

6)*Your terminal tackle is very important use good sharp hooks...and make sure your line and knots are all good. Make sure your using the correct reel and rod (if you dont use baitcasters Start now)...you dont need to use expensive braid or florocarbon lines. i still almost exclusively use monofilament...i prefer the stretch...i swear alot of guys rip the lips right out of fish with these braids, high speed reel,s and xtra fast action rods, as hard as they set the hook.
if your using mono just check your line more often and rety after every fish. my favorite is 14 to 20 lbs stren in high vis gold so i can see my line.

7) Fish harder

Chuck you are spoiled rotten...your water looks like shooting fish in a barrel!

The only times ive felt overwhelmed was on big deep reservoirs dealing with rough water, windy as hell, unfamilliar, (being a river fisherman where most everything is caught in 15 ft or less with 95% of fishing done in 7 ft of water or less) . I know the oposite is true for guys that never fish rivers... they dont know what to do either. ...so if your on uncharted territory dont get discouraged and dont be afraid to make another trip back if things didnt go well the first time.

8) Stay Positive.

Outdoorsben

chuck has some great info. When exploring new water if it's at dawn I always fish the eastern banks first as they tend to hold fish longer before the water temp rises from the sun. The active fish will generally be in the NW section of a lake as that water temps move up first. Of course all this is depends on if there is habitat. If the NW corner is a beach then there won't be any fish there. Another thing to watch for is points and cover. Sunken trees, vegetation, points in the lake are great area's to look. Anyplace the fish can ambush a prey.

When fishing I use my sonar to tell me the depth the fish are then I just change baits very often. Maybe 10-20 casts in an area I KNOW the fish are in. If you keep switching up you'll get it right sometime. Just remember there is ALWAYS fish biting someplace on the lake. Just gotta find them.

For colors I stick to natural colors, red, white, chartreuse, blue, and black. Fishing at night or towards dusk you want to stick with a blue or black as the fish see the shadow of it. If you do fish a popular body of water find out what most people throw and throw something totally different. If fish see the same thing over and over give them another option.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head from my experiences. There are hundreds of thousands of ways to catch fish. Just go out there and trial and error. Take good notes so you can figure out patterns and it will help your fishing in the future.

Chuck7

"Chuck you are spoiled rotten...your water looks like shooting fish in a barrel! " alpha

..LOL..I have a huge bruise on my leg to show it's hard work..finding and getting to these spots...last week I went to lake that had 40 boats on it..1000 acres easy.they were not catching fish..they were chucking cranks and spinnerbaits..I was patiently flipping the jungle...and boated 13...TWO were 5 pounders....diffently not "Shooting fish in a barrel." I work at finding spots the big boats can't get to..

This spot is one speck of hundreds of acres...took me 3 years to find it..
some of my other 'Fish Barrels.'
LOL
Lake Parker 3000 acres
Lake Jackson 1000 acres
Saddle Creek Park 750 acres..

AND I have another such spot I plan to fish in 2 weeks .prior to the full moon...another out of the way pit..off the main drag.

"Spoiled Rotten" no...but I do know that I am very blessed...He puts the idea in my heart where to go...and He puts the idea in my heart what to tie on..and He is the one I thank all day long..if they are biting or not.




Bass fishing is like hunting,..you have to find them..

mrl0004

What is the horny toad everyone is always talking about? Is that like a topwater soft plastic?

huntingkidPA

yea, i have a pack but never got to use them much. I have a question for anyone here about them, can you only do topwater with it or peg it with a bullet weight and hop it along the bottom?

Chuck7

yes it says on the package that it can be used on the bottom as well as the top..

It's a soft bait the resembles a frog ..it's best to use a fluke hook .to keep the rubber frog from slipping back off the eye of the hook.

YOu cast if through anything..and that's what makes it great ..it won't totally float so you must keep it on top..something like this splash splash..pause.splash splash pause normally on the pause you will get one big boil..I wait a good second and then set the hook..

I tried it yesterday..it's great during the summer