if you were fishing for bass on a private lake that has had very little pressure for years what type of bait would you use. i tried a surface lure and was popping it and got a couple of bites

my lakes private and dosent get alot of pressure but i catch most of mine on a live shiner or a gold rapala husky jerk and then theres old faithful just a 6" black rubber worm

I would find a weed bed in 8-15 feet of water and use a texas rig worm with a Mr. Twister weighted hook. Red shad, black, bluebarry, plum and watermellon all work very well. Drift and cast in the direction you are traveling and slowly bounce the worm off bottom. We fish a private lake and catch 16-22 inch bass all day long most of which are 18-19 inches long. 20 pound power pro or fire line and a 7' medium heavt fast action rod would help too, that is what we use.

Floating rapalas are also very good lures either twitched on the surface or jerked back. I also really like live bait, it is hard to beat the action from a 3 inch minnow drifted over a weedbed.

Spinners, rubber worms, floating Rapalas, minnows, they all work good where there is little pressure. My favorate for the last two years is the Skitter Pop 4" long. I don't use live bait because of the $$. I save the live stuff for higher pressure places.

When it's hot, early morn. and late evening use top water baits. Buzz baits, etc. Other than that I carolina rig up and use lizards, kinomi's, culprit worms. On the other rod I use crank baits and husky jerks, shad raps, etc.

I gotta agree with farmcntry evening and morning use top water.

During the rest of the day I would try worms or lizards texas rigged if that dont work then carolina rigged. Crankbaits are also good.

I fish a pretty good size private pond sometimes that probebly hasnt had a line dropped into it in about 20 years. You can see the monster bass swimming all around on top of the water when the sun comes out. Ive probebly through the whole sporting goods section at wal mart on top of there heads and they wont hit anything. The "one" thing i can get them to hit and catch a few a day on is a live bluegill about 2-5 inches in lenth hooked through the uper part of the back with no weight and a float about 2 feet above the bait.

I'm with most everybody. I would use plastic worms Texas rig or buzz or spinner bait. That's what works best for me on private lakes or ponds. Matter of fact that's what works best for me on the big lakes also.

There is a sure way to catch these bass. They are probably getting ready to spawn, so if you do catch them, release them.

Take a tube bait rigged wacky style on a carolina rig. Shove half a Alka-seltzer in it and throw it in the bed. They have to hit it.