What is YOUR most productive bass bait? I'm sure this question may have been asked before on this forum but I'll ask again. My choice would be a Gary Yamamoto Senko in watermelon color fished without a sinker. Even when the fish aren't biting I seem to able to get a few with these. Saturday was a beautiful warm day - but the fish were not interested in biting. My son had 3 friends fishing our pond without a bite after an hour. I joined them and said that "there is a fool proof lure that is the best thing for our pond" and put a Senko on. First cast I pulled in a 17 inch LMB. I couldn't have scripted it any better! No - I don't work for the company - I am repeatedly amazed at how well they work. The only problem is that they get beat up very easily and you go through them quickly.
I have to agree that the Yamamoto baits are fantastic. Like you, a senko in my ponds rarely ever fails to bring in at least a fish or two. I don't know the colors off the top of my head, but there are 2 or 3 that I use regularly on our ponds that just seem to really work. I fish them both weighted - usually Texas rigged - and unweighted. The biggest fish I've caught on our place have come on senkos.
Original H&H SpinnerBait
(Black/Chartreuse)
I would have to say a Rebel Wee Crawfish has caught the most fish for me. Followed by a small chartreuse and orange spinnerbait with a white double tail grub trailer when there is brush or weeds underwater to tangle the crank(like my pond).
In no particular order other than one of those " Ken if you don't catch a mess of fish I'm gonna kill you" kinda deals!
Hey Zep... How do you get pics to show up in the main body of your post? All I know how to do is add as attachment.
White & Chartreuse colored spinners
Carolina rigged worm
Meps
It's either the trusty H & H for me or a black lizard.
Black lizard, darker weedless bass jig, single blade spbt, and a weedless spoon. I pretty much go with the Mr.Twister 4" split double tail trailers in a simular color to the jig, spbt, or spoon. Do you H&H spbt fans use a snap on the lure? I have had touble with knots slipping when tying around a double wire eye.
Well if your talking in my pond then I would have to say the good old fashioned 3 inch black and silver rapala. Looks just like all the bait in the pond and they love it!
Now if your talking out on a lake. Bar none a 5 inch white Zoom Superfluke with a number 3 gama gotch you!!! hook!!!
I use a knot my dad taught me Stick for the H & H. Never had one slip or break. I'm not sure what it's called though. 5 or 6 wraps around the main line then run the tag end thru the loop at the bait and again thru the loop you just created when going thru the loop at the bait. Did that confuse you as much as it did me? I've broken and bent too many snaps. I rarely use them anymore.
Kind of sounds like what has been called a Trilene knot.
knot
Sounds kind of like my favorite knots called the Palomar Knot with a litte mod to it. The PK knot is hard to beat. One of the best knots out there! IMO.
I use a knot my dad taught me Stick for the H & H. Never had one slip or break. I'm not sure what it's called though. 5 or 6 wraps around the main line then run the tag end thru the loop at the bait and again thru the loop you just created when going thru the loop at the bait. Did that confuse you as much as it did me? I've broken and bent too many snaps. I rarely use them anymore.
That knot has been claimed by darn near every company out there(insert company name here knot), but it's usually called the improved clinch knot.
For me it would probably have to be a cheap senko knockoff (watermelon w/red flake, the king of all colors for soft plastics). I've tried several brands, but the BigBite brand is my favorite.
I would have to say a good old fashion Rattle Trap in silver and black. I caught 7 nice LMB this past Friday with it. The weather was beautiful. 75 degrees and sunny.
That's pretty close but I only go the the eye of the hook once (twice looks stronger) then I go thru the upper loop again before cinching it down
Hey Zep... How do you get pics to show up in the main body of your post?
All I know how to do is add as attachment.
....not sure if this is too wordy or very clear,
it may make you more confused...lol...but this is how I post
pictures directly into a post without using an attachment.
Thats about how you do it Zep!
Most effective bait... Live golden shiner under a float.
If we're talking artificial, it depends on the season, the water conditions, the weather and how heavily fished the pond is. But with 5 or so baits, I can catch bass in just about any condition.
Love those weightless, t-rigged Senkos - lots of colors and sizes depending upon conditions!
But, this year, I've caught a lot more fish with a Zoom Trick worm. Usually white but sometimes red, junebug, chartruese, etc. I like fishing them weightless on an UL in shallow water.
Sometimes I'll add a little split shot about 12" up the line.
How harmful is it for a bass to swallow a senko or other plastic bait?
I know I'm old and set in my ways.
For bass and walleyes, there is absolutely nothing better than a full night crawler on a 2/0 long-shank or circle hook, or larger. It can be a hook behind some split shot. It can be part of a spinner. Just drag it very slowly a few inches at a time.
With that said, a live water bait -- shiner, madtom, sucker, crappie, crawdad -- whatever -- either floated with a hook under a small bobber, or cast and slowly pulled in, it is just as deadly as the crawler.
In my opinion, the fish will learn and tire of most artificial baits, but they never seem to give up on live bait.
A hula popper, rubber floating frog, some rattle bait, or a noisy spinner bait is still a lot of fun.
Aw heck. Bass are suicidal. It all depends on their mood.
Ken
How harmful is it for a bass to swallow a senko or other plastic bait?
If he ends up in a frying pan, very.
There have actually been a couple of threads here that talk about how a plastic bait can jam up a fish's digestive tract, making it pretty much impossible for it to eat and process its food. I think there was a picture somewhere of one that was basically starving to death that someone on here caught. It looked really bad. Others have caught them with part of bait sticking out their exit hole, suggesting that the baits may be able to eventually pass. But, I'd have to guess that in general, it ain't a good thing.
How harmful is it for a bass to swallow a senko or other plastic bait?
If he ends up in a frying pan, very.
There have actually been a couple of threads here that talk about how a plastic bait can jam up a fish's digestive tract, making it pretty much impossible for it to eat and process its food. I think there was a picture somewhere of one that was basically starving to death that someone on here caught. It looked really bad. Others have caught them with part of bait sticking out their exit hole, suggesting that the baits may be able to eventually pass. But, I'd have to guess that in general, it ain't a good thing.
I don't have photos of what this poor fellow had in his stomach. In this photo, he basically choked himself on part of a hot dog that was set to catch a catfish.
But, he had an artificial worm in his stomach.
This photo shows just how skinny this guy was.
I've really cut back on my use of soft artificial baits in recent years as I've seen what they've done in my pond. It is more than backed up by PB workshops and articles.
Ken
Angler caused fish mortality could be debated ad-nauseum, I have seen fish mortaly wounded by every type of lure in the world, hard-soft-treble-single-barbed and barbless. More important than the bait is how someone catches the fish and just as importantly how they are unhooked thereafter. If you throw out that senko then set it down and pour a cup of coffee....pick it up and see your line is 30ft from where you threw it then set the hook with enough torque to pull an impacted molar...expect issues. Likewise if you have caught a fish down the throat or in the gills and just yank the hook out with the same force.....?Despite every precaution sometimes it just happens...I once caught a nice bass on a #7 Rapala(with barbless hooks) that somehow got that bait wedged vertically, the 4# test broke and for the next several minutes I watched as that fish jumped her heart out trying to shake that plug to no avail....one of those things that is both terribly sad and awfully funny at the same time....a week later she was a floater
Beetle Spin. One hook, 96 cents. Easy in, easy out.
Most effective for me? Maybe a minnow type stick bait or a worm; but... I don't find myself using them much any more out of concern about foul hooking fish. I tend to use single hooks with barb bent down. More spinner baits and top waters.
FWIW: I know many have tremendous success with big bass jigs; but I just haven't had much luck with them. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.
So far the winners look like H&H, Senkos or Senko knockoffs and a variety of spinners. And anything Chartreuse and black!
smallies its tubes or minnow cranks, LM its Rubber worms and of course surface baits, HSB its spoons and spinnerbiats
Salmonid
I heat, live shiner on a bobber....
I cheat too. I quite often trap 3 and 4 inch bluegills for bait.
I would have to say a 1/8th ounce yellow dot mepps black fury is the most productive for me. As long as the body of water is fairly shallow (like 15 feet or less) they produce year round in slightly off-colored water.
Next for me would have to be a strike king pro mini 3 in sexy shad, followed by a strike king bitsy pond minnow.
Oh, and Ranger... I am terrible fishing jigs as well. I just can't figure out how to fish them.
Don't be sorry. No matter what the Purist say. Consider:
#1 You still have to buy or catch or trap the
RIGHT bait...whats right? shiners?..minnows?..bluegill?..crawdads?..yellow perch?..nightcrawlers?
#2 You have to keep that bait alive and fresh..not always an easy task.
#3 You have to decide where and how to properly and effectively hook it...you must decide on the most efficient method to present that bait to obtain maximum results.....should I slow troll or drift this 6" shiner on a free line with 10# test with no lead or float on a #2 tru-turn out over the deep grass beds? ...should I nose hook this 4" bluegill suspended 3' below a balloon and toss it out next to those laydowns? or should I let the wind carry it right over those bass beds? ETC ETC ETC ETC ETC
#4 Do I own and am I using the right tackle to correctly present this bait the way I've decided it should be presented and if so is it and am I able to successfully hook, play and land that fish?
I could go on with this for pages...but I think you get the point...I don't advocate or condone senseless violence....BUT the next time someone says you are cheating by using live bait you have my permission to
SLAP THEM REAL HARD RIGHT IN THE MOUTH!!!
Most effective for me? Maybe a minnow type stick bait or a worm; but... I don't find myself using them much any more out of concern about foul hooking fish. I tend to use single hooks with barb bent down. More spinner baits and top waters.
FWIW: I know many have tremendous success with big bass jigs; but I just haven't had much luck with them. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.
Hey Edge! It's not about the actual lure itself, it's about your confidence! Unless hospice care is imminent you still have time to do what I did 30 years ago. Look in you tackle box and find the lures you "don't know what you're doing wrong" with and ask yourself..how much time do I actually spend throwin this lure?? Then on your next fishing trip spend the day using ONLY that bait. Better yet use only that bait for the next month or the next summer. Heck...back when I decided to devote my entire life to this pursuit I would spend a year with only one lure in my boat. In 1975 for example I fished exclusively with various types of spinnerbaits...period. Trust me at the end of that year I was a MASTER of that bait and my confidence in it is still strong today.
Try it!!!Who knows this time next year you might decide to change your stage name to MRJIG or JIGGUY or JIGKING
I used to hate to fish with jigs. I think the easy way to get a feel for it is to use a swimming jig with a Paca Craw trailer. I usually let it sink to the bottom then just keep it moving and hopping along. If you feel something that you think might be a strike, just take up the slack and see if a fish is there and set the hook. It is amazing how long a bass will hold onto a jig. Fish it around cover and I promise you will catch fish.
I never have done very well with jigs either. I've caught a few swimming a jig, and several while site fishing to beds.
The bass usually eat all the paint off a jig before while I'm have a feeling contest with them.
Rubber worms, salamanders, crawfish are what I always find myself going back to..
Since Bass lack hands and pockets set the hook the moment the contest begins...a false hookset only takes .015 seconds.
For largemouth, a Zara Super Spook Junior in Black.
For smallmouth, I have a lot of luck with gold-colored Little Cleo spoons.