Lures for different species and different conditions

[Tay690]

Hi there,
I know we all have our special lures we swear by
"If you're fishing for _______ this is the only thing that works! I swear it!"

So what I want to know is...what do you use?
Trolling? Shore fishing? Casting in heavy cover? What do you swear by and what do you catch with it?

[Tay690]

If we get more than 40 replies I'll reveal my secret topwater lure:jaw-dropping:

[svaha]

My favorite all around casting lure is a Mepps spinner.I have caught everything from bass to walleye.
I do enjoy worming for bass ,there I like a motor oil color with a chartreuse tail.
Fly fishing a rio worm , wooly bugger,streamer and of course a balsa wood popper is fun.
Musky or pike nothing beats a daredevil spoon.
Walleye I always did well with a hotntot and a mini fatrap.
sandbass and striper a sassyshad works for me.

Well there are a few of my favs.

[GreenTerr0]

i do a lot of bass fishing, heres one of my fav techniques.....

if im fishing for largemouth bass im gonna throw the jig or commonly know as "jig and pig" its probably one of the most difficult techniques to master but once properly presented it outfishes all other lures.

your setup is a crucial part of success though,youll need a medium heavy\ heavy rod depending on the cover your fishing and one atleast 7' long ( bait casting rod ) and a decent bait casting reel, as for line stick with braid because it has zero stretch and bc bass will often hit the bait on the fall youll want a line thats gonna keep you in contact with your bait... as for test, i like to stick with 40 lb for isolated structure and dock flipping, if your getting into some real heavy cover u can go as high as 80lb braid, usually 65 will suffice however.

now for actual presentation, youll wanna make "pitches" and " flips" to structure such as docks, rock piles, weed edges, weed patches etc... any kind of isolated structure is best, having electronics works easiest. once you find your structure pitch or flip ( instructional videos on youtube for flipping and pitching) to the structure and let the jig fall naturally, remember to keep a taught line to detect strikes, once your bait has made contact let it sit for a little then you can slowly raise your rod tip 5-6" and let it drop again, if no strikes, start again!

oh man its gonna be a long winter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! all you out there who can fish now consider yourself lucky!

[excuzzzeme]

For me, I would have to say the "Kastmaster", with and without the bucktail. When most others fail me, I always revert to it and usually spook up one or two more. I have a selection of them in different weights.

If I go for "snapper blues" I use that until they slow down and then switch to a "Snapper Popper". When going after Blues or Striper I use a Japanese made lure (name escapes me right now). The color and action drives fish wild!

[GreenTerr0]

Is your top secret top water a zara spook?!

[Cheech]

I've had the best luck catching Northern Pike with spinnerbaits.

[Rollinondubz200]

zara spook is number 2 in my book for top water. snook/tarpon/redfish/ladyfish/trout

my fav bait of all time is any of the Sebile Magic Swimmer any color and the stick shad any color (but best is blood red).

3D Minnow 100 / 3D Minnow 70 are a all around bait ive cought everything on them evin fresh water catfish. so it should work well for bass never tried tho

[Tay690]

nope it's not a zara spook
agree with the pike and spinnerbaits
weird what fish will hit on sometimes...but if it ain't broke, don't fix it I guess

Pike I usually use a smelt coloured Husky Jerk 12'' and I've had 2lb pike hit it
when that doesn't work I'll go to a spinner cuz I know they can't resist it

Walleye I jig a 3-4'' Berkley Gulp Black shad minnow (since I usually river fish for eyes) and just drift it down the current or off to the side in any little pool I see

Trout I've had luck with #2 Mepps when other people haven't been catching fish with live bait or roe bags...the mepps always seems to produce

Thanks for the replies...good info

on a side note I just got a new KVD baitcaster 7.0:1 gear ratio
I can finally retire my Quantum XL500 or whatever it is...it's so ancient and it's missing like 2 oiling screwheads...I think it's time I put the old boy to rest

I can't wait til next year...I'm going into fishing withdrawals already

[wesleydnunder]

My favorite all-around is a 3" paddle-tail Bass Assassin in pumpkinseed/chartreuse. I've caught redfish, speckled trout, flounder, largemouth bass, channel catfish, crappie and goggle-eye on the same lure. I work it differently for different species. I have lots of hard and soft plastics in the box but always have the assassins in there.

Mark

[Knoxx]

I'm a ground pounding shore fisherman. I also like spinners for pike but I also use spoons. They cast a mile and pike really seem to respond well to them.

For a all around lure I like a 4" floating Rapala. I fish the Mississippi river so I use perch, black/silver and black/gold colors. Very versatile bait. I've worked them like jerkbaits with luck. I've also just twitched them on the surface and have had smallies blast 2' to 3' out of the water as they hit them on the surface. You can also just cast them out and retrieve them as search bait to see what a strange body of water holds. I've even caught sunfish on these. I'm sure it's a territorial reaction as it invades their beds.

[eddiebait]

I've probably caught more fish (panfish, walleye, bass, northern pike, musky, even a few carp and bullheads) on a beetle spin than every other lure combined, because I use it more than any other lure. I have also caught many panfish on flyrod poppers. I make a musky plug called the Eddie Bait but it is pretty large and used mainly for pike and musky.

[excuzzzeme]

I have found the Storm soft baits to work well at times. Especially the herring pattern.

For the freshwater panfish, I will work several types of baits including crankbaits until I find something they hit on.

[Kaluden]

Spinners have worked well for me for northerns, I have decided that it must be the noise and that they just attack out of anger, because pikes are just angry angry fish. This last summer I pulled in a 42" northern fishing from a boat landing because i'm too poor for an actual boat.

For Bass I enjoy bottom fishing with a Carolina Rig with varying power baits, and have an unfortunate amount of luck catching stupid bullheads with the same rig with a salamander shaped power bait, so if you enjoy those, they love the salamanders. They are a fun catch but too much work for me. Due to being roughage fish in MN, any that I catch are tossed into the grass to die and be thrown in the garbage. Not supposed to put them back.

Stumbled upon a strange trick for sunnies this last summer as well. Ended up having some waxies that were about half way into their cocoon stage, brown, semi hard, smell like death when you stab them with a hook. Well the sunnies go absolutely nuts for those ones, caught my limit in about 5 minutes one day.

Otherwise I wander through stores looking at lures and just pick up random things every so often to play with.

[Bart G]

All time favorite: #9 original floating rapala in the chrome/shiner pattern fished very very slow and steady at sunset and after dark for pig walleye. Sometimes other minnow baits work better but that baby was my ace in the hole till I got bit by a raccoon and slacked off the solo night fishing a bit.

Close runners up:

White trout magnets for trout. The don't look like much but when paired with 4lb fluoro, they fish as good or better than bait. TRUST ME.

Green pumpkin colored mizmo tubes on an 1/8 jig head for smallmouth bass.

Yamamoto spidergrubs and senkos for largemouth bass.

[Bart G]

D'oh! I meant to say a #11 not #9 rapala for walleye. This forum is a bit different than the ones I'm used to.

[eddiebait]

I agree that the #11 original floater rapala is one fish catching minnow plug. At dusk for big walleyes they are tough to beat. My favorite two colors are Perch and GFR-- gold fluorecent red. One of my fishing buddies prefers the larger size #13, and another swears by the jointed rebel in a similar size. They are all good, the main concern is finding the big walleyes. Since I normally fish from a boat the racoon usually leave me alone, but I imagine getting bit would be a real bummer.

[Kaluden]

I am fairly new to fishing with Rapalas, and have never caught a walleye. So whats your method for fishing with the #11 floater? Jig it along? slow retrieve? Throw it out there and just twitch it every so often?

[Trigger1985]

gonna have to take notes... up until last year jitterbugs were always my standby, caught a lot of bass on them over the years, but I got skunked last year. Completely. I caught 1 panfish all year. Need to find a new spot, I think the chain o lakes may have lost it's magic for me.

[Knoxx]

Thanks Bart

I never heard of Trout Magnets I'll have to give them a try.

Looking at them reminded me of the first bait I mastered that I had to work to catch fish at age 9. A pink/white/white maribou jig. I learned how to put the right quiver to them to catch crappie on nearly every cast from the boat docks. The guy who showed me how to use them even taught me to file down the barb so I could release the fish instantly without even touching the fish. Just grab the pink leadhead and a twist of the wrist and the fish dropped back in the water and you looked cool doing it. That was a great few summers till I turned 12 and discovered girls.
http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_15631?cm_mmc=froogle-_-100-19-1-_--1-_-38-250-003-11&hvarAID=froogle&mr:trackingCode=DF6FD4A7-E881-DE11-B712-001422107090&mr:referralID=NA

[snoopy65]

Trolling for Lake Erie Walleye - Pink Panties Worm Harness.

[Knoxx]

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_15631?cm_mmc=froogle-_-100-19-1-_--1-_-38-250-003-11&hvarAID=froogle&mr:trackingCode=DF6FD4A7-E881-DE11-B712-001422107090&mr:referralID=NA

I was editing in the link above then came back to post why I put it in but ran out of time to edit. Check out the second page of reviews there are 2 pictures. It seems appropriate for this website.

[eddiebait]

Kaluden asked about how to fish a #11 Rapala. This lure would be a wonderful addition to your arsenal of lures, any kind of fish that hangs out in shallow water and eats 4 inch minnows will chomp the heck out of a rapala. Walleye, Bass, and Pike are the species I usually catch on them. They float at rest and dive down about twelve to twenty inches on the retrieve depending on the speed. Knox mentioned twitched on the surface, fished as a jerkbait (twitched below the surface), and simply casted and retrieved as a search bait. Bart G reports a slow steady retrieve from shore. I usually use this lure in shallow water around shorelines 2-5 ft deep. I throw it out and crank it in experimenting with the speed but not too fast. I generally use a steady retrieve with one twitch as the lure gets close to the boat. This is a very versatile lure that can be weighted with a sinker for more depth and it is very good for trolling. The smaller sizes run shallower, and the larger sizes run deeper--or the same depth with a slower retrieve. Again, in my book this is one of the greatest fish catchers made and one certainly belongs in your arsenal.

[the wizard]

I would have to say that my favorite lure is the green rattle trap. I have always had spinners, jigs, soft lures, etc... but seem to have the best luck with the rattle. I mostly prefer to fish for large mouth bass. I get a much bigger thrill hooking one of them than i ever did with any other species.

[SumTinsFishy]

Kinda surprised no one else has listed these. My all time fav for Largemouth ar Yamamoto Senko. You can fish them in various different ways. The first year I found those, I caught more bass in that one summer than all my other summers combined. They do not work as well for Smallies though. For Smallies my fav is just a regular old pumpkin seed colord jig. Night fishing I still fav the Jitterbug, I like the Rapala Skitter Pop as well.

[Bart G]

I mentioned senkos! True, they don't usually work as well for smallies typically because the current washes them away too fast. Here is some inspiration to go buy some spider grubs.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k29/bartgelesh/4-24bigsmallie.jpg

As for the floating raps, #11 is my fave as it seems to have a better action but there are times when the #13 works better. I use a small wire snap to facilitate quick changes. X-raps, rouges and husky jerks have their place too. I like a very slow steady retrieve through very shallow water after dark. I will crank the lure as slow as possible while still feeling the bait swimming. Unlike smallies, walleye love lures fished against the current. Shallow is never too shallow especially on very dark rainy or foggy nights. I've caught nice eyes in less than a foot of water where the #11 shines like a champ.

[Tay690]

That's a beautiful smallie

That pig loves his rocks / sandy bottom I can see lol

You're right about the husky jerks...biggest largemouth I've ever caught 6.5lb smashed a 12 inch Blue / Silver / Orange husky jerk

After about 4 hours of ripping this thing around at the bottom of the magnetawan river rapids (i fish there quite often) and of course looking for huge pike with a lure that size

A totally uneventful day

I decided to make a couple more casts because dinner time was closing in...and I see this massive fish dart out from the rock stack about 10 feet in front of me

He inhaled the husky and darted out about 40-50 feet immediately...good fight when you add the current of the rapids..but nowhere near what I was expecting from this pig of a largie

He was released alive and well but not without smiling for the camera of course!

When I caught that guy I remember I was using a pretty aggressive retrieve (as I was frustrated from not catching anything)

Ripping the suspending husky 3 times quickly...then let it sit for a couple of seconds...2 rips the next time etc

And oh how I wish I used polarized sunglasses back then...would've been so amazing to clearly see that largemouth inhale the lure

Keep em coming...we're up to 25 replies now (minus the 4 i've added up to date)

ONLY 20 MORE REPLIES AND EVERYONE WILL HAVE AMAZING FUN TOPWATER FISHING BASS!

[eddiebait]

I assume we are all entitled to have more than one "favorite" lure. Here's one that worked pretty good last summer. A jig 1/8 or 1/16 ounce tipped with a live minnow is a pretty standard rig around here. Last summer we experimented with using the Berkely Gulp minnow instead of live minnows, and they seemed to work just as good. They look like plastic but don't leave one on your hook overnight or it will turn very hard and you will need a knife or something to get it off. They are packaged in some special "juice" that stinks--to me, and smells tasty--to fish.

[Bart G]

Thanks Tay690! Good glasses do help a lot. They really shine trout fishing.

I like gulp too. I find it works pretty well in brackish water. I've caught redfish, flounder, spotted sea trout and blues on the stuff. I like to keep them in the juice until I use then return the gulp to the liquid to "recharge". Still looking for an optimal container since the ones they come in leak and are bulky. My sister works in a lab and she gave me a few tubes they use for samples. Might work.

[Tay690]

Wow...I just checked out your fish paintings

I absolutely love the painting in acrylic of the smallmouth chasing the tube jig

Gonna have to try the Senko...2nd person who's raved about it...now i'm gonna go buy me one ...or 6 lol

I agree on the skitterpop too...lots of fun in weed beds with that lure

I've been using the gulp also lately (4 inch black shad) and I actually have outfished people using live minnows fishing in close proximity to me on shore...must be something in the scent that drives the fish nuts

the stuff absolutely reeks and is offensive when you open the bag...but that doesn't mean the fish don't like it i guess lol

[wesleydnunder]

Though as I mentioned before, my go-to is the paddle-tail chartruese/pumpkinseed bass assassin, I also do some night-time wading in the flats around the north side of the Texas City Dike in later summer when the wind is still and the water turns to glass. Usually I'll go with a Top Dawg, She Dawg or Top Pup. Yo zuri came out with a new topwater this year in a mullet pattern that I'm gonna try. Nothin' like watchin' a huge sow speckled trout blow up under a topwater lure under a full moon...

Mark

[duke33]

I mainly trout and crappie fish. The trout magnet with different colored tails works amazing. Just try assorted retrivels/colors until one works. It works every time.

[teij_tseng]

I'd have to vote for the Cavitron Buzzbait as my all time favorite bait. Caught more pikes on that bait than all my other baits combined. Caught my 45"er on that too :grinyes:. Gotta say for the record that I love Mepps spinnerbaits as well. That would be my goto bait for bass!

[bradlgt21]

I like the excalibur spittin image. I took it out when we were in some shallow pool between 2 lakes with lilly pads. in about 10 minutes I had 5 catches, since it was topwater it was cool too. Bass hitting the bait by jumping out of the water. For topwater bass it was awesome.

There was another lure I had a while back but haven't found any since I lost it on a snag. Don't remember who made it but it was a shallow diving jointed lure with a soft rubber type tail on it. So not only was it like a jointed rapala but it had a soft bait action to the end. This was great for shallower ponds since it didn't go deep.

For deep lakes when trolling we always use Rapala deep diving crank baits.

[bradlgt21]

Almost forgot about beetle spins, those things are killers for pretty much anything.

[PaulJ69]

Senkos and Buzzbaits!