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Poll

What bait do you consider your most productive bait for catching bass in your area?

Live Bait:  Minnows
28 (7.1%)
Live Bait:  Crawfish
9 (2.3%)
Live Bait:  Other
21 (5.3%)
Topwater
41 (10.4%)
Crankbaits
29 (7.4%)
Tubes
36 (9.1%)
Lizards
13 (3.3%)
Plastic Worms
119 (30.2%)
Other Soft Plastics
42 (10.7%)
Jig-n-Pig
14 (3.6%)
Spinnerbaits
30 (7.6%)
Surface Fly Fishing
2 (0.5%)
Subsurface Fly Fishing
1 (0.3%)
Other
9 (2.3%)

Total Members Voted: 389

Author Topic: "Most Productive Bait for Bass" Poll  (Read 77583 times)

Fat Boy

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"Most Productive Bait for Bass" Poll
« on: Mar 29, 2005, 07:34 AM »
Gillmaniac asked me to post this poll for you all.  We'll keep it here for a while to get the maximum response, then we'll move it to the Bass section in a couple weeks.

Personally, I view my entire tackle selection as my arsenal.  I don't use live bait for bass simply because I've never felt the need to do so.  I've always been pretty good at finding active bass, at least enough to keep me interested, and also have been able to trigger inactive bass to hit when it seems that others may have trouble.  Knowing the habits of the type of bass that you're after, the habitat and food chain, and the lake or river structure is a huge plus.  Being able to adapt to find fish is often the best attribute of a bass angler.

When I target lakes that I have experience on, I focus on patterns that have worked in the past as my starting point given the time of year that I'm fishing.  Once I get an idea of the conditions that I'm dealing with, I begin with my preconceived patterns (based on experience) to see how productive they are.  If they don't produce in a reasonable amount of time, and I am confident that fish are there, then I adapt.  Often I'll begin with search lures like spinnerbaits or perhaps a grub or super fluke on real clear lakes.  But I will have to say that my most productive lure in the past for numbers and limits of keeper sized bass has to be in the plastic worm category.  Big spinnerbaits are a good big fish bait as is the jig-n-pig.  But, every trip can be different.  Tubes, Senkos and Flukes are often productive and can turn a bad day into a good day.  And, don't be afraid to try new things once in awhile.  If you have a new product or technique to try, do it when the fish are active so you can fine tune it.  When fish become inactive, that same pattern may work with some minor changes, but trying it on a bad day may give you lack in confidence in that technique.  If you think about it, most of us have based our experience in lure preference based on success on good days.  If we catch less fish or no fish on that same lure later, we blame it on the fish, not the lure, because we "know" that lure works.

Also, within different species of bass there are differences in their lure preferences.  My largemouth arsenal is somewhat different than my smallie arsenal in my region.  My core largemouth lures are spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, plastic worms, jig-n-pigs, super flukes, Senkos, and topwater plugs (popper and walk the dog style).  I'll carry some other types of baits depending on the characteristics of a lake that my dictate that.  Weedy lakes may change my overall selection a bit, or perhaps gin clear water.  For smallies in the rivers in my area, spinnerbaits, smaller buzzbaits, popping plugs, tube jigs, plastic worms, plastic grubs, Senkos, super flukes, hard jerk baits and tiny torpedos are my core arsenal depending on the time of year.  I've learned to fish all those baits and with experience have determined approximately when and under what conditions to use them.  Let the fish tell you ;)

So, you can see that this is a tough vote for me! ;D

archbishop

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Re: Attention Bass Anglers
« Reply #1 on: Mar 29, 2005, 07:58 AM »
im not big on bass fishing so i choose minnows to be the most productive because fishing for trout i will trigger the occassionall bass to get hungary and nail him the kids love catching bass maybe i should get into it a little more for them but for the survey i will say minnows for my lack of experiance
p.s. im on the southern tier of western ny

flipstick

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Re: Attention Bass Anglers
« Reply #2 on: Mar 29, 2005, 07:59 AM »
I'd have to go with crankbaits, but that is probably because I use them about 75% of the time on the water.  I just love the feel of a bass inhaling a Rapala.

Big Zig

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Re: Attention Bass Anglers
« Reply #3 on: Mar 29, 2005, 08:07 AM »
Not primarily fishing for bass - I went with my confidence lure, a jig-n-pig. There is always a rod rigged with an arky style jig (1/4 or 3/8th oz.), and a few bottles of Uncle Josh's pork frogs in the boat.
Guess since this is my go-to lure, it gets more water time; therefore putting more bass on the end of my line then say something that I don't fish as often.

yoda

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Re: Attention Bass Anglers
« Reply #4 on: Mar 29, 2005, 09:01 AM »
More variety with the plastics.  Who would of thunk a bass would eat a hot pink worm.  I catch more with plastic but you can't beat the excitement of top-water fishing :flex:

mongo

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Re: Attention Bass Anglers
« Reply #5 on: Mar 29, 2005, 09:06 AM »
I catch more fish using plastics then anything else, always have a spinner bait within reach if the plastics are not working.

bigredfishing

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Re: Attention Bass Anglers
« Reply #6 on: Mar 29, 2005, 10:29 AM »
not a hard guess for me, gimme a 1/2 oz rattleback with a fat albert twin tail, and i can fish all day.

Bobman

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Re: Attention Bass Anglers
« Reply #7 on: Mar 29, 2005, 10:52 AM »
What about inline spinners FB, ever use them?  I think I've caught most of my river small mouth (Niagara) on either white rooster tails with a bit of red or on gold Mepps aglia spinners.  I've started to use tube baits as well and they seem to be fairly effective so far.
A lot of money is tainted, t'ain't mine and t'ain't yours!

MikeThePike

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Re: Attention Bass Anglers
« Reply #8 on: Mar 29, 2005, 11:04 AM »
I picked minnows but I'll usually fish 1 rod with a minnow and another would be fished with a spinnerbait. About equal success with both but love when the crappie decide to hit the live bait. I've had best success with a white spinnerbait.
Chasing them pigs with fins!

AK isn't coming soon enough....can't wait to fight with 1 grizzly for 100,000 fish instead of 1,000 snaggers for 10.

Fat Boy

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Re: Attention Bass Anglers
« Reply #9 on: Mar 29, 2005, 11:25 AM »
What about inline spinners FB, ever use them? I think I've caught most of my river small mouth (Niagara) on either white rooster tails with a bit of red or on gold Mepps aglia spinners. I've started to use tube baits as well and they seem to be fairly effective so far.

Oh yeah, always keep some close by on hand especially in the rivers I fish especially for smallmouth.  They can really boost numbers by targeting aggressive feeding bass and also draw reaction strikes from neutral bass.  I consider them in the spinnerbait category I guess.  Not only that, you can really catch a mixed bag of other species as well.  There are lots of lures that cross over between species, as we all well know.

By the way, just to let you all know that just because I personally don't use minnows during open water doesn't mean that I'm against using them or any live bait.  It's simply my choice to not use it, but I certainly condone it.  I'm very mobile when I fish so live bait is pretty much a burden for me to drag it along.  Also, I enjoy the challenge of fooling fish somewhat (not that they are all that intelligent or anything).  All fishing is fun.

Kodiak Commando

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Re: Attention Bass Anglers
« Reply #10 on: Mar 29, 2005, 11:37 AM »
Other of course being a fly fisherman ;D

I have not fished for bass much but flies that worked well for me were lefties decievers and pollywogs. Oh, yeah the pigboat is the alltime best subsurface bass fly, it's very similar to a soft plastic crawfish and you can fly fish with it.
I've never been to heaven, but i have fished  in  Alaska.

Fat Boy

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Re: Attention Bass Anglers
« Reply #11 on: Mar 29, 2005, 11:53 AM »
OK, I'll admit, when I first was discussing this poll with Gillmaniac, we discussed fly fishing, then I plum fergot!  Sorry, I'll fix the poll.  If anyone want's to change your vote, I've enabled that option.

big big rdg

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Re: Attention Bass Anglers
« Reply #12 on: Mar 29, 2005, 01:35 PM »
I use mostly senkos and soft jerk baits. These do excellent for me in my area but i also love to use a jitterbug or a popper late summer towards night.
FSHON!

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Re: Attention Bass Anglers
« Reply #13 on: Mar 29, 2005, 02:32 PM »
i use a crankbait from rapala, but soft plasitic works good to
GIT _ R _ DONE

devil-man

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Re: Attention Bass Anglers
« Reply #14 on: Mar 29, 2005, 02:50 PM »
I voted for a plastic worm because they always produce, but spinnerbaits are my favorite bait to fish with.
I actually organized my gear this morning, and can't wait to get out there!
The ice gear is gone. Now I just have to clean out my truck...  8)

 



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