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I've been having good success (by dumb luck) so far catching bass in the local bodies of water with in-line spinners. Recently, as per the advice of Tailgrabber, I caught a bunch of bass on spinnerbaits as well.
My question is: As the summer heat hits, will the lure preference change for bass?
I haven't caught one on a soft plasitc worm (rigged crazy or texas-style) yet... nothing on jigs either. Will that change come summer or fall?
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It will change when you slow down your presentation. You can't fish a plastic worm or jig too slow...only too fast. When nailing them on spinners you should try a small crankbait like a rattletrap or rapala. Maybe get some larger fish. If the fish are all the way up top, try a zara spook or fish a floating rapala. Good to try whatever matches the bait they are chasing.
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You can catch Bass on plastics, cranks and wire baits all year long, just change your presentation.
fish slower when the water is cold and faster when the water warms. The soft plastics almost always work better when fished slow in cold and warm water.
James
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I tried some Chompers tubes and although the garlic aroma stunk up my car, they caught a whole mess of fish.
I'm really happy I started catching fish on something that requires skill to present well (instead of cast the lure and reel it in mindlessly at one speed). I also had a bite on a plastic worm, a Berkley Gulp but didn't set the hook in time.
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I found that very few lures work all year round with the same technique, one lure I can use all year round and catch fish with is the Spro aruku shad.
Most of my other lures I change almost weekly depending on where I am fishing that week. I also try to take into consideration the time of year and the weather conditions.
Lets face it if the wind is blowing 25mph you wont catch me using a senko or a soft plastic. There just to difficult to use in high winds. If its during spawn I like to use spawn raider baits such as zoom's brush hog or super hog, or really any big bait that poses a threat, Like a Spro Dawg or a haddon spook.
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Spinners are great locater baits but worms and jigs will always catch bigger fish. If you are fishing calm water try senko worms right along the edge of the bank with no weight this is a very slow presentation but will catch big and lots of fish. Another thing that will take patience while worm fishing is your hook set more times than not they will hit it while it is dropping and you may not even feel it. Big sharp hooks are very important with a small hook you will miss many smaller fish. Having said all that if you are fishing farm ponds with 1-2 pound fish in line spinners are the way to go but even then you never know they may be a big one in there waiting for you to through a senko or floating worm.
here is a picture of a 10 plus pounder I caught on a bubble gum color floating worm last year. Yesterday I caught a 3 lber in a small public lake right in the middle of the city on a senko while there were 15 people throwing spinners and such and catching nothing.
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[indent]When the water warms up in July and august tie on a top water lure like a sammy or a popper and work around weeds for the first hour and last of the day. Nothing beats a topwater bite. Have Fun!!
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I started catching fish on these Gary Yamamoto original senkos, rigged weightless. I caught 3 smallies on Monday with them. Thanks for the advice!
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If you decide to try top water(in the mid summer) like someone suggested that is a very fun way to fish and is also a good big fish locater. However it will be your instinct to set the hook as soon as the fish explodes on your lure but it is very important that you hold off until you feel the fish and not just see it after your lure. You may get very frustrated with this as I do for me I have a very tough time not yanking when the fish explodes at the top of the water but more times than not they miss your bait. If the you make this mistake the fish often will not bite again if that is the case through your senko at him.
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I just got a few new lures to try from the Tackle Warehouse. They came FedEx tonight. Here's what I got to try:
Shadalicious 5.5" (like a soft plastic swimbait)
Strike King 1/2 oz lipless rattle crank
Tiki Bamboo senkos, 5"
Different color Yamamoto senkos, 5"
9" Mann's hardnose worms
Spinnerbaits with skirts of more earthy colors
a topwater Rapala with rattle
some suspended minnow cranks
Brown jig
White jig
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Sounds like a good selection, I love tackle warehouse.
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In my opinion...
As the seasons change you'll have to change whatever you throw at 'em. For an example, in spring the water is cooler which create more activity in the fish. But in some states/areas where the water temp can raise a lot during the summer months the fish start to move to the cooler water. (deeper, more structure) Therefore you would have to adjust your bait to the location of the fish.
I hope I'm at least somewhat helpful.
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[quote KeepitWeedless]...in spring the water is cooler which create more activity in the fish. But in some states/areas where the water temp can raise a lot during the summer months the fish start to move to the cooler water. (deeper, more structure)...[/quote]
I've found what you are saying to be exactly true. In the Spring, spinnerbaits were on fire for me. I'd throw them all day long about 5 to 15 feet off the shore line and get reactive strikes from bass on beds. Now that the water temps are up, those same bass (smallies anyway) are nowhere near shore.
I kind of found the answer to my question since I asked it through fishing and experiencing the change.
Bait - Spring / Summer
Cranks - ZERO luck / like hotcakes!
Senkos - so-so / lots of action
Spinnerbaits - best bait / worst bait
Jigs - no luck / no luck
Topwater - little success / relaible
In-line spin'rs - very hot / very cold
Swimbaits - little action / big bass catcher
Tubes - reliable / slightly less reliable
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