|
|
Posts: 122
Location: Pittsburgh, PA | Going along with the previous post of how do you pick which bait, How long do you stick with your chosen bait? Let's say it is the first time you are fishing a particular body of water, how long do you stick with bait A? I have fished with guys that will switch baits/colors every 5 minutes, others that will stick with the same bait for an hour or more.
Rich D |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2427
Location: Ft. Wayne Indiana | when I am at a new lake, I will only use 2-3 baits during a normal 14 hour day.
If you are using a bait that has good action, you know how to work it correctly, and has proven to be a fish catching machine, you will find the fish. No reason to switch back and fourth a zillion times. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | if I'm on a lake that I know a bait will and had worked, I'll stay with that one all day. A new lake, I take the advice of other guys, the message boards and the local tackle shops and fish, alot like Mike Hulbert, maybe 3-6 baits.
All the different colors and styles come into play once you know what works. Example, If Hulbert tells me a Weagle is hot on Lake X, and then I hear it, read it, from other sources, I'm going to hammer the hell out of that Weagle, then if it works or I go along period without raising anything, I'll try the same bait in a differnet pattern or go to a smaller bait with a likeness to the first...Weagle to a Viper or Jackpot.
Edited by Gander Mt Guide 2/14/2005 10:56 AM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 621
Location: Seymour, WI | I think this is a good question.
I was throwing alot of crankbaits last yr and having good luck wherever I went until I tried a lake I'd never been on before. I started throwing cranks there too, but didn't have any luck. I switched to flashy bucktails and had immeadiate action. I went back to the same lake again the next day and started with the cranks again, no action, switched to bucktails and moved several fish within the next hr.
I wish had switched to bucktails sooner both days. Do any of you guys have a time/bait progression that you go through on new water until you find active fish?
Grass, |
|
| |
|
Posts: 16
Location: Michigan's U.P. | Grass...there was a good article on bait progression in a older issue of Musky Hunter. I am not sure of the dat but maybe somebody else here can clue you in on that. I beleive the progression was bucktail, topwater, crankbaits, glide/jerk, minnow baits, plastics/finesse. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 122
Location: Pittsburgh, PA | I would be interested in that article as well...
I typically have 4 rods loaded; bucktail, surface, crank or jerk and jig. What do you think the advantages are to working a spot, on new/unknown waters with these four styles and moving on, or working thoroughly with (assuming me and a partner) one throwing a bucktail, the other a crank, moving on, then coming back later with different types? |
|
| |
|
Posts: 152
| I always have four rods loaded when I am fishing alone and will hit a good looking spot with all four lures. If I am moving fish on lure X, then that is the one I will be throwing the most and the others become something to throw back to a follow. The fish can change what they want from mornig till night. If I am with someone we never start out throwing the same thing and I will only have two or three rods loaded to keep the clutter down. Later |
|
| |
|
Posts: 16
Location: Michigan's U.P. | The article has been in the past 3-4 years but that is all I can remember. I had saved all of my MH magazines sinec moving up here and they dumped out of a box on the way to storage and were ruined...that article was in one of those. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1046
| First off, I would decide on the baits by weather/season. I dont see how one can say 3 rods,1-weagle,1-bucktail and one phantom. I think at that point one would have lost there whole days gameplan. All the factors determined on the water should dictate your bait selection, not a pre-determined thought or brainfart! Also to me when someone is changing baits every five mins., I beleive that they lost there gameplan and quite frankly just don`t know what to do! And its not just changing baits! |
|
| |
|
| Just happen to have that issue on my kitchen table...
From Fast to Finesse by Steve Heiting, February/March 2004 page 38. Here's the progression
1) Bucktails
2) Topwaters
3) Minnowbaots
4) Crankbaits
5) Glider jers
6) Diver jerks
7) Plastics or jigs
8) Bucktails, again.
Good read. Really got me thinking about what lures to throw next time I'm out chasing muskies.
Hope that helps...
Johnny B |
|
| |
|
| The baits on my rods pretty well stay put from Opening Day (3rd Sat in June) through September. I'll fish a 10" Suick or hairbait for 2 or 3 months on end. I'll change out a leader more often than a bait. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 122
Location: Pittsburgh, PA | Handyman,
Could you provide more detail? Here is my thinking, with my four rods, I have the entire water column covered. They are not necessarily the same four lures each trip and are chosen by the conditions that day. Color based on water clarity, typically natural colors for clear waters; action of lure based upon season or weather condition, stable weather I will use baits that work better with a faster/more aggressive retrieve or colder water/post frontal conditions, I will pick smaller baits or ones that I can work slower.
My indecision lies with how long to stick with each bait.
Rich D |
|
| |
|
Posts: 621
Location: Seymour, WI | If you're fishing new water, how long will you throw a bait with little or no action until you decide to try a new tactic?
Grass, |
|
| |
|
| If you like the action, enjoy the style of fishing the bait requires and know it has a proven track record of working for others then stick with it. I got very fustrated with Topraiders - used them quite a bit for almost 3 years and never caught a fish - then wham - 4 fish in 2 days - over the past 2 years they've been my best producer. Conversely, I love using Jackpots and for years I used them a lot, got lots of follows and blow-ups but relatively few hook-ups. I use them less, now and usually only in specific situations.
|
|
| |
|
| Casting.
I catch almost all my fish on 12 baits down here, including color variations.
Lots of days I use 6 or less.
On good days I may only use 1 or 2.
Up north I catch almost all my fish on 12 baits including color and type variations.
Lots of days I use 6 or less.
On good days I may only use 1 or 2.
If I went to a strange lake I had never even seen I would probably be happy carrying 16 baits total.
3 colors of my 2 favorite baits=6 of the 12 down here.
3 different bucktails and 3 topwaters =6 of the 12 up north.
The other 90 baits are just for entertainment purposes.
I don't know how others fish, but I will say that if I WAS REALLY WANTING TO PRODUCE A FISH on a tough day or possibly for a tournament, I might very well fish 1 bait all day in the face of what I felt were negative conditions. I am guessing there are a bunch of us that would do that. Years ago I would have had every bait, and every strange rigging idea I could come up with, littering the front deck. If I do that these days I am just keeping myself entertained or testing baits.
|
|
| |
How long do you stick with it?