Bass Fishing Lures?

[shockaholick]

Hey All,
I was just curious what people are using for fishing Large Mouth. I mainly fish at Tridelphia Lake and Lake Centennial. I currently use the texas rig with a 6 in lizard. I also like to use ribbontail, or straight worms on the texas rig. Getting some fish here and there, but not consistent. I've heard to try panther martin rooster tails, but again, I would love to get feedback from everyone's successes.

[Pinch]

Hopefully Badassbass gets on here, he knows ALOT about fresh water bass fishing. The only fresh water bass i have ever caught have been on mepps spiners and rapala top waters (until recently when i caught one on a 3/4'' white shad on a 1/16oz jig head.

[DOGFISH]

The Texas rigged worm is very effective. My favorite color is bullfrog. You can also use spinnerbaits, crankbaits and tube lures. They should produce for you. You can also use a worm Carolina rigged.

Good luck.

[DanMarino]

Tough Fishing

Shockaholic,

I must live near you. Triadelphia is my home lake and I live a mile below Brighton Dam. Fishing there is usually tough for me and my son. It's a hard place to fish. I've had the most success there fishing in the Autumn for some reason. I guess the fish are shallower. I've also had my best success fishing around sunset. That's a problem though because you don't want the electronic gates to close and lock you in if you stay out too late.

I've caught fish there on plastic worms around fallen trees. I've caught fish on spinner baits, buzz baits, crank baits, and jerk baits. Last fall I caught a ton of fish on blue fox in-line spinners for some reason. I know that people catch pike while trolling crank baits. I know that people do catch walleyes there and I've had a few big largemouth come off. If you're lucky you'll get into a pike, striper, walleyes, or smallies. I'm wanting to figure out a way to troll deep in the summer using some type of down rigger.

Water clarity seems terrible in both Triadelphia and Rocky Gorge and I'm convinced that's part of my problem. The other problem is that the fish go very deep in the summer when the thermocline sets in.

Here's some lures I like.

X-rap
Yum Dinger worms
Bomber crankbaits
Blue Fox in-line spinners

I went to Centennial Lake a few weeks ago and water clarity was better than at Triadelphia. Seemed like lots of fishing pressure there. I don't think I'll go back there. I'll try some of the other lakes in Columbia since I have the free permit stickers to launch in them.

13

[shockaholick]

Hey Guys,
Thanks for all your responses..I will def have to try that out. And Dan, maybe we can meet up one of these days and do some yakfishing together.

Anyways, I'll look into some of those baits in the meantime.

First I need to wait for my outriggers to get in, so I dont feel like I'm going to tip my yak in the water all the time. I have a hobie quest, and i'm 6'1 270...I think the rounded bottom is making me sway way too much. I like my dads wilderness tarpon a lot better..but I hope the outriggers will provide more stability! Thanks again guys!

[MDSmith370]

1/2 Oz Rat-L-Trap Silver w/Blue back
Mepps Aglia In-line Spinner 6
6 inch pumpkin seed worm on dropshot rig

[shockaholick]

Hey guys,
I was just curious if you all could post any pictures of your baits you are using? I'm still kind of a newbie with fishing lures, and I'm trying to learn the terminology for things. MDSmith would love to see what you are talking about. Again, thank you all for posting your responses!

[MDSmith370]

Not sure how to attach these pics but here is an attempt. If it doesn't work just Google exactly what I typed above.

[MDSmith370]

Looks like it worked. The middle is the Rat-L-Trap and the Mepps is the last.

[shockaholick]

Looks like it worked. The middle is the Rat-L-Trap and the Mepps is the last.

What do you have the most luck with? Just curious? and where do you fish? Do you do mainly salt water or fresh or a combination? Again thanks for your reply!

[Pinch]

Mepps is universal, i use them fresh water and on the bay. Thats what caught small rock and perch last week at weems creek; i think thats wher we were.

[MDSmith370]

I fish anywhere and everywhere from fly fishing for trout to the surf. I mostly fish the bay and Ocean City but I still do a little fly fishing and hit the reservoirs occasionally. When it comes to freshwater (or brackish water) fish such as lg. and sm. bass, perch, walleye, etc. I have by far had the most success with the Rat-L-Trap. A buddy and I caught over 700 bass and 100 walleyes one summer in PA and all but 2 were caught on a Rat-L-Trap. The 1/2 oz is a good size for bass but you can go down to 1/4 or 1/8 and catch perch and crappie. I've also caught stripers at night in OC on 1 and 2 oz. traps. They're very versatile. Use a quick retrieve.

The Mepps Aglia is also a verstile lure that can catch a wide variety of fish. It was invented over 70 yrs ago and still claims to be the best selling lure in the world.

Both of these are very easy to use which is why I always recommend them to beginners. You just cast and retrieve at a good pace. I would also recommend a baitcasting setup. You can cast much farther and covering a lot of ground is important with these lures. Also, the traps have a pretty good drag so it's more difficult to fish them with a spinning rod. Sorry so long.

[shockaholick]

I fish anywhere and everywhere from fly fishing for trout to the surf. I mostly fish the bay and Ocean City but I still do a little fly fishing and hit the reservoirs occasionally. When it comes to freshwater (or brackish water) fish such as lg. and sm. bass, perch, walleye, etc. I have by far had the most success with the Rat-L-Trap. A buddy and I caught over 700 bass and 100 walleyes one summer in PA and all but 2 were caught on a Rat-L-Trap. The 1/2 oz is a good size for bass but you can go down to 1/4 or 1/8 and catch perch and crappie. I've also caught stripers at night in OC on 1 and 2 oz. traps. They're very versatile. Use a quick retrieve.

The Mepps Aglia is also a verstile lure that can catch a wide variety of fish. It was invented over 70 yrs ago and still claims to be the best selling lure in the world.

Both of these are very easy to use which is why I always recommend them to beginners. You just cast and retrieve at a good pace. I would also recommend a baitcasting setup. You can cast much farther and covering a lot of ground is important with these lures. Also, the traps have a pretty good drag so it's more difficult to fish them with a spinning rod. Sorry so long.

Dont apologize MDSmith...all of your input is extremely helpful..I'm using a spinning rod, so I'll try the other lures you were talking about. Gives me a reason to goto Bass Pro Shop this weekend

[shockaholick]

I think I might have to goto BPS today..lol...really good reviews on the mepps MDSmith..thanks for the recommendation. Is there anyway you can demonstrate how to tie a drop shot rig...I went on youtube, and some of those vids are just terrible. Again, thanks for your feedback!

[Redfish12]

I'm not a very accomplished bass angler, but when I do fish for largemouth or smallmouth I've had pretty good luck on tubes, flukes, grubs, and plastic worms either fished wacky or drop shoted. Most things can be fished weedless on an EWG (extra wide gap) hook or the ones with the weighted shank. In moving water or salt I like the weighted shank, or if the fish are deeper.

Here's a drop shot rig. For wacky, just take a small circle hook, like a 1/0 and hook the worm (senkos work well here) in the middle. Cast to a fallen log or somewhere that looks like it would hold a bass and let it sink. When you see the line start to go tight, reel, don't jerk! You'll feel the line come tight and hook the bass in the side of the mouth. Rinse and repeat.

Here's two fluke bass... You can use the flukes for striper too and you can also use these rigs for salt. For freshwater baby bass, watermellon, and white are my favorites. For salt white, albino, arkansas shiner, or the pink/purple ones do well. Drop shot works well for jigging too...