What baits are working on the lake right now?

This question is asked a lot around the tackle shops, marinas, local
watering holes, and any place fisherman meet.

One of the local guides here is highly respected for his "expertise" on
the water.....so a lot of the answers you hear are, "Well, Pete says
slow rolling a spinner with a #3 willow blade is the bait of choice
right now!".

So I'm out at the marina doing some work, and talking to the guys as
they come in...."How'd you do?", "Got a couple pretty good ones!", "What
was ya throwing?", "Oh, a spinner with a #3 willow blade mostly!".

Got me to thinking....most of the fish were being caught with slow
rolling a spinner bait with a #3 willow blade.....Duh, that's all
everyone was fishing, cause Pete said it was the bait of choice right
now!

I reckon the old saying..."You dance with who brung ya!" is true in bass
fishing too.

But it makes me wonder if sometimes we don't create a percieved reality
rather than what may be real, by limiting our thinking when it comes to
"what's working"?

Years ago I had a favorite bait for bass (based on personal success with
it), they don't make em anymore, I don't use em anymore, and it's been
years since I heard the, "The Otay Special", as being the answer to
"What's working?". No one ever fishes it anymore...that's why!

The bass didn't stop eating it...the fisherman stopped throwing it!

I wonder how many good baits have went by the wayside because of a
"percieved reality"?

It's a cold rainy day, and I didn't have much else to do but think about
stuff like this grin.

JK

John,

I find that it is easy to get stuck in a rut using what worked the week
or day before often. This is why I like to have two-up in the boat.
One person throwing what we perceive to be the best bait, and the other
throwing something completely different. Lets say that willow blad
spinner baits have been known to work the week before. Then one of us
will through that and the other may throw top water or a crank depending
on vegetation and depth.

It is not uncommon for the one throwing odd things to catch fish on
everything else that is thrown, but we have had days were fish were only
caught on what was known to work.

Actually I recall once that we were catching fish right off of the edge
of a hydrilla mat. My friend was throwing a chatter shad and I was
using a 7" red/black Culprit carolina rigged. We were both catching
fish, but he was only getting the ones chasing bait fish and I was
getting bigger fish so he switch to a Bass Assassin red/black. He did
not get a single hit. I threw him a culprit and within minutes he had a
nice fish. Made me wonder if something as subtle as a different tail
movement made that much difference, but it must have.

-Bennett

John Kerr wrote:
This question is asked a lot around the tackle shops, marinas, local
watering holes, and any place fisherman meet.

One of the local guides here is highly respected for his "expertise" on
the water.....so a lot of the answers you hear are, "Well, Pete says
slow rolling a spinner with a #3 willow blade is the bait of choice
right now!".

So I'm out at the marina doing some work, and talking to the guys as
they come in...."How'd you do?", "Got a couple pretty good ones!", "What
was ya throwing?", "Oh, a spinner with a #3 willow blade mostly!".

Got me to thinking....most of the fish were being caught with slow
rolling a spinner bait with a #3 willow blade.....Duh, that's all
everyone was fishing, cause Pete said it was the bait of choice right
now!

I reckon the old saying..."You dance with who brung ya!" is true in bass
fishing too.

But it makes me wonder if sometimes we don't create a percieved reality
rather than what may be real, by limiting our thinking when it comes to
"what's working"?

Years ago I had a favorite bait for bass (based on personal success with
it), they don't make em anymore, I don't use em anymore, and it's been
years since I heard the, "The Otay Special", as being the answer to
"What's working?". No one ever fishes it anymore...that's why!

The bass didn't stop eating it...the fisherman stopped throwing it!

I wonder how many good baits have went by the wayside because of a
"percieved reality"?

It's a cold rainy day, and I didn't have much else to do but think about
stuff like this grin.

JK

Man, I wish you were right about it John, but I have fished so many times
with a partner that sometimes it is something as subtle as a small change in
color or lure choice,

But when an angler gets some good fishing on a bait or lure, you can bet
that bait or lure will be thrown again and again until it doesn't produce.
Confidence also plays a part in the Lure or bait catching fish, at least I
believe it does. "Hell it caught fish for that guy" :It's gotta work for me"


I have also seen the other side of subtle changes, only not in lures or
baits, but in presentation. Have been on the back of many a boat. I love
studying how others fish. I watch, I learn and I adjust. There have been
times when fishing the same baits on the same line and casting to the same
area's where I have really outfished the other person. How long you pause,
or how fast you reel somedays has made all the difference in catching fish
and not catching fish.

I remember fishing one day up in PA with my buddy Jeremy when he was
relatively new to fishing. We were fishing speedworms that day and he had a
steady topwater retrieve and I was seeing him get swirls and follow ups but
no fish. I tied on the same color speedworm and added a small hesitation
type twitch when retrieving the worm, it was barely noticible but made the
difference as I boated 6 fish to his 1. The minute I told him what I was
doing he grabbed a few more fish of his own. I have also been on the
opposite end of that scenario where I just couldn't see what my partner was
doing differently. It was frustrating to say the least.

John Kerr wrote:

Got me to thinking....most of the fish were being caught with slow
rolling a spinner bait with a #3 willow blade.....Duh, that's all
everyone was fishing, cause Pete said it was the bait of choice right
now!

Self fulfilling prophecy.

Until Pete comes into the shop and tells somebody "They switched over
hard to a Shad Rap," or something along those lines, most of the
followers will be fishing his last hot lure. Most of the guys who do
their own thinking don't talk about what's working (or they simply lie
like rugs) so of the guys who are catching 'em, the one with the loose
lips becomes the local expert by default. And the followers do what
followers do best.

John, I just applauded your statements so hard that I hurt my hands! Truer
words were never spoken.

Bob Rickard
.................................................. .................................................. ...................................
"John Kerr" wrote in message
...

This question is asked a lot around the tackle shops, marinas, local
watering holes, and any place fisherman meet.

One of the local guides here is highly respected for his "expertise" on
the water.....so a lot of the answers you hear are, "Well, Pete says
slow rolling a spinner with a #3 willow blade is the bait of choice
right now!".

So I'm out at the marina doing some work, and talking to the guys as
they come in...."How'd you do?", "Got a couple pretty good ones!", "What
was ya throwing?", "Oh, a spinner with a #3 willow blade mostly!".

Got me to thinking....most of the fish were being caught with slow
rolling a spinner bait with a #3 willow blade.....Duh, that's all
everyone was fishing, cause Pete said it was the bait of choice right
now!

I reckon the old saying..."You dance with who brung ya!" is true in bass
fishing too.

But it makes me wonder if sometimes we don't create a percieved reality
rather than what may be real, by limiting our thinking when it comes to
"what's working"?

Years ago I had a favorite bait for bass (based on personal success with
it), they don't make em anymore, I don't use em anymore, and it's been
years since I heard the, "The Otay Special", as being the answer to
"What's working?". No one ever fishes it anymore...that's why!

The bass didn't stop eating it...the fisherman stopped throwing it!

I wonder how many good baits have went by the wayside because of a
"percieved reality"?

It's a cold rainy day, and I didn't have much else to do but think about
stuff like this grin.

JK

What baits are working on the lake right now?

(OhioFishking)

****I remember fishing one day up in PA with my buddy Jeremy
when he was relatively new to fishing. We were fishing speedworms that
day and he had a steady topwater retrieve and I was seeing him get
swirls and follow ups but no fish. I tied on the same color speedworm
and added a small hesitation type twitch when retrieving the worm, it
was barely noticible but made the difference as I boated 6 fish to his
1. The minute I told him what I was doing he grabbed a few more fish of
his own. I have also been on the opposite end of that scenario where I
just couldn't see what my partner was doing differently. It was
frustrating to say the least.
========
I agree....I have always maintained that the presentation was as
important as any other aspect of the "game".

I believe what limited success I have had at bass fishing is due to my
patience in trying different presentations of the bait. If I really
think there's a fish there....I can sit there and offer my bait to them
a hundred times, in 20 different ways.

I always figured if I wasn't presenting the bait right for the
conditions...then it wouldn't help to not present it right in 20 other
different locations .

John K

"John Kerr" wrote in message
...

This question is asked a lot around the tackle shops, marinas, local
watering holes, and any place fisherman meet.

One of the local guides here is highly respected for his "expertise" on
the water.....so a lot of the answers you hear are, "Well, Pete says
slow rolling a spinner with a #3 willow blade is the bait of choice
right now!".

So I'm out at the marina doing some work, and talking to the guys as
they come in...."How'd you do?", "Got a couple pretty good ones!", "What
was ya throwing?", "Oh, a spinner with a #3 willow blade mostly!".

Got me to thinking....most of the fish were being caught with slow
rolling a spinner bait with a #3 willow blade.....Duh, that's all
everyone was fishing, cause Pete said it was the bait of choice right
now!

I reckon the old saying..."You dance with who brung ya!" is true in bass
fishing too.

But it makes me wonder if sometimes we don't create a percieved reality
rather than what may be real, by limiting our thinking when it comes to
"what's working"?

Years ago I had a favorite bait for bass (based on personal success with
it), they don't make em anymore, I don't use em anymore, and it's been
years since I heard the, "The Otay Special", as being the answer to
"What's working?". No one ever fishes it anymore...that's why!

The bass didn't stop eating it...the fisherman stopped throwing it!

I wonder how many good baits have went by the wayside because of a
"percieved reality"?

It's a cold rainy day, and I didn't have much else to do but think about
stuff like this grin.

JK


You know John. To a certain extant that has got to be true. I know a while
back I was out fun fishing with a friend of mine and I decided to do
something different. I have a box of assorted plastics in the boat that my
son gave me for Christmas or my birthday or maybe father's day. Its been in
the boat for a while, and none of the baits really turn me on. I decided I
was only going to fish with baits out of that box no-matter what until I
caught a fish with one of them so I could tell my son I caught fish with it.
A wacky rigged brown and green french fry did teh trick. It nailed three
rats in short order.

You only catch fish with what you fish with.

I don't think I have taken that box out of the locker since. Hmmm. I have
zeroed two out of my last three times on the water. Maybe I should break
out "The Box."


--
Bob La Londe
Fishing Arizona & The Colorado River
Fishing Forums & Contests
http://www.YumaBassMan.com



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