Best conditions for tackle

[atxtracker]

Which tackle do you use for different conditions? Do plastics, crankbaits or spinners, ect....work better in cold weather or warm weather? Which do you prefer? Not talking colors but which tackle. What works for you?

[Terry G.]

hahah, funny you should ask that question, ask my wife and she will tell "from what tackle box"?.

i have a lot of "junk", stuff i thought, humm fish would bite that. But don't.

the best bait i have ever had any luck with was "fresh dead shrimp", well down here in the Texas coast.

but keep this thread as this year i PLAN on working more with plastics (biodegradable if possible ) and all the guides i have spoken with says fish plastics slow, real slow in winter (now this is considered "in shore" fishing).

some use crank baits but must be the sinking kind and fished again , real slow

[BigBass]

I found this article, I hope it helps!

Selecting The Right Lure Color
Helps Put Fish In The Boat

By Stan Fagerstrom


Experienced fishermen, make that successful fishermen, invariably recognize the importance of color when it comes to lure selection.

Though I usually deal with bass, walleye or panfish in this column, by no means is the importance of color restricted to just those angling fields. I know veteran salmon and steelhead guides who say the same thing.

One of them is Ted Howell, a long time guide who operates out of Longview, WA. Howell has been involved in fishing all of his life. Consider the Luhr Jensen Hot Shots Howell uses so effectively for the migratory species. Ted wants lures like the Hot Shots he uses for trolling to be of certain shades, depending on a number of factors.

Denny Hannah, one of Oregon’s most respected guides, tells me the same thing. When he's after salmon or steelhead you'll find him rigging with specific colors, depending on time of year and water conditions.

I favor miniature plastic worms for a lot of my crappie fishing. Little grubs used on tiny jig heads in the 1/16th-ounce and 1/32nd-ounce categories are deadly panfish baits. The grubs I like best are those produced by Kalin Lures, of Brawley, CA. They have a unique tail action. I visited once with Al Kalin about lure colors, I told him I'd always found a combination of yellow and white to be a consistent crappie producer. I was surprised at his reply.

"Stan," he said, "we've heard that same thing from fishermen in other parts of the country. The yellow and white combination seems to be a consistently good producer in areas of the United States besides your own."

Bass fishermen who have fished as much as I have over the past half-century must have discovered color plays a role where largemouth are concerned. I lived smack on the shore of Southwest Washington’s Silver Lake for more than 30 years. One of the most effective lures I found for Silver Lake largemouth, especially in spring and summer, was a Heddon Basser. It's not made any more. The yellow perch finish in that lure was by far more effective than the several other shades I threw from time to time.

http://www.ifish.net/sflc.jpg
This morning the bass might favor a spinnerbait in the chartreuse color pictured here. Tomorrow it might be something else. Picking the most productive lure color is one of the keys to success in all kinds of angling.

The last thing I'm saying is that colors other than those resembling a yellow perch wouldn’t catch fish. I used Bassers in everything from red and white to black. But day-in and day-out the yellow perch finish caught twice as many. I threw that perch colored lure more than the others, but there were times when I purposely used something else just to see what happened. As soon as I was satisfied those other colors weren't doing the job I'd tie on my yellow perch Basser. Many times that brought action where there had been none before.

A few years ago I wrote a column for this web site in which I talked about a bass fisherman named Blackie Lightfoot. At one time Blackie traveled the country for a well-known lure company. He pulled his bass boat from Maine to Washington State showing local bass fishermen how his company's products caught fish. I fished with him at Shastina Lake and Lake Siskiyou in Northern California and at Potholes Reservoir and Silver Lake in Washington State. Did Blackie's travels around the USA, fishing lots of different places in the process, convince him color made a difference? You can believe it!

One of the lures Lightfoot favored was a Cordell Red Fin. The first color he turned to in Tennessee or Texas or here in the Pacific Northwest was a gold shade. "I've had really good luck on the gold color in that lure," Lightfoot told me. "It was my most consistent producer for largemouth bass."

Blackie was an artist with the Red Fin. It was fascinating just to watch him fish it. He managed to do things with it I've still not been able to duplicate though I've spent hours trying. Something else he did with the Red Fin was to paint a red stripe along the belly of the lure. He carried a set of little paints in his boat. Every now and then if he wasn't getting the kind of results he thought he should out came the paints.

Anybody who travels all over fishing as he goes has to learn something in the process. Blackie Lightfoot is one of the best bass anglers I've ever met. When somebody like him tells me about the importance of color, I'm going to pay attention.

Next time you visit one of the lower Columbia River's broad bars, take time to talk to some of the old timers who are fishing there. Ask them if they have favorite colors in the Spin-N-Glos they heave out into the Columbia's heavy current. You'll discover they do. They'll tell you this color or that is catching most of the fish.

I remember fishing a stretch on the North Fork of the Toutle River for steelhead one morning before Mount St. Helens went on her rampage. An angler across the river hooked six steelhead while all I got was casting practice. I finally hollered across and asked him what he was using. "I've got a Number 8 Spin-N-Glo in red and chartreuse," he hollered back. "That's what they want this morning."

He was right. As soon as I changed to that lure, I too started catching fish. That color has been my favorite in a Spin-N-Glo ever since for steelhead drifting.

Angler with sufficient smarts to tie an Improved Clinch Knot knows it’s wise to do all we can to bend the odds in our favor each time out. Paying close attention to lure color is one way to do that. If you aren’t, you should be.

[zooker]

nothing is ever wrote in stone when it comes to fishing..

on a recent -new years day- fishing trip water temp was 46-47 degrees and muddy water...we found the bass in 2 feet or less of water and they were hitting cranks hard enough to knock slack in the line. we both had bass jump 2-3 feet out of the water..

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a240/zook_n_stien/zooker%20tackle/bass_sm.jpg

bait of choice was cranks...

i normally do better in the winter on cranks or jerkbaits..

the only thing is when you are fishing for bass on cranks in the winter the striped bass tend to bite well also..

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a240/zook_n_stien/zooker%20tackle/striper2a_sm.jpg

zooker

[astrocrazy]

Cool post and great pics.

Jeff

[lilmule]

Each of us have our favorite, our go to bait,but nothing works always-except maybe C4

[Terry G.]

lilmule, you dont happen to live down here in Texas do ya?

naw, i know ya dont but i have a buddy that when in town we blast off and fish some where, his luck is like mine - no fish and he is always swearing he is gona bring c4 , heheh

[lilmule]

Theres a second use makes a very nice hot fire if needed
Glad to know humor is allowed down there as well and is alive and well

[bradburn204]

I only use artificial baits. I have just about everything made. I make my on jigs, spinner baits, ect. The best thing to catch fish on is what you have confidence in. ;)

[Terry G.]

Brad, how about some pictures of the jigs & spinner baits...

[iceman555]

Alot of folks put down crank baits in the winter. The other day I went to a local state park lake in northern Mississippi. Cloudy,windy temp was about 52 degrees with a water temp of 46 degrees. I caught 23 bass in 4 hours one over 7lbs, and 2 more over 5lbs and lots of 1-2lbers in a lake known for its 11 inch bass. Don't be afraid to throw crank baits in cold water just slow them down and hold on!

[lilmule]

If im not mistaken maryland state record was broken last year by a guy who went in a cove and broke the ice up coming back an hr later,on the potomic river.
In ohio Ive thrown texas rigged worms on shelf ice and drug it off the edge and been hammered by 13 -14in largemouth(Tycoon lake).So while cold may slow their feeding habits and conditions offer less food, they feed heavily when opportunity comes knocking.Generally a west bank or cove.

[Terry G.]

Iceman, ya know that "could" have been placed in the fishing report forum also, heheh

[The Bass Doctor]

Iceman is right on the money here.

Slower presentations are the key no matter what you cast, but slow crankin' is deadly. As we know, the bass put the feed bag on and eat well prior to the cold snap, but they still get hungry! Now as long as they do not have to exert too much energy to get the meal, you can catch them in abundance. Crank too fast however and they will not even move from their hideout, so just roll by slowly and hold on... The bite can be explosive!

Tight Lines!



Charlie :cool:

[The Bass Doctor]

Oh and do not forget your reels gear ratio!

For lipped crankbaits, you should NOT use a reel faster than 6.0. The old Browning reels that cranked at 4.3 were the best, but I think Shimano still make a nice cranking reel at 5:1 which works well.

If you find any old Brownings HOLD ON TO THEM. They are worth their weight in gold!

Tight Lines!

Charlie :cool:

[Jay Martin]

Now that's the kind of stripes we hunt for on the Mississippi river in the summer...

[lilmule]

I have a lews reel with that ratio, I use for cranking,wouldnt take $100 bill for it either.
Still casts like a dream as well,even as small as a #5 shadrap.Own a bb also.
Only Browning I have is a 6/3/1,and is about worn out.

[astrocrazy]

I still have 2 of the Lew's reels, one is a BB1 that was made by Shimano. They were the first ones made. Still nice reels, can't beat them for cranks.

Jeff

[atxtracker]

Well as I asked the original question, what is a good time/condition for spinners, cranks, plastics and such? Not colors but type of lure ect.... For the early, late, cloudy, windy, clear or murky water and time of year either cold/cool or sack sicking hot weather? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I'm fishing fresh water too. I've recently started fishing plastics when I used to use almost exclusively crank baits and occasionally spinners. It seems, for me anyway, that plastics are good just about anytime or at least when the wind isn't blowing me so fast I can't keep it still for very long. My confidence was mostly with cranks but like I said I've been using mostly plastics now with pretty good success. Also, fishing mostly for LMB.

[iceman555]

Well as I asked the original question, what is a good time/condition for spinners, cranks, plastics and such? Not colors but type of lure ect.... For the early, late, cloudy, windy, clear or murky water and time of year either cold/cool or sack sicking hot weather? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I'm fishing fresh water too. I've recently started fishing plastics when I used to use almost exclusively crank baits and occasionally spinners. It seems, for me anyway, that plastics are good just about anytime or at least when the wind isn't blowing me so fast I can't keep it still for very long. My confidence was mostly with cranks but like I said I've been using mostly plastics now with pretty good success. Also, fishing mostly for LMB.

The questions you pose are not that simple to answer! There are always exceptions but here are a few general guidelines;
SPRING- when water temp reaches roughly 58 degrees this activates the bass and they begin a transition to the shallows(pre spawn) They will actively feed and will position themselves on points. Throw Big worms, crank baits, and spinner baits. Then comes spawn (hardest fishing all year) throw plastics into beds(bright colors) may have to cast 100 times to one fish! Next is Post spawn, now they fish are very sluggish from bedding, use same baits in same places as pre spawn But(very important) SLOW DOWN and DOWN SIZE the baits.
Summer- The bass will be shallow in early morning and late evening At these times throw topwater baits (buzz baits, Pop -R, frogs) As the day progress the fish will transition out to the points throw crankbaits, and plastics (Carolina rigs are great here) Then they move deep and generally suspend. (suspending fish are second hardest to catch) Try jigging spoons and deep diving crank baits.
FALL- Pretty much same as summer but you will find lots of fall bass busting shad in the middle of the day. You can catch a ton of bass just following the shad all day.Throw shallow running crankbaits when the are busting or burn a spinner bait through there.
Winter- Fish are deep lethargic and hard to catch. Jigging spoons, jigs, and finesse worms on a shaky head are all good options.
Those are some general guidelines to the when these next tips hepl with conditions;
Windy points throw crank baits and spinner baits, flat water throw jigs and worms. Color is very important! general rule Dark colors on dark days and light colors on bright days!
I hope this helps !

[atxtracker]

That's more of what I was looking for. Thank you and thanks to everyone who replied.

[iceman555]

That's more of what I was looking for. Thank you and thanks to everyone who replied.

No problem! I hope that helps. If you have more questions please feel free to ask! Lots of folks around here will be glad to help.