1st Cast Fishing Lures
Great information on great lures.Archive for February, 2008
As bass fisherman we need every advantage we can get to have a successful day on the lake. During cold water periods one of those advantages would be the 5 Inch Trick Sticks. One of my favorites for this time of year would be the Shimmer Shad color. This is a great imitation of a dying shad. There is a new technique that is being talked about which is wacky rigging a shaky head jig. These Trick Sticks work great for that technique. As many of you know, just Texas rigging this bait gives it great action. But when you wacky rig it on a shaky head, you better watch your line and hang on.
Spring! I don’t know about you but it can’t get here fast enough for me. This is the time of year that I love when it comes to bass fishing. The chance to catch the bass of a life time is no greater than spring. You have the pre-spawn and spawn that in my opinion is some of the best fishing of the entire year. Post spawn can be pretty special also even though it is tougher to get the bite depending on the stage that they are in. I guess if it was that easy, everyone would have all kinds of trophies on the wall.
Early spring offers a little bit of everything to the bass fisherman. One day it may be snowing and two days later you may have sunny skies and 55 degrees. This is the time of year that the water is trying to warm up if mother nature would cooperate. When the water starts hitting the mid to high 40’s and through the low 50’s, the game is on! Right now on most of the lakes in my area, low 40’s seems to be the norm. If anyone watched the Classic last weekend, I think we all learned just how hard it can be to catch fish in those conditions. Slow is the word. Someone once told me, and I am sure we have all heard it that if you think you are fishing slow in these conditions, slow down some more. What are the baits that work the best in these conditions? I have found over the years that there are a couple of baits that work the best for me and they are standards for anyone who competes or fishes for fun this time of year. First would be the Jig. Typically a heavy football jig using fluorocarbon line. The jig is a universal bass fishing tool that can be fished in a variety of ways. During this time of year the best is to find that structure or drop off and fish it slow and thoroughly. Colors depend on your water. Second would be a suspending jerk bait. There are so many quality jerk baits on the market right now that it would be hard to pick a favorite. I have a few that I through that work best for me on the lakes I fish. They are all the big names you might imagine. Patience is the key to both of these baits. I have noticed that the jerk bait works a little better in my case when there is cloud cover or a little ripple on the water. It helps break up the profile so the bass don’t catch on so quick. As I said these are two of the standards when fishing cold water in early spring before or during pre-spawn. Warmer water can call for other tactics.
The third way that I have found to coax these monsters into taking a bite is the Shaky Head with a Finesse worm attached. This is one of the best ways that I have found to produce a bite when they are few and far between. Again, this method requires a lot of patience and attention. There will be times with the Shaky Head that you either do not feel the bite or you barely feel the bite. But this method works and will produce when others will not. This method has really caught fire over the last year and a half and doesn’t look like it will go away any time soon. If you haven’t tried it, I suggest you do. Use a spinning rod and experiment. Now is a great time to try it out. All you need is a Shaky Head Jig, Finesse Worms and few takers. Let the bass tell you what they want.
As I mentioned above, when the water starts to warm other techniques come into play. These can range from crank-baits, Carolina rigged lizards,tubes for bedding bass, jigs with craws and so on. I will cover this in my next post.
For now, lets get ready for another season on the water. The best idea is to be prepared for anything and be safe.
Get the Right Competition Bass Lures for Your Next Trip
By Ronald F. Dodson, Ph.D.
There are several reasons that a bass strikes a lure. These include instinct reaction, agitation, defense of territory, or because they are hungry or think that they are hungry. I have often been asked by beginner anglers which of these are the most important. That’s easy since striking in protection of territory is pretty much limited to defending a nest it therefore represents only a small window of time in the life of a female bass.
On the other hand, instinct reaction and feeding are really interlocked as they are in most predators. Because it is my strong belief that these are the reasons that I catch most of my fish, I have spent a considerable amount of time studying what they eat and likewise the color and patterns of those creatures.
If I were to ask what you consider the most important type of food for bass, I should get an answer from a from a fisherman that returns the answer with a question. Or I should say questions of where? what time of year? and even some specific points like what time of day? and at what depth? Not to mention factors that add other complications such as - what is the size of the lake?
Bass fishing can be pretty drab if you’re not using the right lures. Every good fisherman knows that top quality, durable and enticing lures are essential to a good day on the water. The problem is most people are so accustomed to paying the absurd prices at sporting goods stores OR they end up with a poor quality lure that’s snatched off by water hazards or crafty fish.
These are the dangers of traditional brick and mortar retailers. The sporting goods stores present themselves as experts with unique access to special products. The simple fact of the matter is that the internet has now given everyone that same special access. Now I’ll never have to pay bloated prices or deal with an easily lost lure again. I’ve found my outlet for soft plastic fishing lures!
Bass fishing is the sport of angling for the North American gamefish known colloquially as the black bass. There are numerous black bass species considered as gamefish in North America, including largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui), Kentucky bass or spotted bass (Micropterus punctatus), Guadalupe bass (Micropterus treculii), and many other species and subspecies of the genus Micropterus. Though referred to as bass, all are actually members of the sunfish family (Centrarchidae: order Perciformes).
Modern bass fishing has evolved into a multi-billion dollar industry. The sport has changed drastically since its beginnings in the late 1800s. From humble beginnings, the black bass has become the second most specifically sought-after game fish in the United States. The sport has driven the development of all manner of fishing gear, including rods, reels, lines, bass-fishing lures, electronic depth and fish-finding instruments, drift boats, float tubes, and specialized bass boats.
