Warm Weather Lure Selection

[Mitch f]

There are a lot of anglers that depend upon soft plastics fished on or near the bottom, and there is no doubt that they produce lots of fish. But I've proven to my own satisfaction that they aren't any better than the lures I fish. I never start out fishing tubes or jigs in warm weather; even though I've got one tied on a rod, it's mostly a lure of last resort for me. And if the fish aren't hitting the stuff I usually use, they usually aren't hitting tubes or jigs, either. For me, these lures are tools for fishing certain specific situations.

However, a lot of what I use is dictated by the way I cover the water. Fishing from a canoe and not bothering to get out and really concentrate on what looks like the best spots, fishing stuff more slowly close to the bottom just isn't as efficient. Basically, the more quality casts I make, the more fish I catch, and my goal is to give every fish in the river one good chance to hit. I've watched a lot of guys fish with the slower stuff on the bottom, and in my opinion they spend too much time fishing unproductive water. If you don't get a bite the first good cast to a good spot, much of the time you might as well move on. You might eventually pester a fish into taking, but in the meantime I've put my lure in front of a bunch more fish and probably caught a few. On the other hand, if you find a pod of active fish, you can catch several on a tube, while I've probably caught one and moved on.

The other thing I've noticed is that some anglers use a lot of small lures. Sammy 65? I've NEVER used a topwater that small, even on small, clear, wading size creeks. The Sammy 85 and similar topwaters are as small as I ever go, and I use lures the size of the Sammy 100 more often, and go up to the 115 if the water is murky. The lures the size of the Sammy 85 are mainly for wading size water, or exceptionally clear, marginally floatable creeks. It's the same with the fluke type lures. The Superfluke is just about the perfect size for most situations. I've tried the Superfluke Junior with very little success on good fish. It's not that small lures can't catch big fish, it's just that my experience has been that bigger lures (up to a point) catch more big fish while not catching significantly fewer smaller ones, with the added bonus of not being as attractive to sunfish so you're not yanking a longear out of a spot that got there before the 18 inch smallie could reach your lure.

In the summer, when you cover as many miles a day as you do, it more than makes up for the lack of fishing out every hole thoroughly with a small plastic bait on a jig. In the winter, as you well know, its almost the opposite because the fish are so concentrated. You've taught me a lot about summer fishing!

[mjk86]

Wow alot of baits listed here i have never really given a chance. i would say that 95% of all the river fishing i do is with a gitzit and 80% of that was a 3.5 inch brown with purple flaked gitzit. i have never had a problem bringing in fish and rarely have a bad day(<10). the other 5% is a spook jr... so what size flukes are you guys throwing and senkos. i have never thrown a senko but fish flukes often at the lake. wacky worms have caught my eye and i will be throwing them alot this year. also have hardly ever thrown a crankbait/jerkbait in any situation but the river of all places geez. i guess i need to get out and fish with different people or hangout on the forums more. looks like my river bag is going to have to get a whole lot bigger

For wacky worms get 4-5inch senko, in green pumpkin or green with some color flake. Rig it wacky style on a 2/0 EWG worm hook. If its less than 10ft of water fish it weightless. I just let if fall completely naturally...it should be completely horizontal in the water. I dont move it at all. I just watch my line or feel for a bump. If no takers after 30 seconds reel in and recast. They almost always hit it on the first fall.

[Kayser]

I fish a smaller, dirtier river most of the time for smallmouth. My current favorite is a fly rod and #2 popper laid out for 10 seconds, then on to a new spot. A cheap Norman shallow crank in chrome/blue had produced very well for me, as have small buzzbaits and jerkbaits.

If I'm after dinner (spots and sunfish) in addition to smallies, I'll put on a strike king bitsy bug with a trailer or a black yum wooly bug on an Eakins stand-up jighead. 3" white grub on a 1/8oz hot pink jighead can be burned or hopped back to catch almost anything. Or, you know, a nightcrawler and split shot to have a chance at some redhorse and catfish.

[Guest]

I don't like covering more than 4 miles of river in one day. I like to slow down & grind each spot. It's a slow methodical approach that most people don't have the patience to pull off.

I can tell you from my experience that your numbers go down when your fishing moving baits, but your quality goes up.

For me, I like catch every bass in every little hole & run along the creek. Worm fishing is the best way to catch most bass. Sure, they'll hit a top water, but only the most aggressive fish will bite it. However I can coax inactive fish with a worm by casting repeatedly into the same spot. Much like the concept of crankbait fishing when you have to duplicate your casts each time.

It's a matter of preference. I like fishing slower than 90% of other anglers. Some people enjoy paddling 8miles a day & fishing fast with reaction baits. That's fine too. It just doesn't suit my style.