Rookiepilot2003

Hey everyone, Tomorrow I have plans on going to a lake that has smallmouth and it will be my first time fishing for them as I have only been exposed to largemouth bass. I was wondering how my tactics will have to change to be successful. I have had great success with wacky rigged stick baits for largemouth and am hoping that smallmouth will take the same bait only in a smaller size. I am planning on using 4 inch stick baits and maybe some gitzit tubes. Anybody have any other suggestions or advice on baits or tactics that I would need to changing over from largemouth bass. Thanks for any suggestions and take care.

Well, yesterday I tried fishing a yum dinger rigged weighless t-rigged and I ended up catching fish on it. I think it was just a lack of confidence in it that kept me from being successful. I did have more luck wacky rigging afterwards which leads me to believe that when the structure and conditions allow you to wacky rig, that is in fact the way to go with stick baits and the texas rig is ideal for most other soft plastics. Thanks everyone for the replies and help, it is always appreciated.

I make my own stick baits with curl tails. All you do is take your favorite stick bait and a grub about the same body thickness, cut off a bit of the stick bait and the nose of the grub. Then using a cigarette lighter or super glue, attach the two. You can make some good color combos this way which is what I do when I need more action to the stick bait.

I will have to try fishing the worms texas rigged but with a small weight instead of weightless and see how that goes.Wacky rigging has always produced when nothing else is but I do not want to limit myself to just using that just because it works. Thanks everyone

Hey everyone, recently I have been trying to fish mainly soft plastics in order to become more proficient with them. In particular, I have had the most luck with senko style stick baits in the 3 to 5 inch size. All the fish I have caught were hooked when I was fishing wacky style but I never got any bites fishing them weightless texas rigged. Which rigging methods gets you guys the most fish and is there a way to make a better presentation with the texas rig so that it catches as well as the wacky rig because the weeds are really growing in and I'm starting to pull in too many weeds with the exposed hook of a wacky rig. As, always, all responses are greatly appreciated. Thanks and have a wonderful day.

Maybe I do need to slow down more I don't know but I thought I was already fishing it pretty darn slow. It maybe takes me a minute to reel it back in for another cast. The thing is the water is still pretty cold so that may have something to do with it being in Colorado and all. I think the bass here spawn late May into June. I will keep trying no doubt but it can get discouraging when it just isn't working. Thanks guys for your replies.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Bill, thank you for the great video. Do you keep your rod tip pretty low or horizontal when you are twitching the senko? Also, would you work it about the same if weightless texas rigged? Thanks again.

Hi everyone, I have read everything I could find about fishing senkos and senko style baits and have tried every which way to fish them in small lake holding bass 12" to 16" average but have had no success. I have caught fish other ways but not with senkos. I know these baits will catch fish but I just cannot figure them out. I see videos of kids catching fish on senkos but I can't get anything. I tried weightless texas rigged, and wacky, different colors, sizes but nothing. Could certain fish that mainly feed on crawfish just not go after a bait like the senko? Wouldn't the fish still bite it out of instinct? The lake is small and shaped like a bowl so I have to fan cast since there are no points or structure to speak of. Please help with any advice or suggestions especially if any of you had a similar thing happen where a lure that has been proven to catch so many fish just doesn't work. As always, I apreciate any advice. Thanks

Reading this makes me feel bad as I have never had success with inline spinners. Beetle spin yes but not inline spinners. I fish small lakes with lots of smaller bass in them and tried blue fox and aglia spinners but nothing. I just cast it out and wait a few seconds for it to sink and the slowly retrieve. Maybe that's what I am doing wrong? How do you guys fish it close to bottom and know it is there all the time? The water is dingy with visibility maybe a couple of feet and I have been using spinners with silver blades. Would gold be better in this case? I would love to start using these effective lures to their full potential. Thanks for any suggestions everyone.

This may be a silly question but have any of you guys fished a whole season without using soft plastics? In other words, using only spinnerbait or crankbait type baits, and did you have decent success or is it limiting too much to one type of fishing. I know some of us lack patience to fish soft plastics and some days I think I lack the patience big time especially when I have been skunked a time or two and am eager to catch something to get my spirits up. Thanks

I think smalljaw67 may be right that the place I fish at might just require me to use crankbaits and spinnerbaits due to the fact that there isn't a whole lot of structure and targets to cast to. For some reason however, I had my mind set on fishing plastics because I see so many fish caught on them. Thanks guys for your help.

Thanks everyone. All great comments. One thing is that so many places I have read that the texas rig is by no means a search bait and while carolina rig is. I am thinking of using the carolina rig but with a fairly short leader like 18 inches or less, as light a weight as possible, and seeing how that works. My understanding is the shorter the leader the easier it is to feel bites and set the hook as well.

Hey guys, I am trying to decide what the best rig would be for me to concentrate on getting confidence in first. The places I fish are mostly little ponds with really no visible structure and shaped like bowls. The water is stained in most of them. I have been reading extensively on the texas rig and carolina rig and feel that since there is no real targets to cast to, a carolina rig would be better suited for my situation as it would act like a search bait in a sense. It would have to be more like a finesse carolina rig/split shot rig due to shallow water. Would you guys recommend the carolina rig to a beginner over a texas rig? Some say it is easier to detect bites on a carolina. Is this true? Texas rig kinda seems like you have to have a specific target to cast towards when there really isn't much in the way of targets where I fish. Any of your input is greatly appreciated as always. I love to learn new things so please make any suggestions that may help. Thanks everyone.

Thanks Everyone for the replies. Scrutch thank you very much for the articles those are very helpful and answered lots of questions that I was wondering about.

Hey Everyone, I have a question mostly for shorebound bass fisherman but I am sure it applies to everyone. I have a feeling that I tend to stick with one bait too long and don't change when I could be catching fish on something else. So, how long do you guys take before you either change lure, color, retrieve, or location, and which would you change first and most often when you are fishing an area that has produced before but isn't anymore? If you can give me maybe a time frame or a rule of thumb for the number of casts that you would do in an area before change is needed I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks everyone.

CoBass, I also live in Denver and I agree with you on not fishing larger waters. I tend to fish smaller ponds as well. Started fishing for bass last year and had a bit of success but it was a hit and miss type of thing and I think it may have been my technique or something. I have heard so many good things about senkos and senko style baits but I have yet to catch anything on one. Is this a good beginner bait to try or am I moving too fast with trying this style of fishing? Would maybe spinners be a better choice for beginners? As always, any help is greatly appreciated.

That 3 tap system sounds great I will keep that in mind. Thanks all for your great replies. I'm sure I will have lots more questions to come as I think of them.

Thanks for the quick replies and great tips scorcher. I will take all of your tips and make sure to put them to use next time out. I do have more questions if I may. When fishing worms do you guys keep the line really tight or is there a bit of a bow in the line and from all the previous reading I have done they all say to be super quick because the bass picks up the bait and spits it out before you even know it. Do I need to be that quick or does the fish hold on to the bait at least long enough for me to know it's there? I mean the last thing I wanna do is gut hook fish if I have to have lightning quick reflexes to hook them properly. Thank again and tight lines.

Hey Everyone, I'm not new to fishing but I just started bass fishing. I fished a bit last summer but not much luck. I live in Colorado and even though it is not known as bass country, I take what I can get. There are plenty of little lakes and ponds that hold bass for me to learn on and that's where your tips come in. I've read many books, seen many videos but am still unclear about soft plastics retrieval techniques, such as rod position and retrieval speed. When you guys say twitch here and there, how much do I move the rod? I know it's a lot of questions and maybe I wasn't specific enough but any tips are greatly appreciated to get me started in this great sport.