BarefootBassin

Just love reviving old threads, especially with all the great advice in this one. as MANY have mentioned, the fish usually strike on the pause. In cold water, the fish will often mouth the bait and spit it out faster than you can blink. You may be surprised how many strikes you never detect when fish are in that mood. For WINTER, I have found switching to smaller wire hooks, like the Gammy nano coat trebles will help A LOT, but they do run lighter than many stock hooks that size. I prefer the smaller hooks, lighter line, a limber rod to keep them pinned, and adding weight to counter the smaller, lighter hooks. When the weather warms, I go back to using larger hooks and no added weight when the fish are striking with reckless abandon. Just a method I've found works for me. Hope someone finds it useful.

Your summer sounds the way my winter went. I lost track of how many trips in a row I got skunked after 7. As many have said, fishing comes and goes in flurries. I will add that the worst winter I've had turned into a phenomenal spring and summer. Just as some anglers are better with some techniques than others, some also have a better handle on different times of year. I'm not that confident when winter hits, but summer is my most productive time of year, hands down. If you can find someone who produces well during the summer and offer to take them along and show you a few things. If not, just don't give up and it will come around. Lastly, while downsizing can be a great tactic for after a strong front or in clear, shallow water. Excepting those scenarios, summer is NOT the best time to downsize. Bass are cold-blooded. The warmer the water gets, the more they have to eat. Summer is the time to beef up and throw big worms, creatures and jigs. I've had a 14 inch bass choke a 12 inch work on more than one occasion in the summer. Even if I'm going finesse, like a drop shot or Shakey head, I'm still using larger baits (6 in for drop shot and 8-10 in for shakey or bubba shot). Contrary to popular belief, bass will hit a buzzbait or another fast moving top water in the middle of a bright sunny day if you throw it anywhere near shade (docks, weedlines, over hanging trees). Hope that helps. Best of luck!

The havoc version of the bottom hopper is a great shakey-head/drop shot worm, seeing as they are fairly bouyant. The bottom hopper and the pit boss have both been very productive budget baits for me. Berkley just released powerbait versions of both. I'm hoping the powerbait bottom hopper retains the bouyancy that the havoc version has. Probably my favorite shakey-head worm for the money.

Glad that was brought up. War Eagle makes a great buzzbait that has a heavier wire and is very durable, but if they're short striking, I'll switch to a Buckeye lures buzzbait. The Buckeye will have to be bent back into shape after every catch, but they will absolutely get choked. As far as trailer hooks are concerned, consider changing trailers or colors before going to a trailer hook. When bass are short striking, it usually means your presentation needs to be tweaked a little. Most of the time I take the skirt off and change trailers. Don't be afraid to try different trailers. My favorites are zoom toads and z-craws, but any compact creature, swimbait, or even a lizard will work. The only time I fish a trailer hook is if I'm just fishing a plain skirt and I can't get them to bite anything else. Black and white are the only colors you need and you can change trailers to accomplish that easily enough. For what it's worth, I still fish them in the middle of a sunny day in the summer in TX and get bit targeting any type of cover that provides shade or over submerged vegetation. The pic below was from last month at 11 am in sunny, 100 degree weather. You can retrieve them steadily, but I'll pop the rod it pause it for a split second too to coax strikes. Definitely a more versatile bait than they get credit for, so again, don't be afraid to get creative. Probably more info than you wanted, but hopefully that helps.

I think that sums it up well. With the exception of trying to learn a new technique, I'm going to throw what I have confidence in for any given situation. That being said, Not all the fish are in the same mood at the same time, so I'll usually have 1 top water of some kind tied on from spring to fall. Even when the top water bite is really on, I'll usually follow it with some type of mid-depth moving bait and then work the high percentage areas with a jig/worm/flipping bait. Can't tell you how many days I've caught fish from top/middle/bottom of the water column in the same places at the same time. I may not always catch something on top water, but there is rarely a day that I don't at least give it a shot.

Too true. Reviews and recommendations help, but where you live and how you fish have a big impact. When I lived in central FL, I couldn't keep the bass off the Gambler Ugly Otter in the grass. Now I live in North TX and I hardly ever get bit on the same bait in what seem like similar situations. Always worth trying new things.

Some very good points made here. Just to add a bit of my own experience, I believe BamaBass does present some great tactics, but as some have said, one will get discouraged if expecting the same results from the nearby public pond. I love fishing big worms, lizards, and creatures here in TX, but I don't catch a whole lot of bass over 5 lbs in public ponds, especially where catch and release is mandatory and bass become overpopulated. I have found that I still catch much bigger fish on average on with the larger baits, but there is a lot of large forage here. To put things in perspective, I caught just as many bass over 5 lbs in CO, which is NOT known for big bass, using 3" jerkbaits and 4" slug-gos and of course, jigs. The forage in CO is much smaller and I also fished ponds that were private or had little to no pressure and were NOT overpopulated (very important). There are a lot of factors at work that are needed to get big bass. And YES, I have used tactics I learned from BamaBass, Bill Dance, and plenty of others that still catch bass that are larger than average with respect to specific fisheries. Long-winded, yes, but my point is that it's great to try new tactics from watching others and you should never stop learning. Just keep in perspective that your results are still somewhat dependant on the quality of the body of water you are fishing. KEEP learning and KEEP fishing! Your time will come.

Couldn't agree more on this point. I remember watching an interview with Greg Hackney about why his hookup ratio with jigs is phenomenal. He said it was because he would take his time and apply steady pressure and feel the fish before setting the hook. Bass will almost go into a tug-o-war with a jig. Plastics, as Catt mentioned, will just get swallowed or spit out immediately. On a slightly different note, speaking from experience of sight fishing in clear, shallow water, even a small bass can inhale a large worm in one gulp often. I've watched a 10" bass inhale a 12" worm in one gulp. You'd be surprised at how long the fish can have the bait entirely before it is ever felt. While not as common, I've also watched fish spit plastics out almost immediately. If not having seen the fish do this, I'd never have known they had the bait at all. Not to beat a dead horse, but I've never seen a small fish spit plastic out that fast. It was always the larger, wearier bass. IMO If you're fishing soft plastics, set the hook as soon as you feel the fish.

Very true. Whether it's a topwater blowup, watching a fish react in clear water or feeling that 'tick' right before you set the hook on who-knows-what...the addiction is real.

I wouldn't go too crazy with color variation. A couple variations of brown or green pumpkin will work in almost any situation. I also carry some variation of black, but the browns and green pumpkins are more versatile. You can use different color trailers if you want to vary the color without carrying a hundred different jig colors. The common misconception is that you need to match your trailer color to your jig. Think of color selection in terms of water clarity rather than time of year. Darker colors for stained water and browns and green pumpkins for clearer water.

I definitely get better hookups when sight fishing. Some of it seems to depend on the mood of the fish as well. I tend to get better hookups when the bite is more subtle and I have a little more time to react. The ones that get me are the hard and fast strikes when fishing soft plastics. If the fish bites and runs immediately and spits the bait before I have a chance to react. Thankfully that doesn't happen often and it seems to be the dinks that hit and run more often than not.

Former active duty Marine from 2000-2006. Did artillery electronics repair for 3 years and MSG duty for the last 3.

Definitely consider the type of cover you will be throwing to. While there are pricier options that will last longer, I prefer the cheaper jigs when fishing areas where I might get hung up and lose a bait or two. Bitsy bugs are great for this. Arkie jigs, which revolutionizwd the way bass jigs are made, can be bought in smaller sizes at Walmart for $1.50. They don't look like much and don't last as long, but they catch fish. Hard to go wrong with pacas, chigger craws, or baby brush hogs for trailers. Chigger craws don't last as long, but come with the claws molded together. You can tear them apart for a lot of thumping and flapping or leave them connected for the subtle approach. Hope that helps.

I've fished similar situations. As much as I am a large creature/worm junkie, I've found that downsizing to a smaller finesse jig with a small creature or beaver can work magic in high pressure/high clarity situations. A beaver would probably work well too, but there's just something about that flaring skirt that triggers more strikes. Try a small 1/4 or 3/16 oz jig with a smaller 3" beaver or creature. Baby brush hogs, 3" paca or chigger craws are good choices for trailers. You'll still get the big strikes too, like you normally would with a traditional size jig. Just be sure to work it really slow. I'll shake it and twitch it for a good minute near cover of any kind and watch them come out of the woodwork. This is the one scenario where I get way more bites on bottom than on the fall. Hope that helps.

A T-rig senko can be much more versatile than most people think. I'll dead-stick it in post front cold water conditions or fish it somewhat like a a fluke in the spring when the water is warming. I agree that nothing beats a large ribbontail in the summer heat, but I will still fish them throughout the summer in the backs of creeks or twitch and burn them over weedbeds after a summer front has past. As far as creature baits are concerned, they are great for laydowns or anytime you need to target fish that are holding close to cover. I tend to go with the beaver style for heavier cover of any type in the summer. Creature baits are a broad category as well. I will fish larger creature baits like brush hogs, lizards and D-stroyers from late spring to late fall, but I fish them more like I would a large worm in the summer. While flipping and pitching are the more popular techniques, don't discount casting a large creature bait. I've caught plenty of large bass from FL to TX dragging creature baits across grassbeds. I still use them at times in the winter, I just lighten the weight and slow my presentation. The possibilities are limitless. Both types of plastic are highly versatile depending on HOW you fish them. Don't be afraid to experiment and see what works for you.