Bazoo

Yeah, I fish farther out, but I normally work my lure all the way back unless I'm confident nothing is there. I've found a few bass that have backed into the coontail moss right at shore that way, though no monster yet.

My buddy and I joke when we're bass fishing if we're having a hard day: "If it gets any harder I may have to put on a roostertail!"

I appreciate all the replies. I guess my thinking was not necessarily OLD lures, but the old lures that are considered beginner lures, the ones like a roostertail and beetle spin that takes little skill to use, but works for everyone. Sleeper lures, those that everyone overlooks but are still great lures. Crankbaits aren't those... everyone knows about and uses crankbaits. It seems few people fish roostertails because they are considered a kids lure. Of all the spinnerbaits I've tried on the local lake, the only one that has worked from the shore was the Terminator I lost. I've caught several fish on other spinnerbaits when on my boat, away from the heavily pressured areas.

I suppose the reason I ask is that up until recently, I've fished with very few other people. I grew up fishing in the pond behind my house, then after we moved, a pond up the road. I didn't grow up in a fishing family/culture.

Thanks all for the replies.

If I'm not mistaken, the bream spawn was going on a month ago and is still going? HECK YES I fish it, anywhere there is bream I fish something that is bream colored and or bream beds trying to get bass. Got me some junebug flukes for the occasion.

I need all the help I can get! Thanks.

Thanks for the replies. One of the spots I have had this issue is a 2 acre private lake I fish. It's not like there aren't bass in the area, and by open water, we're talking from the shore, with moss and so forth. I'll often catch bass in the same spots after getting bream nibbling by changing color or presentation. Course we're not talking huge bass, we're talking 3lb or less. On the public lake, one of the spots that is a good spot is right by a culvert where slow moving creek enters. There isn't anything for cover for bream other than a few rocks and submerged logs/sticks. It's not thick cover by any means. But I've caught plenty of bass in the immediate area that I get bream nibbles.

When I think of old-school lures that work great I think of: Roostertails, Beetle Spins, Original Rapalas, curly tail grubs on jigheads. Often these are thought of as beginner lures because they are inexpensive and work well. I still fish them. What are the other old-school lures that are often overlooked today?

I often fish where there are lots of bream. Sunfish, bluegill, others. I have noticed that a lot of times I get nibbled by them when using a color, but I don't get bass hitting me. Junebug, which I know is a bass color, will often attract bream and I get nibbles, but not bass. When this happens, should I change colors? Should I go green pumpkin? White? Something else? Or should is this a good sign for bass, and thus stick with the original color? I've had this happen a lot, and often when it does, I don't catch bass with that color. That said, I often get skunked, especially at the local heavily pressured lake.

This thread got me to thinking. In it, the OP is outfished. If you were fishing and a friend was tearing them up on a given lure, would it be improper/rude to change lures and tie on a similar/identical model? Or do you keep using something else so as to not step on their toes?

There's a difference between catching fish, and tearing them up. Welcome to the forum. ------------------------------------------------------ As for the original post... why didn't yall tie on yalls rapalas too?

I am new... not new to bass fishing, but new to trying to master it, and as a result, mastering a small amount of techniques. I focuse on several techniques I want to master at a time. The first being soft plastic worms/lizards in the form of Texas rig weightless, weighted, split shot, or Carolina rig have been my focus for over a year. I've done very well, and they (not the Carolina rig) have become my confidence lure. Years ago, as a kid I used a plastic worm and caught a fish, and other than that, never had success with, nor tried plastic worms much. But reading here, and knowing in general that plastic worms are top fish producers, I made it a point to master them. I often fish with just soft plastics, usually about 3 varieties. Finesse worms, of which the colors include green pumpkin, watermelon red (my favorite), junebug. Curly tail worms such as Power worms in watermelon seed (the only color that I like that's available to me local), Zoom U tail in red shad. Zoom lizards in green pumpkin, black/blue, black/chartreuse, junebug. Senkos 297. Along with those I'll use any variety of other soft plastics occasionally, testing sizes, or colors, or other brands. Most of them I expect to work great but end up not working great, or at least not for the waters/times I fish. I have some black culprit worms that are in this category. For some reason they ain't worked, but I feel it... I know a black worm will work, maybe not the culprit, as it's kinda fat. But a Power worm, or U tail would. So why doesn't the culprit work? cause I don't have confidence to fish it very long before changing colors lures. Now onto flukes, which is basically a plastic worm that's shad shaped. It's rigged with one of the above mentioned rigging methods, usually weightless texas rigged. I'm still mastering it, I'm still building confidence with it. I think it's better to master 1 or 2 things at a time, and then move into other techniques.

Bass can see 5x better than we can. I always have had luck with normal colors regardless of water clarity or light conditions. I sometimes will try chartreuse, but not solely because of dingy water.

I've been thinking about trying my hand at building rods. That said, I don't have a specific need. I am happy enough with factory rods. For me, it'd be a crap shoot to get something that I would end up liking and needing. What about the money involved? If I am happy enough with several of the sub $100 dollar rods that are available, is there any way I'd actually save money?

Estwing 16oz ripping hammer, blue.

Lots of interesting picks! I guess my pick will be a 4" Berkley Power Grub in colors watermelon seed and white with 1/4 ounce round head jig with a wire baitkeeper tab. LOL, well. I currently don't have a running vehicle. I had the transmission go out on my van. So I have another car, but it's not running. Blew the radiator dragging the van home, now looks like it's got a blown head gasket. So... fixable, but... I am having fishing withdrawals.

Thanks for all the responses. Hmm, some bass are only nocturnal, and some only during daylight. I hadn't thought of that possibility. Man... got me to thinking, a junebug fluke at night might be just the stuff.

Interesting responses. I've fished at night in the fall and winter on a rare occasion. There is a small community pond I fish at sometimes at night, and have fished it during winter with no results. I also fished my local city lake once for a bit past dusk. It's normally closed at night, but they were leaving the gates unlocked and the attendant told us to fish as long as we liked that night. It was february best I recall. Myself and my buddy didn't get anything. Both of those is/was from the bank.

You're invited to go fishing with me, it'll be Kentucky. It could be anywhere from Dale Hollow Lake, Kentucky Lake, the Ohio River, or a Farm pond. You can only bring 1 type of lure but you can have 2 colors of the exact same thing. So... if you choose spinnerbait, you can have multiples of them in case you lose them, but they have to be identical in size, brand, and blade configuration, with the only variation being 2 different colors. If you choose a soft plastic, such as a Zoom Finesse Worm, you cannot have Trick Worms or other brands of similar design, but you can have 2 colors. PLUS, you must rig it the same way. You can't fish it weighted Texas rigged and then switch to a Carolina rig, or weightless Texas rig. So what do you pick, and does it change if the state/region changes?

During the summer, bass fishing is productive at night. Water temperature is up, and bass hide from the heat it seems. But what about during fall when water temperatures are dropping? Will there still be some bass feeding at night? What about winter when the water temperatures stay low except for sunny days? Do bass just stop feeding at night, or does the night bite just slow down?

Awesome. I guess I need to figure something out for a plug knocker, since I am always losing stuff. Might save a few bucks here and there.

Awesome! I wasn't aware of those varieties. Thank you for sharing.

Prayers for yall.

The farthest I have ever cast is 60 yards. I paced it, and that was with a 1/2 oz weight going for distance. The farthest I can cast with any amount of accuracy is about 40 yards. At 25-30 yards though I am reasonably accurate. I can hit an 18" target normally at that distance, and when I'm on I get centered on a smaller target, but will cast over or short. So distance judging is probably my weak point. When I'm on, at 25 yards I can sink a spinnerbait in a lawnmower tire I use to practice casting at. It makes a satisfying jump when you flip the spinnerbait out of the center.