I was going through some of my salt water stuff.

These got me thinking.  What are some of the larger baits out there?  Bigger is better right?  I was thinking of relaying my salt stuff into the fresh water.  Tomorrow we will be pulling daisy chains rigged with rubber perch,lol (I kid, I kid) ...but seriously, one guy that lives on our lake also fishes salt with me.  Last year he took out the wrong box when I picked him up from his shore.  I offered to go back but he said "don't worry about it, a fish is a fish".  He had his saltwater box.

He was right.  From his box, he chose a big 11" topwater, like a pencil popper that has a cup up front for popping.  He hit 2 fish over 5 pounds and continued to be successful with it all summer.

Now, this is topwater, probably one of the most "transferrable" types of baits.  My question is,...how about salt water jigs,  Bucktails to 5 oz, rat-l-traps to 4 ounces, etc.

One issue I can see is the rod needed to loft these baits may be too much rod for the quarry we are chasing but other than that,...anyone ever give this train of thought a run?

Yes I fish some saltwater plugs for bass  with sucess . I think it has more to do with the bass seeing something different in my case.

I fish a the lake out back here a lot. so much the bass propably have tender mouths from being caught so much. I noticed that the same bass stick around the same areas because I catch the same ones in the same spots.

So after a couple times catching them on the same lure they seem to stop biting it. I tie on something new and can catch them a couple more times. I was using a heddon Pop N Image jr . and catching lots of bass then the bite slowed on it . I have a big blue and silver saltwater rebel plug 10 inches, I put it on and caught bass in the area I had just fished with the smaller popper.

I think the big baits do work. I have not tried the bucktails for I am not much of a jig fisherman but its worth a try , so I say yes try them anyhow. I have found that even small bass will hit a large plug .

Let us know how you do .

funny you mention the 10" rebel.  We were fishing my buddies small pond, he had some other company come over.  One guy was a newbie, to say the least.  He showed up with a saltwater ugly stick and that rebel lure(but a broken back one).  

we all thru $5 in the pot, winner take all, 7 guys.  We had a grand ole time making jokes about the new guy and his equipment but he was a great sport about it, making jokes against himself even,...he just wasn't experienced, that's all.

Guess who took my money home that night.  

You just never know till you try I guess.  when the water warms up a bit, I'm going to give a few choice baits a try.

I've seen bass chase some really big forage.

I was fishing for some smallies up in Muncie on the White River after work and saw a huge fish, probably in the 6lb.+ range going after some huge suckers that IMO, would never fit in its mouth.

I have also caught some nice bass with very large prey sticking out of their throats.  If a bass can east a large 6"+ gizzard shad, why not a big Trap or jig the same size?

You may not get as many bites, but your quality may be much better.

Good luck!

Brad

LBH, You are exactly right. That salt water stuff will definetely work in freshwater! I can think of a few instances that I've seen be very successful. I know two gentlemen that would fish with heavy jigs and 5" scampi trailers at night and produced a lot of big bass with it! Also, a few years ago there was a swimbait that became VERY popular on a lake out here. It was "The" bait to throw and the fish just loved it... what was it? The Castaic Slim Sardine. Yep, a sardine swimbait in freshwater. Also, some of my favorite colored super spooks are "saltwater" colors. You're on to something, I think there is a lot of carry over that can work. Also, regarding the rods to throw those big baits on, you wouldn't need anything more than a swimbait rod and I'd say those have been pretty proven as capable of landing bass of any size while throwing baits in a wide range of sizes.

fish don't know that the bait your throwing is meant for saltwater or fresh.

If it's a good lure it will catch fish no matter where you throw it.

the only that makes a lure a saltwater plug is the hardware.

I have caught alot of bass on shrimp imitators.  I have caught alot of speckled trout (saltwater) on zara spooks.

One thing I have to commend LBH and his buddy about is the choice of the pencil popper.   for some reason this killer striper bait doesn't have a popular freshwater counterpart.

Maybe it's just too plain looking to "catch" the bass fisherman who are moving more toward high end baits with exotic paint jobs like the megabass topwaters where the eyes have this terrified downward stare.

Down here by me, mirrorlure inshore lures in mullet and other saltwater patterns are used by alot of guys for bass.  Most guys I know fish for redfish, trout, and snook more than bass, and will use the same lures with good results.

thanks for the idea , next time i am in the lake i ll throw the 1.5oz xrap  

It's not a saltwater lure perse', but I fish a 3/4 Arkie jig with a 9" Black widow eel. Nearly a foot long and weighs over an ounce. One of my favorite offerings. Have caught bass of every size with it. Have even caught bass smaller than the lure. This always amazes me, that even little bass will go after this big ugly monster.

Ronnie