I just started bass fishing a year or so ago and still learning. I am starting to get a feel for my go to baits: Black/Red Rattletrap, Dinger/Senko, Buzzbaits. What are yours?

Texas rigs , crankbaits , spinnerbaits , and top waters get  over 90 percent   of playing time .

I have to agree with scaleface except I don't spend as much time as I should throwing topwaters.

Jigs, worms, and shallow cranks have been my go to presentations lately. 

T-rigs, rage rig, jigs, ned rig and frogs have seen the most action lately. I'm trying to get better at jigs so there's always one tied on regardless of whatever else I bring. 

I select lures that are effective where the bass are located. Always have a jig and soft plastics rig tied on. I use nearly everything so keep an open mind and let the current conditions tell me what to use.

Tom

Lately my go to tackle has been whatever the bait monkey has most recently provided me which are a R2S Bubble Popper, XPS lipless crankbait, Rapala X-rap, Booyah 5 for $10 spinnerbait, Yo-Zuri DBM lipless crankbait, and a KVD 1.5 Squarebill.  

Texas rig, worm

the ponds and lakes around me have a lot of grass on the bottom so I use a lot of soft plastics. Texas rig and ned rig top two.

 For soft plastics If there's one bait in my rotation that has more uses than a 5" stick bait, I don't know what it is.

 

I can fish it wacky on a light wire hook wacky jig and spinning tackle in clear water

 

I can fish it wacky on a heavy wire wacky jig and casting gear in and around heavy cover

 

I can drop shot or power shot them.

 

I can peg a sinker to it's nose and flip/pitch/punch with them

 

I can t-rig them with a weighted hook and fish it like a soft jerkbait

 

I can c-rig them

 

I can neko rig them

 

I can cut them down and fish them on jig heads.

 

For a moving bait, I always try to get something going on a hollow body frog, sometimes to my detriment.

I fish from a kayak so I have a max of 6 rods.  I always have stuff tied on that covers the top, middle, and bottom water columns. 

 

Currently my favorites are a frog, weedless drop shot, weightless sinkin shad, heavy jig, punch rig, texas rig, and spinnerbait. 

1 hour ago, scaleface said:

Texas rigs , crankbaits , spinnerbaits , and top waters get  over 90 percent   of playing time .

 

1 hour ago, Log Catcher said:

I have to agree with scaleface except I don't spend as much time as I should throwing topwaters.

Historically I've fished crankbaits or spinners 90% of the time.  I am now fishing plastics 90% of the time to learn them. 

 

I've not had huge success with topwater stuff but I don't tend to fish them very long before I decide that the conditions aren't right for topwater and I move to something else.  So how much time do you guys spend with a topwater lure before you figure it's not what the fish are looking for?

Pretty basic most days

 

(Northeast)

 

Senko type bait;

Red shad

Black/blue

 

Lipless crank;

Red

Natural

 

Spinnerbait;

White

Red

Black blue

Natural

 

Top water; mostly ploppers, Spro rat, spook;

Natural

White 

Black

 

Throw larger swimbaits quite a bit as well. Need to throw more jigs...

If the fish are being nice and biting what I want to throw...spinnerbait, wacky worm, frog, BIG topwaters. If they aren't (they never are), then I guess that's why we all can't stop buying stuff haha. 

Besides senkos/stick worms try a jig, bladed jig with a swimbait,  Ned rig.   Also I love the Carolina rig with a brush hog on the end. 

Zoom Ultravibe Speed Worm, Red Bug

Whopper Plopper 

Trick worm/Shim-E-Stick

Lipless crankbait

squarebill

 

Planning to play a little more with ned rig, drop shot, underspin. 

I keep a Carolina rig tied on 365 days a year. The bait changes season to season but always tied on and rarely lets me down. Texas rig of some variety either a creature or big worm. Right now it's a keitech fat 3.8, a shakey head with a candy craw fat baby finesse, topwater, and a 5xd. But these will change as the season's change, the c-rig and Texas rig will remain.

Bottom contact plastics 

Vertical swimming plastics 

Frogs

Chatterbait

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

Right. Most of us sort of line up on the finesse or power fishing preferential side of things. Me? I almost always go out in my canoe or kayak and sort of mentally fall into a tournament mind-set where one wants to put fish in the boat, cull from there.

 

Drop shot works for me and is my "go to" presentation. At certain times of the year, I lead off with a weightless Keitech shad-like bait.

 

These are my best choices for both numbers and to "skunk proof" my day on the water.

 

Brad

 

Texas rigged plastics; weightless to 1 oz punch rigs

 

Jig-N-Craw; 1/4 to 1 oz

Weightless super fluke.

Finesse wide gap hooks and some kind of plastic stick bait in various sizes. Dingers for shallow waters, Senkos for deeper waters or waters with strong current.

I went yesterday evening, got there starting throwing weightless fluke, ended up throwing a weightless fluke. 

 

So my go to is ..... Weightless fluke

Carolina Rig because it can be fished fast or slow,  shallow or deep.

Jigs, and t-rigs.