Hi gents,

 

what’s your usual follow up bait for chasers that don’t take? A small soft swim bait like a keitech is usually ‘on the deck’ for me for that purpose. Yesterday though I had a chaser that followed an a-rig to the boat but turned when he got close. I didn’t have anything else good rigged so threw the a-rig back through a few times with different retrieves without luck. But it made me think what other options there could be worth keeping tied on for that occasion.

 

thansk

rick

 

p.s. I could see liking a Alabama rig. That was my first time throwing it and I didn’t have the right rod in the boat for that weight but will next time (it’s already tied up).

A lot of times you can do a figure 8 in the water with a bait and make em hit....never tried that with an A rig though...

Keep a worm tied on.

7 minutes ago, Chris Catignani said:

A lot of times you can do a figure 8 in the water with a bait and make em hit....never tried that with an A rig though...

yeah, not sure on that one. This particular fish turned about a rod length from the boat when we saw each other and took off for the deep.  I was fishing a 1/4-3/4 oz heavy pitching stick so pulling a 3oz, 5-bait rig isn’t going to be fun. I had to lob it to cast in the first place. 

26 minutes ago, Bird said:

Keep a worm tied on.

My life motto 

A Ned rig or wacky rig are both great follow up baits. 

Wacky rig 90% of the time and a dropshot 4” roboworm

My preference when smallmouth fishing is a lightly weighted tube sporting an exposed hook.  Let it fall with it's death spiral.

 

oe

It's all been said already but a ned rig and wacky rig is just about all I use as a follow up bait. A small keitech would work, but I prefer casting something directly over the fish and letting it fall vertically, so a wacky rig and ned rig are perfect for that. Of course that can be done with a small swimbait and any other plastic too, either weightless or rigged on a light jighead. 

I always have a wacky rig in deck.
 

On many occasions after a short strike or miss, I drop the rod and pick up the wacky rod and cast to the same spot.....you would be surprised at how many times it works and seldom get lines wrapped.
That said, if I have a partner he would real in the dropped rod

Yesterday I had two back to back blowups on a whopper plopper in a creak full of smallies. I followed up with a small red crank bait, and he hit it like a ton of bricks. 

 

I normally would not follow up with a crank bait, but hey it worked out that time. I typically would throw a weightless wacky rig, or a shakey head or a T-rig. 

Thanks guys!  A lot I had already considered but a few not. Since I’m in a kayak I only have 4-6 rods rigged and with me.  Usually it is 4 baitcasters and I rarely have a spinning rod so that eliminates a few follow up baits.  That said, I’m going to throw in a spinning rod for this very reason with some form of soft plastic. I was fishing a Ned today for the first time in a local pond just to get a feel for it. I think I prefer the TRD Ticklers for super finesse but I’ll give both a try. The white tickler is like a mini tube and you can rig it to spiral. 

I find a fluke works pretty well for this if they are on baitfish, if it's a crawfish bite it's either a jig, a T-Rig or a shakeyhead.

A wacky rig, ned, or a tube is my choice.  For smallmouth, my preference is a tube.

Wacky rigged worm is by far my #1 choice for a follow up bait.

Following smallmouth are best ignored in my waters. They seem catchable everywhere else on Tv/YouTube/tournaments but I’ve never seen anyone successfully catch one on TN river. And there is almost always a follower to a hooked fish, they just don’t bite 

Fat Ika

On 4/13/2022 at 12:23 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

A Ned rig or wacky rig are both great follow up baits. 

White 

Weightless Texas rig Senko.  

On 4/15/2022 at 8:59 AM, roadwarrior said:

Fat Ika

i picked up a pack on my last tw order (plus a regular ika) because I was looking for a solid tube for flipping and came across your threads on the fat ika. I can totally see it working like I imagined (Texas rigged regular) but I tried it at a local pond the other day weightless Texas rigged backwards as recommended. I’m not sure I can get into that. I don’t like fishing slow so I haven’t gotten on the wacky senko train. I see this fishing the same way. Maybe skipping up under docks, let it sink, give it a sec and repeat. 
 

do you ever nail or Ned weight the fat ika rigged backwards?  
 

thanks

rick

Nope, I only fish it weightless. Here is one I caught a few years ago at Guntersville:

 

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/lake-guntersville-2012.html

1 hour ago, roadwarrior said:

Nope, I only fish it weightless. Here is one I caught a few years ago at Guntersville:

 

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/lake-guntersville-2012.html

 

We are both getting older. That was 10 years ago, a decade. Just seems like a few years ago. 

A tube jig. 1/8oz so it falls nice and slow. 

T-rigged 3" ned roboworm. Has some decent weight for a 3" stickbait. Sometimes I'll add a 1/32 bullet weight for a increased casting and fall rate.

Tube/ned/senko whatever i've got tied on my spinning reel.