So, when I first started visiting Bass Resource consistently, I was returning to lmb after forty years of targeting smb, muskies, white bass, and walleyes. When I last fished for lmb, I was casting wooden Creek Chub poppers with a Zebco 404.

 

Things had changed.

 

Mightily.

 

In short, I knew nearly nothing and so sought the expertise of the Bass Resource crew. In turn, for a couple years, the Bait Monkey lived on my back and I bought just about everything that was suggested. However, I slowly settled into a routine of the lures that work best in Maine...at my local lakes...for me. I'm estimating I caught about 40% of my 2024 bass on an underspin with a Keitech, Mayor, or Zako, and another 40% on a popper. Do I think you should stock up on underspins and poppers?

 

Heck, no!

 

If you were to come to Maine to fish the water I fish, do I think you should stock up on underspins and poppers?

 

Heck, yeah!

 

Now, the interesting question is why do certain lures work best in certain places? 

 

The underspin works for me because it's a small and lightweight lure. Look at the woody bushes on the shoreline below:

  

 

Those bushes are ubiquitous in Maine and bass park under them. An underspin, with the Zako's body tight to the hook, is nearly weedless, and when it lands, it doesn't kersploosh! Sometimes it seems like I cast the lure into their mouths. It hits the water and it's fish on. A spinnerbait would be too noisy when landing and not weedless enough and a Zako on a swimjig wouldn't give me the flash that an underspin does when I do parallel-to-shorelines retrieves. So, the underspin works for me locally.

 

The popper works for me because I'm a low-light angler, fishing in the dark, near dark, fog, and rain. The bass aren't as wary in low light because the eagles and ospreys can't see them and more likely to prowl the shallows. 

 

So, what is your local lure and most importantly, why does it work for you where and when you fish?

 

 

 

In our tannic, shallow, grass filled lakes It’s a well known fact from professionals to rookies that a swim worm,  prop baits and a punching creature bait are 3 of the most popular and proven winners for all 3 levels of the water column. 

For the most part we fish all year long regardless of the season with intermittent down periods. 
Because of that we have time to learn the particular nuances of each…

The where’s, how’s and when’s of each.
 

Couple that with fine tuning the color choices, seasonal and retrieval patterns I give you.. “The Bass Capitol of the World”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

 

Probably worm or jig and craw in NC.

 

Pretty hard to beat 365 days a year.  I personally would give the nod to The Jig mainly because of the fact that I can be more efficient and typically save some money by fishing jigs over a Texas rig which tends to get torn up and has to be redone with each fish.

For me, in my clear water my local bait is a 4" or 6" plastic worm. It's been the most consistent bass catcher for several years here.                                       I rig them on a light t rig, Slider head, or Shakey head.

Mostly a rage craw or googan craw on a weighted hook.  Works well here in NH, and worked pretty well on my trip to Maine last summer.

I'll always throw a popper when I think it'll get a bite. But it only works in shallow water around my parts, and sometimes the tide matters more than the weather condition. I fished Lake Winnipesaukee once, and smallies would come up 30 feet from large underwater boulders to smash it.

 

Paddletails are also a big part of my catch rate. I can work them weedless on top, or belly weighted to get down some, so they're very versatile for cover I fish.

 

I hate fishing slow, so worms/craws only come out in the dead of summer when it's really slow.

Bassday Mononofu 50s. I've only been using this BFS lure for a few years but it works in every lake in Indiana.

 

Its the top one just in case. I think I'm on my 8th one of this color.  The fish beat it up pretty quickly.  I can throw this thing and the fish just get angry at it. It doesn't matter if I burn it in or do a stop and pop retrieve.  If I just want to have some fun and catch whatever,  this is my lure.

 

 

 

They come and go. What's the hot thing one year will be forgotten the next. But soft plastics never go out of style. The hot local color doesn't change much. Most of the waters I fish are stained. Black, blue, junebug and similar shades seem to do the trick so well that I rarely buy watermelons and pumpkins anymore.

 

I have one locality I fish that has shiners and gold is the color of choice for blades and hard baits. Sure, people will say it doesn't matter. But those same people have their own fav colors. After you get skunked while your buddy doesn't a few times and the only difference is the color, you relent.

what is your local lure and most importantly, why does it work for you where and when you fish?

 

Not certain I have a 'local' lure.

Pretty sure that most everything I some have success with here,

would do the same in other places under similar conditions.

Never hurts to be putting our baits in places that have feeding fish present.

A-Jay

there's not much that doesn't work down here

3 hours ago, FishTank said:

 

 

Its the top one just in case. 

 

 

Looks like that Goby has taken a beating too! 

4 minutes ago, RRocket said:

Looks like that Goby has taken a beating too! 

 

I caught over 100 fish on that thing last year. I finally retired it last month. 

 

Like @A-Jay, I don’t really have any “local” lures. The baits I use in crystal clear, rocky, mountain lakes work just as well in urban ponds or massive Mexican waters. Poppers, jigs, spinnerbaits, T-rigs, wacky rigs, walking baits should catch bass anywhere they swim!

I have absolute confidence that my go box contains baits that will catch fish nationwide.  While some bodies of water may have special colors that work better than others, I can get a bite on something I have with me.  This has proven itself over and over from coast to coast and north to south.  

@Mike L covered it here in Florida.  Most of the fish I’ve caught here in Fl have been on a Ribbon/ curly tailed worm. The color varies, place, season, or time of day.  Creature baits being pitched into the pads covers a lot of catches too.

7 hours ago, Mike L said:

In our tannic, shallow, grass filled lakes It’s a well known fact from professionals to rookies that a swim worm,  prop baits and a punching creature bait are 3 of the most popular and proven winners for all 3 levels of the water column. 

For the most part we fish all year long regardless of the season with intermittent down periods. 
Because of that we have time to learn the particular nuances of each…

The where’s, how’s and when’s of each.
 

Couple that with fine tuning the color choices, seasonal and retrieval patterns I give you.. “The Bass Capitol of the World”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

 

@Mike LI’d really like to pick your brain sometime. I believe our locations are pretty close to eachother. 
 

When you say prop baits, do you mean whopper ploppers or something else?

6 hours ago, Junger said:

I'll always throw a popper when I think it'll get a bite. But it only works in shallow water around my parts, and sometimes the tide matters more than the weather condition. I fished Lake Winnipesaukee once, and smallies would come up 30 feet from large underwater boulders to smash it.

 

Paddletails are also a big part of my catch rate. I can work them weedless on top, or belly weighted to get down some, so they're very versatile for cover I fish.

 

I hate fishing slow, so worms/craws only come out in the dead of summer when it's really slow.

What type of paddletails do you use?

38 minutes ago, woolleyfooley said:

@Mike LI’d really like to pick your brain sometime. I believe our locations are pretty close to eachother. 
 

When you say prop baits, do you mean whopper ploppers or something else?

What type of paddletails do you use?

Think a jerk bait with 2 propeller’s 
 

I throw either the 2 hanger Devils Horse in scattered grasses which I modify, or the 3 hanger XRap with tail feathers and a stinger hook in more open water 

 

Mike

Crankbait in the rocks, T rig worm and square bill in wood, buzz bait, bladed jig in grass, spinnerbait in the wind, Spook, and popper early and late in the day, paddle tail swimbait in open water, and a #3 inline spinner when I start to smell a skunk.

6 hours ago, woolleyfooley said:

What type of paddletails do you use?

 

I primarily use 3 types, Z-Man Diezel 4", Keitech Easy Shiner, 3.5" and Keitech Swing Impact Fat 4.8"

 

Z-Man Diezel - These are pretty bouyant, so when I fish heavy floating grass and want something to come over the top and still have the tail kick, this is my go to on a weightless 3/0 EWG. You can burn it on grass, then kill it in open pockets and comes through clean. When I want it to shimmy down grass edges, I put it on a 3/0 3/16oz Z-man weighted swimbait hook. Maybe 1/8oz in heavy tidal current. I look for just enough weight where the tail kicks when it's drifting down. I stretch the tail out a lot so kicks more freely, and even give it a little snip near the boot. If I don't break off, one of these will last weeks, and I feel like the more bit up it is, the more effective it is.

 

Easy Shiner - This is my go to deeper/clear water willow underspin paddletail. The slim profile let's it get down quicker and it has a tight tail kick that looks more natural in clear water. If there are school up bass chasing bait, they will bit this.

 

Swing Impact Fact - I've been using this one less frequently, but when it gets bit, it's usually a bit bass. In clearer water, it goes on a weighted EWG. If there's some chop or muddy water, I'll  put it on the Owner Flashy Swimmer with a Colorado Blade.

I've gone from Maine to CA and my main bait is a T/R finesse worm on 6lb line or leader.  Haven't fished in TX.  I have mostly one color that works everywhere.

Jig and craw, crankbait, and finesse plastic worm. 

These three have been my top producers in the summer for years now.  I fish the jig and plastic worm around open structure and sparse vegetation.  I will run the crankbait in water with patchy vegetation that is matted on the surface.