10 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

I don't know if you guys ever feel this way, but I can feel learning-tuckered after three years of learning so many new things to catch lmb. It's one reason I delayed casting a buzzbait. I assumed that I simply couldn't tie on the bait and cast, that trailing the buzzbait would be the scores of tricks I've have to learn that might increase my catch.

 

It's the same with a bladed jig, another bait I've avoided using. I've gained some competence with half a dozen baits that cover the water column and there are times I just want to keep swing dancing with those baits. I know the moves of those swing dance partners. I can step onto the floor with them and have a great time. 

 

"But you should really learn salsa!" someone always says.

 

This doesn't mean that I'm not glad I finally used a buzzbait. As I explained above, it does something other water-churning baits can't do. However, I'm going to develop some competence with it before even considering another new lure. Hopefully I can achieve this before the Kid returns in 2026 because he LOVES learning new lures and if I'm going to teach him, I better know something. 

 

There are so many ways to catch bass that will work in a given scenario that you can never say that one thing is the ‘only’ way.  For instance, picture a gravel/rock hump out in the middle of a lake where bass are scattered over it.  There might be some patchy weeds here or there, or maybe an old clump of brush out there, but otherwise light cover.  You might know it is there because you happened upon it once, caught some fish, and then caught some more.  The fish are active one day and chasing, so you might throw a plopper across the top and catch them.  Then again, a buzzbait might have caught the same fish and there is a decent chance a walking bait would have also.  If they turn off the surface but are still actively feeding then any number of a spinnerbait, vibrating jig, swim jig, underspin/swimbait, or crankbait might catch them.  All of those imitate baitfish they might be feeding on and would all work.  Those same fish might stop chasing for a while but still be eating and you could drag a jig, a Texas rig, a Ned rig, a neko, a drop shot, or a shaky head across them and they will eat it.  Similarly, if they are chasing those horizontal running baits above (swim baits, spinnerbaits, etc) then swimming a Ned rig or a cut tail worm through them would probably catch them also.

 

I say all of that to say that there are a lot of ways to catch bass.  The hard part is finding them first. Once you know where they are then you can pick the lure that goes over/under/around/through the cover that they are in with the profile that they want to eat.  For me, there are some things that go together like peanut butter and jelly.  0-4’ deep patchy grass- bladed jig or buzzbait if chasing or a Texas rig if more neutral.  Shoreline woody cover (from laydowns to stemmy water willow)- spinnerbait if there is some wind (or maybe if there isn’t) a jig if they aren’t chasing.  A rocky main lake point- walking bait/crankbait/shaky head or football jig as you go down the column.

 

Find your bass, pick a few lures that work for your bass and your lakes, and use them.  When you want to explore new things, pick something that is an analog to what you know works and use it/learn how it does your ‘thing’ better or worse.  Figure out what scenarios are better for one or the other.  Sometimes the fish or the cover will dictate one thing (it’s hard to throw much else in a huge weed mat other than a frog on top or a punching rig down through it).  In your scenario, knowing that a plopper works and that you’re around a good bit of vegetation screams for a buzzbait or similar weedless/semi weedless surface lure.  A paddle tail works for you so a silver minnow or a swim jig should also.  A Texas rigged craw has worked for you, but I bet a Texas or neko rigged trick worm would also catch a bunch of fish when the wind is down and the fish are feeding down.

Well explained, @casts_by_fly.

52 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

 

There are so many ways to catch bass that will work in a given scenario that you can never say that one thing is the ‘only’ way.  For instance, picture a gravel/rock hump out in the middle of a lake where bass are scattered over it.  There might be some patchy weeds here or there, or maybe an old clump of brush out there, but otherwise light cover.  You might know it is there because you happened upon it once, caught some fish, and then caught some more.  The fish are active one day and chasing, so you might throw a plopper across the top and catch them.  Then again, a buzzbait might have caught the same fish and there is a decent chance a walking bait would have also.  If they turn off the surface but are still actively feeding then any number of a spinnerbait, vibrating jig, swim jig, underspin/swimbait, or crankbait might catch them.  All of those imitate baitfish they might be feeding on and would all work.  Those same fish might stop chasing for a while but still be eating and you could drag a jig, a Texas rig, a Ned rig, a neko, a drop shot, or a shaky head across them and they will eat it.  Similarly, if they are chasing those horizontal running baits above (swim baits, spinnerbaits, etc) then swimming a Ned rig or a cut tail worm through them would probably catch them also.

 

I say all of that to say that there are a lot of ways to catch bass.  The hard part is finding them first. Once you know where they are then you can pick the lure that goes over/under/around/through the cover that they are in with the profile that they want to eat.  For me, there are some things that go together like peanut butter and jelly.  0-4’ deep patchy grass- bladed jig or buzzbait if chasing or a Texas rig if more neutral.  Shoreline woody cover (from laydowns to stemmy water willow)- spinnerbait if there is some wind (or maybe if there isn’t) a jig if they aren’t chasing.  A rocky main lake point- walking bait/crankbait/shaky head or football jig as you go down the column.

 

Find your bass, pick a few lures that work for your bass and your lakes, and use them.  When you want to explore new things, pick something that is an analog to what you know works and use it/learn how it does your ‘thing’ better or worse.  Figure out what scenarios are better for one or the other.  Sometimes the fish or the cover will dictate one thing (it’s hard to throw much else in a huge weed mat other than a frog on top or a punching rig down through it).  In your scenario, knowing that a plopper works and that you’re around a good bit of vegetation screams for a buzzbait or similar weedless/semi weedless surface lure.  A paddle tail works for you so a silver minnow or a swim jig should also.  A Texas rigged craw has worked for you, but I bet a Texas or neko rigged trick worm would also catch a bunch of fish when the wind is down and the fish are feeding down.

 

this is golden.

All good advice here, Katie.  However, I would ask the bass what they will bite as they will provide the ultimate answer.

Here is a good example of not listening to the fish; I love frog fishing and I have spent many hours fishing a frog in the wrong places at the wrong time, but I kept doing it because it made me happy.  The memories of past success and stubbornness have been my downfall many times.

@Lottabass / Al, I completely love that wisdom too - I can back it up even so far as to say that sometimes I think I have the right bait because I miss a bunch of bites and land a couple but a small adjustment could have meant a bunch of fish and one or two come unbuttoned instead - much more favorable outcome and hard to imagine it getting any better when they ARE biting at all sometimes…but I have indeed learned that it can go from warm to smoking hot with a small lateral adjustment.

 

I’m learning to listen more closely to the fish when they hit but don’t swallow - that’s when I start to break out the @casts_by_fly play book and think what’s *similar* but different.  And often times - that’s the key to 10 fish vs 1 fish OR landing the really big one that keeps waking but not committing.

51 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

I have indeed learned that it can go from warm to smoking hot with a small lateral adjustment.

 

Knowing this makes fishing exciting, trying to puzzle through what bass might love best.

 

51 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

 

I’m learning to listen more closely to the fish when they hit but don’t swallow

 

I need to do this. There are mornings they barely bite and I shrug and think, "They're not biting hard today," as opposed to thinking, "What might make them bite hard?"

 

1 hour ago, Lottabass said:

I would ask the bass what they will bite as they will provide the ultimate answer.

 

Oh, they have told me one day and the next day, they turn all flipsy-tricksy on me and I strike The Thinker's pose in my canoe.