I went fishing yesterday, and noticed throughout the day about a dozen of these baits lying dead on the surface. They are some type of shad, and I have previously not seen them in my lake. I also witnessed a 1-5 pound bass spitting up one of these large bait fish. The picture is of one fish, that was dead on the shore where I launch my kayak. It had been there a very long time, and the sun had faded the color, and the black spot shad have was no longer visible.

The Bait Monkey is screaming at me to buy some glide baits, while I type this post. The bass spend most of their time suspended in trees, and I'm not going to throw a glide bait in to the tree limbs. I also have a Bacca Burrito, that is not going to get lost in the trees, no matter what the Monkey says. I started to tie on an A rig, then did the numbers, and regained my sanity.

The bass were definitely keyed in on these large shad, and didn't want smaller swimmbats either fished by themselves or with underspins. I did catch a few on large worms, but I also witnessed many of these big baits getting attacked, while ignoring all of my normal baits.( spinnerbaits, crankbaits etc.)

I say I'm frugal, but the Monkey along with anyone I have ever met thinks I'm cheap. Any economy friendly ideas? I have had a slow year, and suspect this new bait fish addition to my lake is the cause of my troubles.

I did consider using a glide bait over the top of the tree limbs in order to draw the big bass out and use a follow up bait, but the water clarity is between 1 and 2 feet, so I don't know if a glide bait would have much drawing power. The Monkey is big on this idea, and has already researched some baits.

Should I tell the Monkey to get lost and fish the baits I already have ( which is more than any sane person should have) or should I mortgage the farm, and dive in to expensive swimbaits?

Also adding a large degree to the difficulty of making this decision that could have far reaching effect on my financial stability, and marital status is, the fact that many of the bass eating these large baitfish, are well over 10 pounds.

Feed the monkey and get a couple of these in the 8" version. Very nice action and they don't break the bank.

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Berkley_PowerBait_Chop_Block_Soft_Glide_Bait/descpage-PCHSA.html

Sometimes you can get close without breaking the bank with the bait monkey. I think a lot of the cost has to do the way some of these swim baits are made, out of plastic or resin, garage made, custom made or whatever. Some of these custom swim baits command high dollars and do work well but there are alternatives. I bought a $29 6th Sense glide bait, modified the body to tighten up the glide and then lightly sprayed it with gold paint, making it look like a big juicy golden shiner. Works amazingly well! Match the hatch best you can whenever you can, do whatcha gotta do, would be my take on it.

8 minutes ago, Zcoker said:

$29 6th Sense glide bait,

Am I living in the twilight zone? $29 is now an inexpensive bait, and now the Monkey is all smiles. He just left my house in a big hurry. He should be at your door within seconds. I own a Burrito, that was $35 and not only does it never get cast into tree limbs, I don't even let it touch a rocky bottom. Of course it hasn't landed any bass, but looks good in my box.

I'm being sarcastic. Thanks for the advice. I have been considering that very lure, but worry it may be a gateway drug.

2 hours ago, king fisher said:

Am I living in the twilight zone? $29 is now an inexpensive bait, and now the Monkey is all smiles. He just left my house in a big hurry. He should be at your door within seconds. I own a Burrito, that was $35 and not only does it never get cast into tree limbs, I don't even let it touch a rocky bottom. Of course it hasn't landed any bass, but looks good in my box.

I'm being sarcastic. Thanks for the advice. I have been considering that very lure, but worry it may be a gateway drug.

Yeah, man, some of them pretty swim baits can go into the hundreds, some even approaching a grand! Price we pay for quality, they say. Can’t say the bass knows that, at least that’s what I’m seeing. I pretty much end up using my same old baits anyway, mainly topwater. Just can’t get an enough of those violent explosions!

A 9" panorama or 5.8" bullflat flipped into the tree tops? Only $10 till you catch your first fish, then $40 everytime you order from one of the tackle sites!

scott

I really like the bass pro shops swerve! It’s cheap as chips.

Any hard bait over 8” worth spending time with is going to be more than you want to spend. You can get a 8” cull shad on TW right now for under $7. Not a perfect match profile wise but they get chewed for sure.

My first thought would be just a 6” Basstrix on an 8/0 hook. Much more forgiving around the branches, but still gives that big profile.

I would never pay that much, go with a zoom fluke in a similar color, or a big ez. The fluke weightless will glide nicely from side to side, and only cost you 4 dollars a bag. Just glide with long pauses between pulls. A hungry bass will hit it. Numbers will be better, but the 20 dollar glide might get a bigger one. The fluke Texas rigged can also be throw in the thick stuff without hanging up. Good luck my friend, don’t get stuck throwing away good money!