There are 3 ponds right by my house that I KNOW do not have lizards or salamanders or anything similiar inside them.

Would it be completely futile to fish soft plastic lizards in them if they do not contain them as forage? Or does it not matter, the bass just recognize them???

I have never seen a single lizard or salamander in or near any of the local ponds I fish, yet a Zoom 5" Lizard is one of my most productive baits during the late pre spawn and spawn.

I think a lizard is just a natural enemy of the bass, and they strike it out of instinct or aggetation.

Would it be completely futile to fish soft plastic lizards in them if they do not contain them as forage? Or does it not matter, the bass just recognize them???

It wouldn't be futile. The bait has to appeal to the senses of the fish and that isn't dependent on what critters live in a given body of water.

There are no lobsters living in my house, but I will eat one if it shows up. LOL Bass aren't nearly as smart as we give them credit for being. They will feed instinctively. They don't have a menu and refuse any offering that isn't on that menu. Otherwise, you might never catch a fish on any lure. I find it interesting that modern lure makers are making baits that look exactly like bait fish, in every detail. Compared to old Heddon poppers, balsa baits and chugbugs modern anglers should be catching a 100 times more fish than our grandfathers with such realistic baits, but WE ARE NOT. If you are catching them with a lizard, I would say you are onto to something that works.

Ronnie

I doubt there's any lizards or newts in the ponds I fish, but a c-rigged lizard does very well for me.

I think the only important thing is that it looks alive.  

Like The Jake, I have never seen a lizard in the waters I fish; ponds, rivers, or streams. Last year is when I started fishing plastics seriously, and the lizard was my most productive bait. I used them from spring to winter and always caught fish.

Ask Randall if there are any trout in the lake where he fishes...all the while using a Triple Trout or Hud swimbait and catching those monsters.

Okay, thanks for the quick responses.

I figured you guys would say "fish them" but I wanted to make sure. This should help my confidence fishing them. I know that creature baits work well and they look nothing like any forage. I will fish them, just wanted to run it by you guys first and if you guys say they work for you they should work for me;).

I don't think the bass necessarily sees a lizard the same way we do.I thought about this one day when I watched a bream sneaking into a bass bed.The fish nosed down at the eggs and its side fins and tail were working.The bass came over and slammed into the bream and ran it off.I throwed worm after worm into the bed and no luck.I Trigged a watermelonseed lizard and whammo!I have a theory that the legs on the lizard imitate the fins on the nest robbers.Just a theory B.S, or otherwise lol.

There are no lobsters living in my house, but I will eat one if it shows up. LOL Bass aren't nearly as smart as we give them credit for being. They will feed instinctively. They don't have a menu and refuse any offering that isn't on that menu. Otherwise, you might never catch a fish on any lure. I find it interesting that modern lure makers are making baits that look exactly like bait fish, in every detail. Compared to old Heddon poppers, balsa baits and chugbugs modern anglers should be catching a 100 times more fish than our grandfathers with such realistic baits, but WE ARE NOT. If you are catching them with a lizard, I would say you are onto to something that works.

Ronnie

I am  ;D lol. sorry i just had to throw that out there

Keep throwing that lizard (especially around spawning time). I promise you won't find anything in your box that gets a better reaction from a bass guarding a bed. Lizards tick huge bass off instinctively.

I have been killing the bass with them the last few weeks here in North Carolina. I play with them in my neighborhood pond during the winter to learn how to work them in a life like manner. That "play time" pays off big time for me.

Colors?

Black with Chartreuse tail

Watermelon

Any kind of pumpkin or green pumpkin

Cotton Candy

I prefer the Zoom lizards and the Culprit brand

There are no lobsters living in my house, but I will eat one if it shows up. LOL Bass aren't nearly as smart as we give them credit for being. They will feed instinctively. They don't have a menu and refuse any offering that isn't on that menu. Otherwise, you might never catch a fish on any lure. I find it interesting that modern lure makers are making baits that look exactly like bait fish, in every detail. Compared to old Heddon poppers, balsa baits and chugbugs modern anglers should be catching a 100 times more fish than our grandfathers with such realistic baits, but WE ARE NOT. If you are catching them with a lizard, I would say you are onto to something that works.

Ronnie

Ronnie is on target.  Bass will eat anything that looks good.  Gobies are a good example.  They weren't introduced into the Great Lakes region until around 1990 via contaminated ballast water from transoceanic ships.  They are now a main forage of smallmouth bass in the region.  

I always fish lizard up here in Canada bass love them.

Someone told me (or I may have read it in a magazine) that the bass cant tell between a plastic lizard and a plastic worm. The onlything diff. is that the lizard puts off more vibration.

In "Al Linders Largemouth" fishing secrets movie, he uses a Lizard up here in Minnesota. He catches a ton of bass and a lot were lunkers. I can garentee there are no lizards here in MN let alone in the lakes haha. I'm going to be trying lizards out a lot to start the season..

great all around soft plastic, year around. I understand that Rage Tail is coming out with a new lizz in a couple of months that will rock. Can't wait to see it on the market.

Oh man let me tell you, I just started using the zoom lizard this year in the pumpkin and charteuse color and they just cant stand it

You can't beat a black and blue Zoom Lizard.  Out of the soft plastic I use, they always produce the most vicious strikes.

to the originator of this post:

try and change your mindset. i used to think the same way....

Think about creature lures, nothing looks like them in the water, and they have been VERY productive for me....and everyone else.

while its always good to try and match the lure with what the bass are eating, it is in no way neccessary...90% of my catches are off of lures that are not really imitating anything in specific...

iv heard lizards really shine in the spawn like nothing else. For me, i just bought my first lizard plastics- the yamamoto, and cant wait to try it out!

There are no lobsters living in my house, but I will eat one if it shows up.

Sometimes I wish there were a thread of the best quotes by members. This would be one of my nominations. Direct and unobtrusive, but humorous.

I have used a lizard in a lizard-less lake and i caught fish with it.

But guys y'all aint matching the hatch  

But guys y'all aint matching the hatch

Ain't that something!

Location, time of year, action and profile...

BTW, What does a 7 1/2" Larew Salty Ringtail Worm represent?

8-)

the lizard is natural enemy of the bass. the lizard eats the bass's eggs

the lizard is natural enemy of the bass. the lizard eats the bass's eggs

not exactly. but crawfish do!

But guys y'all aint matching the hatch

Ain't that something!

Location, time of year, action and profile...

BTW, What does a 7 1/2" Larew Salty Ringtail Worm represent?

8-)

HAWG