How many baits will you go through if you are fishing an area that you know has fish, but they arn't hitting? What is your process in selecting baits and do you believe that eventually they will eat something you throw at them?

A really good question - this is probably my biggest downfall as a fisherman - I get really stubborn about my lure selection and tend the think the fish are too stupid to bite, when I know they did last time  :-[

I have tried to make myself be more versatile in what I am presenting to the bass and have a variety of set ups when I start out - but then I still get hung up on those set ups.  Last week I fished with a guy who had a timer on his watch - if he didn't get a bite before the timer went off, he immediately changed his lure (from a black/blue to a green pumpkin, etc.) not the set ups just the lures on the set ups.  I though he was being crazy until I looked at the cards at the end of the day - although I had my limit - he had culled several more times than me.  "Things that make you go hmmmm?".

i try d@mn near the whole tackle box, and sometimes that wont even work!!!!

then ill try varying speeds and retrieves with them, and again sometimes that wont work!!!!!

but between the "sometimes" above, one method usually produces.....

but i hate those days, with finicky bass that are a pain in the @zz to get to bite anything.....

love the days where they hit everything i throw....... but unfortunately, that doesn't happen all that often :'(

Fishing from shore, I'm never sure if they are there.    However, if I think it's likely, I'll try to move through the water column, shallow runners than to deeper baits, and will try to give them something different, from baitfish, to craws, to worms.

I will usually hit a spot with a topwater first. I can cover the spot real quick and a lot of times, with a topwater bait, you'll have some blowups or you'll have fish follow you in. That's a real good way to see what's holding there. (I'll throw 2 different topwaters - Rico and buzzbait)

After the topwater test is over, I usually go to a crankbait or a trick stick to see if there are any suspenders wanting to eat. (usually a crank that splits the depth I'm fishing, then the stickbait)

After that, I will work something along the bottom.(carolina rig, t-rig, drop shot) Some fish on the bottom may be a little lethargic and want something slow and easy to eat. (I will generally throw 2 different bottom baits before I leave for the next spot.)

When all is said and done, I've covered the whole water column on that one spot before I leave it. I WILL go back to a spot that I have confidence in later in the day.

I will usually hit a spot with a topwater first. I can cover the spot real quick and a lot of times, with a topwater bait, you'll have some blowups or you'll have fish follow you in. That's a real good way to see what's holding there. (I'll throw 2 different topwaters - Rico and buzzbait)

After the topwater test is over, I usually go to a crankbait or a trick stick to see if there are any suspenders wanting to eat. (usually a crank that splits the depth I'm fishing, then the stickbait)

After that, I will work something along the bottom.(carolina rig, t-rig, drop shot) Some fish on the bottom may be a little lethargic and want something slow and easy to eat. (I will generally throw 2 different bottom baits before I leave for the next spot.)

When all is said and done, I've covered the whole water column on that one spot before I leave it. I WILL go back to a spot that I have confidence in later in the day.

That is good advice. Do you usually use the same baits for each depth application. For instance if you fish a weed bed in the afternoon with a 10" junebug worm and a beaver without a hit will you hit it again with a 8" worm and a brush hog. Same with day to day? If you are not getting constant strikes on the baits you use, but you caught fish int he past with will you change? I tend to use the same baits which I have confidence in.

I like to sleep in, so I miss out on the topwater bite. I pound a spot with plastics first. I go deep first just barely lifting it off the bottom, then I jig the heck out of it to see if there are any suspender's, then I switch to the crank.

If I'm reasonably sure the fish are there I will cover the water column from a couple of feet out to the 30-35' depths. Whatever allows me to efficiently fish these different depths is what I will go through.

I have found that the best way for me to fish is to impose guidelines.  My rules are that I need to fish some sort of a searchbait first (often times a spinnerbait, jerkbait, crankbait, or swimbait), if there is nothing there, I realize, that I change to something slower, either a worm, or jig.  When I have about 20 minutes left to fish before I go home, I pick my weakest tackle and work it so that I get my practice in.  

I will usually hit a spot with a topwater first. I can cover the spot real quick and a lot of times, with a topwater bait, you'll have some blowups or you'll have fish follow you in. That's a real good way to see what's holding there. (I'll throw 2 different topwaters - Rico and buzzbait)

After the topwater test is over, I usually go to a crankbait or a trick stick to see if there are any suspenders wanting to eat. (usually a crank that splits the depth I'm fishing, then the stickbait)

After that, I will work something along the bottom.(carolina rig, t-rig, drop shot) Some fish on the bottom may be a little lethargic and want something slow and easy to eat. (I will generally throw 2 different bottom baits before I leave for the next spot.)

When all is said and done, I've covered the whole water column on that one spot before I leave it. I WILL go back to a spot that I have confidence in later in the day.

That is good advice. Do you usually use the same baits for each depth application. For instance if you fish a weed bed in the afternoon with a 10" junebug worm and a beaver without a hit will you hit it again with a 8" worm and a brush hog. Same with day to day? If you are not getting constant strikes on the baits you use, but you caught fish int he past with will you change? I tend to use the same baits which I have confidence in.

    x3.  That is an excellent piece of advise for dissecting a location that you are fishing.

   

usually i try not to give up on one thing too quickly. ive seen some people consistently change lures after like 5 casts. id drive myself nuts if i did that, as one of the previous baits might have worked had you tested the water a bit more.

i also dont buy into the 'search bait' thing, as the last thing you throw that day might should have been the first thing you threw. also because somedays certain lures work great, the next day theyre the biggest piece of junk in your tackle box.

my advice would be to go with what you know best and works for you, if after awhile it doesnt work that day, then start changing things up and trying different lures. the exception to that being if its your goal to learn to fish a certain lure/setup that day. if nothing works, then it just wasnt meant to be...

That is good advice. Do you usually use the same baits for each depth application. For instance if you fish a weed bed in the afternoon with a 10" junebug worm and a beaver without a hit will you hit it again with a 8" worm and a brush hog. Same with day to day? If you are not getting constant strikes on the baits you use, but you caught fish int he past with will you change? I tend to use the same baits which I have confidence in.

Rob, on the soft plastics I like to throw something big (like a 10" worm) on a texas rig and something small/finesse type on the carolina rig or the dropshot. That way I've covered both bases....big and small.

I have a tendency to stick with the 10" worm if I go back to a spot and I change up the smaller bait on the c-rig.

All of this is just 'in general'. Baits and presentations change with the seasons as well as fish locations. If I'm on a spot deep enough for a deep crank, you can bet I'm going to throw one. The key to it all is covering the whole water column thoroughly. It's easier to throw several different baits on 'spots' or structure that you know holds fish.

If you are just burning the banks, it's hard to keep changing over and over because the structure and cover is constantly changing as well. Just burning the banks like in the springtime, I crank most times until I get a bite or two, then I can slow down and start working the whole water column.