How do you decide??

[sami0115]

we have talked about some different patterns and presentations, but it all boils down to deciding what to use and when to use it.

when you go to the lake what makes you decide that you will start with a certain presentation, and then what make you decide to change to something else?

for example: i understand the generally you can use topwaters when fish are active or when its overcast or calm. but what makes you decide to switch to something else? (aside from not catching anything)

i have never used a carolina rig before, but am curious what conditions might make me want to try it?

or, why might i put down the worm rod and pick up a jig-n-pig or a tube?

sorry for rambling... hopefully you get the drift of what i am after.

Andy

[Granny]

Andy,

One thing I caught myself doing a lot last year was as soon as I caught a few fish on one bait I would switch. After I knew the bass were feeding, I would switch to a new bait and try to get a little confidence in it.

I will usually C-Rig after the sun has came up on calm day. Hit the deeper weedlines and fish it nice and slow. Cloudy and windy days can also be good. Toss on a heavier sinker and bounce a tube on wind blown shores or points.

Granny

[Deitz Dittrich]

Sami- seasonal patterns and water conditions are what I pay attention to. Start to keep a log, write down what lures you caught fish on and what time of year it is.. what the weather is, what the water temp is.. and what the water clarity is... and you will begin to notice that sirtain lures work best under the same conditions year after year. Putting that all togeather is the reward of your labors on the water. And what works best for one person is not what always works best for everyone. Expecially when you throw different lakes into the mix.

This would be a very large article to answer this question to its fullest.. however you do ask one very goood question...

Quote:

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why might i put down the worm rod and pick up a jig-n-pig or a tube?

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If the fish are feeding actively, and you are getting good numbers of fish, its a good idea to upsize to a jig and pig, you will then be tageting larger fish. However, if the bite is tough you are better off fishing the tube as you will more than likelly get more bites on the tube. If fishing a tounament, you already have a limmit of fish, the jig is the way to go because it is known as a big fish bait! I hope you understand. I also think in reguards to this question, that the worm is best for open water situations.. but if fishing spacific situations.. wood, edge of the weeds, docks, ect, then the tube or jig will putproduce the worm.. Give it a shot and let us know!

[cheektowaga]

I take the dummy approach: throw as much as you can at them.

I usually had a crankbait tied on as well as a spinnerbait, my two favorite search baits. On a third rod I usually tied on a form of plastic-whichever produced the best on the previous trip.

My rotation is usually wieghted heavily on whichever method produced the best the previous trip or two, with weather conditions in mind.

I'm no pro, I just like to cast. But I'm usually pretty hesitant to retire a method for a day just because another performs first. You never know.

All in all I just like to be armed and ready with whatever structure or area presents.

[Stratosman]

Good advice so far..

Don' forget about the trusty spinnerbait and crankbaits, great tools for locating active fish and eliminating unproductive water.. As far as your question, that also depends on whether or not you are new to the lake or it is one you know well. New water I tend to search and once a pattern is established, then I can slow down a bit, familiar water that I know the locations of bass from previous outings, I can feel confident it going right to a worm rig, knowing that the fish should be holding in a certain vicinity.

All of this is opinion however, everyone has their favorite ways to catch bass, all have their confidence lures and presentations. Deep, shallow, docks, rocks...? you get the picture. Tie this together with your knowledge of seasonal patterns and movements as well as current weather conditions, then decide if the fish are keying more on a verical(c-rig, ect.) or horizontal presentation (blades, cranks) then fine tune the approach accordingly.

[Forestlaker]

There is a lot of different reasons to try a certain bait or technique. I would probably start with a

general plan based on seasonal patterns, weather conditions, water clarity, etc.

What I throw when on the water is probably dictated most by weed conditions and fish attitude.

I have about 10 rods rigged up unless I am on a consistent pattern I am always switching rods based on what type of weeds I see,

how far below the surface they are, is the weedline well defined of not, is the drop off shallow or steep.

Some of my favorite baits in different conditions are.

Early spring spawn to post spawn cover high precentage areas with a spinnerbait. It will help locate

fish and tell you if they are active. If I find a couple spots where fish seemed to be concentrated I would rework that area with senkos or tubes.

Early spring good clean inside weed edges can be dynamite. If its calm I love fishing a

pop-r right down the inside edge. If thats not working a spinnerbait just crawled slowly along the inside edge, also a senko slowly dropped on slack line and deadsticked or just twitched is tough to beat.

Shallow flats slow rolling spinnerbait just ticking the weeds or ripping rattle-traps.

If its calm early or overcast buzzbait or spook.

If the weeds are far enough below the surface try a husky jerk or rougue twitch-twitch pause.

Deep cabbage weed flats pitching jigs or texas rigged worms or tubes.

Outside weedlines jigs,texas rigged worms/tubes

I like the carolina rig when the bottom is clean or on a sharp weed edge.

You can keep it right on the bottom and move it slowly along the weededge.

If you know the fish are there but not activily biting just sitting on them with a drop shot

dead sticked worm or tube or crawl and pause a senko on a carolina rig.

If you catching fish on a spot and they stop biting throw something else

or leave and come back an hour later.

[FlipR70]

I really like the Al Linder approach. He rigs 6 rods; 3 with vertical techniques (jig, T-rig, jig worm, etc.) and three with horizontal techniques (spinnerbaits, cranks, topwater plugs, etc.). I've found that you can quickly find out what the fish on onto by working through the techniques in several well-chosen spots.

FlipR70

[squeedunk]

I usually have 5 or 6 rods ready in the boat. A crankbait, spinnerbait, texas rig, topwater, pre-rigged worm (especially early season), and jig and pig. I also usually have a bobber/leech rod if I am feeling lazy and have beer! I switch baits early and often, even after I find fish. Some spots just "look" like a good topwater spot so that's what I pick up. I like to keep moving while I'm fishing so I typically use lures that cover water quickly to find the active fish. If I go a while without any action I will slow things down a bit with a texas rig, jig and pig, or pre-rigged worm.

~dan

[Banger]

Like many of the guys have stated before, I begin my lure selection by the time of the year and weather.

I like to fish deep and the lakes around me I can find usaully find fish there. If it is a new body of water I usually start with patterns that I found to work for that particular time of year. I have alot of confidence in the jig and pig so I always have at least two rods with different sizes and colors of jigs at hand. If the jig and pig doesn't do the job I will switch to a crankbait or spinnerbait. This way I can determine if there are active fish in the area. And if all else fails I will go to a plastic worm of some variety. I usually like to fish worms on a jig head, but if the conditions don't let me do that I will texas rig one.

Picking the right are for the time of year is the most important thing that I have to work for me. If you pick areas that look the best for the time of year one of the spots and presentations will work. It might take a while to determine the size and color of presentation but if you stick with it you will have some seccess.

My last option is to pound the shoreline cover. 99% of the time you can find fish around the shallow cover.