This time of year (mid July).. plastics? HELP

[Slyster]

HELP!... OK.. With hot, bright, sunny days here in July... I am still having "good" success with plastics (senkos and tubes) but perhaps there is a better way?.... when should one be casting out other lures like spinnerbaits and crankbaits.. or are the hard baits best just for spring and fall? Or do some of you use live bait at this time? I still have never tried live baits for bass!

Are these hot sunny mid-summer days the realm of plastics?... or not... Looking for some more experienced anglers guidance. I feel a bit lost at times on the water during this time of year... and I have tried spinnerbaits and cranks.. but nother ever becomes of my efforts.. so I go back to plastics.

Today I tried spinnerbaits under docks.. just for a change.. but didn't catch a thing.. but I did learn ONE thing... one needs a bow mount electric motor to effectively fish docks.. transom mount motors suck!.. especially in stif winds!... so I end up heading out deeper.. to avoid wind issues..

Is there a current use for casting out crankbaits and spinner baits? Or are plastics still king for most of you? Trying to save some time asking here.. it would take me weeks to figure out this answer!

[ocf]

try throw cranks on weed edges, on clearer lake you will be able to see them if you cant use your depth finder and you will be able to see weeds hope this helps.

[Bullwinkle]

Sly,

I will throw cranks this time of year but usually as a search bait. After locating some quality fish I often times slow it down with plastics. In this manner I try to pick up a few of the bigger, less aggressive fish. By no means is this a cure all but it works good for me. As for spinner baits this time of year, I like to either rip them through the shallow weeds or tick the top of deeper weeds. Despite these uses I still feel that slowly presented plastics are king right now.

[Josh8481]

Quote:

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Today I tried spinnerbaits under docks.. just for a change.. but didn't catch a thing.. but I did learn ONE thing... one needs a bow mount electric motor to effectively fish docks.. transom mount motors suck!.. especially in stif winds!... so I end up heading out deeper.. to avoid wind issues..

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Boy, I know how that goes with the trolling motor . I'm sure you know this already (and with your nice, fixed-up boat, you probably want to upgrade anyway), but you can put the transom mount up on the bow by using a piece of wood as a spacer and flipping the tiller around 180 degrees on the shaft, at least for the short term. I did this on my boat, and it definitely helped out a ton with fishing the slop and docks. I've also heard that pulling the boat with a bow is more efficient than pushing with a transom, and I can attest to that, it moves along a lot quicker, and is a lot better in rough water. Just thought I'd throw that out there to help you out until you get another trolling motor/boat. Good luck!

[ocf]

ok think of it this way fishing is like a puzzle and you need to find the best bait for that situation then the speed then then the action and finally color if you do this you will be fine

[Wayne Ek]

Slyster, this is a GREAT time of the year for tossing cranks or blades (spinner-baits). The water is warm and the fish are active and more aggressive. Yes, working docks with a transom mount trolling motor would be quite hard and could rapidly become very flustrating. In the mornings I still toss buzzers, for that quick top-water bite. Right now my go to is the T-rigged worm. This is easy to fish both shallow and deep, and works in just about any cover. I had a trip out Friday and we started out with T-rigs and jig worms. We had fat-heads and leeches along, but used them for only a short time as the T-rigs and jig worms produced probably 40 bass for 3 clients. The clients are very casual anglers ( showing up with Zebco 404's) which one of them caught a number on fish on Two biggest bass of a life time for 2 of them, a 5.4 and a 5.12 largemouth. We caught bass, bullheads, northerns, perch and numerous walleyes on the T-rig worms and jig worms. And never fished deeper than 8 feet, most of the fish coming out of 2-3 feet of water on a deteriorating weed-line. If I would have only had 1 or 2 clients in the boat, we would have also tossed cranks and blades at these fish. But 4 people in the boat with 3 casting cranks is just asking for a problem So a long winded answer to your question, toss those cranks and blades, they are fun and will locate fish fast, but keep the plastics close at hand. Guppies always like plastic...

[Metroguy99]

T-rigs = Wacky Rig? Or something different? I know i was having a little success with the wacky rig over deep weed beds over independence day extended weekend.

[Central Bassman]

Hey guys how do you guys pick the colors of your crankbaits and plastics??? And what are the best colors??

[Slyster]

T-Rig would be Texas rig.. through the end... wacky through the middle. I have equal success on both! And wacky rigged always surprises me at how weedless that exposed hook is.

[Wayne Ek]

When fishing cranks I make my decision first on water clarity and then on what I believe the primary forage base for the targetted species will be on that body of water. For plastics I pretty much have 6 colors that I use the most.

Black

Blue

Green Pumpkin

Red shad

Pumpkin Pepper

Motor oil

[Central Bassman]

Hey Agape Where them fish at on Le Homme Duie??? Might be heading up there some time soon???

[Wayne Ek]

No, these came from a small lake west of town.

[Central Bassman]

Ic have u been out on the chain at all??? if So deep or shallow??