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TerribleFisherman12
TerribleFisherman12
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i found these at the lake i fish for bass at, im started fishing recently and have only used a wacky rig which seems like a Jack of all trades type thing. Any tips for using these lures?
 
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I kind of gave up on bass fishing but you could probally texas rig it or jig head qnd just crank it or put it on a chatter bait.
 
Like s3an said I would jig rig and hook through the front with hook up - kinda weedless - run them like a Rapala - match the sizes of this years minnows for fall fishing.....good all year really
 
Pictured are a boot-tail soft plastic which are also called swimbaits and a deep dive crankbait.
Boot tail lures originated with the Sassy Shad many years ago and is still a top producer of many species of fish. Many companies have copied the tail design but made changes to the body. What you showed are a rounded body on top and a Sassy Shad type body below it. Both are rigged on a ball head jig - usually 1/8 oz with a #4 or 1/0 hook. Heavier jigs may be used for deep water trolling. Generally speaking, the presentation is a steady retrieve otherwise the lure has no action. Jigging the lure off the bottom may produce strikes. What I found out this year is when I cut the belly of the Sassy Shad, the body has a tighter shimmy vs a wider body action. I would not recommend that either be rigged weedless. First off, the boot tail needs a steady retrieve not possible in heavy weeds. Second, the body shimmy is limited by a Texas rig but shows its stuff with a hook that comes out the top. Longer swimbaits may rigged on a weighted hook that has a barbed post stuck in the nose:
bass on hand poured swimbait.jpg


The crankbait has a bill that causes it to dive to a specific depth and if the lure floats, it rises on pauses in the retrieve. The lure may be a neutral-buoyancy cb that suspends at the depth the lure dives to although with a slow rise when paused. Lure action is a wide, fast body-waddle, whether with a steady or stop & go retrieve. Other bills are shorter and the lures don't dive as deep. Some crankbaits have bbs inside that rattle along with treble hook clanking. The design you show usually catches bass and large fish species though I have caught a few crappie on them.

My preference for both as well as many other lure types is 8# test braid line for better action and faster hook sets. Soft plastics on light jigs cast better with a spinning or spincast reel with matching rods; the crankbait can be cast with spinning or baitcast reel setups.

Definitely give them a try. They have caught thousands of fish over many decades and are still favorites for searching water for fish.
 
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Senkosam said:
The crankbait has a bill that causes it to dive to a specific depth
Yeah, when I saw the size of that bill, I said to myself "I'm not surprised that crank was lost in a shallow weedy water". )
 
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I fished yesterday with a buddy that is big on trolling crankbaits. Not my cup a tea but we did catch a few. On this particular lake he mostly fishes for bass using crankbaits that dive shallow in water 6-8' deep.
I never expected this crappie to go after it!
IMG_5346.JPG

On another lake we fished he caught this decent bas
IMG_5260.JPG
 
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Senkosam said:
I fished yesterday with a buddy that is big on trolling crankbaits. Not my cup a tea but we did catch a few. On this particular lake he mostly fishes for bass using crankbaits that dive shallow in water 6-8' deep.
I never expected this crappie to go after it!
View attachment 640818
On another lake we fished he caught this decent bas
View attachment 640819
Senko Sam, what’s your favorite color senko? Green pumpkin outperforms all the other ones I tried. I mostly fish at sundown or dark so maybe that plays into it
 
My thing about color(s) is that if it works why switch and green pumpkin is one of my favorite Senko colors. Time of day IMO not significant; location pattern(s) - everything. On many forums, natural looking is key when choosing lures yet few of the millions of lures ever sold look or move naturally. To say otherwise is no different than putting lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig or it's still a spinnerbait, crankbait, in-line spinner, curl tail grub or boot tail swimbait shown above.

Various lure actions for example: wobble, shimmy, flash, flap, rattle, slither, dart, swish & splash rhythmically, slam into the bottom/ barely dive, wiggle (more or less), flair or barely move. Lure design inventors discovered those actions-by-design and made a mint along with the media that made up stories why they work thereby generating millions in revenue over many decades.

Lure action-shape-size -in combination- IMO, is everything with color brightness and hue important in visually emphasizing a combination. Lures stimulate aggression - period! Color choices can be limited to those that at least don't negatively affect the strike. Being a soft plastic, spinnerbait, fly tier and bass jig/trailer maker, has allowed me to experiment using various colors and to never again choose lure based on what fish eat or stages of hunger. Fish aggression level is everything which determines what lures to choose, how to use them, when and where. JMHO based on many fishing successes.

Sorry if some of the reply repeats elements of my reply to a post earlier this year.
Frank
 
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Senkosam said:
My thing about color(s) is that if it works why switch and green pumpkin is one of my favorite Senko colors. Time of day IMO not significant; location pattern(s) - everything. On many forums, natural looking is key when choosing lures yet few of the millions of lures ever sold look or move naturally. To say otherwise is no different than putting lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig or it's still a spinnerbait, crankbait, in-line spinner, curl tail grub or boot tail swimbait shown above.

Various lure actions for example: wobble, shimmy, flash, flap, rattle, slither, dart, swish & splash rhythmically, slam into the bottom/ barely dive, wiggle (more or less), flair or barely move. Lure design inventors discovered those actions-by-design and made a mint along with the media that made up stories why they work thereby generating millions in revenue over many decades.

Lure action-shape-size -in combination- IMO, is everything with color brightness and hue important in visually emphasizing a combination. Lures stimulate aggression - period! Color choices can be limited to those that at least don't negatively affect the strike. Being a soft plastic, spinnerbait, fly tier and bass jig/trailer maker, has allowed me to experiment using various colors and to never again choose lure based on what fish eat or stages of hunger. Fish aggression level is everything which determines what lures to choose, how to use them, when and where. JMHO based on many fishing successes.

Sorry if some of the reply repeats elements of my reply to a post earlier this year.
Frank
I love this forum so much. I learn so much from you guys, thanks a lot
 
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I just hope I don't offend anyone with my lengthly, detailed and sometimes unconventional ideas regarding lures.
50 years of fishing many waters in different states has taught me a thing or two and the study of lurecraft the most.
 
I posted this on Oregonfishing.com in March.
huge variety of lure shapes, actions and colors - all that catch fish

All of the lures shown can catch fish once fish are found. Some are a bit better than others using certain retrieves, but generally speaking, they result in more fish-in-the-boat than casting much larger lures or trolling. Granted, a lot of peewee fish are hooked but so are some nice ones regardless of species. Rule: you want to target larger fish and cover more water, cast larger lures.

Note: each lure type shown has an optimal rate-of-retrieve. The ones shown are used with very slow retrieves with just enough pauses to show off their finesse actions. Fish are bullies with super sensitivity and eyes that capture every little thing that moves - especially finesse motions of a lure body or its parts. It's why T rigged plastic worms and bass jigs with trailers have caught millions of fish when first introduced decades ago and more recently the wacky rigged Senko and Ned rig TRD (The Real Deal) sticks.

In fact discovered some different mini-stick profiles that did fantastic this year! All colors worked. (see photos in the above link.) You can make them from plastic lures you already own. Perfect lures for kids - especially first timers!!
 
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