I have some beginner bass fishing questions

[Speedymaru]

Hello again, I am fairly new to bass fishing. I've caught a few small sub 1lb bass in a little local slough on spinners and trout magnets, but I'm starting to get into more serious bass fishing. I picked up a baitcaster combo tonight, Abu Garcia black max, with a cabelas pro guide im6 rod. I am wondering what I should spool it with. I want to put braid on it, so I can catch catfish and carp with it too. I just don't know what brand or test to put on. I would like it to be fairly heavy. Also, what are the 5 or so most productive lures in your opinion? Preferably soft plastic or jigs because the water I fish is often very weedy and cranks would get caught. I want specific brands and colors. I mostly fish garden lake, but will be fishing other places around Oregon also. Thank you very much

 

[Shaun Solomon]

You don't need braid to catch cats and carp, just tossing that out there.

Braid is a great choice for fishing around grass, and actually a squarebill crank or lipless rattling crank fishes pretty well in grass, as long as it does not come all the way to the surface. When the bait starts to bog down in the grass, you rip it out like you are forcefully setting the hook. Braid is perfect for that technique due to the lack of stretch.

Whatever the line rating on the rod is, it will be for mono. Braid is three times stronger, at least. So think in terms of dimeter when selecting braid, not strength. Also, the better options in braid these days are woven with eight "carriers" or individual smaller bundles of fibers, instead of the older style five carrier braids. Eight carrier braids will be smoother, quieter, and have better knot strength.

Everyone is going to have a different list of top baits, for me I would say jigs, worms, swimbaits, cranks, and topwaters, probably in that order. "Topwaters" is cheating a little, because of the variety of baits. But whatever, sue me. :bleh:

SS

 

[Speedymaru]

Alright thank you very much. What color patterns are your personal favorite for lipless or squarebill cranks? And okay I will try to find an 8 strand kind. Could you go into more detail about your top list of baits? What brands or colors? What I want to know, is if I were to go to the store to buy bass lures, what exactly should I get? I already have some strike king senko style worms in watermelon red/black flake. Thanks

 

[Shaun Solomon]

Boy... I guess for me the best advice I can give you as far as color goes is to say in clear water, stick with dark colors. A good rule of thumb is to try and match the color of the substrate to a certain extent. So if the bottom is mud, green pumpkin, etc. Also try and figure out what they are feeding on, whatever food predominates, and match that as best as you can. In muddy water black and blue, junebug, and red shad are all good colors. A splash of chartreuse on a bait goes a ling way with me, but just a tiny bit, don't overdo it.

Bait wise, I like Rat-L-Traps (Bill Lewis) in 1/2oz Chrome/blue or any red craw type pattern. Squarebills, Lucky Craft 1.5 or 2.5 in a neutral baitfish pattern or a citrus type pattern in muddy water. If it won't beat you up too bad $$$ wise, look into some homemade balsa cranks. They are expensive, but they can be amazingly effective.

A real good way to develop your skills FAST is to pick a presentation and fish it until it begins to be effective for you, and you feel confident you can catch fish with it, then quit using it and move on to another presentation. So for example, start with a jig, and get good at a jig, then move on to a crank, or whatever. In a few years you will have a deep bag of tricks. I have seen so many people just play pin the tail on the donkey, blindly hoping to stumble onto the magic bullet. Let me assure you, the magic bullet theory is a waste of time.

SS

 

[Speedymaru]

Okay thank you so much! You've been a huge help. I really appreciate it.

 

[Shaun Solomon]

No problem. Keep us posted on your progress, and feel free to ask questions. Enjoy being a beginner while you can!

 

[Fishpdx]

for rocky structure I fish blade baits. Done!!!

 

[Shaun Solomon]

for rocky structure I fish blade baits. Done!!!

Blades are $$$. I am still learning how to use them. We used them when I was a kid fishing for schoolie stripers, along with tail spins and slab spoons, because you can cast that stuff so far. But I didn't use them for probably 20 years, they just sorta fell off my radar.

I got back in touch with them when I was living in Colorado, fishing deep for smallies and walleye. They can really do a number on fish, and not just in cold water.

 

[Fishpdx]

Blades are $$$. I am still learning how to use them. We used them when I was a kid fishing for schoolie stripers, along with tail spins and slab spoons, because you can cast that stuff so far. But I didn't use them for probably 20 years, they just sorta fell off my radar.

I got back in touch with them when I was living in Colorado, fishing deep for smallies and walleye. They can really do a number on fish, and not just in cold water.

Yes they are killer for walleye and smallmouth bass. most fish them from boats and just jig it in some way. But I'm a bank fisherman so I cast them out and reel back in , the vibration is crazy on them. But they snag really easily.

 

[Shaun Solomon]

I have used them from shore around grass like you would a trap, or fishing big open flats. But yeah, you pretty much just feed them to the lake when you use them from shore. I pretty much just use them from a boat.