Your best technique (helping the young anglers)

[Revtro]

Outdoor Kid posted a question about how to gain confidence in a particular lure.  I suggested he fish with someone who is proficient at it and learn.  That brings up a question for you all:  What technique would you consider yourself best at and what advice could you give a young/new angler on how to fish it?

For me, my strongest would be fishing a weightless Senko.  Many years ago a friend of mine taught me how to SEE the bite by watching the line and that finally helped the technique click for me.  Now I fish it all the time and consider myself pretty proficient at it.  My tip on that one would be cast it out and let it sink to the bottom.  Once it hits bottom, lift it gently, take in a few inches of line, and let it drop down again until you either get a bite or the lure is out of the strike zone.  Watch your line for movement (any movement) as this usually indicates a fish has it in it's mouth.  If you fish it weedless and you feel any resistance at all, set the hook.  I prefer to fish it on Florocarbon so the lure sinks more naturally.  Favorite colors: Green Pumpkin with Red Flake or Watermelon with Red or Black Flake.  Stick with the real deal.  Yamamoto's sink better than all others IMO, but Tiki Sticks and Flash's fish very well too.

[Hooksetter]

My strongest technique is also fishing a weightless Senko, Texas rigged on a HP 2/0 EWG hook, with the bait keeper clip. I can throw this anywhere, in any cover, any depth, and catch fish.

I usually throw it on 8# P-Line Cx mono or floro and spinning gear. However I also keep a baitcaster rigged up with 20# P-Line floro for really heavy cover.

I have three tips on fishing a weightless Senko. Watch your line, watch your line, watch your line!!! Because I favor fishing shallow visible cover[boat docks, pontoons, etc.] I have seen ALOT of bass pick up my Senko but did not feel it.  I could, however, see my line move. So watch your line.

My go to colors are black/blue flack and smoke pearl blue, 5".

I have tried just about every brand of Senko style bait that there is but have yet to find one that will out catch a Yamamoto Senko. They will all catch bass I just find I catch more on the original Senko.

Willie

[Cy]

I would say my strongest technique is pitching, but not flipping.  I am a terrible flipper.  I like to pitch to all kinds of targets, wood, weeds, docks, whatever is there.  Pitching is fairly easy once you get the hang of it, pitching to targets accurately and quitely that is another thing. 

Pitching success can be acheived with good reel adjustment, use the tension knob get the bait dropping at just the right speed and have it hit the floor with out backlashing.

I believe that becoming good at pitching is all about practice.  I mean a lot of practice.  I have taken countless abuse and jokes from my family and friends for "fishing in the yard."  The more you practice the more accurate you will become and more quitely you will be able to get the bait in the water.

Once you have basics down you can move on to what I would consider more advanced pitching techniques.  I love pitching way back under docks, using the dock as a lever and swinging by bait way back under there.

I am going to teach myself how to skip baits this year.  Wish me luck.

I like to pitch with a 7' MH baitcasting rig.  I use 17 lb Fluorocarbon most of the time, I will also use braid one in while.  I find Fluorocarbon it seems to be a lot smoother then braid, I think the bait glides better.

I hope this helps and good luck.

Cy

[kgr624]

Recently my best and most productive technique has also been the senko or stick bait weight less. but my go to technique is my jerkbait technique. I believe rythum is the biggest factor in this technique. Also knowing the conditions to pick your rythum are huge. High temperature faster rythum. Water clarity means reflection so silvers work well and for muddy water "real colors" work well well your white,green,and brown sides work well. Also buying suspending jerkbaits are where it is at when you talk about leaving the bait in the strike zone.

[225XS4Garza200PXL]

I would have to say that the best technique i'm best at is using a tube to find fish. I use a tube as a search lure and I was taught by one of the best bass anglers in Michigan, Art Ferguson. The way I do this is to put the trolling motor on high and throw the tube and only work it a few feet and then get it back and rifle another cast. This technique works great early in the season when you are trying to find concentrations of fish on Lake St. Clair... once you find a group you can sit on them and whack'em and then move on... It's very fun and i've found that it works on other lakes as well...

Another technique that I believe I'm fairly decent at is pitching. I'm still working on it everyday, but I have alot of confidence in this technique...

Take care and be blessed,

[Cheetam]

I am most confident throwing crankbaits.  The best advice I can give to someone just learning to throw a crank (whether shallow, mid or deep) is to have a rod with a good moderate action, upgrade the stock hooks (on most) crankbaits to a good Gamakatsu or Mustad, change the cadence of your retrieve (and toss in a couple good, sharp jerks in there while your at it) and make sure you are hitting whatever structure or cover you are throwing at.  You will get more strikes if your crank is bouncing into a stump than simply going over it.  Also, when throwing a deep crank, it is much easier to pull the crank in and reel in the slack than it is to try and reel the bait all the way to the boat...you'll wear your arm out in a hurry doing that.

[OUTLAW]

I would have to say Punchin the mats with a bait that I designed and make, called the SLOP MONKEY, The bait is the best thing I have ever used for Punchin becase I made It the way I wanted it,

The key to Punchin is find the pattern in the pattern. There are alot of guys that try it but just don't get it. use the right gear.

7'10" H&H kevlar flippin stick.
65lb power pro (white)
5/0 BMF or 6/0 Gamakatsu Straight Super line.
1 1/2 or 1 1/4 oz tru tungston.
Bobber stop.
BIG TROLLING MOTOR. (101 MINN KOTA OR GO HOME)

[McCarter]

Jigs have become the bait i have the most confidence in.  I am still learning but after last season, if there is one bait i am going to always have tied on, its a jig.  I have been trying for the past 3 years to improve my jig fishing skills and i think last year was my year.  I will fish a jig from ice out til the season ends, everyday in between.  I dont care what time of year it is, or what pattern the fish are on, you will always find some that will eat a jig.

I was really into using the Terminator Finesse Jigs, but they are getting to be scarce around here.  So, i switched to Strike King Bitsy bugs and Bitsy Flips.  They worked out great last season.  If i can get away with it, i like to throw a 1/4 oz.  If i am up shallow and on a good jig bite, i will go lighter, 1/8 if i can.  And if i am fishing deeper, or if the wind is bad i will go heavier to a 3/8 oz.

My favorite colors for jigs are black w/ green pumpkin trailer.  Black/blue w/ black trailer, Watermelon w/ green pumpkin trailer, and brown/orange with black trailer.  These are the 4 colors i throw the most.  I try not to get caught up in all the different colors of jigs.  there are too many to choose from so i keep it simple.  In stained water, i use the darker colors.  If it is really over cast/low light conditions and stained, i like to throw all black.  But if there is some sun, i like to have a little more color in there, so i will throw the black/blue.  In clearer water, i like the more natural colors.  Watermelon with a green pumpkin trailer worked well, as does brown orange.  Same thing as said above for choosing color.  if it is bright out, i like the watermelon.  If the light is low or there is a lot of cloud cover, i will switch to the darker brown/orange.  Its still natural looking, but a little darker color.

Since i will alternate between pitching and casting, i have settled on a 7 ft Airrus Co Matrix MH with a fast tip.  It has plenty of backbone but the tip is still soft enough to work the jig along the bottom.  It has proven to be a great jig rod.  And since i threw the jig so much last year, i ended up using my Shimano Chronarch Mg 50 most of the time because it is so light.  My set up weighs 11 ounces.  Thats rod and reel before there is line on it.  The lighter weight makes a huge differance when your holding that jig all day.  I always spool my jigs with 12 lb Seaguar Flourocarbon.  I fish a lot of rock and wood, so having a good abrasion resistant line is a must.  Plus, it is low stretch so hookups are better, and it is very sensitive.

A couple tips for fishing a jig:

Have the right set up.  A few years ago, when i first started throwing the jig, i hooked into a monster largemouth on Kent lake.  I was using 8 lb mono and a 6'6" St Croix Medium action rod.  Between the stretch of the line and the weakness of the rod, paired with my inexpereince on proper hook setting for jig fishing, that fish is nothing more than a story.  I got a good look at her before she turned and pulled off.  I would have liked to land that juicy pig.  I went out that night to Bass Pro Shops and bought a 7 ft MH.

Get to know it.  Learn what it does when you pop it off the bottom, or how it moves when you give your rod tip a little twitch.  Spend some time fishing up in the shallows where you can see the bait.  Just seeing what a jig looks like in the water will give you more confidence in it.

Always check your hook.  If your doing it right, you will be fishing around docks, rocks, wood, and whatever other gnarly stuff you can find.  These things will dull a hook out fast.  Always make sure your hook is sharp.

Always check your line.  This is a no brainer, but i lost a very big fish last year in a tournament that Kdawg and I were fishing out on Kent Lk.  The fish probably would have been big bass for the tournament and also moved us up into 3rd, which i think we figured out would have made us an extra $170.  CHECK YOUR LINE OFTEN!!!  And retie often too.  I set the hook pretty hard when i am jig fishing.  that willl take a toll on your knot.  Take a few seconds and retie after every couple of fish or after every big fish.

Experiment with the way you are working the bait.  I have seen days where the fish wouldnt touch the jig unless it lie mostionless on the bottom for several seconds.  And i have seen days ( sometimes the very next day ) where they wouldnt touch it unless it was ripped violently from the bottom.  Play around until you see what the fish want.  One day, it might be short hops all the way to the boat.  One day it might be dragging it back to the boat with no hops.  Trust me, it makes a differance.

Dont be afraid to swim it.  If you get up shallow and your not getting any bites, cast it out and reel it in like a spinnerbait.  Works best around weeds, but also works great around docks and trees too.  I got onto a great pattern a few years back at lake Ponemah swimming a jig around docks.  The only time in my life i have ever caught more than 2 keepers out there.  I ended  up with a nice limit of about 14 - 15 lbs pre fishing for a tournament.  Of course, i went back the next day in the tournament and they were gone.  Conditions changed and they were on a different pattern, but i wouldnt give up.  I ended up with one fish for like 2nd to last place.  But hey, it worked the day before.

Dont give up on it.  I steared clear of jigs for too long because i didnt know anything about them and when i did try to fish with them, i didnt like the feel.  It was foreign to me at the time and i just didnt want to take the time to learn.  A couple years later while flipping though a Bassmaster magazine, i noticed that every tournament that they wrote about in that issue ( and there were like 5 ) was won using a jig.  I made up my mind that i would learn to use them.  I called up a friend of mine and asked him to take me out jig fishing.  I learned enough from him to gain just enough confidence or perhaps curiousity to convince me to spend some time with it on my own.  LIke i said earlier, for 2 years i struggled.  Then last year, a few things really clicked for me and i had a lot of success on it.  Spend some time fishing with a jig and you will catch fish on it.

McCarter himself

[Langer]

Excellent post Brian.  I have yet to catch a fish on a jig but that is mostly due to not trying it that long. I will definately be referencing this post again in the spring to try and become confident in jig fishing. Thanks.

[matt]

Jigs=confusion

but i'm still trying to learn,great tip on watching how your jig moves in shallow water...wish i thought of that.

[Bassman]

My Best technique is pitching a jig, whether into brush, grass mats, or boat docks.  Growing up I always watched the pro's throw jigs into to cover.  They inspired me to learn how to throw one.  The best way I learned was picking the lure up and fishing with it!  I gained confidence in the lure after spending a whole summer as a kid fishing that one lure.  Because i didn't have a lot of money or anyone to show how, i had to just use the heck out of it until i felt like i knew what i was doing.  I had to observe everything going on from line movement to feel.  Since then i have moved on to a lot of  different baits, but i gained confidence in them by spending much of the summer fishing with those i really didn't know how to use.  I don't believe there is any trick or technique that will make you confident in a bait until you use it, understand it and what it doing in the water, and know when to throw it.  The best way i know how to gain confidence in a bait is by fine tuning my presentation until i start catching fish.  Once i start catching fish my confidence level goes up in the baits performance.  Don't get me wrong there is plenty of other ways to get confident in a bait, but devoting yourself to a bait for an entire summer is the best way I know how.  Truth be told, i have devoted myself to a bait an entire summer and still don't catch fish on it, but that doesn't mean i'm still not trying to learn how.

[BASS FISHERMAN]

spinners bait 

RANGERS BOAT RULE 

[bosshawg]

 don't know if its what to get a young angler started on, but i like to say i'm best w/a topwater. i'll throw one all morning if i can. favorites being a pop-r to zara spook. last year thou threw alot of senkos and what most of my fish came on.

[outdoorkid]

thanks for the help revtro. i think my best is wacky rigged 4in senko under docks and over/next too shallow weedlines. i use it on a spinning rod with tenlb p-line flouroclear. as well as a weightless texas rigged senko watch yor line!!

[bshaner]

The presentation I have the most confidence in would be T-rigging a 1/4 oz bullet with a GYBC Hula Grub on a 6'6" MF Airrus rod with PLine Fluoro 8#.  There's just something about this presentation that is magic for me.  This is effective for SM and LM in any conditions.  I can flip it, pitch it, deep structure fish it, shallow weed beds... anywhere.

B

[thedude]

well...i grew up fishing in indiana....so you can all guess i'm either a crankbait guy or a dock & plastics guy.....lol.

my top producing bait is a senko.... i actually prefer YUM brand Yum dingers. I think they hold up better, and sink a little slower than a regular senko. I'll fish those in water up to 10'. On occasion i'll put them on a carolina rig w/ a 4' leader to fish deep weededges.

that said i get really sick of fishing senkos....lol.
My favorite bait is probably a texas rig with either a sweet beaver or YUM sueie...i'll always have one tied on...great for working deep cover as well as flipping/pitching under docks or in the weeds.

i toss a lot of finesse jigs latley as well..my favorite is a booyah bug or stacey king finesse jig in PB&J or Pumpkin/Orange w/ a yammamota PB&J twin-tail trailer....killer on smallies. I also like football or ball jigs with yammamota hula grubs...smoke/purple, pearlescent blue, cinnamin & purple fleck, black & blue.....

I love a white buzzbait or pop-R in the early morning or late evening.

Finally.... a great numbers technique that i'm still hammering out is a drop shot! I like chompers drop shot worms on red octopus hook. One thing i've learned is to keep the weight and hook close together ( less than 18" ).