Method used for daily bait/presentation selection?
 

As a weekender it is typical for me to throw a wild guess as to what the fish might be wanting on that particular day. One thing I've always struggled with is just when to hang up a particular bait/presentation style and switch in hopes that the fish might be preferring something different. For those of you with a lot more water time then myself and family what type of routine do you typically go through to help you find how the fish are wanting it that day? How long do you typically work a particular presentation style before switching to another style. I understand colors the relationship to water clarity, time of day, etc. but presention style and type of bait(swim, slow sink, jig, topwater) have always eluded me and I end up just randomly saying hey this spot looks fishy lets throw a topwater and see what happens.

I used to be like that but now only use dead shrimp to take out the guesswork

I throw top water baits a lot more than the average person, but preferably early morning and late afternoon are best. Yet, I caught several limits last summer throwing top water in the middle of the day. My presentation depends on how active the fish are (winter time I fish smaller baits with a slower presentation). Most of the time presentation is determined as I go and is dependent on the structure and depth of an area. You wouldn't typically throw a shallow suspending swim bait or top water if you're fishing 15-20 foot of water near the channel or a deep hole. Those spots usually work best with letting soft plastics sink to the bottom and bounce around(yet there's always an exception to every rule... I've caught fish on top water in deep water before, but your best chances are bouncing the bottom) I constantly change my presentation when fishing plastics to determine what they are in the mood for. (Like every cast) my best advice is to find a bait that you have CONFIDENCE in. I have several friends who have no confidence in bait selection and constantly change lures. This is a huge downfall. Pick the right color bait based on water clarity and stick with it!!! Many professionals will tell you that if the fish are biting, it doesn't matter what the hell you throw. i can't stress enough how Important confidence is, yet 90% of the battle is learning how to pattern the fish.... If you're fishing in the wrong spot you can change presentation until the cows come home and it won't matter. Hope this helped a little.

:cheers:

good info... Id like to add if you want to fish topwater look for schools of bait activity on top the water. Cloudy days are generally better than sunny days also.

Thanks for the great reply. Yup confidence plays a big role. That in itself has always given me a chuckle because the fish don't care how confident you are I guess you just tend to slow down when you that your particular bait is a proven catcher.

Typically yes we keep some dead shrimp on the boat for the girls. They don't like to throw artificial. This past weekend though not a single fish was boated with a dead shrimp. Not even a catfish or the like. All fish were caught on a chartreuse you pick it bounced on bottom.

I've thought of expanding out the live bait on the boat and cast netting for mud minnow or finger mullet. never fished with them other then some larger 4-6" mullet at the weirs and it didn't do anything but feed crab.

Anyone fish live bait other then shrimp on the lake?

Live mullet and croker will produce fish, dont really need live bait till august though

Live finger mullet I can cast net for all day in the camp canal but croaker are harder to come by. especially since calc point and spicers don't carry them typically. Is there a local source for some bait croaker or mud minnows?

I try to rig everyone on the boat differently and see who picks up fish firs then key on on their setup.

While they are playing around with it I will fish a few different setups with different presentations too, I keep 3 rods or so rigged just for me.

Keep a close eye on how everyone is fishing and stay in tune to what someone that caught was doing.

I know my wife doesn't mess with the presentation much so if she catches something the fish want it on bottom dragging behind the boat. If my youngest catches then they want a very sporadic retrieve with a birds nest about 3' up from the lure. If I catch its usually when I'm untangling the younger son's bird nest or getting my wife's line out of the power pole, so I don't know what I did right.

i know some guys who use live croaker in the channel during the summer and they just go out the day before with dead shrimp and small hooks and catch their own croaker. Seems to work pretty well for them

Exactly!
 

lolololol

Y'all are prolly thinking specks, but live croaker and small (< 10") live sand trout are money for redfish.

when using live finger mullet what size are we talking about? Also does anyone use mud minnows? If so what size and are you just netting them or using a trap?

You must have seen me fishing with my "CREW" and copied me!:smokin:

Literally I go from one kids pole to the next kids, then to the wifes...................... Ill get one or two cast in

I think the key is just have 3 or 4 rods rigged up differently

I do 2 for casting and retrieve, a bright color and a dark color then I vary from fast to slow retrieve until I get some bites

and I do 2 for corks, a bright color and a dark color then I vary from fast to slow counts on popping the cork and sometimes just sitting still until I get some bites

for top water I just observe and if I see or hear fish hitting on top I quickly switch to top water baits, one bright and one dark then I vary from fast to slow on popping or retrieving them until I get some bites.

I have a small boat so 4 rods are too many but if you have the room, its best to have 6 rods ready to fish and 2 for each style, one bright and one dark colored lure.

also set the drag on all of them before leaving the dock, missed many nice fish because I forgot to do this.

Thanks that's a good little setup especially since we have typically 4 rods working on the boat.

so I need to make sure I'm cursing up a storm, have my rod tucked in my armpit, re-tie another rod for the heck of it and maybe start smoking? Seems like a scenario where I need to be mad with a cigarette in my mouth.. idk may be wrong on that part lol

Haha, 15 spare rods at the ready and mosquito leg jernt would probably make the day go easier with 2 young kids and a lady.

I wonder what it's like to fish alone

The fail safe method is find a few boats that are catching and have a good pair of binoculars with you