What is your basic lure for Bass fishing, and how do you find them?

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Chubs
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What is your basic lure for Bass fishing, and how do you find them?

Post by Chubs »

See topic - I'm just getting into Bass fishing and thought I'd pose the question to get some ideas.

I'll note that I'm starting my bass fishing adventures at my neighborhood lake (it's old river oxbows, I'd guesstimate over the multiple ponds it's probably 30-50 acres).

My kayak takes about 3-4 rods and I presently go with a Texas rigged creature craw, shallow wake bait (Manns -1), and a micro crank lure (Yo-zuri snap bean). The snap bean is more for bluegill :)

So far I've managed a blue cat out of the lake on a paddle tail with jighead heh.
imaoldmanyoungsalt
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Re: What is your basic lure for Bass fishing, and how do you find them?

Post by imaoldmanyoungsalt »

I'm not familiar with oxbow lakes but generally I find on smaller bodies of water, depending on the amount of fishing pressure they receive, that a more natural looking lure/bait works better. The texas rigged creature bait is a good choice as well as a texas rigged worm. I would also throw a wacky worm at em. Hey, don't leave your TSL's at home either. They are dynamite on bass! It really depends a lot on the depth and type of cover and structure the lake has. Again, I'm not familiar with the oxbows so not really sure what they consist of. I believe Karst lives on one and fly fishes it quite a bit so I'm sure he can steer you in the right direction.......but you may have to take up fly fishing! Lol

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Cityfisher
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Re: What is your basic lure for Bass fishing, and how do you find them?

Post by Cityfisher »

I have just e few basic lures I use. A texas rigged worm ( I like black), a simple spinning bait in white or chartruese and a crank bait. And my secret weapon, (not so secret now! lol) which can be fished like a crank bait, jerk bait, top water or any way you want is this Cotton Cordell Redfin but in chrome and black.
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screwston420
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Re: What is your basic lure for Bass fishing, and how do you find them?

Post by screwston420 »

i absolutely slay bass on top-waters at night on buzzbaits, also night and day with the h20 express slush daddy and slush minnow and then for soft plastics the white grub from zoom is killer texas rigged
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karstopo
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Re: What is your basic lure for Bass fishing, and how do you find them?

Post by karstopo »

Image

My daughter likes using pink plastic worms. She does pretty well on those rigged Texas style. She just fishes around shoreline structure.

My buddy Rick uses scented plastic worms mostly dark ones, same rigging and structure. Slow twitching the bait along the structure down close to the bottom Image
Sometimes, Rick will use crankbaits if the worms aren’t working or it’s too windy to fish them.

On the Oxbow I live on, the structure is mostly fall downs, some ancient live oaks, along the shoreline. Cypress knees are additional cover. There’s some limited areas with lily pads and a few brush piles. Hardly any submerged aquatic cover. The lake is about 100 yards wide and about 2 miles long. Old river channel is what an oxbow amounts to. It gets cut off from the river flow. There’s are lots of them running up and down the near oyster creek from Sugar land to the coast. Some along the Brazos River too. This one is 10-11 feet deep over most of the middle. 50 feet off the shoreline, it’s 7, 8 or 9 feet in many places. That’s about how far the fall down structure goes out.

The 22# 4 ounce Georgia world record bass came out of an oxbow lake. Bass in the winter in the lake I’m on often roam about after Shad and might be found near the ends of the lake out in the middle. I’m mid lake and sometimes they hang out off my bank in the middle going after shad, especially afternoons in the winter with a little sun. I always thought bass oriented to structure, but sometimes on this oxbow, they rove around in schools chasing bait. Look for bait disturbances, look for pelicans diving, it’s a lot like saltwater fishing. Cast into the disturbances, Shad like plugs work well.

My shoreline in the winter is often deadsville in the morning, but near sundown the fishing really gets cranking. My shoreline faces west and gets afternoon sun. Cloud Filtered sunshine is the best for fishing on my bank. Full sun and it doesn’t get going until the sun is really low. If the bass aren’t roving after bait, they might be out on the deepest structure. I let fly rod jigs fall over that and have been getting fish all winter over the same structure fishing from my dock. Very slow twitch and fall over the bottom contours and limited structure. Image
A couple of productive colors. Image

I guess the bass are now thinking about sex and they have moved away for the most part and moved to the north end of the lake along that sun exposed south facing shoreline. Another lake buddy saw some nests there and has been traveling by boat the 2 miles from his end to the other one. I think the bass spawn there first and then later on other banks.

Last year, mid-late March was great along my shoreline. Image
I got this one that went 8# on the boga right next to the dock March 19th right at about 5 pm near some cypress knees. My daughter got a 9 pound fish about 200 yards down three days earlier.

I pay attention to time of day and available light and season. Cold water, fish tend to want to warm up so they hit sun exposed areas, but bright unfiltered sunlight seems to be negative until later in the day. Then there’s the season for sex and they are often easier to get. Water about 58 degrees supposedly gets that ball rolling. That’s about where it is now. I don’t look for nests, but just fish the shorelines in a boat. I haven’t been out in the boat in a month, but will likely go soon.

After sex season, the fish are still available along the shorelines. As it gets hotter, morning fishing picks up and my shoreline turns on in the am. Even later into spring, the bass do something that I didn’t think they did. They come along in schools of 5 or 8, all big fish and rove right along the shoreline like a school of redfish. But the bass don’t tail and they tend to move pretty fast. Anything out front of them gets creamed including any handy lure or fly. My daughter has witnessed this also on several occasions.

Fishing seems pretty good until about early July. Sometimes, weird algae outbreaks affect the water color and clarity and that gives the fish lockjaw. Those happen more in heat of summer. Then the water clears some and the fishing improves.
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Chubs
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Re: What is your basic lure for Bass fishing, and how do you find them?

Post by Chubs »

Thanks guys, great info and especially about the oxbow fishing and structure and season tips. Ours seems to be pecan trees and duck grass scattered all over, plus some docks, a dam at one end, some culverts between roads. Depth in the middle area I went was 6' which surprised me, I had always figured it was flat due to being damed up for a long time and I've seen grass in the middle at times.

Going to go hit the edge structures with a tx worm next time :)

Been watching a lot of flukemaster YouTube lately. Bass sure seem like you need to be thorough on working over a structure/ cover areas but also find that bait just like our salt water fish.
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karstopo
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Re: What is your basic lure for Bass fishing, and how do you find them?

Post by karstopo »

Image

Montgomery Lake, an oxbow in Georgia where the 22# 4 ounce record LMB came from.

Image

Some oxbow lakes along the Mississippi River.

Image

A Brazos River Oxbow above Harris Reservoir in Brazoria County.

https://www.bassmaster.com/news/george- ... ecord-bass

A story about the record bass.
mpegues
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Re: What is your basic lure for Bass fishing, and how do you find them?

Post by mpegues »

It's fine to have a little of everything onboard, But I have found that if they will not hit a 7.5" Tequila Shad Culprit worm or a 1/8 ounce Coach Dog colored Rooster Tail? It's going to be a long day...
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