Kickinbass1011

And I also just realized I just took like a 6 month hiatus from strictly swimbait fishing. And while i caught alot of fish I think having to constantly buy worms, hooks, weights etc etc ran me into more money then swimbaiting ever did.

I think my most expensive swimbait I have right now is literally like 60 dollars or something. I run into the same problems with different baits as you do. As far as swimming sideways, having to work slower. I figure sometimes thats just how it has to be. Ive never been interested in the super expensive baits. I tend to lean toward soft plastic swimbaits like huddlestons and mattlures etc. Im a realism freak. That was what turned me on to swimbaits in the first place.

I feel ya man. I didnt even do good on smallmouth this year. Its not that the fishing sucked. literally the amount of people out was insane. Alot of them had kids. Who like to throw rocks. Every boat ramp ive seen have rocks all over them. I was backing my boat down a ramp the other day and had to stop halfway in the water because my trailer was sideways. Wheres the common sense? The respect? The amount of fisherman wasnt causing so much as too many caught as they were training every single fish to not bite. They were throwing so many lures. Huge bobbers. Throwing rocks. Letting their dogs swim all over. The only way I got away from it was being on lake erie.

I still throw conventional tackle. As to not limit my chances of catching a fish that would have other wise not bit. Im out there to catch trophies. That doesnt mean strictly swimbaits. Swimbaits just aid the pursuit. I dont spend the time I used to spend focusing on conventional tackle anymore. Ill carry two rods with swimbaits. Fish those. And before I move on i usually have another rod with something else. Lately its been a jerkbait. And ill throw that. Then I will move on. For example yesterday I caught three. Two on a swimbait. One on s jerkbait. I caught that jerkbait fish over a laydown that I had thrown both swimbaits at twice. Thats my opinion. Keepinitreel does it also. He talked about it in one of his vids. Covid had my local water bodies packed. Im all for our sport. And continuing that sport. Im all for people. But damn. That was overkill. Thats why winter is so bitter sweet for me. Less people. But...ice.

As to not create any confusion I want to let you guys know I have been bass fishing for atleast 23 years. Im 26. Thats nearly my whole life. Ive been tinkering with swimbaits for probably four years. With an increased commitment to big swimbaits over the last 2. The only thing im new at is big swimbaits. I dont want to say I know. Because I certainly dont. But at the same time I do have a grasp on structure, air temperature, water temperature, air temperatures effect on water temperature... patterning (atleast I thought), barometric pressure, moon phase (meh), vegetation growth, vegetation death, depth, water clarity, bottom composition, bass behavior in fall, winter, spring, and summer, forage, forage behavior, sound, vibration, silence, retrieval, line sizing. You name it. I think my reasoning for this post may have been misconstrued a little bit as “how to fish 101, step 1. New beginnings” haHaha. That may be my fault. It is kind of an un specific post. My b. Its why I stuck it down time. You guys are a helpful lot. Thats for sure. I appreciate it. Im sure many others do as well. Like I said I know, but I dont know! Anyway, Im more wondering about some of your guys issues in the 2020 year. Which from the sounds of it, some of you guys had the same issues with pressure as I did. And the other thing im wondering is how im getting bit off a pattern that does not match anything in the body of water ive been fishing. Not only that but in crystal clear water, probably frozen water after tonight. Which sucks. The only thing that would have any element of reactivity to what ive been doing is if i bumped a rock or something. Theres a conscious effort being put forth by these fish. That they are not putting toward a natural to them bait. That fact alone has messed up my entire line of thought to the fish ive been pursuing. Other then that 2020 sucks.

So your into bapes huh? Pmed you....not really

Yea but im throwing an unnatural to that body of water bait to these fish. Not only is the water near freezing but its crystal clear. So why would they eat something abnormal but yet ignore what is normal? Not only that but dragging the bait. Hardly any reactiveness to it. They have to decide to eat it. That is what is confusing me. I did it again yesterday. Ive fished this place many years and literally there are bluegill, bass, and catfish. The catfish arent even wanted there. Im throwing the entire “match the hatch” thing out of the window. Dead of winter. And getting bit. Where as the “hatch” is yielding nothing. Thats where my confusion is right now. It just does not seem right to me. Maybe in the spring or summer but not now.

im fishing bodies of water ive fished for a long time. Just now its in winter time and im using big swimbaits. And getting bit off completely out of the normal patterns instead of their natural forage. I have quite a few high percentage spots where I have either caught big ones, or have done well through the ice. It could also be ive seen them schooled up on camera, marked them alot of years on the fish finder or anything. Pieces of intel like that basically. I can go there and catch fish throwing a jerkbait most days. or whatever other “normal bait” that works. but a swimbait? Thats what im looking for. Im taking all normalcy and throwing it out the window basically. (For my area) But, its definitely not a blind grinding type thing so much as it is these fish do not want to hit my swimbait. Even though its as real and easy for them as possible. the place in question now for me, i have been throwing their most commonly ate forage. For two years. In the winter im talking. And have yielded little results on that. But yet when i throw something completely out of the ordinary in this case a little creeper in blue back herring... i mean it could imitate an extremely large emerald shiner i suppose. We have no golden shiners here. Then boom interest is taken. And that blows my mind. Lets put it this way if you went to a lake that has bluegill and bass. Nothing else besides a few catfish. Crystal clear water. Dead of winter. Throwing their natural forage. And then after not getting bit for a while you start gaining interest on a bait thats not natural to their waters, then what exactly are these fish thinking? These arent really reaction strikes. They are somewhat largeish profile, slow rolling strikes. There is a conscious decision being made to eat that bait. I say large because there is no minnow species in this body of water that is going to get over the 3” mark. And certainly not that fat.

I have it broken down into two categories. If im on a bluegill lake ill throw a bluegill. If im on a shad lake ill throw a shad. Here lately im trying to find a creekchub bait. I have no interest in any other colors besides natural. And ill throw whatever forage there is. Ive never really deviate From that. I try to keep it simple and as realistic as possible. Thats all there is for big forage around here. I mean besides carp, perch, white perch, and other species like that. Simply put though This time of year its either a bluegill or shad imitating bait. And there is a whopping two baits i use for that. This time of year atleast.

Ive been looking for a creekchub soft bait for a little while. Cant find anything. Does anybody here know any companies selling what im looking for? Or maybe somebody who would be willing to custom make me one? Or Even if anybody knows of a swimbait that is a pretty good resemblance of on? So far I have found the mattlures tournament series golden shiner to be the only thing even somewhat close. Any input is appreciated.

So ive seen you on reddit, as well as fishbrain I believe. Correct?

I was thinking to myself a little bit ago how much time and money ive spent toward this hobby. And how I am constantly seeking that one right fish. In the last 2 years ive spent countless hours. Ive went days without bites. Even up to a month or more without bites if its cold. All for that one bite. Ive caught two largemouth in the last 2 years that went over 5. Thats it. Obviously ive caught alot of 3s and a few very low 4s. Still, im pouring tons of money, blood, sweat and tears looking for the one. Ive yet to catch a good one this year. Although I didnt fish much due to covid. That damned disease just had to pick up In my area right at the prime time to catch those big late winter early pre spawn fish. Almost wrecked my season. Still made me potentially miss my best window for a trophy. Im making this post more then anything to hear about some of the struggles and dry spells you guys may be going through this season. I need some verification here because although I dont see my self slowing down anytime soon, man what a grind it has been. Ive been on a mad dry spell. I caught one fish that may have been 14 inches the other day. And it was off a 6” little creeper. Tiny little soft plastic bait. It was a confidence booster without a doubt. But when I put down my hudd, pick up a creeper, and catch a fish its like damn what have I been doing. What do I need to be doing. Whats up in your guys’ lives?

I am pretty much on the lake. Where abouts you from?

Sucks bro. I dont know if I could do it. But, the urban ponds around me (maybe not as urban as where you are from) while I hardly catch fish out of them, the ones I do catch are giant. So if you have any ponds that have a good population of forage and just a few bass, id be hitting them even harder. Right now even. If they arent frozen that is.

What about an 8 inch kietech rigged on an 5/0 owner swimbait hook? I think there are practical swimbaits. Both soft or hard. And there are “craft” swimbaits. Kind of like buying miller lite vs a locally made ale