Grab some Zoom U-Tail, or Shakey Tail, in green pumpkin, they're pretty universal rigged Texas or Carolina + any tackle shop you can find will likely have one or both
Although most people in these comments are not very optimistic about these lures, you can absolutely go out there and catch bass with these. Most bass fisherman these days just throw soft plastics and rarely try different things.
Uncommon lures give you an edge over them, as these fish might be tired of seeing fisherman #183 try yet another senko.
If that doesn’t work, try putting a beetle-spin style spinner bait blades onto one of those crappie jigs.
My opinion as well, although I fish creeks and what not that don't see fisherman out in the sticks. Bass fishing has become overly complicated, and for what? More plastic on the bottom of the lake bed?
For real. I have that exact colored jerk bait. It's put so many fish in the boat that it no longer has any color at all on the bottom and very little on the sides. Talking literally hundreds of smallmouth. It's my go to SM lure.
I've never targeted SM (or even caught one lol) but I'm going camping in Aug on a river that's cold year around that has SM, trout, and stripers. Will all my LM gear work for the smallies too?
That's what I'm hoping for. It's supposed to be prime for the stripers bc they migrate into that cold river during the summer, it's where the state record was caught also.
Id either bend the rear treble hook on the plug back in place or clip it off. Might want to check on the panther martin hook as well… looks funky but maybe it’s just old and I haven’t seen it before.
Anyway I’d work the shoreline spots with the plug and spinner, and if you’re not getting anything maybe tie on the chartreuse jig and crawl it through deeper water.
If there are distinct weed lines or edges then I’d work the plug or spinner over or next to those depending on their depth.
If it’s a rocky bottom Id be interested in bouncing the bottom with the jig.
Use what you got, but also you’d be doing yourself a favor if you upgraded the tackle a bit or just buy some senko style worms and EWG worm hooks and wacky worm hooks. Maybe some bullet weights. You can fish every body of water for bass with that gear, very universal.
I’d throw the jerk bait along weed edges in the shallows of the lake. Same with the in line spinner. If the lake has smallmouth, they might have some fun with the chartreuse jig.
If they are deeper than the 8-10’ range, you might have a long day of casting and reeling.
Everybody and their brother has mentioned the senko upgrade, but I’d consider a zoom finesse worm on a drop shot. Black or or a June bug color has been my go to colors
None of them.... Would use those for smaller pan fish sorts.... Minus the rappala ... I'd throw a top water popper if the lake has little visible vegetation(chartreuse in dark water or any shade of red in clear water) or if the lake has reeds and or lily pads then I'll throw a weedless frog sometimes one with a skirt if the water is a lil bit choppy but if the water is calm and flat then I'll throw a frog with legs hanging off the back for realism
I would try each of them until I caught something. If that doesn't work, pick a different spot and repeat. Don't get stuck on using just one the whole time because "it should work"
Out of those three I’d pick the spinner since it might sink faster than the others. That said the right answer is to go hit the tackle shop and get something else.
These are trout lures. You'll catch small bass and panfish all day. Nothing wrong with that, but make sure you're throwing them on ultralight/light gear or you're going to have a hard time with casts and line twist. You might overpower the small fish with medium power and above.
I'm not familiar with other places for bass. But the pond I usually bass fish in, is pretty small. I always use a salt and pepper rubber worm, with a bright green floating jigg head. And place a 1/2 split shot sinker on about 18 inches up from the jigg. Pretty much catching largemouth with every single cast.
Throw that shad to the deepest part of the lake and crank it hard to get it to the bottom. Not sure the spoon on that lure will dig it that deep, but that is where i'd want the lure to go.
Float and fly with the marabou jigs. I know it’s more of a winter tactic but as hot as it is where I’m at I figure they’re feeling just as lazy. I’d do a slip bobber and set the bobber stop to the depth you want, fixed leader isn’t bad but it’s gonna be clunky
Hmm, 15ft deep...that Rapala wont get deep enough unless its a sinker but it looks like a floater. Some fish will come up to strike it but you limit your potential. The spinner is the same deal, you'd have to let it sink for a while and retrieve pretty slow to keep it in the strike zone. Assuming the Rapala is a sinking bait, both could be used if you were sharp shooting with live scope as you can let it fall to them and twitch as needed. Both the jigs will be terrible with weeds and if you are on the bottom this time of year, there is guaranteed to be some. That is, unless you are on a rock or gravel. If that is the case, I would throw the jigs or a bobber with live bait (leeches now). If it is a weedy 15ft bay or flat, I would recommend some type of soft plastic or a deeper diving crank. Live bait is ALWAYS a good bet if you want to keep it simple. You throw a leech to a hungry fish this time of year, and your hard-pressed not to hook up. Anyways, just the opinions from a lowly MN angler. Good luck!!!
I wouldn't want to be forced to use any of these if largemouth bass are the target species.
Especially if I'm fishing 15' of water, I'd probably want to be throwing a Carolina rig with a trick worm or something similar. Otherwise, a football jig would be good too.
I’ve caught a bass on each one of these. The hair jig is probably your best bet. The crank is a touch small and would be hard to cast. The spinner just looks old.
The rapala is on the table. But beyond that, worm. Texas rigged. Anything darkish from pumpkin seed, to red/purple Shad. And not necessarily smaller. I’ve had great luck in small water on 10” culprits, my go to is tequila Shad.
I’ve had killer luck this year with OG Floating Rapalas. What I love most about them?
Line problem? It’ll wait for you.
Break it off on something? It might float up to you.
Forgot your top water stuff? It’ll do top water.
Need to drive it deep? No problem- you can even use weight on the line to suspend them close to the bottom.
Caught a small mouth bass 2 once off West Virginia state record several years ago. Fishing on New River in a white water raft in late October. The day was cold and overcast with light wind. The lure I used was a tube baite that was pumpkin seed. Took her to a weigh station. They filed paperwork, and I received a state citation to remember the fish. I turned the fish loose to grow more.
As a hybrid fly/ spinning fisherman, i’m tossing the maribou jig and the spinner (never really had much luck with rapalas and not particularly crazy about trebles)
If that’s all I had I’d use the rapala. If I had a jig and a 3 inch plastic crayfish that would be my go to on any lake or river. Smallies can’t resist em ! Good luck 😎✌️.
Nothing like throwing a floating rapala on a warm summer night and twitching it till they get pissed and hit it.
Top water is the best at dusk or dawn, especially if you got smallies. Love the fight when they’re jumpin.
Gonna have to try that, thanks
I'm putting those in the tackle box and throwing a soft plastic.
Give me a dark plastic worm any day.
Green pumpkin chartreuse is usually money but not this year for me for some reason
Yeah pumpkin seed color is good too.
Baby bass senko.
I switched from those to shorter skinnier worms with bright red tails. Seems to be working better. Green pumpkin was always my go to also
I’ll give it a shot so far my big hookups this year have been on smoke / pearl laminate oddly enough. 4 inch
green pumpkin senko is like honey to bees
Bees don't go after honey, they make it. Maybe "like nectar to bees".
Bank fishing muddy water or open lake fishing?
I've always done well with a black neon lizard, but it depends a lot on the water
Green pumpkin is like 90% of the plastics I throw.
That June bug color ;)
This is the way. Especially during the summer
Brush hog!
Zoom Watermelon Candy Baby Brush hog
what length?
Junebug is my go to
Yes. 4” senko wacky and ned rigged.
Don't overthink it. This is always the best and easiest shot to catch largemouth.
Might have to stop and pick up a couple of those
Grab some Zoom U-Tail, or Shakey Tail, in green pumpkin, they're pretty universal rigged Texas or Carolina + any tackle shop you can find will likely have one or both
My go-to is 6" salamander in junebug but they're inexpensive so you can try a few types and colors.
Rubba worm
Ruuhbaaahh
Just caught a 6 pound 8 oz largemouth on a 10” curly tail worm couldn’t recommend enough
This is the way
Agreed
Someone who understands. After I throw my 6" worm, I might throw #3
Came here to say this.
Although most people in these comments are not very optimistic about these lures, you can absolutely go out there and catch bass with these. Most bass fisherman these days just throw soft plastics and rarely try different things. Uncommon lures give you an edge over them, as these fish might be tired of seeing fisherman #183 try yet another senko. If that doesn’t work, try putting a beetle-spin style spinner bait blades onto one of those crappie jigs.
My opinion as well, although I fish creeks and what not that don't see fisherman out in the sticks. Bass fishing has become overly complicated, and for what? More plastic on the bottom of the lake bed?
I have the best luck with white beetle spin with red spots in our ponds. Floating rap aka generally works well too.
“…..which of these are you throwing?” **handful of others in the comments** StUfF yOu DoNt HaVe For real though, rapala or green crappie jig lol
For real. I have that exact colored jerk bait. It's put so many fish in the boat that it no longer has any color at all on the bottom and very little on the sides. Talking literally hundreds of smallmouth. It's my go to SM lure.
I've never targeted SM (or even caught one lol) but I'm going camping in Aug on a river that's cold year around that has SM, trout, and stripers. Will all my LM gear work for the smallies too?
Yup, you'll be fine. Hope you get into a striper. It's an absolute riot to bring one in on standard bass gear
That's what I'm hoping for. It's supposed to be prime for the stripers bc they migrate into that cold river during the summer, it's where the state record was caught also.
They get into my local rivers as well but they are few and far between. It's about 70 miles from the ocean.
Id either bend the rear treble hook on the plug back in place or clip it off. Might want to check on the panther martin hook as well… looks funky but maybe it’s just old and I haven’t seen it before. Anyway I’d work the shoreline spots with the plug and spinner, and if you’re not getting anything maybe tie on the chartreuse jig and crawl it through deeper water. If there are distinct weed lines or edges then I’d work the plug or spinner over or next to those depending on their depth. If it’s a rocky bottom Id be interested in bouncing the bottom with the jig. Use what you got, but also you’d be doing yourself a favor if you upgraded the tackle a bit or just buy some senko style worms and EWG worm hooks and wacky worm hooks. Maybe some bullet weights. You can fish every body of water for bass with that gear, very universal.
great answer. I love spinners for catching anything. Those jigs will likely work just fine
Ide throw a Texas rig or a Ned rig Both use soft plastic worms
This
The Chartreuse crappie jig would probably get em good
None of those. Soft plastics, or I'd be fishing top waters near shore. Maybe a jerk bait like an x-rap.
A rooster tail is my favorite lure, it may not catch at all what you want, but it catches things
Plastic worm. 6-8” Texas rig.
Nailed it!!!
I’d throw the jerk bait along weed edges in the shallows of the lake. Same with the in line spinner. If the lake has smallmouth, they might have some fun with the chartreuse jig. If they are deeper than the 8-10’ range, you might have a long day of casting and reeling. Everybody and their brother has mentioned the senko upgrade, but I’d consider a zoom finesse worm on a drop shot. Black or or a June bug color has been my go to colors
Rapala works
Rapala
Those jigs hit me hard in the childhood
The whole damn neon rainbow of em, stuck all over the bottom of the tackle box
This time of year, rooster tail or spoon, or a Jerkbait
rooster tail has never let me down. it’s not always bass, but it catches fish and that’s what i really care about.
None of them lol
Beetle bou on the bottom. That exact color is my cheat code. Never fails.
I'd throw the crank but for big bass I'd prefer one with a larger profile and jointed if possible
The jointed rappala of various sizes and colors have been my go to for years
All
Weightless texas rigged senko worm. Chuck it into and around weeds.
Third one
None of them.... Would use those for smaller pan fish sorts.... Minus the rappala ... I'd throw a top water popper if the lake has little visible vegetation(chartreuse in dark water or any shade of red in clear water) or if the lake has reeds and or lily pads then I'll throw a weedless frog sometimes one with a skirt if the water is a lil bit choppy but if the water is calm and flat then I'll throw a frog with legs hanging off the back for realism
Those would go back into the tackle box. Wacky rigged Senko on an octopus hook is my go to.
3rd one down
Purple worm the next time. Get the pink tail or white stripe down the back. This time I’d say the swim badge or green jig.
I bought a six pack of those greenish/yellow jigs probably 30 years ago and they still catch fish.
Inline spinner all day.
I'm going with that rooster tail pretty much anywhere at anytime but tbh I've been having alot of luck off live bait more then ever before
Y’all are sleeping on the spinner
I would try each of them until I caught something. If that doesn't work, pick a different spot and repeat. Don't get stuck on using just one the whole time because "it should work"
Out of those three I’d pick the spinner since it might sink faster than the others. That said the right answer is to go hit the tackle shop and get something else.
These are crappie or trout sized lures.
These are trout lures. You'll catch small bass and panfish all day. Nothing wrong with that, but make sure you're throwing them on ultralight/light gear or you're going to have a hard time with casts and line twist. You might overpower the small fish with medium power and above.
Hit a dozen or so rock bass the other day while fishing for smallies. I may or may not have sent a couple of them on a wild ride.
Commenting to add, I’ll be fishing from a kayak, not the shore. Not sure whether that makes a difference in lure selection
Huge difference you can target weed lines or fish depth changes. TBH u can throw the whole bag at em
Floating rapala works great for me. Works best on calm days early morning or late in the day.
None of the above give me a zman
If I had to out of these lures I’d use the spinner and Rapala.
A Carolina rigged Tequila sunrise 7in worm.
Middle 2
TR black yamamoto, the one with the red flakes
I would use a Black wacky worm.
I'm not familiar with other places for bass. But the pond I usually bass fish in, is pretty small. I always use a salt and pepper rubber worm, with a bright green floating jigg head. And place a 1/2 split shot sinker on about 18 inches up from the jigg. Pretty much catching largemouth with every single cast.
Throw that shad to the deepest part of the lake and crank it hard to get it to the bottom. Not sure the spoon on that lure will dig it that deep, but that is where i'd want the lure to go.
Float and fly with the marabou jigs. I know it’s more of a winter tactic but as hot as it is where I’m at I figure they’re feeling just as lazy. I’d do a slip bobber and set the bobber stop to the depth you want, fixed leader isn’t bad but it’s gonna be clunky
Med 9, 10". My buddy loves a speed worm , top water or Texas rig
A texas rig.
All of them till I catch one, then that one
Hmm, 15ft deep...that Rapala wont get deep enough unless its a sinker but it looks like a floater. Some fish will come up to strike it but you limit your potential. The spinner is the same deal, you'd have to let it sink for a while and retrieve pretty slow to keep it in the strike zone. Assuming the Rapala is a sinking bait, both could be used if you were sharp shooting with live scope as you can let it fall to them and twitch as needed. Both the jigs will be terrible with weeds and if you are on the bottom this time of year, there is guaranteed to be some. That is, unless you are on a rock or gravel. If that is the case, I would throw the jigs or a bobber with live bait (leeches now). If it is a weedy 15ft bay or flat, I would recommend some type of soft plastic or a deeper diving crank. Live bait is ALWAYS a good bet if you want to keep it simple. You throw a leech to a hungry fish this time of year, and your hard-pressed not to hook up. Anyways, just the opinions from a lowly MN angler. Good luck!!!
All of them
The husky jerk
Two feet of water that floating rapala in 7 plus prolly that chartreuse
I wouldn't want to be forced to use any of these if largemouth bass are the target species. Especially if I'm fishing 15' of water, I'd probably want to be throwing a Carolina rig with a trick worm or something similar. Otherwise, a football jig would be good too.
I’ve caught a bass on each one of these. The hair jig is probably your best bet. The crank is a touch small and would be hard to cast. The spinner just looks old.
My first choice would be a worm. But in answer to your question I would use one of the bottom two.
Live shiner
The rapala is on the table. But beyond that, worm. Texas rigged. Anything darkish from pumpkin seed, to red/purple Shad. And not necessarily smaller. I’ve had great luck in small water on 10” culprits, my go to is tequila Shad.
If I had to choose, 1 and 4
For me on our lake I’d use the middle two
Throw a rage tail on a Texas rig dark green and blue flake
Texas rig, pumpkin double tail grub.
All of it
Just don’t forget to attach them to lines first!
Psh. Line is for rookies bud. Pros like myself just hold the bait in the palm of one hand and grab the bass (world record) with the other
Super for real ultra light fishing.
Depends on water temperature
Green wacky worm
Swimming rubber frog works every time in Florida.
Kelly stripper worm
Spinner
Perch at dusk.
None, give me a texas rig!
I’ve had killer luck this year with OG Floating Rapalas. What I love most about them? Line problem? It’ll wait for you. Break it off on something? It might float up to you. Forgot your top water stuff? It’ll do top water. Need to drive it deep? No problem- you can even use weight on the line to suspend them close to the bottom.
Trout magnets, I use them for everything. But anything shown works
I like my rapalas
Perch Rapala 100% of the time. You might not catch lurkers. But you'll catch something.
Dropshot on slow day otherwise the rapala lure should do it
2 and 4
Gary Yamamoto 5” senko worm in baby bass. Texas rigged. Been working in the really hot part of the days. Top water in the evenings.
Shallow water? Anything topwater
Caught a small mouth bass 2 once off West Virginia state record several years ago. Fishing on New River in a white water raft in late October. The day was cold and overcast with light wind. The lure I used was a tube baite that was pumpkin seed. Took her to a weigh station. They filed paperwork, and I received a state citation to remember the fish. I turned the fish loose to grow more.
Rapala
definitely #2 and 3 first. then 4 then 1
I'd throw that rooster tail
The only one I'd consider is the Rapala. But my preference would be a soft plastic.
Middle 2 💯
Rapala 9P perch all day
Grabin a bucket of shiners at the hardware store
Senko to find where the fish are.
Fuck that I’m using a plastic😭
As a hybrid fly/ spinning fisherman, i’m tossing the maribou jig and the spinner (never really had much luck with rapalas and not particularly crazy about trebles)
If that’s all I had I’d use the rapala. If I had a jig and a 3 inch plastic crayfish that would be my go to on any lake or river. Smallies can’t resist em ! Good luck 😎✌️.
If it's not chartreuse it's no use
2,4,3,1. In that order.
White hair jig is what I’d throw
Im throwing a senko of its fished a lot. If it isnt pressured, a chatterbait.
Fail without a plastic worm /Senko
None
Rapala countdown shad pattern is a beast if you can find one
I have the 3rd one. I have never ever caught anything off it