Thread: I don't understand what these fish are thinking

Originally Posted by gunwhatgun

I have mentioned several times on here that I am not ashamed to say I am one of the few who has not abandoned live bait. I use jigs as well and usually under a float. It just makes things easier as out local waters and creeks that feed into the Cumberland River and are usually a labyrinth of dead fall and stumps on the bottom with make cast and retrieve presentations almost impossible with these small lures.

We went fishing Friday afternoon, the Mrs. use a light split shot and hook with nightcrawlers looking for redears. I started with a black 1 inch micro stinger tail on a 1g jig head under a slip float. She got into fish and I got nothing, so I started tipping my jig with a wax worm, still nothing. I removed the jig and just used the wax worm on the jig head, success.

We go to the same spot yesterday afternoon and I go with the wax worm again, this time nothing. Switch to the jig, nothing. Tip the jig with the worm, bingo!

WTH lol. Just when you think you have a spot figured out.

And some folks think fishing for panfish is easy . And some days it can be, but other days, as you know, you got to figure out what they want .
Congrats on figuring out what it took.

The only thing consistent is the inconsistency…..lol.

It can be confounding for sure….at least you figured it out

Changes every time. That’s what keeps me coming back.

Night crawlers for me are like feeding them candy, when I’m fishing the Colorado river . The wife and I will use 25 dozen in a few days. The red ear are monsters, action is so fast I don’t get a lot of fishing in. I’m the net boy and baiter.

thanks for sharing

Just a suggestion or two or three or more: take it for what its worth.
Note: some of this pertains to my previous post in May.

Finding fish is number 1 ! Other than sonar, your lure IS your fish finder.

When it comes to lures vs live bait, lures win most of the time but there are rules to using them.
1. jig hook weight should not be greater than 1/16 oz. 1/32, 1/24 and 16 oz are my go-to weights in a depth range of 6' or less. That could be 6' off bottom or 6' beneath the surface. Fish are where you find them - either closer to the surface or nearer the bottom.

2. jig hook size used depend on lure length. The shorter the lure the smaller the hook size. i.e. #8 for lures less than an inch; #6 for lures 1.5-2"; larger hooks for lures 2 3/4" and longer. Why is this important? Hook Gap. The snaller the hook the smaller the gap and it can make all the difference catching fish and keeping them hooked - no matter the species.

3. Line. My preference is 8# test braid - even as a casting-distance leader. First off, braid has no stretch and it's easier to detect a strike at a long distance and set the hook than using mono. Braid allows better lure action when using lighter jigs

3. Most important when choosing lures vs live bait is covering water. Live bait just don't cut it. Lures cover a lot of water and again, find fish. You might be thinking: turned-off fish prefer live bait. Guess what, really turned off fish strike nothing. Lures provoke semi-active fish to strike as get slammed by even slightly irritable fish. Fish don't see a lure as a prey animal but something moving that shouldn't be in the area of its mouth.

4. What lure you might ask? Dang, there are a thousand that catch all species of fish on the same outing! Fish will be fish whether a 3" sunfish or a 3' pickerel. Recently my partner and I caught crappie, yellow and white perch, bass, pickerel and sunfish on the same lures. Here's a shot of his pickerel:


5. Know the bottom your in, meaning, know the depth, the cover (if any), whether flat for a distance or bumpy (small humps). We fished the flats (no cover) north and south and caught over 148 fish ib 6 hours. Key was anchoring once fish were located from fan casting around the boat and then moving 40' and repeating. Schools were many which accounted for the numbers. Double hooksets by both of us kept us pulling in fish galore!

6. Presentation used for light lures means working lures at a slow speed with pauses.
Finesse lures have subtle movements that shout EAT ME, EAT ME! If there was only one finesse lure in the world it would be the Crappie Magnet rigged on a 1/24 oz ball head jig with #6 hook. Don't worry about color any time. Fish sense motion and lure size and that's all there is when it comes to the strike.

After having fished various lures for many species for almost 50 years, the above is a page in my fishing bible. The gent in the photo had never caught so many fish or fish species in one outing and he's 78 yrs. Granted, that day and another with another partner where the number was closer to 195 fish, were outstanding even for me! Note the lake is less than 20' deep with fish usually caught in water 4 - 10' but knowing thy water is crucial to finding fish. Fish locations can change in a week but the bottom doesn't.

On another forum, I was ridiculed for posting such a long post by two gents who were warned by moderators to cut it out. Thy tried to hijack the thread by showing shots of fish much bigger than the 12-13" crappie we caught as well as huge sunfish. But if you're like me, catching fish regardless of size, is just as much fun as playing a 3' pickerel. Give me numbers any day!!