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best bait when bass busting shad
Yesterday my son and I went out on PP at noon ( I know not the best time) , the Weakley bridge was occupied so we ventured up Fall Creek and fished past the landing and toward the 840 bridge with no success. We decided to head back and on the way we stopped at the island near what I think is Lamar Hill. We were on the south west tip in 2 feet of water and the bass were busting the shad all over. We tried a white fluke, red/white spook, white spinner bait, citrus shad crank baits and finally chrome and white rooster tails that finally got us a few small ones. There were larger bass we saw but couldn’t catch, when we got back to the ramp another fisherman suggested a small rapala would have done the trick. The shad they were chasing were 3″ long. Anybody know of a “go to” bait for this kind of opportunity? We moved done from Northern Illinois and are still learning the lake.
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8 Replies
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I would try a chrome/black or chrome/blue rattle trap. Try different retrieves…fast, fast with pauses, and slow rolling on the bottom. Typically a fast retrieve with pauses will cause them to go absolutely nuts on that bait. Also, chrome sexy shad squarebills tend to work as well. A soft swim bait reeled fast with pauses and twitches might work as well. And sometimes they won’t touch anything as they are gorged on the shad.
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I agree with everything mentioned thus far. A walking topwater bait (i.e. spook) is my number one bait for bass when they’re busting the surface.
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Hi Kroger- thanks for your response, I need to get some of the square bill crank baits as the guide I hired on KY lake used those as well in a similar situation. I didn’t try a rattle trap, and someone else suggested an umbrella rig. I think you might have hit it though with the bass focused on the shad.
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TN-Rig should work too.
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When nothing else is working for me on bass busting shad I will try a tail spinner or a small spoon reeled as fast as possible with dead stops. My go to is a 1/8 oz. white jig head with a light colored 3 inch twisty tail crappie jig reeling as fast as I can. Also with dead stops. Many times they will hit it on the pause but if they hit it while it’s moving, hang on….they will smash it. Try it…it works and on days when my partner and I can’t get the schoolers to bite, it will put bass in the boat.
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quote Ibdally111:When nothing else is working for me on bass busting shad I will try a tail spinner or a small spoon reeled as fast as possible with dead stops. My go to is a 1/8 oz. white jig head with a light colored 3 inch twisty tail crappie jig reeling as fast as I can. Also with dead stops. Many times they will hit it on the pause but if they hit it while it’s moving, hang on….they will smash it. Try it…it works and on days when my partner and I can’t get the schoolers to bite, it will put bass in the boat.
I learn something new every day. Would have never thought of a crappie jig, but it makes sense.
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Hey Kroger…Just make sure to use a heavy wire jig. More of a bass jig then a crappie jig. Light wires with smaller hooks don’t have a wide enough gap to keep the bass from coming unbuttoned. I am not sure of the size of hook I use but it’s about twice as big as the normal #2 hook I use for crappie fishing. Most fish will hook at the top of the mouth or just inhale it which is another reason to use the bigger hook with heavy wire. I love this site because most people do share info and seem to be honest about their catches! I just wish I could get out fishing more often. Lately…work, work, work!
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Had some success last fall on schooling fish with blade baits such as a Silver Buddy or copies.
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