Fishing Forum

We’ve heard tons of stories of different fish caught on our Fatties (a senko style bait) from crappie, pike, walleye, trout, and of course bass. What all have everyone else caught on stick baits? Got pics?
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I pour my own soft plastic lures and have bought stick molds that produce them from 2.5" - 5". By accident I tried one of the 2.5" sticks in my pond where I test lures just produced and watched the lure wacky rigged with a small 1/32 oz jig. The action was the same as a wacky rigged Senko : the ends and body wobbled all the way down!


The first time I fished the rig I caught gills, crappie, perch and small bass less than a pound.



Even a catfish took it:

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But then I decided that if the wacky mini stick caught fish, why not melt the bodies of two grubs together and wacky rig it. It caught just as many fish:


But then I figured: why not rig the grub stick with the jighead at the end of the lure:


Stick with four flat sides:

I even used the back end of a finesse worm:



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Okay, since the mini-stick and grub stick rigged with the jig at the end worked, why not a Senko type stick using either a 1/32
or 1/16 oz jig with #2 hook:



Caught bass just fine!

Sorry for the long dissertation, but pictures speak volumes and photos and YouTube videos are where I get many ideas. In any case many things to consider trying. They work three out of four seasons and maybe under the ice (haven't tried the mini-stick wacky rigged ice fishing).

One thing should be evident: stick style baits can come in different sizes and body shapes, but all have one thing in common:
no curl tail or shad tail. Lure action happens at the slowest retrieve and even under a float.

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Very interesting, since all the different designs and ideas are working, maybe you are just fishing in places where the fish are biting[]. I can't say I've ever had that happen but I should give it a try and see what happens. I doubt I'll have the kind of luck you are having but do you think the color you are using has anything to do with your success?
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Quote:Very interesting, since all the different designs and ideas are working, maybe you are just fishing in places where the fish are biting

Lures for me are fish search-objects. Unless you find fish directly beneath the boat, the majority of time you cover water casting lures you hope will get hit and reveal higher concentrations of fish. Some angler primarily troll lures, but that has its limitations depending on the water trolled.

Believe it or not, there are certain lures that work far more often than many others on active and inactive fish. Inactive fish can be made to strike by annoying them with slow presentation finesse action lures. Some claim that slow presentations don't cover water fast enough, but if you're retrieving the wrong lure at the wrong speed, at the wrong depth, it won't matter how much water you cover.

Please believe that the pictures I post are true representations of fish caught - sometimes over 40 in one outing and occasionally over 100. The reason being that I found concentrations of fish in one or more parts of the lake using any of those lures. At times, those locations hold fish for a few days before moving on.

Color is NOT nearly as important as lure action-by-design. I can't stress lure action enough! The lures I sent you have uniquely different actions and they are all fish-finding actions that catch pretty much every fish species in the lakes you fish. In fact ONE chosen color will work all of the time for those lures. But Here are a few colors I have total confidence in and like casting:
pearl, green pumpkin with black flakes, translucent brown pumpkin with green flakes, lime or chartreuse (fluor), translucent chartreuse with black or gold flakes. Any one of those colors used in any of the lures I cast with high confidence WILL find and catch fish.

Asking what colors are best is like asking which of a dozen lure actions is best. Nice thing is you have an incredible number of choices of finesse lures and in just a few colors that always work based on lure action alone.

Mmany lure materials work including soft plastic, feather, leather or hair. But one thing to start the ball rolling when it comes to the appreciation of lure design: watch it in water while you flick the rod top and glide the bait or work it off bottom. Each has a unique action that stimulates a fish's curiosity and then ramps up its aggression level. I could care less why it strikes (hunger, feeding, territorialism, etc.) as long as it does!

Things to seriously consider on a cold winter's day and try yourself for the fun of it if not for the excitement of discovering something new that works.
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Here are a few excellent videos that demonstrate what triggers strikes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPfiEZ8Stjw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkmkrYTHA6s
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I've never fished back East when smaller fish were not biting, although I've rarely fish there in the Winter. My theory is that there are many fish in the lakes and ponds there that you can always find something biting. In our lakes and ponds here that does not seem to be the case, I believe there are fewer fish per lake here. The white bass here can be caught at any time, if you can find them but our crappie, bass can be closed mouth even when there number are up and perch you just never know when they are going to be active. Because of the fewer fish, the best approach is to cover water until you find those active fish, for me that mean trolling. Certain times of the year, like during the crappie spawn, it's better to go to the locations they are known to hang out at and fish the slower methods that you have mentioned. I think we all learn to fish our home waters with the best method that works for us and what works for one person might not work for another. I feel that in part, that is because of the confidence we have in what we are using. If you tried fishing the way I do and had no luck, you would likely go back to fishing with the method that worked better for you. Once you fish with someone and learn the methods that work for them, your confidences grows and your knowledge of what things you need to do to be successful. I have watched bass guys fish the same spot as I'm fishing and pull in bass after bass, I'll go out and buy the exact same lure they are using and have little to no luck but I think that's because of the finesse part of the presentation or just getting the feel for what you are doing. Very good info that you are talking about, I guess for me it's just a matter of getting out of my comfort zone and trying something new.
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Curt what lakes do you fish? Will do a google map search.
How many structure areas?
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The lake I fish the most is Willard Bay, in Northern Utah but there are a lot of lakes I fish in this area. I like to fish Pineview in the Fall, it's in the same area. The rest are trout and kokanee lakes. All lakes have some type of structure don't they, well maybe not ponds.
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Most of the ponds I fish have structure - some average 7' or less, but deep reservoirs like Pineview and Willard bay are big challenges covering miles of water. One thing I discovered per google maps were the inlets and tributaries both have. Have you fished them?

I fish deep upstate NYC reservoirs with buddies and sometimes we do phenomenal, other times maybe a few large bass. Even the Hudson River and feeders have good fishing depending on the tide.
Your're probably right in that the waters I fish have little fishing pressure and fish are more abundant.

Guess I'll stick to smaller lakes, rivers and creeks where I can play.
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If you are talking about edges and drop offs that are 7 ' there is very little like that at Willard a lot more that is 2 to 4' drop offs. Max depth there is 30'. Pineview is another matter, deeper lake but it depends on the time of year, since it's a lake that is used for both culinary and secondary water, so it gets drawn down a lot by the end of Summer. Yes I fish the inlet at Willard but for the most part it is seasonal. The tributarie partly comes from Pineview but is mainly managed as a trout fishery. The tributaries into Pineview are all for trout.
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If you've caught fish on some of the lures I sent you, trout will definitely bite them.

30' deep waters are right up my alley! I always find shallow coves, cover and structure to hit as well as mid lake humps. Don't fish for trout near me, but if I did I think it would be no different than fishing for bass, pan fish or catfish. In fact I gave a friend some lures to fish for stocked trout in a trout stream not far from me and he caught trout last spring nearby fly fisherman couldn't.
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Quote:If you tried fishing the way I do and had no luck, you would likely go back to fishing with the method that worked better for you. Once you fish with someone and learn the methods that work for them, your confidences grows and your knowledge of what things you need to do to be successful.

Confidence is key!
Before I saw a bass angler catch bass after bass on a skirted & trailer in a tournament, I had no reason to think such an unnatural looking lure could catch fish. The next day I tried one with a pork frog trailer and nothing - at first. But having left the lure in the water while having lunch, I forgot it was there and turned on the trolling motor.

As soon as the boat started moving, the rod bent as if the lure was stuck on a rock but turned out to be a 2 lb bass. That day I caught over 6 bass - most in the 1.5 - 2.5 lb range and now will always have one rigged when fishing for bass.

Another thing: I never thought a trailer could be anything but a real pork trailer - at least until I tried a soft plastic one and then caught the same amount of bass - two over 7 lbs.! I switched to using soft plastic trailers in different designs long before Uncle Josh went out of business and now pour my own.
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