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  1. #1
    Member
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    Jan 2017
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    Dark Sleeper question

    Just wondering if this is considered more of a warm water bait or if anyone's had much success using it in colder (upper 40's to low 50's) water? I know they say you can use it like a jig, but it also has a fast tail-kicking action in the underwater footage I've seen, which I wouldn't think would be ideal for cold water situations.

  2. Member
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    Jan 2017
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    Delaware
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    #2
    It will catch them in the 40s, Just don't have to move them very fast. They are also a killer bed bait. Swim it slowly into the spot on the bed and hardly move it. The big girls just can't stand it and will try to move it out of the bed or kill it.

  3. Member
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    Apr 2009
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    West Texas
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    #3
    I feel like I have done better in cold water with the Dark Sleeper for some reason. I fish it super slow though. Short drags and long pauses. However, I am not convinced there are many wrong ways to fish that bait.

  4. Member DrewFlu33's Avatar
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    Mar 2016
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    Twin Cities, MN
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    8,049
    #4
    Quote Originally Posted by squib View Post
    I feel like I have done better in cold water with the Dark Sleeper for some reason. I fish it super slow though. Short drags and long pauses. However, I am not convinced there are many wrong ways to fish that bait.
    The bolded part for me.

    I've had luck in cold water slowly swimming it along deep rock piles and weed edges, or in warmer water doing basically anything with it - skipping it around docks, flipping (pitching...) it like a jig into weeds, casting and working it through weeds, popping it off of weed-edges, stroking it in rock piles, etc.
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  5. Scraps
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
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    Havertown, PA
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    #5
    Went through a phase of collecting these baits. Haven't caught anything on them yet. Usually fish it on the bottom like a jig. They skip well too. Really well.
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  6. Member
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    Jan 2017
    Location
    Waverly, Iowa
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    2,655
    #6
    Thanks for the responses. I only bought one to try and want to put myself in the best position to gain confidence in it. If it wasn't a good cold water bait I didn't want to waste my time and lose confidence throwing it in those conditions.

  7. Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2020
    Location
    Florida
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    39
    #7
    I love these baits. They work in all temps from experience.

    I don't always catch fish with them (I don't change colors until I lose the one tied on), but the chartreuse color caught at least one big bass for me daily in a lake with not much clarity. I have caught multiple species with them as well. A snakehead left with it sliding back into the water looking back at me in slow motion.
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