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  1. #1
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    Anyone wanna share your "go to" baits this time of year?

    I know, I know, no one wants to give up their secrets!!! I have had best luck with live minnows, but I know some people just about only use plastics. I have half heartedly tried some different jigs/plastics, but I honestly have not given them enough time. The lake I fish would be considered slightly stained I guess. Just looking to see what others have good luck on in the early fall to mid-fall. I have plenty of different color baits, but several people have recommended natural shad colors, salt and pepper, tenn shad .... colored baits. I have caught a few on those colors from time to time, but never had better luck with them than with minnows and a slip cork.

    Joe
    Joe

    2000 Viper Coral 202
    2001 Mercury 200 EFI

  2. Member
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    #2
    I always take minnows, usually use the to find the crappie, then i will use a black or white jig head with usually a chartreuse curly tail. The past weekend they wanted a black and grey bubble belly, ir a black bidy with pick curly tail.

  3. Member
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    #3
    Well, I never use minnows, but know full well that there are days.... Lime/chartr tube, curlytail, slider, slabalicious. Clear, murky, dirty. Then about five or so other colors that include some chartr. I don't change nearly as much as some. Probably should. Gonna be interesting to see what this time of year brings for me as I usually was bass fishing. Thinking whites or more natural colorations as the cooling water clears. Be interested to hear what others think.

  4. Member
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    #4
    Thanks for the suggestions guys. Keep them coming

    Joe
    Joe

    2000 Viper Coral 202
    2001 Mercury 200 EFI

  5. Member
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    #5
    Tight lining hand tied hair jigs!

  6. Member
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    #6
    I like a Mo's grub in a color combo a friend made up to match the jighead new penny and a clear coat with orange irridescent glitter


    And a 1/32nd football head with new penny and a clear coat with orange irridescent glitter - and tied up with grizzly bear.

  7. Official Lip Ripper' haftafish22's Avatar
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    #7
    Big believer in a black/blue chart trail triple ripple. I pick it up 95% of the time for casting. For dropping, I use three different colors to start. Red body chart tail slab seeker, white body chart tail slab seeker, black and pink tube

  8. Member
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    #8
    Bobby Garland Baby Shad on a 1/32 or 1/16 oz jighead depending on depth.. Haven't used minnows in years. Just caught a limit of crappie yesterday and left them biting. Only time I use anything else is in the Spring, I will throw a 2" grub some for covering spawning areas.

  9. Member
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    #9
    Back when we (kids...50-60 years ago) use to eat what we caught, a small Beetlespin was a favorite lure, except I preferred to switch the grub that came on them with a small Mr. Twister curlytail. Crappies, perch, bluegill, sunnies, rock bass (google eyes), pickerel and the occasional smallmouth or largemouth bass all hit them. Small Roostertails were the other popular lure we used.

  10. Member
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    #10
    Check out Slab Busters. I have been killing then on the 2.5" black and chartreuse.

  11. Member
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    #11
    Duster tube suspended below a slip bobber and 2) 1/16 or 1/32 oz jighead with a2" blue/silver grub.
    DG

  12. Member DrewFlu33's Avatar
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    #12
    Like always, I've been doing great with a wacky rigged Berkley Floating Trout Worm. To be fair, the fish falling for it these days are coming through the ice! They'll be chomping on it open water in a couple months.

    Figured it out by accident once when using it rigged the "standard" way and a small sunfish ripped it partially, leaving it hanging wacky style. Now I put it on a spoon or small jig...works better than minnows every single time I've used it! Just don't tell anyone....

    Example from this past fall on a 1/32 jig head:
    2011 Skeeter ZX225
    225 Yamaha HPDI Series 2
    Minn Kota Ultrex 112 52"
    Console: HDS 16 Carbon
    Bow: HDS 12 Carbon, Solix 12 G2, Mega 360

  13. Official Lip Ripper' haftafish22's Avatar
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    #13
    Pretty cool, years ago they made a stick bait like a senko but it was 2" long. They worked well

  14. Member DrewFlu33's Avatar
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    #14
    Quote Originally Posted by haftafish22 View Post
    Pretty cool, years ago they made a stick bait like a senko but it was 2" long. They worked well
    I've tried a Z-man TRD wacky rigged the same way (a bigger jighead was necessary so the hook gap wasn't eaten up) with *some* success in warmer water. I suspect everyone's familiar with the TRD at this point but for those who aren't, it's about the thickness of a Senko but only 2 3/4" long. I definitely caught more "unintended" bass on that one and the average size is bigger than with the regular trout worm, but I still catch more fish total and more big fish on the trout worm if that makes any sense. For example, I maybe would catch 4 crappies total on the TRD and they were all nice ones, but I'd catch 10 on the trout worm and 5 of them were nice ones. I think the problem there is that its thickness combined with its short length takes away a lot of the fluttering action you get with a skinnier offering. That fluttering seems to be the ticket with this technique.

    One thing that might be worth doing is cutting a TRD in half length-wise. That could help with the flutter while allowing me to reap the benefits of the Elaztech (bouyancy, softness, durability). Z-man might well also make something similar to Berkley's trout worm. If so, that'd be the ticket I think.

    EDIT note: Just remembered that Z-man makes the "Finesse WormZ" in 4 inch. Haven't tried that yet, but that'd probably be a better option that trying to cut a TRD in half lengthwise.

    I also caught some nice crappies this past summer on a regular Ned-rigged TRD while bass fishing. I don't generally target them then, however, as I just can't seem to get a consistent pattern going. Lack of brush piles on area lakes combined with main-lake boat traffic and high winds more days than not make it really tough for (me at least) to find them in the summer. I looked into the legality of sinking a couple brush piles of my own, but (as expected) found that this would be illegal in MN. My focus on bass during the summer certainly doesn't help my success going after crappies then.

    Continuing on with the discussion about alternatives to the trout worm: Berkley makes what they call a "steelhead worm." They have a paddle tail on one end, are about 4 inches in length (I think a 6 inch is also available), and probably double or maybe triple the thickness of the trout worm. The bad thing is that they're only available in pink, though that's a color that produces well for me. A standard Senko is 5" I think and probably 5 times thicker than the trout worm. I picked up a pack of them with intentions of cutting them down a little and trying them with this technique. I haven't done so yet as it's been ice season since I bought them and I think it would just be too much for these fish and their slow metabolism. That being said, I've caught some nice crappies on Rapala's new Slab Rap under the ice and it's definitely a more intimidating profile than a 3 inch section of steelhead worm might be. It's probably worth giving a shot. I'm almost positive it's something they haven't seen yet and might help to wean out the smaller fish.
    Last edited by DrewFlu33; 02-03-2017 at 11:17 AM.
    2011 Skeeter ZX225
    225 Yamaha HPDI Series 2
    Minn Kota Ultrex 112 52"
    Console: HDS 16 Carbon
    Bow: HDS 12 Carbon, Solix 12 G2, Mega 360

  15. Member
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    #15


    These are known by many names. But the proper nomenclature is blade baits. They can be cast or vertically jigged. Here in Ohio they are the preferred ice fishing lure. I also use them for open water fishing. With the exception of suckers and trout. I have caught every other species found here in Ohio. The only place they haven't done well for me was in Canada. I believe any lake with a shad forage base will enable the blade baits to shine.

    Using even while night fishing for crappie they have produced some times that the fish would not touch a live minnow. I have no idea why that happens. Most times live minnows are hard to beat. Every now and then though the blade baits become the go to. Few years back I got my own mold for casting these. That way I can experiment with colors and such not normally available. Even modified a Do-It mold to produce a chub-head version.

    The most overall successful color is the silver color the blanks come in. They also come in brass . The brass are slightly cheaper so the ones I am going to paint I use brass blanks. Most guys around here use as a walleye bait. Large yellow perch have a tendency to smack them also. The size I use most is the 1/4 ounce . I usually replace the trebles with double hooks.

    The most annoying thing about these baits is they have a tendency to tangle. The double hooks help but do not prevent this. Most common mistake fishermen make with this type lure is to over work it. They lift the bait too high and too fast. I have found that slow lifts anywhere from six inches to a foot or so work best. Unfortunately these lures are also used by snaggers. You can tell the snaggers right away by the way they work lure. They really over work it hoping to set hook on upward jerk. These baits will zig zag in a wide pattern. Fish attracted by flash can at times be easily snagged by those employing these lures for that purpose.

    Below is my main ammo box. I can plan on " holding my own " almost anywhere I care to fish with this box in tow.

    Helix Mega 10 SI G2N , ILink
    Garmin 1040 XS / Garmin 1242 xsv with Panoptix Down VU PS 30 W/ GCV 10 networked with PS 31. Boat Rig

    Echomap Ultra 106 SV with Livescope 12 . Ice Rig

  16. Member Quillback's Avatar
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    #16
    Quote Originally Posted by DrewFlu33 View Post
    Like always, I've been doing great with a wacky rigged Berkley Floating Trout Worm. To be fair, the fish falling for it these days are coming through the ice! They'll be chomping on it open water in a couple months.

    Figured it out by accident once when using it rigged the "standard" way and a small sunfish ripped it partially, leaving it hanging wacky style. Now I put it on a spoon or small jig...works better than minnows every single time I've used it! Just don't tell anyone....

    Example from this past fall on a 1/32 jig head:
    I like it!

  17. Member
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    #17
    Always take minnows with me, usually use them to find the fish. Today was a different story, bait shop didnt have any minnows so i was stuck with artificial. Used a chartreuse head with baby shad bubble belly, or a black and pink curly tail. They didnt seem to prefer one over the other.

  18. Member
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    #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Quillback View Post
    I like it!
    I may have to try this!
    Sorry meant to quote the wacky rigged trout worm.