Dialog On Hardbaits

[DropShotr]

As a member of several fishing chat sites I am amazed at how popular hardbaits, specifically Lucky Craft pointers are to our fishing friends to the south. These guys even know how the baits suspend at various temperatures, with consideration for individual variations of the same bait..........holy crap!!.......Who knew?....who knew?
There have even been discussions on the best ways to bring these baits through submerged timber........excuse me......throw a 15-20 dollar bait into timber, on purpose? I'll be honest here gang, I only throw a hardbait into timber by accident, you know.....oops...oh crap!!!....didn't see that, kinda thing. When I see timber it get a Northam first then high quality scented & /salted soft plastic next. Is any body out there fishing timber with hardbaits on purpose? I suspect the bigger question here may be who will admit to it?

For me at least, I will admit that I really don't spend much quality time with my hardbaits, with the exception of topwaters. I carry one Plano 3771 in my tackle bag that's dedicated to hardbaits. It has a modest selection of minnow/crank/lipless baits from Lucky Craft, Rapala, Bagley's, Cordell, & Excalibur...mostly Rapala. When I approach a piece of structure I'm honestly not thinking about which hardbait will work here, even though that same piece of structure will get a going over with two different topwaters more than likely on most days. Occasionally the bulb will start to glow just dim enough for me to think I should throw one here. That usually is a Xrap, Xrap Shad or a lipless bait like a Lucky Craft LV . My 2 suspending pointers remain prisoners of my Plano...being afraid to loose one to a pike. I have two white Big O's that have been with me since ol' Bill Saiff made them popular in the 80's. I know they work, but again I just don't throw hardbaits like I once did.

I'm not asking for a peek into your hardbait collection, although I know it's hard to discuss this without some specifics. I'm looking for more of a generalized look at what styles & sizes of hardbaits you are using and why. Manufacturer is an option. Color. Size you can generalize. Suspending or non suspending baits. Are hardbaits a big part of your bass arsenal? Are they part of your approach to fishing a piece of structure? Or is it an occasional thing?

I'll thank you in advance for all your input on this subject
DS

[Wabler]

My thoughts are much the same as yours, Dropshot'r.

They say the lure you choose is all about confidence, and I am very confident that if throw a hardbait into cover, it's not coming out.

[Yannick Loranger]

I must admit I'm not a big fan of hardbaits. I've never had extensive fishing success with them except for spoons = pike. But what I have learned with hardbaits is that iyour best bet is to hit the cover you're fishing, or bang the lure on the bottom occasionally. I had some success casting wally divers from shore for smallies this summer and I would say that 90% of my hits came within 3 seconds of the lure starting to bump the bottom. Furthermore, I've had the same experience up north with smallies and walleye but with husky jerks. This summer, I plan to use hardbaits quit a bit more when the conditions are right, but what I say is that if you're not risking a snag, or jerking weeds off your hooks, you'd probably be better off using a topwater or a soft plastic.
Investing 20$ on one of those de-snagging tools might be a wise investment if you're afraid of losing too much tackle in cover.

I'm no pro, but just my $0.02.

Tight lines,
Yannick

[Pike Puncher]

I guess we can goup hardbaits into 3 sub-categories; topwaters, jerkbaits, and crankbaits. I don't care about discussing specifics either. I won't retire a rich man from fishing tournaments, and I doubt knowing my favorite crank will enable anyone to put walleye on the endangered species list.

As far as topwaters go, the Lucky Craft Sammy 100 is priceless. Apart from weedless frogs/buzzers in the slop, I used one almost exclusively last year when in came time to throw a topwater. On only one occaision did I see the fish prefer a Pop-r instead. I feel that may have been more about the size of the bait than the action. Regarding cover fishing, I'd throw a Sammy over anything. You just have to be ready to yank that fishy out in a hurry. See the swirl, load the rod, set as hard as possible, and crank as hard as you can. That should keep the his head up and out of the logs/weed bed he came out of.

Sammy 100 Gear: 6'6"m Fenwick HMG, Revo SX 6.4:1, 12-14 mono.

It's time to go to work, but I'll flap my gums about Jerks and Cranks later. This is a good thread. These discussions keeps me entertained while the water is frozen.

Billy

[T Dot]

i use to take the safer road, but ive seen the results of the road less travelled.

everyone has always told me: "throw em where they live" and "if you aint losing baits, you aint throwing them in the right places".

i was a non believer of the above statements, until i saw for my own eyes.

i am still cautious of losing baits, but have lost the fear of not throwing a lure. i rather lose a bait, than walk away not knowing if a fish was in that spot. you would be surprised on how "weedless" some lures really are. granted not all trebled lures are the same, but some are more versitle than others.

you can also take into count how many more ppl throw plastics vs hardbaits. some fish are smarter than we think, and it holds true with the larger ones. so if you were to ask me, i would rather throw something a fish hasnt seen.

with the amount that everyone spends on this sport, investing in a lure retriever / plug knocker is just a drop in the bucket. there are some quality ones available at TW. they have saved me a few times. it is the one thing i look for before leaving the house. just like american express, i dont leave home without it.

sometimes you have to take risks right!?

[RJ]

While I do have a fine collection of LC's and the like I rarely throw them....not sure why other than I feel more confident throwing other baits....

The only real hardbaits I use are shallow cranks and wake baits.....and yes...I throw them anywhere including around trees....

Great topic!

RJ

[Wallyboss]

Thanks for this topic, I just started throwing crankbaits for bass last summer and now I need a second crankbait rod to throw the lighter crankbaits. Cause my casts with lighter one's are actually lobs . I will keep an eye on this topic for sure. Thanks Dropshot'r

[Out4trout]

DS
I use hardbaits quite extensively, but primarily while trolling.
Occasionally I use topwater hardbaits cast and retrieve for smallmouth on the shoals/

Trolling - Primarily Lake trout and occasionally Walleye and Pike - and sometimes nail a suspended smallmouth... same lures - just different depths and speeds. My favourites are Bomber Long A Jointed, followed closely by Storm Jointed minnow stick... colour is undisclosed
(I paint my own trolling lures as the old colours are no longer available)

Topwater smallmouth on the shoals - Zara spooks and Rapala Pop-rs

I'll look for ya on the Larry and Charleston Lake this summer...

[Pike Puncher]

I agree with T Dot, you gotta fish where the fish are. For cranks I fish the x-rap shad in cold water (spring/fall) and the DT4 or DT6 in warm water (summer). I fish lakes with some very substantial weed beds, and match the bait to the appropirate depth. You really will be surprised at what you can pull a fish out of if you use the right gear. Yes, you may lose some baits to logs/heavy branches, but nothing lasts forever. How many times have you picked up a bait and said "This is the last crank I'll ever buy"?

Crankbait gear: 7'm BPS Crankin Stick, Shimano Cardiff 201A 5.8:1, 10lb mono.

For jerkbaits, the Pointer 78 and the Pointer 100 are my go-to for bass. For pike, I prefer the Bomber Long A or a big Husky Jerk. I used several diffent rod set-ups for jerkbaits depending on what I'm doing.

Billy

[Hookup]

Great topic!

For years, back when I was a "one bait kind of guy"... I had 10+ bomber-long-As.. I'd throw them out, and basically dead-stick em over cover. Twitch a few times... really lightly to get the bait to dive... well a better descripton is to cause the tail of the bait to kick-out of the water softly... looks just like a minnow dying on the surface... then count to 10.... the 10 count was the key...

For the first time in 8 or 9 years I went back to that pattern this past season... still works... and I love it over timber/shaols and weeds... It's a top-water technique that allows me to dive the bait and twitch/crank it when I need to as structure changes...

From those days, I moved right into the trend of suspending baits... and of course went with the rapala minnow baits, same size and shape as the bomber-long A's.... and basically did the same technique only 5-6feet under water... That also produced some great results... and gets the heart going... counting to 10 while you cannot see the strike means suddenly the bait goes flying and your rod pulls... awesome...

I also have a white big-o on a rod at all times... if there is a small mouth rocky shoal the big-o gets thrown 70% of the time... or more... it's just too much of a proven bait to not throw it...


Now when it comes to timber, I honestly go with soft-plastics, and as of last season, twitching the bomber-long-a as a surface bait... I've never considered throwing a pile of trebble hooks into the snarly mess... feels like i'd be better casting it on shore into a tree... at least I do not have to get wet to get my lure back...

There is wisdom/logic in master yoda's words..

"throw em where they live" and "if you aint losing baits, you aint throwing them in the right places".

and I'm going to have to re-think my jerkbait strategies.

[Scum Frog]

Love 'em!

My go to bait for smallies and eye's are hardbaits....like said above confidence in what you are presenting is everything.