Which lures for which weather conditions?

[mike64]

I went fishing last Sunday morning in thick pea soup fog, and posted about the general experience in Dockside Chat:
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=351327
In that post a couple guys mentioned how good the fishing is in fog, like scipper77: "Bass really let down there guard when there is little light penetrating the water during the day time!!"

But I had no luck catching bass (or anything else). I was using a bass stopper lure mostly. It was a dark purple-black color because someone told me they work well in inland lakes-- the bass think they're leeches. But it seems like I've read about using different color lures for different weather conditions-- sometimes bright neon colors work best. Is it bright colors in rain/fog and dark colors in bright sunlight, or vice versa?

Switched to live bait later, got a couple nibbles but otherwise nuthin.

 

[88steve]

Re: Which lures for which weather conditions?

neon colored jig worked well for me in the grass this past weekend.

 

[mike64]

Re: Which lures for which weather conditions?

neon colored jig worked well for me in the grass this past weekend.

What kind of weather were you fishing in, Steve?

 

[Steroumai]

Re: Which lures for which weather conditions?

I have never fished for Bass (don't know too many lakes in Alberta and Saskatchewan that have bass) but when fishing for Northern Pike or Walleye, I find they like the Blue and Silver hooks in murky water. I also find Green/Black and Gold hooks work well too. I use mostly Rapalas when using these colors, but I have many spoons and jigs with similar color configurations.

Sorry I can't relay any fishing experience with Bass and hook combinations. But I thought I might mention what works well for me with other species if it could help in a way.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Which lures for which weather conditions?

Brighter on bright days and darker on dark days seem to work for me. But I am not a "typical" bass guy. I don't usually cast but troll...
I also try to tone/color towards what the local species color is. Even perch have different tones in different bodies of water in Vermont.
My 2c

 

[gonefishie]

Re: Which lures for which weather conditions?

Oh man, you're going down a dangerous path. I must forewarn you before you end up with a buch of lures that you will never use. Hi, my name is ....and I'm a member of the lure color sucker annonymous local support group. It's still a debate whether fish can see color or not but it's true that they can see the silhoute of the lure. Different color produces a silhoute that is more or less visible to the fish. When it comes to soft plastic, keep 3 basic colors: black/blue, green pumpkin, watermelon. These 3 colors immitate crawfish and sunfish. Trust me, they're all you need in any weather. When you use soft plastic you're fishing slow so fish have a lot of time to inspect your offering so keep it as natural as possible. With fast moving lure it helps to have color that stands out in different condition. I keep 4 basic colors here too: shad pattern, sunfish pattern, crawfish pattern, and high visibility pattern like chartruese and firetiger. In clear water, use the shad, sunfish pattern, murky water use chartruese or firetiger, and crawfish in rocky areas. Light conditions and lure colors really only apply to spinnerbait. How to select the right spinnerbait is a 4 hours seminar. Or, a $30 Kevin Van Dam video. Presentation is more important then color. The perfect lure presented wrong gets no bite. Also, if the bass is not in the area there is nothing you can throw that will catches bass.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Which lures for which weather conditions?

OK, here's my take on crankbaits. Here in the northeast they only work well at certain times. The first time is early in the season when the bass are coming off of there spawning beds. I catch plenty of bass and pike on rattletraps, bucktails, and spinner baits early. The only other time I have success is when I get caught out in the rain. The rain really scatters the baitfish and breaks up the mid to late summer bass pattern where bass hide in the weeds all day and are hard to entice.

You really have to learn where the fish are and what they respond to. Water temp, weed structure, and baitfish location are constantly evolving throughout the summer and what works one week might not work the next even in identical conditions. For example, one week you might be able to retrieve a crankbait so that it just touches the tops of the weeds and the next week you may not be able to get that same lure through without hanging up on the weeds. Never underestimate the power of a topwater lure!

Basically, all of the major types of bass lures work it's just a matter of correct application. If I'm not getting the bite I will try something completely different for a while, not just the same thing in a different shape or color. Some times the bass make you work for it and I often get skunked in the late season on certain bodies of water.

 

[88steve]

Re: Which lures for which weather conditions?

overcast in the a.m.

 

[mike64]

Re: Which lures for which weather conditions?

Wow, great advice everybody, thanks!

 

[HopeSheFloats]

Re: Which lures for which weather conditions?

Hi, I'm Kenny and I'm a lifetime 'LCSA' member myself {lol, good one Gonefishie}. Mike, speaking from my own experience, I've found that presentation is indeed the key over color selection. I seem to be fairly consistant on foggy mornings with any topwater lure, especially the noise makers{poppers etc}, I also prefer to use spinner/buzz baits at these times as well. I'm not saying color is not important, just that I've had better results attracting fish in these light conditions with sound/vibrations rather than color. Remember, just my opinion, one of which you'd never guess from looking at the kaleidoscope of colors in my tackle boxes{lol}.

Will admit tho, that Black, or white, or pumpkinseed are my 'go-to' colors at the start of each day, then if not producing, git to throwing everything else until they tell me what they want.

 

[mike64]

Re: Which lures for which weather conditions?

Cool, thanks Kenny!

So the gist I'm getting is that in rain/fog conditions the bass are generally more active and closer to the surface (which seemed to be the case the other day-- I could hear fish jumping all around me), so topwater lures are better. But on sunny days, they're less active and hang out lower down, among the weeds. That's when a soft-bodied lure like a bass stopper will usually do better.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: Which lures for which weather conditions?

Cool, thanks Kenny!

So the gist I'm getting is that in rain/fog conditions the bass are generally more active and closer to the surface (which seemed to be the case the other day-- I could hear fish jumping all around me), so topwater lures are better. But on sunny days, they're less active and hang out lower down, among the weeds. That's when a soft-bodied lure like a bass stopper will usually do better.

Yep! you got it. It's frustrating as hell but that is the fun part. Happy learning.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Which lures for which weather conditions?

LCSA- Ok, I get that Thanks, gonfishie.

Anyway, you and scipper have good advice. I am not a bass guy by any stretch! However, I didn't mean you need 1000's of lures. The guy I fish with is a bass tourney guy and he has quite a few, though. There is some benefit to selection. Nevertheless, my fishing budget isn't very tall so I keep it down to just stuff that has worked.

I keep spoons, rooster tails, spinner rigs, and original Rapalas, shadraps, and some Jr and Deep Jr Thundersticks, dodgers, and streamer flies. My cranks are mostly black/silver, perch, with a few firetiger, white, and rainbow trout patterns thrown in. That sounds like a lot, but it all fits within a Plano 7271, plus a couple of extra 3650s. I replace stuff I lose that catches fish, and really, all of the above work at some time or another. I probably have 20 different salmon spoons too, but even those carry into only a few different base colors, and a variety of silver and brass suttons. I have a bunch of mid-sized DareDevles, Len thompsons, and copies of same in different colors, plus miniature through large in the standards red/white by Len Thompson.

Again, that all fits in a basic tackle box, so it's not quite like I get a "thank you" letter from the stockholders association at Cabelas

Thank you for your good information though- I anticipate that it will aid me - and others- in catching fish.

 

[rolmops]

Re: Which lures for which weather conditions?

The saying is "Silver for sun and copper for clouds"

 

[mike64]

Re: Which lures for which weather conditions?

This is turning into a real primer, thanks again guys. Looks like I'll be making a trip to the Gander Mtn. near work at lunch tomorrow and look for some late-season lure deals. The addiction begins....hope I can stay out of the LCSA

 

[scipper77]

Re: Which lures for which weather conditions?

Don't get too excited at gander mtn. Crankbaits don't work that well at this time of the year. I just don't want you to be dissapointed when you get these new lures and then they don't work. Maybe if you want to try something new that might work better this time of year you should try a wacky rigged Senko (made by Gary Yamamoto). These work on a texas rig pretty well also. You just cast it out, let it sink to the bottom, give it a tug, let it sink again reeling in the slack in between pulls. The bass always hit it on the fall.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: Which lures for which weather conditions?

Crankbaits don't work that well at this time of the year. I just don't want you to be dissapointed when you get these new lures and then they don't work. .

Well, it's depend on where and how you fish it. The feedbag should be on very soon especially in the colder climates. When it gets colder, I will be covering water and throw nothing but CB.

 

[mike64]

Re: Which lures for which weather conditions?

Heh, don't worry guys, I'm not going to go too crazy buying up lures. I already have a pretty good collection, it's just a matter of knowing what to do with them and when. I have a lot of different soft plastic baits, a couple spinners, spinnerbaits, a jig or two, and a couple plastic minnows. Would those minnows be considered crankbaits or is there something about the action that makes it a crankbait?

So I might just pick up some Senkos and a couple new crankbaits.

Well, at least 6 different colors of crankbaits. And some rattletraps and bucktails. And a few spoons while I'm at it. And a couple more poles & reels so I don't have to switch baits as much...

uh oh

 

[HopeSheFloats]

Re: Which lures for which weather conditions?

LOL. See you at the meetings Mike.

You can see, you can get as many thoughts about color choice, lure type, light conditions, water clarity etc etc as there are colors available, which leads back to the saying 'thats why it's called fishing and not catching'. This is why I stick to my thoughts of presentation means more than anything else. Now I'm sure some will totally disagree and thats fine, thats what forums are for...discussions. My thinking comes from the fact, that fish get hooked from trickery of their natural instincts. Fish, hit lures/bait out of hunger, territorial protection{ie: on the beds} or curiosity. Our job as fisherman is to figure out how to kick-start one of those instincts into action. As someone already pointed out, even the "right" combination of color and size/shape doesn't guarantee a 'hit'. If the presentation does not represent a 'natural' occurrence to your target...well........ heck even when all apsects are combined to an ultimate situation/presentation, there's no such thing as a sure thing.

Your definitly on the right track with learning about the effects of light conditions, water clarity plays the most important part of that imo. Trying to understand all of the enviromental happenings from your targets perspective, at what-ever moment in time your 'fishing', will do more wonders for your success than using any so called 'standard color/lure' approach.

I like to think of fishing as going to a party...if the snacks or meal are just laying about on the carpet...maybe, just maybe, you might be desperate enough to try something, but on the other hand if it's presented to you by a luscious hostess on a beautiful platter, you'll probably eat even if 'not' hungry, or at the least, keep your eye on her, which will usually in time make you go ahead and try something anyways.

Again..just my take on this great sport! Happy trails that btw never end

 

[gonefishie]

Re: Which lures for which weather conditions?

Heh, don't worry guys, I'm not going to go too crazy buying up lures. I already have a pretty good collection, it's just a matter of knowing what to do with them and when. I have a lot of different soft plastic baits, a couple spinners, spinnerbaits, a jig or two, and a couple plastic minnows. Would those minnows be considered crankbaits or is there something about the action that makes it a crankbait?

So I might just pick up some Senkos and a couple new crankbaits.

Well, at least 6 different colors of crankbaits. And some rattletraps and bucktails. And a few spoons while I'm at it. And a couple more poles & reels so I don't have to switch baits as much...

uh oh

Yep, there he goes!

What do ya mean by plastic minows? like a rapala minow type bait? most of them are classify as jerkbait. As the name implies, you jerk it back to the boat and reel in the slack line. Crankbait is a lure that you just simply cast out and reel in.