will a bass chase a lure or strike it on the bottom? - that is the question!

[senkosam]

We've discussed techniques to death and agree on which ones have caught fish over many years. But those of us that have caught fish on all kinds of lures and different presentations have found that the speed of the lure can make all the difference. What determines which lure speed to use? BEATS THE CRAP OUTTA ME!

Just kidding. Not all fish in a lake attack lures using a certain speed and in fact I've found that some lures suited to some lure speeds, will be attacked depending on location. example: pitching or flipping into lily pad pockets and catching bass means fish are sitting around until the splash & drop happens right on its head. Fish cannot chase a jig & trailer that drops vertically.

But another different example: cast to weed edges with a spinnerbait or crankbait and fish may be caught that were in the mood to chase or ambush a horizontal running lure worked at a certain speed. But then again, a Texas rigged worm or a jig & trailer worked off bottom may just as well have caught those bass.

The nice thing about knowing how to work a lure and where to cast it, opens up opportunities to catching bass different ways. Don't know about you, but my crystal ball is only for decoration, not predicting what fish will or won't strike whether by ambush, chasing a lure or one worked off the bottom. Just for the H of it I always take along various lure rigs that cover the bases.

Thanks for reading.

[senkosam]

Many of you know me as a finesse angler meaning slower & smaller. But last Oct. a buddy convinced me to troll a crankbait and it caught nice crappie and some bass parallel to a shoreline. That got me thinking of all the power lures and presentations I caught fish in the past years ago.

Power presentations equate to a steady retrieve, noisy or flashing lures with a lot of action and larger lures in general. Finesse lures by comparison wiggle in place ticking a fish's lateral line while power baits are felt long before they trespass into a fish's don't piss me off zone.

My mistake has been only using finesse lures and presentations while leaving power lures at home. I guess the reason being that I like catching the most fish while not excluding smaller fish like panfish. The ongoing challenge is catching the largest of any species - the more fish caught the greater the chances.

Time to rig power lures on some rods and make sure they get cast.