Probably no surprises here, but thought I'd share this in case it helps anyone headed out to chase giants this weekend. Over 1000 catch data points went into this graph, all over 10 lbs.

I bet if more people used live bait, it would be the number one choice for lunker sized bass. Jigs are a favorite for anglers targeting big bass areas, as is t rigged worms. So those, obviously, would reflect well in the chart above . If it weren't considered "weak" or "lame" to use live bait, live would reign supreme. No doubt.

My biggest bass have always been caught flipping a foam stuffed Biffle Bug on a 3/0 flipping hook. Pegged weight. That said, I use that setup about 60% of the time. So I know how to work it. Second, for me, is a Denny Bruer (sp?) structure jig with a rage chunck trailer. I use it along rip rap. ...and yes, I lose a lot of em that way. But rocks and craws in N Texas works well.

Kinda makes you wonder if baits fished slow or on the bottom is the key more than bait type.

ever stitched a live crawdad on 4lb test?

Not on light line, but yes. Last year.

It was an eye opening experience. First thing was the color. It was black, dark green, and RED. It survived for over an hour. Then I removed the claws and next cast it was a goner. I believe the bass like them defenseless. Ha.

just remove one.

I think that's part of it. Looking through piles of data I can show statistically that catch rates have not declined over time on soft plastics. They have however on certain hardbaits. My theory on this is that it's a lot easier for bass to become educated to lures like spinnerbaits or chatterbaits because of their distinctive vibration/noise. Plastics are just a lot more natural and easier to fool an old sow with.

I wonder what the stats would say if you lumped all tx rigged plastics in 1 group. I think it's more about presentation than say a lizard vs a big worm or brush hog. Same presentation really.

A jig is pretty vague as well. Flipping, football, swim....

most don't get it. lizard, worm, brush hog, centipede... they all are resembling the same thing. just different actions. btw, lizards cant breathe underwater...

I bet tx rigged plastics account for more big fish than anything else

If you add all Texas rigged plastics together they would indeed be the biggest bucket. Different plastics shine in different periods... Jigs pre-spawn. Lizards during the spawn. Worms rest of the season. By shine I mean they reach peak productivity, but obviously catch a lot of fish across all periods.

I know just as many people who fish jigs in summer and plastics in pre spawn. A jig can be used so many ways with different sizes and trailers and skirts. A lizard vs a worm tx rig is like a flipping jig versus a finnesse jig in deep water. I don't think you can isolate presentations and say 1 shines in a particular part of the year vs another.

bass don't seek out lizards during the spawn. its just a piece of plastic with a different action than others. you are way over thinking the mind of a bass.

For sure. Just sharing trends I pulled out of the data. I should have clarified it was from the data and not my own personal observation before. Zero doubt those lures catch a bunch of fish year round.

By peak I meant if I looked at all the fish caught pre-spawn, the biggest producer was jigs. I'll try and dig that breakdown out and share it at some point.

Data based man. All the data in the graph is from the sharelunker program and the bassmaster Lunker Program. It's all publically available. It's a pretty easy analysis. Same story as above. Look at fish caught during the spawn period and you'll see Lizards accounted for a larger portion of the fish during that time period than any other lure. I'd suspect it's because Lizards look more threatening on a bed than say a worm. Pure speculation on my part there though.

The data isn't perfect either. By its very nature it's self reported and people could lie. You get a couple thousand data points though and I think the trends are at least worth considering.