texasfishingforum.com logo
Main Menu
Advertisement
Affiliates
Advertisement
Newest Members
TraeMartin, Power-Pole CS, T-Rigger, JoeGoes, EcKo
119150 Registered Users
Top Posters(All Time)
hopalong 120,579
TexDawg 119,518
Bigbob_FTW 94,889
John175☮ 85,892
Pilothawk 83,260
Bob Davis 81,483
Mark Perry 72,289
Derek 🐝 68,312
JDavis7873 67,416
Forum Statistics
Forums59
Topics1,037,836
Posts13,935,340
Members144,150
Most Online39,925
Dec 30th, 2023
Print Thread
Lures in the bay #14071074 07/23/21 03:48 PM
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 6,774
H
Holzer Offline OP
TFF Celebrity
OP Offline
TFF Celebrity
H
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 6,774
OK, got my solo saltwater trip under my belt. Didn't catch a fish in the bay but ready to go back and try something else.

What's you're top 2 or 3 colors / types of baits when fishing the bay?
With plastic swim baits, how heavy of a jig head do you like to go with? The grass ate several of my lures this week.

I just took a little of what I already had rather than to buy new tackle. I either threw all of the wrong colors, fished them the wrong way, or just flat out fished where there were no fish.


Holzer
My pic is gone frown
Re: Lures in the bay [Re: Holzer] #14071091 07/23/21 04:03 PM
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 16,638
P
Pat Goff Online Content
TFF Guru
Online Content
TFF Guru
P
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 16,638
My selection is short but works.
All plastics are on a 1/8 oz Oldham head. The screw lock will catch more fish because the plastic won’t slide down the hook when a big trout or flounder clamp down.

Stained/colored water get hogie super minnow. Pumpkin chartreuse when it’s over cast, red glitter white tail in bright sun.
Clearer water is time for Norton sand eel. Tequila or Baffin magic.

My neighbor just used plum chartreuse Norton bull minnow and does well.

Don’t overthink bay fish they really aren’t picky.


Pat Goff
Seadrift TX
[Linked Image]
Re: Lures in the bay [Re: Holzer] #14071210 07/23/21 05:21 PM
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 6,774
H
Holzer Offline OP
TFF Celebrity
OP Offline
TFF Celebrity
H
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 6,774
Thanks Pat.

Do you work your baits above the grass or through it?


Holzer
My pic is gone frown
Re: Lures in the bay [Re: Holzer] #14071369 07/23/21 08:02 PM
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 3,777
O
Osbornfishing Offline
TFF Team Angler
Offline
TFF Team Angler
O
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 3,777
My go to is a 3/4 ounce gold Johnson spoon. It will catch redfish, trout, ladyfish, mackerel, and jacks.

Re: Lures in the bay [Re: Holzer] #14071463 07/23/21 10:02 PM
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 16,638
P
Pat Goff Online Content
TFF Guru
Online Content
TFF Guru
P
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 16,638
Originally Posted by Holzer
Thanks Pat.

Do you work your baits above the grass or through it?


Definitely above. Seagrass ends the cast immediately.
Your prime areas will have grass with potholes. 90% of your action will come out of the holes.


Pat Goff
Seadrift TX
[Linked Image]
Re: Lures in the bay [Re: Holzer] #14072696 07/25/21 11:33 AM
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 13,509
F
Fishspanker Online Content
TFF Guru
Online Content
TFF Guru
F
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 13,509
Get jig heads from 1/16 to 3/8 oz. grass gets lightest you can throw. Potholes in the grass. Let hit go to the bottom in those and work close to the edges. Above the grass every where else. Outside the grass they want it in different part of the water column at different times. Usually start on the bottom. Sometimes they want it worked dead slow other times they want it worked pretty aggressively. Try different things and let them tell you what you want. Once you figure out the cadence and where in the water column keep doing that as long as it’s working. Usually wading catches them better than out of the boat. One guy will get into them and it’s “purple reign dead slow on the bottom, 1/4 oz jig head”. Gives everyone a good idea of presentation. Some days you can catch them on just about any bait, jig head or cadence. Other days they are super picky and only want it one way. There can be short windows of opportunity so you need to be in the right place to capitalize on that. Tide, tide, tide.

I like the Down South Burner Shad for a good all around tail. You can work it jigging or just straight reel it. Darker water typically get darker colors clearer water gets lighter colors. If I could only throw one color it would be Chicken of the Sea. The ones with the chartreuse tails probably catch more fish, especially smaller fish. The ones with out the chartreuse tails seem to catch bigger fish at least for me. Purple Rain, White Ice, Super Natural, Color X, Blue Moon they all catch fish.

Most important is to be where the fish are snackin. Tide, water color, bait, current, bottom composition are all important. Need to develop the ability to read the water.

Using a good guide will quicken the learning curve. Rather Ethan try to get spots find out why he is selections spot, lure, tide, tie. Of year, timing etc. That 100X more valuable than spots.

Last edited by Fishspanker; 07/25/21 11:49 AM.

The Sheep who only fears the Wolf is eaten by the Shepherd.
Re: Lures in the bay [Re: Holzer] #14073624 07/26/21 02:15 PM
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 728
split cane rod Offline
Pro Angler
Offline
Pro Angler
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 728
Check out my son’s business: biteandfightangler.com

He makes soft plastic baits. He lives in Alvin, TX. He kayak fishes all the time. He is on Facebook and YouTube,

I live in East Texas, and I went fishing with him a few weeks ago. We only fished with his lures, and I brought home a cooler full of fish. Flounder, Speckled trout, and Redfish were caught.

He is very forthcoming with information on how and where to catch fish. His lures work!!

JR


Split Cane Rod
Re: Lures in the bay [Re: Holzer] #14073696 07/26/21 03:34 PM
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 6,774
H
Holzer Offline OP
TFF Celebrity
OP Offline
TFF Celebrity
H
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 6,774
Thanks for the tips.
I'll for sure have to get me some lighter jigheads. Most my stuff is 1/2 oz or heavier because I'm used to fishing deep water.
Most of my smaller lighter heads that I would use for whitebass have a "flimsy" hook. I'll be looking for some of those heads that have the lighter lead head but strong hook.


Holzer
My pic is gone frown
Re: Lures in the bay [Re: Holzer] #14085773 08/06/21 08:35 AM
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 415
L
Lindsey Offline
Angler
Offline
Angler
L
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 415
Holzer I definitely recommend a 1/8 or 1/16 oz jighead. Most of the lure's weight is in the bait itself. Consider tandem rigging too. You can make a bunch yourself very inexpensively. They cover a ton of water and catch fish. 1/16 oz definitely recommend there.


I'm not a chick.
Re: Lures in the bay [Re: Holzer] #14085781 08/06/21 09:46 AM
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 415
L
Lindsey Offline
Angler
Offline
Angler
L
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 415
Some other things too-to avoid the grass, you can just powerfish your way through it. I discovered it by accident constantly fouling in the dense seagrass. By fishing fast with jerks and pauses, you cover a ton of water and knock off most of the grass that sticks to your hook. And trust me when I say this-you can't reel your bait faster than a redfish can swim. You can also rig 5 inch jerkbaits weedless with the screw in hooks. Tex-spose the hook and you're weedless. As for baits I love the Zman series. Extremely durable, lifelike, and effective. The Paddlerz, dieZel minnow, and jerkbaitz work very well for me. The Troutsupport lure is very effective too. Rig it weedless on a 5/0 hook. My other favorite bait is the Norton Bull Minnow. So simple and effective. Literally all colors work.


I'm not a chick.
Re: Lures in the bay [Re: Holzer] #14086105 08/06/21 03:50 PM
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 647
C
Captain Nathan Beabout Offline
Pro Angler
Offline
Pro Angler
C
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 647
All great suggestions on here, but for starters get you the 3-4 fundamental colors(chicken of the c, pumpkinseed, plum/chart, and a red/white, and experiement with them on 1/16-1/8oz jigheads. once you have figured these colors out in different water colors and cloud covers simply expand your color selection.

On my Youtube Channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCblbilBvpSfzOPxb6w-fx4w, I have under the playlist tab, Why's and Why Nots of Fishing videos. these are all meant to be instructional videos and help anglers of all skill levels. I have 2-3 videos that cover this topic, from selection to retrieving.

Re: Lures in the bay [Re: Holzer] #14091685 08/11/21 09:28 PM
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 6,774
H
Holzer Offline OP
TFF Celebrity
OP Offline
TFF Celebrity
H
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 6,774
Thank you all flag


Holzer
My pic is gone frown
Re: Lures in the bay [Re: Captain Nathan Beabout] #14093595 08/13/21 12:26 PM
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 1,234
J
Jerry713 Offline
Extreme Angler
Offline
Extreme Angler
J
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 1,234
Originally Posted by Captain Nathan Beabout
All great suggestions on here, but for starters get you the 3-4 fundamental colors(chicken of the c, pumpkinseed, plum/chart, and a red/white, and experiement with them on 1/16-1/8oz jigheads. once you have figured these colors out in different water colors and cloud covers simply expand your color selection.

On my Youtube Channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCblbilBvpSfzOPxb6w-fx4w, I have under the playlist tab, Why's and Why Nots of Fishing videos. these are all meant to be instructional videos and help anglers of all skill levels. I have 2-3 videos that cover this topic, from selection to retrieving.

Holzer if you have time Capt gives some good info on his channel. Well worth the watch.


You get out of it what you put into it!
Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread

© 1998-2022 OUTDOOR SITES NETWORK all rights reserved USA and Worldwide
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.3