Lure Review: Renegade Tennessee Shad

What has become my favorite crankbait (bear in mind that I am mostly a finesse fisherman) is a crankbait sold under Walmart's Renegade brand. It is a minnow type bait in the color Tennessee Shad, I believe. It has a good profile, which very well approximates a minnow and it has a ball bearing rattle to get the fishes attention. When I have tested similar baits without rattles, this bait has out performed them. I don't fish crankbaits terribly often, but when I have, I have gotten a lot more bites on this one, including a very aggressive green sunfish who though he could have a go even if it was half his size. Oh, and I forgot to mention that it is cheap. Usually runs a little under two dollars a pop. Not too shabby when most cranks will run around five or six dollars. The only problem is that I haven't seen them on the shelves at Walmart recently. I hope they haven't been discontinued...

Find The Bait

This time of year on major lakes around the country, shad fry are schooling up. There are also a number of baby bluegill about. Bluegill are ubiquitous in most of the Eastern part of the countries lakes, creeks, rivers, and ponds. Where you find schools of these prey fish you find predators. These could include Largemouth and Smallmouth bass, stripes (genus Morone), crappie, large bluegill, and catfish. If you can catch some of these fry when you find them (check you local regulations), these will most likely make the best bait. I learned this the hard way while fishing recently. The nicest fish I caught all day was on a dead shad minnow that I scooped from the water as opposed to my store bought live minnows. Running small lures such as creature baits and crankbaits under schools of small shad is also a good method to catch predator fish. To find fry, look in large creeks that feed reservoirs near drop-offs and points. Also look in the backs of bays near insect hatches such as mayflies and around boat docks.

Lure Review-Zoom Trick Worms

Since switching to bass as my primary target species (3 years ago), my primary confidence lure has been a Zoom trick worm. These worms are of good quality and come in a variety of colors. What's better is that they are relatively cheap. If you lose one, it is only going to cost you about $0.20 as opposed to $5 or more with crankbaits. My two favorite colors for day time use have been watermelon seed and plum. These work well in relatively clear to stained water. For evening or murky water I usually switch to black to help the fish see it. I generally texas rig these 6" worms on a lead jig head and bounce them through rocky places, around points, and up rock walls (I bank fish). The are also good for docks and wood cover, but I would recommend rigging them weightless in weedy situations. The lead head just seems to pick up too much greenery.

The size of the lures never seem to limit bass, either large or small. Small bass even as small as 10" will take a crack at the worms and so will bass up to...well as big as they get. The biggest ones I have caught to date would have gone over 17" or 18". The lure is versatile, bass love worms, it will catch a variety of sizes of fish, and it is cost effective. How could you go wrong?

The Lowly Worm

This post will go along quite well with my previous one on hooks. My tip to you today is not to underestimate the power of live bait (specifically in regards to bass fishing). There is a good reason that it is illegal in bass tournaments. Sure most people use live bait for bluegill fishing, and it is probably all our grand parents had. Now the amateur fisherman, such as myself, can walk into a Wal-mart or, even more daunting, a Bass Pro Shop and see isles filled with shinny crankbaits and packages of all sorts of realistic and unrealistic rubber creatures. Oh don't get me wrong, most of these lures will catch fish, and most of the time they narrow your catch to a target species. But sometimes the good ol' nightcrawler will do just as well or better.

I do recommend nightcrawlers as opposed to redworms. Not because of size appeal, but because of the ease with which little fish seem to be able to pull off redworms. The bigger worms are tougher and give them a little more trouble. Thats not to say that you can't just go out into the garden and grub up some worms. By all means, there is nothing wrong with saving a little money by using home grown worms, especially if you can find some big juicy ones!

The size of the worm doesn't matter (at least not always). Smaller pieces do not necessarily mean smaller fish. A couple of years ago, I caught a 13'' largemouth on a whole night crawler, but just this year I have caught a 13''er and 15''er (a week ago) on a half-inch segment of worm. The only problem is that bluegill are usually found were bass are and also will love your worms. They will tackle any size worm if they are in the mood. A large nightcrawler can easily be whitled down in a few minutes to a bare hook. But if you use small hooks, and cast where you suspect there are bass roaming about, you can have fun with some sunfish in between the bass. Half the fun of live bait is never knowing what you will get. In a big lake at the same spot, I have seen bluegill, green sunfish, yellow bass, catfish, and largemouth all taken on pinched pieces of nightcrawlers. Worms are easy to use, easy to find, great for beginners, and most importantly almost all fish love them, including our beloved largemouth bass! So grab a box and get fishin'.

The Magical Brass Hook

Well, I thought I would start off with an observation that could be useful to even the newest beginner to fishing. A friend and I made this observation on a recent fishing trip. Bear in mind that this theory has not been fully field tested yet. We noticed that when we were fishing for sunfish and whatever else under bobbers that we were having a lot of trouble getting the fish to swallow the hooks with our worms. We essentially were feeding a bunch of little fish. Frustrating to say the least. The hooks were small enough, so that wasn't the problem, but we were both using something like tarnished or bronze hooks. After grabbing a pole with a new brass hook on it, our luck dramatically changed. Almost every bite, we were able to pull in a fish (regardless of how small). In my estimation, the fish were attracted to the shinnyness of the brass (aka the "ooo shinny moment"). Some of these fish included some nice (however undersized) smallmouth and one largemouth about 15 inches and a plethora of bluegill. The only downside to a brass hook is that it is rather weak, but this can be an advantage when pulling a hook off a snag and can help prevent line breakage. So if you are having trouble hooking those pesky little fish, try tying on a small, very sharp brass hook.

Introduction

I have begun this blog to entertain and inform other fishing enthusiasts out there or perhaps just really bored internet users. I am no expert at fishing by any means, and I make no guarantee as to the accuracy of the information presented herein. Much of my information is based on personal experience and hearsay. Bearing that in mind, enjoy.