Hottest Baits in 2003

johnnie crain outdoors · Mon Nov 10, 2003 5:38 am

Pro Staff, since most of us are hampered by winter I thought it would be fun and informational if we all listed our hottest bait/baits we used this past season. I wonder how many of us used the same or similar baits with success. We need to keep the pro staff section and boards active for our members and newcomers. Will post my selction/selections after third post. Thanbks, Johnnie

brendanc · Post by **brendanc** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 2:19 pm

Johnnie,

I'll jump in here with some feed back...

This year was another "jig" year for me. Jigs accounted for 80% of my wins this year.

Two other baits which were also HOT:

A drop shot rigged Bass Assassin

GYB - SENKO.

You have to give credit when credit is due and the SENKO has more than earned it's name in the history books. Every tournament I went to this year I saw at least 1 SENKO tied on a rod in almost every boat...

mofish · Post by **mofish** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 3:41 pm

Good ole Blue Fleck power worm did the trick for me this year. A Strike King series 3 crankbait also accounted for a couple of checks for me and my wife.

Conley

catt951 · Post by **catt951** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 1:09 am

Shear Quantity Total: 256
Gene Larew 7 1/2" Salty Ring Worm Camouflage.

Shear Quaility Total: 14 over 6 lbs & 2 over 7 lbs.
Oldham Jig 5/8 oz. Black/Blue with a Gene Larew 6" Salty Hawg Craw.

Largest Stringer: 5 Bass / Weight 28.41 lbs
Using the technique listed in my post "Extreme Fishing" & a Gene Larew Salty Lizard Watermelon Neon.

MMT · Post by **MMT** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 3:07 am

I make a lot of my own baits. With that being said, I fished my own stuff probably 85% of the time.

Jigs: Grass jig 1/4oz blk/blue/purple
Spinnerbait: Hailey's Killer Komet Firetiger
Soft plastic: Yammie Fat Ika
Salty Stinker SS worm
Crankbait: Bagley Honey B
Topwater: Spit n Image Jr.
Lucky Craft Malas

6.54BASS · Post by **6.54BASS** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 3:23 am

I would have to go with the Strike King tube lizard (watermelon seed) which produced my biggest of the year and a Texas rigged Zoom finesse worm (Watermelon Candy) which produced the most keepers.

JT_BAGWELL · Post by **JT_BAGWELL** » Tue Nov 11, 2003 4:38 am

My Biggest Single fish this year was 8-11 and it came on a Spinnerbait I was slow rolling in 18 feet of water.

My 4 best overall producers were:

#1 - Black/Blue Hand Made Jig
#2 - Lucky Craft CB200 Chart/Blue
#3 - 5" Gary Yamamoto Senko
#4 - White Shad Evilution "V"4 spinnerbait

More than 80% of my fish came on the jigs that I hand make.

JT Bagwell

johnnie crain outdoors · Tue Nov 11, 2003 5:30 am

Good stuff!
Some of you seem to have had a great year, of course for some, it's not over yet.
My top producers this year and mainly due to the record low Mississippi river level, had to be a Worden's Timber Tiger 2 crankbait in bluegill pattern. The fish were forced into very shallow ater, and spinnerbaits seemed to spook them. The little crankbait worked great. No big fish though, maybe 4 pounds, tops. A brown and chartreuse jig tipped with a #1 Uncle Josh brown frog saved the day several times. My partner and I used both baits a lot! On lakes, the Evilution spinnerbait in white with gold blades worked wonders. A Poe's 400 crankbait in "ghost" color also was a good producer. The Senko baits just didn't do it for me this year except during one trip to Lake Norfork, Mo./Ark. Worked fine there. No hawgs, but solid fish. Had a lousy tournament season except for winning almost all the Wednesday night events, but all in all, not a bad year. If you're able to fish, it's a great year. Keep those replies coming and thanks, Johnnie

dansfishntales · Post by **dansfishntales** » Fri Nov 21, 2003 5:08 am

Ok Johnnie, you probably already know one of my top lures. Of course, they are in the tube family. Here they are:

Larew Mega Ring Tube - black neon, Texas rigged with XGap Xpoint hook.

Mann's Manniac crankbait - pearl/black back

1/8 oz. Baby Wedge spinnerbait - white/chartreuse

Gambler 6" Ribbon Tail Worm - black neon and June bug

white jig with pearl 4" worm trailer

Gene Larew Floating Finesse Craw - black/blue; black/chartreuse; and green pumpkinseed. I've got a new color in this which is going to be great - can't wait to try it next year - won't work under the ice.

For all of you that like to keep track of this stuff I would recommend a computer program called Fish Track System, which is put out by BLS Outdoors. This is a great log, and you can see all of the results on your lures. There are all sorts of data base information compiled in this program.

Best of fishing,
Dan