When to change baits

[sjk984]

I have been kicking this around for a few weeks.

When or how often do you change a bait (i.e. spoon fly plug) if the fishing is slow?

I traditionally don't change a lot of tackle But I play with the depth a lot when its slow

[Killin' It]

I know I fish more than others, so my theory might be different then someone that only fishes Saturday.

I start with a normal spread which is either something I have heard from a close friend or my top 10 baits depending on weather, fish, time of year, ect.

If I catch fish at peak time and the fishing dies off, I generally leave most of the same gear on. (I do not fish alot of glow spoons so, I do not feel the need to have a gear change once the sun comes up. I truly belive that if they bit it then, they will bite it again. The goal is staying on top of the fish. If the bites dry up I will pull gear and run back to were I started my morning troll and work the area I got bites in.

If I catch fish... great the plan worked. If I don’t.... The question is to change or not to change.....

Generally I change one of the riggers over to a silver/blue 10 inch with a teaser rig and either one or both of the divers over to meat or tin cans for lakers.

The copper... This is a different story... What I put on my copper is my what I KNOW will catch fish or has been catching fish. I do not change it out till it has proven it is NOT going to catch fish. For me this takes one or two TRIPS. This rule is null and void in very specific instances. If the riggers and divers are slamming on spinnies, I will change over the deep copper as such. If my 250 is firing and my 300 is not... I will put the same spoon on that rod. I went 3 weeks without changing a lure this summer outside of this process.

My go to baits ( These are baits that I almost always had out for the better part of the summer for each trip)

Starting gear

Kermit BLL

Green Kato BLL

Blue Green Frog BLL

Blue dolphin DW SS

Green Dolphin DW SS

Moonshine Double Trouble

Big white paddle with a proofster fly

Mag Blue green frog BLL

Bright sunny days after the sun came up

Hawg Wild BLL

10 inch spinnie with a BLL teaser rig

UV spinnie with a BLL teaser rig

Patriot BLL

Gator pro troll with a brads cut plug

Cloudy days

8inch white spinnies with proctologist flies

j-13 rapalas

Tin can and spin glow

Blue flounder Moonshine

SS dark green Kato Mag

Boogie man BLL

Size 3 pearl Loco

Silver spinnie with a brads cut plug

The point of this is... Find what works for you.. It changes from year to year, but if you listen to what the fish are telling you, you will be just fine. If you are a bit hard of hearing, find people you can trust to contact if you are struggling. I listen to the radio more for fun than to find info. In saying that if people call on the radio, I will always tell them what has been hot. No reason to hide it, because the lures are hanging on the rods when I pull the boat out.

The question I was asked at least a half dozen times this year is how do you find the odd ball lures that seem to get hot.... The truth is... I put them in the water to see what they do. If I am fun fishing I will throw 2 random lures out just to see what happens.

A great example of this is... When I was fishing the same lure spread for 3 weeks... which happened to be Blue dolphin SS on EVERY rod other then the divers. I put down Boogie man deep on a copper because that rod had not fired in 2 trips.... it took 5 fish that day... Ran it for the next 3 days and it took 2 fish each day….. AND ….. then has been in the rotation ever sence.

In saying that there are some disclammers to this post..

1. The pro guys may have a different outlook on this… They are way better than I am

2. I fish for NUMBERS… I take people fishing to catch fish… whether it be 15 10 pound kings or 9 Lakers

3. You have to be ON FISH to catch them You cannot blame the lures for the problems of the person driving the boat.

4. KEEP YOUR GEAR CLEAN….. Wash your hands in the lake before you handle your baits. Smokers this means you… Every cig was your hands… Maybe just supersicous but still.

5. I took 40 spoons out of the box this year, that I DID NOT RUN last year.. Some of them had been very good to me... Others... not so much. Your CONFIDANCE IS KEY… go out with the mentality you are GOING to WORK HARD to catch fish… and if you do WORK hard…. You just might.

[Nailer]

If I have a hot bite going on the port side, I will gladly change the starboard side to match.

[southtrollsouth]

Both previous responses were great.

Salmon eat to survive, they don't spend much time reviewing what's on the menu. If they are there, and hungry, and you are pulling your program the way it should be it really doesn't matter what you have in the water.

[Gnarf]

I just call dave up and ask where the fish are

but i tend to be pretty hard nosed when i put something down. If it aint broke dont fix it. i have hundreds of spoons but use mabey a dozen.

And another thing that i do, is that i ONLY put "untested" lures in the water when the fish are biting pretty steady. That really tells you if its worth using or not in my opinion.

[RedRider]

Some days every 15 minutes if I know the fish are there and active and I'm not getting hits.

[killerbe20]

Both previous responses were great.

Salmon eat to survive, they don't spend much time reviewing what's on the menu. If they are there, and hungry, and you are pulling your program the way it should be it really doesn't matter what you have in the water.

exactly. I use the baits I use because they have a proven track record. Most of the time if I'm not catching fish I am looking into factors other than whats on the menu.

[Legacy]

Check this out:

http://www.lakeontariooutdoors.com/stories/news-story/lure-overload/

[EdB]

If the fish are not biting, I will work 2-4 rods in the spread pretty hard changing baits every 15-20 minutes in the same section of my spread on one side or the other. I don't like dragging a rod for hours that is not popping fish unless I know that rod has been real good lately. I've had lot's of a time when I take fish within minutes of changing a dead lure.

[mriversinco]

Great thread here and learning alot. Thanks

[Leafybug]

Dave, not to sound overly green at this but after my slow year last year (mostly due to lack of time to fish and boat problems), I'm gonna ask a question I should know the answer to, Whats BLL?

[Killin' It]

I sat and was thinking about this last night and I forgot a very important part to this....

SPOON BRAND.... (This is not meant to bash on one spoon company or another, but is my opinion based on experience.)

Everyone knows I run ALOT of BLL, I also run alot of DW SS. I mix in some Silver streak and moonshine mags. At time Stinger gets the nod on the 100 and 200 copper if I am looking for shinny blank (Green Slush)

What I do not run

Pro King

Dreamweaver Mag or standard

Contender

Warrior

NP

NK

SS mini's ( When I am fishing browns or offshore steelhead these get used alot more)

The reason I do not run the listed above, is I found the lures in that category to not run well with the ones listed above.

However if I run an entire DW spread (which happens when they want the Target tip from time to time) the DW can be the hottest thing on the boat.

I know if I am going 2.5 SOG and my BLL are firing that all the other BLL should have the same action under water, Assuming they are in the same part of the water column. Over time I come to believe that DW SS run well at the same speeds as BLL. A differnt brand will not run the same under those condistions because of spoon blank weight, size and bend.

In the same boat, If I know the fish are on a SS or DW bite I will change over and run a whole spread of that brand of spoon.

Different spoons run at different speeds or with a different action in the spread. It is a matter of if you can recreate on a daily basis what works.

As I said before this is my opinion and it has proven good to me.

[killerbe20]

Dave, not to sound overly green at this but after my slow year last year (mostly due to lack of time to fish and boat problems), I'm gonna ask a question I should know the answer to, Whats BLL?

i believe he is referring to Big Lake Lures

[Killin' It]

Big Lake Lures

DW SS = Dreamweaver super slim

[Rascal Trophy Fishing]

Thanks for posting that link on the charter capt. in Lk. Ontario, informative. Getting back to the changing of lures I can tell you this simple fact: if I get a double orange crush on a rigger going 3 times in a hour at say 53' down, you can bet it's going out on other riggers about the same depth asap. I try to re-flash the glow lures closest to the boat about every 30 minutes or sooner first light/last 2 hours light of the day.