search baits

I know this is a general question, but what is your favorite search bait for river fish (on unfamiliar pools) to try to locate a reasonable concentration of bass (lm or sm). Lets assume stable water and weather, june or july. I used to almost always use a spinnerbait, but have been using more crankbaits (lucky craft cb100-200) recently. How about rattle traps? topwaters? any others?

realated side note- How do you go about approaching a new pool on the river?
Im not looking for anybodies secret baits or spots, just have a few tourneys this year on new water to me.

I would have to say that spinnerbait is my favorite as well. I usually throw a double-bladed willow main blade w/a colorado 2nd blade…Those work up to certain depths…If I Need to go deeper than normal…i’ll throw a crankbait and zip it through places. Mainly looking for active fish. Once you find active fish, you can always slow down and throw different presentations.

What i look for as far as water???—>Always looking for current, current breaks, and structure. If you can find a combo of them together…I’d say you’ve found a good spot . But then again, a good pile of Slop will ALWAYS hold bass.

trolling motor, good sunglasses, and look for forage.
If I can see nothing going on I leave. You will eventually find an ecosystem that is in good shape.
jc

Good point JC …forgot to mention baitfish as well..They are also a good indicator that fish might be around…especially if you seem them breaking the surface.

depends on the area of the river and cover on what ill serch with water clarity and sky

rocks ill throw a bandit 200 series crank baits
wood and grass spinner bait if its sunny (blue bird)ill generally serch with a worm or a jig just fish faster if the waters dirty ill throw colorado blades and a more chartruce and white

stained to clean ill throw a translucent white spinner bait with a gold and silver willow leaf in half or 3/8 oz

on my area of the river down here there is usually always bait by the ton but not alot of bass we dont have the good grass beds or wing dams like you do in the north there generally all to shallow to get to and what fish are there burrys in the padds

spring and fall i target current breaks and back water lake
summer i target current fish in the sloughs or wing dams and some main river

a good back water lake here is averages 2 foot deep in the summer so fish tend to stack int he curret in the sloughs

Thanks for the quick and informative replies- JC- if you see bait do you work slower if not generating strikes? As Dusty illuded to often i will see shad or bait flipping but cant generate strikes- is this because i am just not trying enough presentations where the bait is???
Thanks again,

If I find forage in an area / ecosystem I know there are bass near by. Knowing this I look around to deturmine where feeding flats, resting areas, cover, and other environmental influences lay. From there you should be able to deturmine how bass use this area in general and from there you work the travel routes paying close attention to anything along the way that would hold fish for an extended period of time. You will eventually run across them and be able to deturmin the average size of said fish. Knowing what they should be doing based on the environment is alyways the hardest part.
jc

Dusty, I often have my boat in dead end backwaters much less than 2 feet. Many times I just can’t get shallow enough.
jc

JC…..would you say that finding spawning bays would be a good place to start? and like you said…work the surrounding areas…looking for key area’s you mentioned?

a fishing buddy of mine told me that and it seems to hold true for the most part.

It used to be the spinnerbait, but now use either the spinner or a jig-n-pig in a traditional use or swim it. Allows quick work or different areas, and letting it sit on the bottom in a high percentage area while I scan the area for the things JC and Slop Bass are referring to.

How to fish new water… get a map, look at topo lines and see if you can identify structure or area make-ups that are similar to water you know how to fish… start there and then do what JC and Sloppy do…

Often times, and I have been told this, you go with your gut feel. This is often your most productive “lure” in the box!

jc

i guess thats kinda what i ment we cant get to where the bass are where have had really low water this year it was a pain to find them

you look on a map for this area theres alot of back water but them maps are way out dated alot of them at normal pool are not bass boat worthy but ill sneak in with my jon boat more this year

we are loosing alot of the fishable spawning bays/areas i think thats alot of the problem the lack of hard bottom out of the current thats fishable i think they have gone to spawning on top of loggs and stumps in some of these extremly shallow areas but they will hold bass all year especially when activly feeding