Favorite Clear Water Baits? 2024
bma3 reply :
What's up guys, just wanted to see what everyone's favorite bait for fishing in clear water is.
scaleface reply :
I havent done a lot of clear water fishing . when I did almost all my fish have came off bottom bouncers like plastic worms , jigs , tubes and jigging spoons or top waters like buzzbaits , spooks and chuggers .
burrows reply :
poppers spinnerbaits ball head jigs with a grub, even natural color squarebills can work, brown,green,black, blue,soft plastics.
Scott F reply :
I fish mostly clear water for smallies. Senko type stick baits work well in clear water. So do suspending jerkbaits. Actually, any lure will work in clear water. Clear water extends the strike zone so fish can see the lure from farther away. Clear water makes a stealthy presentation more important. Staying farther away from the fish, and making longer casts is important.
burrows reply :
@Scott F I'm just curious when you mention jerk baits they work well even in hotter temperatures in clear water ? I ask because I fish some clear water in California from time to time and I have thought about it but I've never thrown it in the summer.
Bankbeater reply :
Most of the water I fish locally is clear with a lot of vegetation in it. I like to use jigs, t-rigs, traps, shallow running crankbaits, and bladed jigs.
Scott F reply :
On 2/1/2017 at 7:26 AM, Pilot. said:@Scott F I'm just curious when you mention jerk baits they work well even in hotter temperatures in clear water ? I ask because I fish some clear water in California from time to time and I have thought about it but I've never thrown it in the summer.
I never fish in hot water so I don't know if they'll work. In the summer, I fish rivers that never get as warm as the lakes do, and they work for me in the summer, but not as well as they do in the spring.
HookRz reply :
Clear or shiny top water, variations of watermelon finesse worms,& tubes, BIG straight tail shakys for big fish. And as a surprise spinnerbaits; bulged just below the surface. Silver double willow with a clear firecracker skirt shallow, same only chartreuse, chartreuse, chartreuse, over deeper water. The latter can be a SMB killer. Gotta burn'em. Throw in a white buzzbait. Always throw in a white buzzbait. Lol.
Angry John reply :
those above are great i use them but i also use a baby brush hawg a lot. It caught me more bass in Washington state than all others combined. The only other bait was a 4" dean Rojas cane thumper worm in watermelon red flake. Clear water was tough to learn but i found distance was my friend. The longer casts always worked better.
RoLo reply :
Stickworms - jerkbaits ~
Roger
everythingthatswims reply :
I catch tons of fish in warm or hot water on jerkbaits. As long as the water is clear they are an excellent bait.
My favorite clear water baits would be a drop shot, wacky senko, shakey head, spook, jerkbait, and small swimbait. Light line is key!
bma3 reply :
On 2/1/2017 at 10:34 AM, everythingthatswims said:I catch tons of fish in warm or hot water on jerkbaits. As long as the water is clear they are an excellent bait.
My favorite clear water baits would be a drop shot, wacky senko, shakey head, spook, jerkbait, and small swimbait. Light line is key!
Do you think straight braid would work or will the fish be able to see it?
everythingthatswims reply :
On 2/1/2017 at 10:38 AM, bma3 said:Do you think straight braid would work or will the fish be able to see it?
People on here will tell you that bass do not care if braid is directly attached to the bait even in clear water. I would love to take them on some of the bodies of water that I fish so they can show me that.
FishingTheNorth reply :
For Smallmouth, i find mustard or puke colour tubes work best. However, i would throw the zoom ultra vibe craw on a shaky head or Texas rig for largemouth.
RyneB reply :
finesse jig and swimbaits are my go to clear water baits. a 4 inch finesse worm in green pumpkin is also tough to beat.
Bluebasser86 reply :
Depends on what we're calling clear. In the lakes near me, 3-4 feet of visibility is clear. Or are we talking Bull Shoals or Beaver Lake where you can read the label on a can in 30' of water where 3-4 of visibility is muddy?
I prefer small, natural looking baits for the most part in clear water, although sometimes gaudy colored baits that look ridiculous in the water pique the fish's interest. I was beat badly fishing a very clear small lake while I was wacky rigging a watermelon stick worm, by my brother in law fishing a bright chartreuse spinnerbait. We could watch them coming from 20' down to eat his bait, and they were not shy about it.
A wacky rig, Ned rig, and shakyhead are some of my favorites in clear water. I also like to fish jerkbaits, walking topwaters, and big swimbaits when conditions are right.
If it's an option, I'll usually avoid clear water and head for stained or muddy water instead.
parkerg31 reply :
@Scott F @Pilot. I tried jerk baits for the first time in the summer last year on Lake Martin, in Alabama. To my surprise i got bit on it more than any other search bait I tried. You just have to have short pauses, almost like a fluke. I went night fishing on the same trip and used it around dock lights and it also caught more fish than any other lure we tried.
scaleface reply :
On 2/1/2017 at 9:01 AM, HookRz said:And as a surprise spinnerbaits; bulged just below the surface.
Not a spinnerbait but I got on a bite at Table rock retrieving a chugger slow and steady . It pushed a big wake and gently sashayed . Now there are wake baits intended for that .
MDBowHunter reply :
On 2/1/2017 at 7:26 AM, Pilot. said:@Scott F I'm just curious when you mention jerk baits they work well even in hotter temperatures in clear water ? I ask because I fish some clear water in California from time to time and I have thought about it but I've never thrown it in the summer.
I fish almost entirely in clear reservoirs and I have a jerkbait tied on every time I'm out. The only thing I change is that in early and late season when the water is cold I'll use a suspending bait as where I find that a bait that slowly rises will get more strikes when the water is warm and fish are active. I also fish a deeper diving bait when the water is warm because the fish go deep where I fish at.
Scarborough817 reply :
for me it has mainly been swim jigs and swimbaits
ww2farmer reply :
I usually have clear (up to 15 feet) water here from a few weeks after ice out to mid-summer when the algae blooms stain the water green, and then again in the late fall when the algae blooms go away for good. Sometimes in the summer we get a little windows of clear water that last for a couple days, up to a week or so between the blooms.
In cold clear water in the spring and late fall, the best producers for me are suspending jerkbaits, natural colored lipless cranks fished faster than you would think in cold water, finesse jigs with small subtle action trailers, drop shot rigs with 3"-4" nose hooked baits, shaky heads with straight tail worms, biffle heads with 3" craws and creature baits, and 4" worms or yum dingers on a wacky jig.
Once the water warms up a little and those fish start heading to the bank, burning 1.5 size squarebills or a swimjig is my go to reaction bite presentation. I also start leaning on frogs a lot ....against conventional wisdom, I find a white belly frog outfishes a natural colored one by a wide margin. Soft jerkbaits get the call when they just slap at the frog, or won't chase the swim jig or squarebill. Docks are staring to get put in all over the lake round about this time, and 4"-5" yum dingers skipped under them are always a good bet...
Usually the fish are spawning in clear water.....if I am fishing beds, it's usually for smallmouth, and it's usually with a 3"-4" bait on a drop shot.
Once they are done spawning, I either fish super shallow around bluegill beds, or deep outside the bass spawning area. If shallow, it's with a frog, swim jig, or 5" yum dinger. if deep it with a drop shot with a bunch of different stuff, or a heavy weighted wacky jig with a trick worm or 5" yum dinger.
Just before the water turns green in the summer, we are usually a week or so past the post spawn period and the weeds are at their thickest they will be all year. Speed kills in this situation. I flip/pitch a lot this time of year with a chigger craw or pit boss with a 1oz. sinker....sometimes because the cover dictates it, but often to get a fast fall and a reaction bite in the clear water. If they shy away from a craw/creature bait, I replace it with a 4"-5" yum dinger....yeah it looks ridiculous with a 1oz weight pegged to it, but it flat out works.
WI_Angler1989 reply :
In clear water (90% of the time here) my choices depend on the clouds as well. If it's a little overcast, it's easier to get away with something more gaudy like a jerkbait or small spinner. If it's sunny and clear a bottom contact lure work best. Something like a tube, craw or finesse jig.
Grubs swam along the bottom work awesome anytime for me though! In overcast, wind, rain, sun, dead calm... any of it.
WRB reply :
Everything I use works in the deep clear water reservoirs where I fish. I see you are from northern California and from your prior posts fishing a rainbow trout stocked lake with Florida strain LMB, very challenging.
It's Feburary today and that means pre spawn where you live, the spawn is about 2 months away. The bass should deep in about 25'-35' depth zone and moving up.
The lures I use during this time period are 9" hand poured soft plastic worms from Uptons Customs in black grape/blue neon, Aaron's tragic, 6" oxblood red flake and MMIII, Purple/brown jigs and trout swimbaits.
My advice is to focus your efforts around major main lake points, then secondary staging points and finally spawning coves when the bass move in. Wood is rare in these lakes and bass will locate around it, big boulders and red clay transition areas near rocks.
Tom
PS, get a copy of In Pursuit of Giant Bass by Bill Murphy and study bass behavior and location.
Gundog reply :
The lake I fish the most has an average visibility of about 8 feet. The water is gin clear even after rain storms. The only time I've ever seen it muddy was after the 2011 flood. Spinner baits are the best bait to throw (IMO) when you have clear water. Use a willow leaf blade and you can see that blade flash from a good distance away. BTW the thing I love most about fishing clear water is when you get to see the bass hit your lure.
bma3 reply :
On 2/2/2017 at 12:37 AM, WRB said:Everything I use works in the deep clear water reservoirs where I fish. I see you are from northern California and from your prior posts fishing a rainbow trout stocked lake with Florida strain LMB, very challenging.
It's Feburary today and that means pre spawn where you live, the spawn is about 2 months away. The bass should deep in about 25'-35' depth zone and moving up.
The lures I use during this time period are 9" hand poured soft plastic worms from Uptons Customs in black grape/blue neon, Aaron's tragic, 6" oxblood red flake and MMIII, Purple/brown jigs and trout swimbaits.
My advice is to focus your efforts around major main lake points, then secondary staging points and finally spawning coves when the bass move in. Wood is rare in these lakes and bass will locate around it, big boulders and red clay transition areas near rocks.
Tom
PS, get a copy of In Pursuit of Giant Bass by Bill Murphy and study bass behavior and location.
There are usually trout fisherman on many of the points in the lake, will the bass still be there? The pic in my other thread is one of the points that is super popular when it comes to trout fishing.
WRB reply :
FYI, the 19 lb bass was caught near Alder point on a black-blue jig w/GYCB twin tail black blue flake grub. Kayaks are allowed on Chabot and would be your best bet to bass fish from unless you rent a electric powered boat.
Trout anglers won't be happy if they are bait fishing and you snag their line!
Tom
PS, buy a fishing kayak if you are serious about fishing this lake.
papajoe222 reply :
Welcome'
I also fish a lot of clear water lakes, a couple of which I can see bottom in 15ft. I shy away from hard baits and stick with small, soft plastic baits in natural colors. I'm a tube freak when it comes to soft plastics and a 2- 3in. tube in pearl or smoke with pepper flakes does well on most of those lakes. For hard baits, as already mentioned, the fish can see your bait from farther away and have more time to look it over. Downsizing and speeding up your retrieve helps to put you on more level playing field.
Mr Swim Jig reply :
Personally I like to fish swim jigs and spinner baits in clear water as well as tubes and creature style baits.
WI_Angler1989 reply :
On 2/2/2017 at 7:51 AM, Mr Swim Jig said:Personally I like to fish swim jigs and spinner baits in clear water as well as tubes and creature style baits.
I guessed you may like swim jigs ;D
BronzeChaser reply :
I put a lot of time in on clear water fisheries. One body of water in particular is extremely clear and deep, inhabited by only smallmouth, pickerel, and baitfish. You can see boulders and logs on the bottom in 25' of water. My favorites are usually finesse presentations. Ned rig, wacky/ neko rig, drop shot, shaky head. For hard baits a walking bait and a spybait in natural colors get the most bites for me. Long cats and light line are important, but being stealthy (no splashing/ being noisy, etc.) is importanter.
ClackerBuzz reply :
you got some great advice here.
I fish a bear of a clear lake and the lure is only part of the equation. equally important are: casting distance, line size, wind chop and dam draw/water flow.
longer casts flat out catch more fish. needle sharp/lighter wire hooks allow for much better hookups.
4-6lb line is a must on bluebird calm days with little water flow. Ned rig, small tube or 4" drop shot are 'big lures' on these days. i usually only break out standard size bass lures w/10-15lb line with clouds, wind chop on surface, rain or 24-48hrs after a storm is pushing fresh water into the system.
the last key is boat position. learn to always use cover as a screen to hide behind. position behind points (both above and below water points), weed beds, intersections, lily pads, dams, chunk rock 'corners' etc. good casting angles while hiding behind objects will be rewarded.
clear water fishing becomes progressively harder as the body of water gets smaller and more shallow. whereas bass are far less shy in clear water on a 200,000+ acre lake with constant 10-20 mph winds and 1-2 ft waves. in those conditions you can vertical drop shot them in 20ft of clear water. small and very stable 50 acre lakes with little water flow and glassy calm conditions will test your patience and requires major adjustments.
bma3 reply :
On 2/2/2017 at 8:37 AM, BronzeChaser said:I put a lot of time in on clear water fisheries. One body of water in particular is extremely clear and deep, inhabited by only smallmouth, pickerel, and baitfish. You can see boulders and logs on the bottom in 25' of water. My favorites are usually finesse presentations. Ned rig, wacky/ neko rig, drop shot, shaky head. For hard baits a walking bait and a spybait in natural colors get the most bites for me. Long cats and light line are important, but being stealthy (no splashing/ being noisy, etc.) is importanter.
Lol. Love the word choice - "Importanter". Thanks for the help!
cgolf reply :
On 2/1/2017 at 10:41 AM, everythingthatswims said:People on here will tell you that bass do not care if braid is directly attached to the bait even in clear water. I would love to take them on some of the bodies of water that I fish so they can show me that.
I would actually take you on, my current clear water lake has visibility 10-15 feet depending on the year and I tried both fireline and fireline with a 6 foot flouro leader with a swim senko on a slider head that had to sit dead for 5 seconds and the catch rate was the same. This was N WI bass, so maybe that helps me out a bit. Many years ago I used to pier fish Geneva Lake a lot and not knowing any better would catch fish on Trilene solar XT. Geneva is the clearest lake I have seen to date, gin comes to mind. Sometimes I think we give the fish too much credit, but I will admit that I generally look for more active fish, so my presentations may be on the quicker side than others.
For soft baits, colors are smoke red or purple in sun and flat water and water red or green pumpkin with overcast skies and choppy water with any sun conditions. The baits are pretty simple lots of tubes and grubs, Anglers choice Killshots on a slider spider head and I dabble with finesse worms and swimbaits. Most of my fish come on the first three baits listed.
Cranks are pretty simple, same that I throw everywhere, perhaps with some more natural colors. Red seemed to be a hot color last year, and it better be again since I stocked up on red cranks.
Spinnerbaits with silver blades work really well too. My favorite skirt color is the SK bleeding minnow, white, red, smoke.
Swim jigs are something I want to work more with in the future. I have had luck with them, but fall back to the usual suspects instead of working with them.
wdp reply :
Swimbaits.
bonzai22 reply :
Swim jigs are definitely my go to reaction bait for clear water. Shaky head would be my go to finesse technique.
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