Lure Rotation To Find The Right Lure?? 2025

CC268 reply :

I am just wondering what you guys do to eliminate tackle that isn't working on a given day. For instance...Fish fast lures, then slow lures, then plastics, then drop shot etc?? Or start with topwater, then crankbaits, then spinnerbaits, then senko, then plastics, etc...?

I have A LOT of tackle (at least one of everything) for a bass fishermen that has only about a year of experience and sometimes it can be frustrating deciding what to use...so what are your typical rotations to eliminate what isn't working??

Give me your detailed rotations...(shallow crankbaits, then deep crankbaits, then spinnerbaits, topwater, senko, worms, and so on) or simple rotations (crankbaits, topwater, plastics, etc).

Swampstud reply :

Something ive learned this year is if your serious about bass fishing pay attention to the seasonal pattern and the weather. ill explain since im goin fishing today actually, its spost to be cool 70's, high bright skies and not much wind, its fall and ive been catching them on a shad/baitfish pattern. Since its calm and sunny ill start out with my strike king soft swimbait, drop shot w/ tube, or im thinkin a wacky rig senko. All in a shad color/white. If the wind kicks up im throwin my white spinnerbait, hardbody jerkbait, maybe a shallow crank.

Now ALL summer long I could only catch em on my flippin rod w/ 1/2oz jig, or texas rig rage craw, drop shot robo worm. When it got a lil windy I got a few on cranks and spinnerbait, but nothin like the jig. I always have several rigs ready before I start fishin, 6 as of now and usually I may change a color or lure to adjust to what the bass want. Hope this helps.

thehooligan reply :

Like swamp said, start with the weather patterns. Also time of the day your fishing and water depths.

If its morning or evening im throwing topwater. If its cloudy ill also be throwing topwater. If its sunny ill start topwater just to see if theres any takers. If not, i switch to jerkbaits or cranks. No takers then i go to plastics. Shallow water im throwing a wacky rigged senko. Deep water im throwing a flickshake or shakeyhead.

SPEEDBEAD. reply :

Winter:

1. Swimbait

2. Jig

Spring:

1. Swimbait

2. Fluke

3. Jig

Summer:

1. Swimbait

2. Jig

Fall:

1. Swimbait

2. Jig

All day baby!

MarkH024 reply :

On 9/27/2013 at 8:27 PM, SPEEDBEAD. said:

Winter:

1. Swimbait

2. Jig

Spring:

1. Swimbait

2. Fluke

3. Jig

Summer:

1. Swimbait

2. Jig

Fall:

1. Swimbait

2. Jig

All day baby!

No froggin' at all for you?

SPEEDBEAD. reply :

I don't really get mats on my home lakes. If I fish a T with a buddy on some other lakes I will.

Honestly, I'll mix in some other stuff occasionally due to conditions but the bulk of my days on my home water play out like the above scenario. Can't catch swimbait fish throwing a drop shot. Notthing against a drop shot, just not my style.

Life is full of variety.

dreamertino reply :

You can frog in open water in the place of a spook

SPEEDBEAD. reply :

On 9/27/2013 at 9:56 PM, dreamertino said:
You can frog in open water in the place of a spook

If I've got open water, I'm throwing a swimbait.

I love seeing someone's face the first time they see the drawing power a big wakebait has. It's inspiring.

Grizzn N Bassin reply :

If I'm fishing to catch fish use worms spinners cranks. Top water etc.. by myself I bring jigs, swimbaits, and maybe a thing or two I might wanna try

CC268 reply :

Thanks guys! I found this on another thread and this is kind of what I was looking for...:

At the start I throw a variety of different colors and style of lures till something works. It's topwater, shallow cranks, senkos, deeper cranks, spinnerbaits, inline spinners and minnowbaits. Most of the time my system works. If I still didn't catch anything I go though my lures again by changing the presentations. I do get action on the second run thru my tackle box. If not I practice my presentations.

Fishes in trees reply :

As others have said in this thread, everything starts with your seasonal patterns. I think that going into a day with a pre-set plan of what you're going to fish 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc is limiting.

As the day starts, make your best guess as to what will catch fish. No luck - make your next best guess, and so on.

Mind you, having a pre-set plan of what you are going to fish 1st, then next and so forth isn't the same thing as being ready. When I leave the dock in the morning, I have at least 12 different options tied on, ready to go, more if I am fishing by myself. I have the capability of switching presentations nearly instantly. I just don't think that having a set plan of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so forth is a good one - it just seems limiting to me. Let the fish tell you what they want to hit.

JMO

buzzed bait reply :

Weather, water conditions, forage, time of day

All of these are the most impactful in what i'm throwing. Any low light conditions i'm throwing topwater ~98% of the time, but aside from that I'm gauging the things mentioned above and them making a decision. I myself, like you, bought about one of EVERYTHING (or two or three) and found myself overwhelmed. I then figured out the way i liked to fish and started weeding out the ways i did not like to fish. now i try to limit myself some days so that i'm not spending my whole day tying on different lures. HARD to catch fish if you're constantly spending time in the boat tying on lures.....

Marty reply :

In general, I like to start out with a faster-moving horizontal lure trying to locate them and catch more of them if they're active. Those lures can be topwaters, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, etc., according to conditions and personal preferences. If those don't produce then you can switch to slower-moving stuff like jigs and soft plastics.

CC268 reply :

On 9/28/2013 at 8:08 AM, Marty said:
In general, I like to start out with a faster-moving horizontal lure trying to locate them and catch more of them if they're active. Those lures can be topwaters, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, etc., according to conditions and personal preferences. If those don't produce then you can switch to slower-moving stuff like jigs and soft plastics.

This seems perfect! Thanks!

Loop_Dad reply :

My rotation keep involving and I like that way. I get bored doing the same thing over and over. To me changing up is a big part of the fun of fishing.

Anyhow, I agree with many of you here that everything is based on conditions and the fish's activity level I suspect that day.

I too start with fast moving bait in general (not always, again it depends on the conditions and suspected activity level). I use lots of puddle tail with good chunk of weight these days, which is good for covering both horizontal and vertical areas.

If the first moving lures not working well or stopped working, I start throwing slower baits. Sometime this can happen pretty early in the morning, as I do not want to miss the best time of day using wrong kind of lures.

Some days nothing seems to work, then I keep rotating all kind of lures all day.

On plastic, I rotate colors pretty frequently. The rotated colors are chosen based on the water color and amount of light.

bigbill reply :

Go to the "General bass fishing" section on the top of the main forum page listing. Click on the hype post. Go to page 3 I posted a list of my variety of baits I throw.

CC268 reply :

How long do you guys wait to change lures if something is not working?

bigbill reply :

I fancast the area and by the 4th or 5th cast with one lure I know it's not working. But on my first cast my topwater lure goes out with a scent on it. After that I'm testing each lure for it being the correct color and style the bass are wanting.

Swampstud reply :

Id say 30-60 minutes, if I have that gut feeling im just passing by fish. Ill often swith immediatly to a finesse lure if I see fish spook from my lure. This usually is the case with a spinnerbait in really shallow clear water, atleast for me. sometime though a size adjustment can make a difference too 1/2 jig down to a 3/8 jig same colors

JayKumar reply :

Where, what season, around what, weather = bait selection/technique. I developed a great app for this but...

bigbill reply :

Once I go thru my ritual of lures, I go thru them again trying different presentations.

After all this exercise just try a firetiger.

papajoe222 reply :

I think it depends more on whether you're fishing deep to shallow or shallow to deep in your search as far as lure choice/ rotation. This time of year I'm opting for a shallow to deep search pattern, so I'll start on top and work my way down the water column. My lure choices are based on that plan of attack.

Catt reply :

Winter, Summer, Spring, & Fall

Texas Rig

Jig-N-Craw

Spinnerbait/Trap/Buzzbait

I start deep & slow!

CC268 reply :

I've been fishing a Texas Rig and Jigs a lot! Have had a lot of success....my crankbaits and spinnerbaits have been sitting around! Starting to really like the slower fishing of a jig and texas rig

Bankbeater reply :

Before I change the crankbait, I will change the retreive. If burning it doesn't work I will run the bait slower.

AK-Jax86 reply :

I always start top water then go from there

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Lure Rotation To Find The Right Lure?? 2025

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