what are your favorite baits, live or otherwise? No secret lures please. lol I like top waters,but do well on jigs with trailers. Every year I have pike hitting the large wooden bobbers as I am reeling in to re-cast. I think that they like that side to side action of the bobbers. sam

I've had most success with Terminator double willow blades.

But, lots of the fish that hit are smaller. all under 30 in.

Sam

I use live suckers, about 5-8 inches long. You can get them at the bait store on the way to Keystone Power Dam, or trap some of your own. Creek chubs work good too. I use a piece of surgical tubing when I hook them through the lips slid over the hook to keep them from getting thrashed around (as Much) when casting, they stay alive a lot longer.

I either slow drift them or fish under a float if I am fishing a river.

Loomis, can you describe this surgical tubing method a lil better? I fish w suckers and chubs quite often and have never heard of this.

Try using soft plastics like the "shad-a-licious" and/or "storm kicking minnow" in the 4-6 inch range. In past, those have been my go-to lures and have always seemed to produce good numbers of fish of all size ranges. Start out with really slow retrieves, and speed em up as the season progesses. "if you're not catches weeds, you're not catching pike"

If they are hitting your bobbers with a side to side motion forget the live bait all together and fish a Zara Spook type topwater. Same action when fished with a loose line twitch and you'll cover water much faster while giving the fish what they want. Experiment with other topwaters as well. I usually like the subtle topwaters in cooler temperatures. Good Luck

ORIGINAL: mr.crappie

what are your favorite baits, live or otherwise? No secret lures please. lol I like top waters,but do well on jigs with trailers. Every year I have pike hitting the large wooden bobbers as I am reeling in to re-cast. I think that they like that side to side action of the bobbers. sam

Loomis,I used chubs the last time out,but really like lures better. When I use live bait I hook them in front of the eyes,it keeps them alive a long time & they don't tear off when casting,plus they look like they are swimming when you retrieve them. If I am using a jig,I put the hook in thier mouth up through the skull & they stay on the hook for repeated casts. sam

Johnson silver minnow, pork frog trailer. Buzz bait, white skirt, pulled slow and steady. Also, hard to beat a shiner/sucker fished under a bobber. I have also caught them on a half ounce Rattle trap.

I like to use rapala X-Raps in different sizes and colors. I also do well with large double willow spinner baits. And one thing that drives them crazy is a River2sea S-Waver. The S-Waver sometimes will produce a ton of follows for me. Thats when i will follow it up with a smaller X-rap, and 7 times out of 10 i'll get bit.

I like the Johnson minnow with a curly tail trailer, switch from gold or silver til I get bit. I see that they make different color combos now that look very intresting. That lure comes through the weeds pretty clean with the occasional jerk. sam