# Confidence Lures / Live Bait



## leovpin (Mar 18, 2009)

Well, here is my dilemma. 

I usually fish a small river here in Northwest Ohio that has a decent population of smallies and largemouth - the mighty Blanchard. When I go fishing, I am thinking bass, bass, bass (there are other species in the river that are also fun to catch, though). I tend to use bass oriented lures, specially plastics and jigs. Lately, though, I have had good luck with the good old nightcrawler under a bobber; the bass seem to hit it when nothing else is working. I don't like to have to keep the stupid worms from getting soft because of the heat, I think worm fishing is a little messy and the worse part is all the collateral dinks (gills, shad and others) that I keep catching. Any words of advice?Thanks!


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## Bucket Mouth (Aug 13, 2007)

What kind of depths are you fishing? What sort of structure are you throwing around?


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## leovpin (Mar 18, 2009)

Bucket Mouth, the spots I usually hit - I'm boatless so think bank fishing - are usually shallow with decent current. One of my favorite spots is an inlet from a water treatment plant, there is clean water being discharged in the river and the current is pretty good with clear water coming out (the river is pretty muddy), the bottom is mud/rocks and there is not a lot of obvious cover around.


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## BassCrazy (Oct 11, 2007)

For muddy river fishin':

1. Small Crankbait - Bomber Model 6A in Bream, Firetiger or Tennessee Shad. The fish will tell you which one they want that day.
2. Downsized jig n pig combination in black/blue or black/chartreuse w/rattle
3. Long arm single spin spinnerbait w/ a Colorado blade. Chartreuse/blue skirt w/ a copper blade works well in muddy rivers.
4. Small chartreuse buzzbait

Fish anything that makes an eddy/slack water area whether it's a weedbed, tree, rock or depression in the river bottom. 

Just my choices...

Good Luck


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## jcustunner24 (Aug 20, 2007)

Rebel Craw, inline spinners, shakey head rigged lizards all work for me. This time of year, you might also try a buzzbait.


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## leovpin (Mar 18, 2009)

I'll give all of of the above (or below depending on which way your page is setup to be displayed...hehehe). Yesterday I fished for about 2.5-3 hours, for the first two I tried crankbaits, spinners and some plastics, no luck. Finally I switched to a small 2" black/grey grub on a 1/32 oz.jighead and just reeled in like a swimmbait; they loved it. In 30 minutes I caught 3 smallies , some crappies and an oversized gill. It seems to me that river fish tend to like downsized lures better. Thanks for the help!


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## flippin fool (Apr 3, 2006)

2-3 inch twister tails are my go to baits for river fishing for bass


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## leovpin (Mar 18, 2009)

I hit my favorite spot today and no live bait for me! Caught 2 decent smallies, a sucker (!) many rock bass and some nice crappies, all on 2 in. grey yum grubs. Thanks everybody for the tips!


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## BASmead (Jan 11, 2008)

You pretty much nailed my confidence bait for small streams like the Blanchard. Light jighead and a small dark, natural colored grub. I've fished that spot you described. Wish there were more like it. I've also done well with zoom's fat albert grub in the blanchard. It's a little bigger presentation, i think it selects out some of the bigger fish, but those dink rockbass don't seem to have a problem biting it. I caught a surprisingly big one-eyed largie at a different spot with it last spring, and my friend caught the same fish again in the late fall. A testament to catch and release in these tiny streams to be sure. Hopefully she's still swimmin. Also, i've had a few really good Blanchard days with a fat bodied crankbait. Be good to our mighty crick...


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## fishslime (Jul 28, 2006)

Use the dinks for bait!


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## leovpin (Mar 18, 2009)

BASmead, I think the Blanchard is overlooked as a fishery. I want to start looking for some new spots this summer. I keep hitting the same one over and over and it gets old. I usually bring back home trash left behind by other people. It is amazing that some leave empty lure packs and bait containers behind. But I am getting off topic


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## BASmead (Jan 11, 2008)

Yeah, it's disgusting the amount of trash people leave behind. My particular favorite is wads of 20 lb test... Unfortunately these are likely the same folks that fill buckets with anything they can catch including the fish we have released to fight another day...


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## spfldbassguy (Mar 23, 2009)

hey you see guys on here that keep some very nice ones.i've seen a bunch of people standin' in their driveway or on their front lawn holdin' a big un.those are fish that will never be able to pass on their genetics to future offspring that could turn out to be as big or bigger.i think most people don't realize how long it takes a bass in ohio to reach the status of being called a "big un".release the big uns and keep the smaller "dinks" for dinner.as far as wanting it for a "trophy" they need to get the measurements and have a replica made to hang on their wall.it's all about braggin'/showin' off.


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## Smallmouth Crazy (Apr 4, 2006)

If some of those shad you were catching were on the small side I would try to either catch/sein them and use them as bait, if they are thick in the streams where I fish(they always seem to be come and go) I start throwing a shad patterned crank or a white spinnerbait.


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