I need some suggestions guys. I will be fishing from shore and I know there are lots of snags so it is probably inevitable I will lose some baits. But I hope not to!
I'm not looking to catch huge bass, I don't want to throw the big 10" baits. I'm thinking something in the 4 to 6 inch swimbaits.
I know the lake has shad and will be getting trout plants now thru the winter months. I look at tackle warehouse and there are so many options. I have looked at the reviews here too, great resource too.
I guess I'm asking for a little direction on what to buy.
Preferably something that floats and weedless in a trout pattern and something that doesn't cost that much.....haha
I'm ready to buy, just not sure what to get yet.

Thanks guys

I suggest a 7-9" Slammer or 3:15 Wake Bait Jr. These are both surface baits that work very well. They are not weedless but you can run them over the top of shallower grass.

>I suggest a 7-9" Slammer or 3:15 Wake Bait Jr. These are both
>surface baits that work very well. They are not weedless but
>you can run them over the top of shallower grass.

ide feel better if i was on a boat throwing those... or maybe when i get a little more experience throwing the bigger baits...thanks

There is no way to gain experience throwing big baits without just going out and throwing the big baits. Fishing scared will limit your effectiveness in catching big fish. Both the Wake Jr. and Slammer are proven fish catchers and they both float, making it less likely that you will loose the bait on anything but a fish.

try matt lues there a good place to start they built my confidence in swimbaits

Basstrix is a great lure to get bites without getting snagged up. If you can't get the original, take a look at the Poor Boys Silly Rabbit. 3 baits and 2 hooks for $7.50 is nice.

Your smaller wake baits like 7" Slammer and Wake Jr. are good from shore because the square bill works around cover. With practice, you can pull a slammer up and over branches, through tullies, etc. It's not weedless, but it's weed resistant with the right movement of rod and reel.

I would avoid lipless baits from shore, they tend to stick to things like tree branches. This would be like triple trout, platinum, etc. I'm always hesitant to throw those guys from shore if there is any cover around.

The Baitsmith 6" and Wag tail soft series 6" are both slow sinking lures that imitate trout and can easily be fished 1-3 feet under the surface. I'd sure take a look at those guys. Both have great action, I just tested the Wag Tail bait last weekend and it looks good. The 6" hudd is supposed to come out this weekend as well at the Bass-a-Thon and I'm sure it will be awesome.

There are definitely a ton of options these days in swimbaits. I have a half dozen new baits at the house waiting to be photographed for the site. Good for us fishermen, bad for those bass :)

Can't believe no one has mentioned the mission fish. Its not the best trout imitation but it a great bait to fish from shore in and around cover.

Also if you want a smaller lure you can use a Baby Wake (3:16) It is 6" bait and also a surface bait.

Don.

i knew i would get some help! thanks guys

i will get a slammer, now what color dark or light rainbow i will mostly use this at casitas? TW is out of the dark right now.
And i will get some poorboys too!
the wake jr is a little steep, but....maybe, we'll see.

i will also order a mattlures 6" trout here much good things about this bait.
thanks

i use the slammer at night usually dark trout also see my gallery i have cought tons of nice fish on matts 6" trout

im assuming the slammer does not come with hooks. what hooks should i order?
also, should i use some type of scent...gel, lotion?
i think matt mentioned some type of scent on his site.
oh yeah, what type of glue should i have handy?
anything else i need just to get started??

what type of rods will i need to throw the these baits?

i have some that i think will work, ill get model numbers when i get home.

as for the reels i have a 300, 200 curados and 50, 100 400te's and 2 dc's i think im okay there.

anything else??
thanks!

Rob, i would like to know what hooks for the baitsmith and wag tail soft series?
thank you!

The Slammer comes with hooks. If you want to replace them (which I would recommend) use a 2/0 hook on the 9" lure or a 1/0 hook on the 7" lure. Gamakatsu bronze round bend trebles or Owner Stingers.

For the wagtail soft series and baitsmith, I would get a pack of #2 Owner stingers. Depending on the situation you may not need stingers on those baits, but if you want to add them, that hook is the right size.

thanks...
how about split rings and swivels?
what sizes will i need for the above baits?
thanks again!

I think Rob answered your hook sizing question...

"The Slammer comes with hooks. If you want to replace them (which I would recommend) use a 2/0 hook on the 9" lure or a 1/0 hook on the 7" lure. Gamakatsu bronze round bend trebles or Owner Stingers.

For the wagtail soft series and baitsmith, I would get a pack of #2 Owner stingers. Depending on the situation you may not need stingers on those baits, but if you want to add them, that hook is the right size."

one of my new slammers came with a RECTANGLE split ring, has anybody seen this? is it a new concept?
thanks
Tim E

I'd probably grab a pack of #5 Owner Hyperwires for the Wag Tail Soft Series and the Baitsmith. For the Slammer, a pack of #7 or even #8 would be good. Some Slammers have larger screw eyes on the belly than others, and it can be hard to get a smaller ring over the eye without damaging it.

Re: rectangular split rings on the Slammer, I will ask MS next time I talk to him what's the deal on that, or maybe he will just post and explain :) I am sure there's a good reason for it. Lucky Craft has been doing those type of rings for quite a while, and I do like them on my rattle traps and such.

I ordered the # 7 split rings they were out of the 6.
Ill check the local tackle shops for the other sizes.
I ended up ordering a....

Slammer
Mattlures trout
Mattlures ultimate red ear
Baitsmith
Abt wag tail soft series
Poor boys silly rabbit rainbow trout
A couple packs of stingers
Hyper wires
Soft bait glue

And for ordering over 150 I got a TW hoody for 10 bucks.....so if I'm not catching anything at least ill look good....standing on shore.... : )

You may want to pick up some Mend-It

The whole advantage to a rectangle split ring is so if your tiying to it your like cant slip and end up in the grove where the wire joints if there used to attach hooks mabey its just to keep the hooks hanging abit lower. But the reason LC started making them was the line tie problem