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Subject: "under represented forage" Previous topic | Next topic
swimbaitFri Mar-04-05 01:16 PM
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#5873, "under represented forage"


  

          

The other day I was thinking about a question... The question is, what are ALL of the food options for a big bass. Considering lakes around here, I came up with this list, in no particular order. I probably missed something, so point it out if you think of something else.

crawdads
trout
shad
bluegill, green sunfish and redears
crappie (black and white)
common goldfish
carp
suckerfish (various species)
small catfish
small bass (largemouth, spotted, smallmouth)
minnows (various species)
small birds
snakes
salamanders and newts
frogs and tadpoles
mice and rats

What I think is interesting is that some of these forage items have very few lures designed around them.

There are only a handful of real bluegill imitators, and even fewer that are good for anything besides bed fishing. Its hard to make bluegill lures swim and hook and land fish, but there's certainly a lot of potential here.

Crappie are common in many lakes and I have no doubt that bass eat many many crappie from fry size on up to 8 or 9" long and yet there are virtually no crappie imitating lures aside from the castaic crappie which is very small and not very castable/fishable. Certainly there is no realistic crappie lure longer than 5".

The golfish, carp and suckerfish I usually see are not small ones, but every fish had to be 1 to 12" long at some point in its life. Maybe I don't see the small ones because they are getting eaten? Fish like this are probably harder for bass to catch than trout, but you can bet they get eaten with regularity. Some of the swimbaits now come in goldfish, carp and suckerfish patterns but they're all baits that are shaped like trout. These type of fish usually have big pectoral fins, long tails and distinctly shaped heads/mouths. Not much in the lure department here.

Small catfish definitely get eaten by bass. I've heard two first hand accounts of it happening. But the only catfish lure I can think of is a Japanese topwater called a Namazu, which is small and only vaguely catfish like. No one makes a swimbait to look or move like a catfish. I bet it would work.

Baby bass are pretty well represented in the smaller sizes. There are lots of good baby bass pattern crankbaits. But in the 7 to 12" range, there isn't much. The Castaic Baby Bass was one of the few lures designed to look exactly like a bass, and that bait catches fish. Most of the other baits that are available are trout shaped and painted like a bass.

Bird lures are out there, but hard to come by. Some day someone will make a bird lure where the feet really churn around like a bird trying to kick through the water. Its a hard lure to make, but if someone did it right, it'd probably work well in shallow summertime conditions.

I guess my point is, what a huge range of opportunities are out there for lure design! In each of the categories above, I really believe that if someone comes out with a bait that looks real, fishes well, and moves right through the water, the baits will catch fish because fish are already eating all of these things and no one is presenting baits that look the same as what they are eating. Thoughts, comments, opinions?




  

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under represented forage [View all] , swimbait, Fri Mar-04-05 01:16 PM
  RE: under represented forage, Sacto John, Mar 04th 2005, #1
RE: under represented forage, swimbait, Mar 04th 2005, #2
      RE: under represented forage, Tm Customs, Mar 04th 2005, #3
           RE: under represented forage, SJ, Mar 04th 2005, #4
           RE: under represented forage, swimbait, Mar 04th 2005, #5
                RE: under represented forage, woodsac, Mar 04th 2005, #6
                RE: under represented forage, FISH JC, Mar 04th 2005, #7
                     so this is ironic, swimbait, Mar 04th 2005, #8
                Insects, Urban, Mar 06th 2005, #19
                     RE: Insects, Sacto John, Mar 07th 2005, #24
           RE: under represented forage, swimbait, Mar 04th 2005, #9
                RE: under represented forage, bassnet, Mar 04th 2005, #10
                RE: under represented forage, swimbait, Mar 04th 2005, #11
                     RE: under represented forage, Chris, Mar 07th 2005, #21
                RE: under represented forage, BillH, Mar 23rd 2005, #30
RE: under represented forage, Nico, Mar 04th 2005, #12
RE: under represented forage, Mattlures, Mar 04th 2005, #13
RE: under represented forage, bassnet, Mar 04th 2005, #14
RE: under represented forage, socalfrogger, Mar 31st 2005, #34
RE: under represented forage, swimbait, Mar 04th 2005, #15
RE: under represented forage, bassinzink, Mar 05th 2005, #16
      RE: under represented forage, FISH JC, Mar 20th 2005, #29
RE: small birds?, wils, Mar 05th 2005, #17
RE: funny lures, bass to the end, Mar 05th 2005, #18
RE: under represented forage, salmonoid 1, Mar 06th 2005, #20
RE: under represented forage, Chris, Mar 07th 2005, #22
RE: under represented forage, Chris, Mar 07th 2005, #23
RE: under represented forage, Criley, Mar 07th 2005, #25
      RE: under represented forage, Lightninrod, Mar 08th 2005, #26
           RE: under represented forage, nathan, Mar 09th 2005, #27
                RE: under represented forage, Criley, Mar 09th 2005, #28
                     RE: under represented forage, magmaster, Mar 25th 2005, #31
                          RE: under represented forage, Samurai TI, Mar 27th 2005, #32
                               RE: under represented forage, Tim Gago, Mar 30th 2005, #33

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