Kevin VanDam has built his pro bass fishing career on effectively using spinnerbaits. One of the most versatile bass baits of all time, spinnerbaits can be fished deep, shallow, and everywhere in between. But there’s more to it than just casting and retrieving.

I got a chance to fish with KVD on a lake in Upstate New York a few summers ago, and he spilled some of his spinnerbait fishing secrets.

1. Use the Right Blade and Head

Choosing the right head weight and blade size and shape is critical. A simple rule of thumb: use a lighter spinnerbait with smaller blades in shallow water and a larger bait in deep water.

2. Match Your Retrieve to Water Clarity

On bright days in clear water, run your spinnerbait fast. This is to not give bass as long to inspect your bait in crystal clear conditions. Rip the spinner bait quickly for reaction strikes. That’s not an issue on overcast days or in turbid water, so slow down your retrieve in darker conditions.

3. Bump the Bait

Run your spinnerbait into cover like docks, vegetation, or logs. The erratic motion will trigger more strikes. If you’re fishing open water, give the bait sporadic jerks to create the same effect.

Plus: How to Pick the Best Spinnerbait for Catching Big Bass

There are a ton of different types of spinnerbaits to choose from, so let’s start with some basic definitions. When you’re talking to bass guys, a spinnerbait means a “safety pin”-style bait, where the blades are attached to an angled wire arm and run above the body of the bait. The other option is an inline spinnerbait, which is aptly named: the spinner runs in line with the body. In-line spinners come in a wide variety of sizes and designs, and are more commonly used for pike, muskies, or trout. But there are times when they work for largemouth bass, too. Here’s a look at a few different styles and their features.

1. KVD Finesse Spinnerbait

Strike King

Check Price

This is a great example of a perfect all-around spinnerbait. It’s got one willow blade, a smaller Colorado blade, and a slightly smaller skirt that comes in a variety of natural colors. This 3/8oz spinnerbait can be fished over weeds, arounds stumps, along docks, and pretty much anywhere else bass hang out. Kevin VanDam, the king of spinnerbait fishing, helped design it, and if it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for me, too.

2. Strike King Bottom Dweller

Strike King

Check Price

With two thinner willow blades and extra weight added to the hook shank, this bait is designed to run in deeper water and track better when it hits the bottom. This bait would be ideal for fishing deep weed beds or reefs in the heart of summer when big bass are generally deep water. It’s available in 3/4, 1, and 1-3/8 oz models.

3. Booyah Moon Talker

Booyah

Check Price

This bait has one big (#5 or #6) Colorado blade that allows you to keep the bait near the surface, displace a lot of water, and create plenty of vibration. As its name suggests, this spinnerbait is designed for nighttime fishing—specifically for rolling the bait just below the surface to get big bass to strike under moonlight. It comes in a variety of dark color patterns.

4. Booyah Super Shad

Booyah

Check Price

The four willow blades on this spinnerbait are designed to mimic a school of fleeing baitfish. You want to tie this on if you’re seeing bass chasing schools of shad in open water and crashing around you on the surface.

5. Mepps Comet Combo

Mepps

Check Price

You probably won’t see this bait in Ranger boats on a pro tournament trail anytime soon, but you will see this staple in-line spinnerbait in plenty of Lund boats run by Northwoods bass anglers all summer long. The hook sinks into the Mister Twister tail to make it weedless, making it a great option to pull through heavy cover and pitch around logs and downfalls. The #4 blade creates plenty of vibration to bring in big bass. My favorite color combo is the silver blade with the white tail.

6. Panther Martin Weed Runner

Panther Martin

Check Price

The Panther Martin name is well known by trout anglers, but the WeedRunner inline spinner was designed for bass and pike in heavy cover. Just like their traditional spinners are perfect for working trout rivers, The WeedRunner is a great choice for targeting river bass in slow-moving currents around heavy cover. Of course, you can throw it in lakes, too.

7. Johnson Original Beetle Spin

Johnson

Check Price

The smallest and least glamorous (and the cheapest) spinnerbait in our roundup is the old-school beetle spin. This is a known crappie killer, but the 1/4 oz. version (with a 2-inch body) is also a sleeper finesse bait for largemouth bass. This is a great bait for newbies and kids because if they cast into a snag, and break off, you can tie on another and only lose a few bucks.

More from KVD

How to Fish for Bass Like a Pro: Determine Fishing Conditions

How to Fish for Bass Like a Pro: Power Fish a Crankbait

How to Fish for Bass Like a Pro: Find Bass in Weeds

How to Fish for Bass Like a Pro: Choose the Right Hooks

The post How to Fish for Bass Like a Pro: Spinnerbait Tips from Kevin VanDam appeared first on Outdoor Life.

The hot and humid months of summer always seem to transform bass fishing lakes into a downright mess—­impoundments chock-full of supersize cabin cruisers, runabouts, and jet-skis. Once the sun goes down, though, not too many are night fishing. The crowds generally clear out and bass that were previously inactive begin to feed heavily again.

A few modifications to your tackle and gear are all it takes to get things cranking from dusk till dawn. When the sun goes down, flip on the lights and get in on summer’s best bass fishing.

Add a Black Light to Your Boat

One of the first steps in creating a high-impact night fishing arsenal is to spool up with clear/blue fluorescent monofilament line. This type of line is inexpensive and lights up like a glowing blue laser on the surface when you use it with a black light—which is my secret weapon. Currently, there are a variety of black lights to choose from. One of the most innovative and convenient models is the new Nightfishion Plus (nightfishion.net).

This complete customizable black-light system fits directly onto your boat’s rub rail. During the day, it’s virtually undetectable, but with a flip of a switch at night, nearly 360 degrees of lighting illuminates every possible casting angle. Plus, it has a dimmer switch that allows you to adjust the intensity based on the moonlight and fishing conditions.

Tip: Avoid muddy lakes when night-fishing. Clear water with a visibility of 2 to 4 feet is ideal for night fishing for bass.

Tie on Bold, Loud Lures

When daytime temperatures heat up, bass generally suspend deep off of breaks in points, ledges, and submerged islands or humps. As temperatures drop at night, they move up into the shallows to feed. I like to greet them with loud and bold lures.

A large single Colorado-blade spinnerbait rigged with a rubber imitation craw or chunk trailer puts off a great deal of fish-enticing vibration and can be fished at a variety of depths. Another deadly nighttime lure is a standard jig tipped with a chunk trailer that directly mimics the natural actions of shad and even crayfish. Crawling the jig and popping it across the bottom imitates crayfish coming out from beneath their rocky hides to feed at night. If bass are aggressively feeding on shad, switch to a swimming jig.

Under the right conditions, nothing turns on the bite, or builds more excitement, better than surface lures such as prop-baits, Jitterbugs, and buzzbaits. A big bass smashing a topwater on a dead-calm summer night is what fishing dreams are made of.

Match Lure Color to the Moonlight

Moon and cloud cover should guide your lure color selection. On pitch-black nights with little to no moonlight, go with solid black, brown, or blue. Under a bright moon or on a clear, starlit night, switch over to loud color combinations, such as green/orange or even red/chartreuse. On partially cloudy nights, go with red/black, blue/black, or green/black.

Expert Night Fishing Tips from Top Bass Guides

Night fishing for bass is electric. First there’s the static “zing” of the line as you cast, followed by the silence that leaves you tensed, listening for the “kerplunk.” Next your fingers begin to turn the reel crank and you feel the bait moving, pulsing through the water. It’s then that the unforgettable tingle–the anticipation of a hitÐis carried to your fingertips. You’re charged for the strike.

Summer night fishing for big bass has long had a cult following in the South, where daytime temperatures routinely edge into three digits, rain-forest-like humidity drains even the most determined anglers and jet skis run rampant. But the South is not the only place where nighttime bass fishing is productive. When the weather heats up, big bass everywhere await the cover of darkness to feed.

Scoring the big bite on bass after dark, however, demands a fresh angling perspective. Catching largemouths or smallmouths on a third-shift schedule requires an intimacy with the fish’s nocturnal haunts and habits, some specific gear items and an ability to read subtle changes in bottom composition and bank slope through your rod. Here are the strategies of three hard-core bass fishermen who prefer to fish by moonlight.

Nashville guide Jack Christian

Christian has introduced hundreds of clients to the mysterious world of nighttime bass fishing in his 25-year career. His preferred after-dark structure for both largemouths and smallmouths is the offshore hump. Christian likes humps because they’re harder to locate than points, which means they’re not as apt to be hammered by other anglers, and because they pull in big bass from a wide area.

“Picture a hump as an underwater oasis,” Christian says. “The best summer humps top out at around ten feet; I avoid the very shallow ones because they tend to attract smaller fish.”

In hot weather, schools of threadfin shad spend their days gathered around main-lake channel structure that may be in water 40 or 50 feet deep, Christian says. To intercept the baitfish, bass suspend off long points in this deep water, conserving energy while waiting for forage to happen by. But at night, a different scenario unfolds. Many of these bass slide up onto nearby humps to hunt for crayfish, which emerge in the dark to feed.

Fishing a hump at night requires stealth. Christian approaches the structure with his trolling motor or drifts within casting range if there’s sufficient wind. He makes a long cast with a bottom-bumping crawdad imitator (like a jig with a pork-frog trailer) to the top of the hump. At night he uses the reel handle more than the rod to move the lure, so that the jig maintains contact with the bottom as much as possible. This simulates a crawling crayfish best.

Christian uses bait colors that have just enough contrast to allow bass to distinguish the crayfish lure from the bottom. His favorite color choices are a black jig with a brown pork frog and a purple jig with a red frog. He does not use brightly colored lures at night.

Christian rigs his boat with black lights, which illuminate fluorescent line above the water, helping him to detect subtle bites. “If you feel the bass pull, it’s too late, he says. “The instant a fish detects pressure, it spits out the lure. Black lights let you see the line move before you feel the fish, and before the fish feels you.”

Charlie Ingram of Columbia, Tenn.

Ingram is one of the top money-winners on the professional bass circuit. But in hot weather, you can usually find him on Pickwick Lake at night, fishing for smallmouths. He’s caught some whoppers from this riverine impoundment, including a handful exceeding eight pounds. Charlie’s secret: fishing spinnerbaits across shallow structures that are swept by a current.

At night, Ingram targets gravel bars that are peppered with stumps near the old Tennessee River channel. “These bars slope down to about 10 feet and then drop off quickly,” he says. “When they pull water (through the generator turbines) at the dam, the current draws plankton into slack- water pockets on the bars and shad move in to feed on the plankton. Sometimes the bars are jammed wall-to-wall with bait until a wolf pack of big smallmouths shows up, that is.”

Ingram’s favorite night lure is a quarter-ounce spinnerbait with a single No. 3 blade and a red and purple skirt, dressed with a red pork frog. He makes a short cast onto the bar, lets the lure settle to the bottom, lifts the rod tip six inches, lowers it, reels up the slack and then lifts it again.

“Sooner or later, a big smallmouth will nail it. They travel in schools at night and can be incredibly aggressive. I’ve had ’em rip the rod right out of my hands,” says Ingram.

When the current shuts off, however, Ingram’s shallow technique evaporates as the bronzebacks slip back into the sanctuary of the deep river channel.

Fred McClintock of Celina, Tenn

McClintock fishes Dale Hollow Lake, a 29,000-acre highland reservoir known for big smallmouths, after sunset. Its scenic shorelines and exceptionally deep, clear water make the lake a top choice for summer vacationers, who churn it to a froth in houseboats. After sunset, though, Dale Hollow is a night-fisherman’s paradise, with more points, humps and drop-offs than you could hope to fish in a lifetime.

Because of Dale Hollow’s extreme clarity, light penetration allows lush weed beds to grow as deep as 35 feet. With the lake warming into the mid-90s by August, the biggest bass seek the coolness of deep water and refuse to move shallow, even at night. Instead, they stick to the deep edge of the weeds, where they find plenty of baitfish and crayfish.

McClintock targets weed beds that are situated near a sharp descent into the lake’s cavernous river channel. A weedy ledge that cascades down from 30 to 80 feet deep is best. Fast-dropping main-lake points with grass on them are also good spots to fishÐlong, slow-tapering points typically attract smaller bass.

“Changing lures in the dark can be painful, so I pre-rig several rods with a selection of jigs and spinnerbaits,”

McClintock says. “I’ve caught a lot of wall-hanger bass on spider jigs at night; these have long plastic legs that mimic the pinchers of a crayfish, and a soft collar around a weighted head that wiggles and feels alive when a bass chomps down on it. Heavy spinnerbaits, up to an ounce, are also good. There aren’t many other lures you can count on at night in the 30-foot zone.”

McClintock finds that, at night, smallmouth bass suspend on the tops and outer edges of weed beds, while largemouths are more likely to be buried in the vegetation. He starts by combing the grass with a spinnerbait that has a big No. 7 blade, reeling it slowly and steadily across the cover.

“Some nights, they just won’t hit a spinnerbait. When that happens, I’ll switch to the spider jig and crawl, bump and shake it through the vegetation,” says McClintock. “You need a stiff graphite rod to feel a light bite in super-deep water. I like a seven-foot bait-caster, because it moves a lot of line when I set the hook and enables me to power a big fish out of deep grass. But you’re not gonna land ’em all. I’ve had bass on at night that have literally towed the boat around before they busted off. But then, I guess that’s what keeps me coming back.”

The post Expert Night Fishing Tips for Catching Bigger Bass appeared first on Outdoor Life.

muddy water bass

Spring rains, snow melt, a good summer tropical system—nature uses several methods of filling lakes and rivers, but such inflows always bring some level of mud.

Whether it’s a river system where the main artery scours the landscape and sends loads of sediment though its reservoir, or simply those hillside drains that funnel muddy water into the backs of pockets.

How Water Clarity Impacts Fishing

Muddy water decreases visibility and makes it harder for bass to spot baits. Decreased visibility also diminishes the likelihood of sight fishing.

Look for Ambush Points

When visibility decreases fish typically move shallow, as this enables them to feed more efficiently in smaller spaces. Think: Cornerback using the sideline to force a fleet-footed receiver out of bounds.

Notwithstanding muddy water’s concealing benefits, clarity is always a good thing. Vegetation filters the water, so look for areas thick with grass, reeds, etc. to clear up the quickest.

How to Choose the Right Lure for Poor Water Clarity

As rivers, streams, and creeks across the country begin to flood, we’re reminded that spring rains bring muddy water, which decreases visibility and makes bass fishing even more challenging. Turbid inflows prove particularly disruptive in lakes where fish are spawning, as the dirty–and typically colder–water will push fish off their beds.

Past the bedding season, murky water in any scenario demands attention and adjustment from anglers hoping to fool bass with artificials. It’s all about increasing the fish’s ability to detect your bait.

Switch to Bigger Lures

Large-profile baits provide a significant visual cue while displacing more water than smaller baits, allowing fish to “feel” something coming through the murk. Upsize your jig trailers, go with a larger worm on your Texas rig, or tie on a full-size topwater plug.

Reach for Louder Baits

Baits with internal rattles–be they crankbaits, jigs, topwaters, or frogs–give fish an audible beacon to follow. Bumping stumps or rocks with squarebills or crashing Texas-rigged baits into cover also keys strikes.

Choose Baits with Vibration

Lipless crankbaits earn their keep each spring, as their shuddering motion creates the bait-mimicking tremors to which bass respond. Likewise, Colorado blades produce the “thump” that draws fish to your spinnerbait.

Brighten Up Your Lure Color Choices

Dipping baits in chartreuse or orange dye enhances contrast, but when the water’s dirty don’t hesitate to get creative with colors. For example, Texas angler Dustin Grice modifies his spinnerbaits by adding chartreuse and white willow-leaf blades with a matching chartreuse/white skirt. That’s nothing new for brown bass, but Grice says the strategy also attracts the green ones.

“Most people think colored blades are just for smallmouths,” Grice says. “Smallmouths love them, but they also work for largemouth when the water’s dirty. I’ll throw (colored blades) to docks, points, and anywhere I find off-color water.”

Best Baits to Catch Muddy Water Bass

Simply put, you want to use baits that’ll garner attention with flash and/or vibration. Productive options include:

1. Spinnerbait

Big, flashy profile moves a lot of water. Make sure at least one of the blades is a thumping Colorado.

2. Crankbaits

Shallow divers, particularly squarebills shimmy through the murky water. Be sure to deflect off any cover you encounter.

3. Bladed Swim Jigs

Big on the visuals and vibes, this one’s especially productive with a large swimming tail like a Yamamoto Heart Tail Worm or a Gamble Big EZ.

4. Jigs

Once you locate a promising area (logs, laydown, etc.) with the “moving” baits, pick it apart with a dark colored flipping jig. Jigs with rattles are most productive and a big, active trailer is the way to go in muddy water.

5. Texas Rigs

Big worms, wide-bodied creature baits—anything with substantial mass and water-moving appendages will suffice. Similar to jig rattles, accenting these rigs with a bead between the hook and weight produces fish-calling clicking sounds.

The post Catch Big Bass in Muddy Water With the Right Lure appeared first on Outdoor Life.

When it comes to the ultimate setup for spring and summer panfish, it’s hard to beat a nightcrawler, hook, split shot, and bobber. But, there are some serious advantages to fishing for bluegills, crappies, and perch with artificial baits. You can cover more water quickly, and also avoid the little fish that are so good at robbing live bait rigs.

So with the warm panfishing months of summer on the way, we rounded up the 15 the best panfish lures of all time.

Rebel

Check Price

Crickets and grasshoppers are the staples of the panfish diet mimicked well by this mini crankbait. Twitch or wake it on top or run it to depths of 3 feet. With its realistic profile and body details, the CrickHopper is a particularly good choice after rains or any windy weather that washes and blows insects into the water.

Berkley

Check Price

Soft and durable, these 100% biodegradable baits are loaded with Berkley’s powerful, patented scent formula, which attracts distant fish and expands your strike zone. Fished on light jig head or a small hook under a float, Gulp! Fish Fry offer an effective and convenient option to live bait – even through the ice.

Johnson

Check Price

A true classic, the flash and thump of a single Colorado blade calls attention to the bite-size plastic beetle. Fish the Beetle Spin on a light spinning outfit with 4- to 6-pound line and cast around grass lines, lily pads, docks and shady pockets beneath overhanging trees. When panfish hold deep, vertically jig the bait around brush piles and other structure.

Rapala

Check Price

Weighted for long casts, this slow sinker sports a unique swimming lip designed to create an enticing wobbling and rolling action. External scales and 3-D holographic eyes complete the visual appeal.

Rebel

Check Price

A meaty amphibian makes a fine meal for any fish and at just 2 inches (1 ½ for the Teeny size), the Wee Frog makes a perfect panfish mouthful. Fish this floating crankbait on top to mimic a wandering frog or work it with sweeping rod motion for a fleeing action.

Bass Pro

Check Price

A truly unique profile, the Road Runner‘s downturned head sports a spinner blade that provides plenty of thump and flash to attract attention. Swim the bait with a variety of retrieves, hop it across the bottom or vertically jig it – in any presentation, the pulsing marabou tail is a deal closer.

YUM

Check Price

If one minnow is good, then two is better and three is great. Create the image of a bait pod by running a trio of 1/8-ounce lead heads with 2-inch Yum Money Fry from this scaled-down version of the popular Yumbrella rig. Stainless steel arms are heat-tempered for strength and memory in a rig that’s castable even on light tackle.

Booyah

Check Price

At 1/8-ounce, this diminutive spinnerbait is fair game for most panfish. The true-running “R” bend wire delivers serious vibration, while a lone Colorado blade handles the flash and water displacement. A 40-strand Bio-Flex silicone skirt and detailed head with realistic 3-D eye make the Micro Pond Magic an enticing target.

Mr. Crappie

Check Price

Mounting a 1/16- and a 1/8-ounce Slab Daddy on twin arms, this rig rings the panfish dinner bell with a finesse presentation that’s perfect for dock shooting, vertical jigging, slow trolling, long-lining, and casting. Each hand-tied minnow shaped Slab Daddy has a chenille midsection that holds scent attractants.

Bass Pro

Check Price

The tri-split tail design increases this grubs fluttering action and churns up more water for maximum attraction. Fished on a 1/32- 1/16-ounce jig head or a split shot rig, the Triple Ripple Grub gives panfish an active target worthy of a bite.

Bass Pro

Check Price

Listen closely to a lily pad field or grass line and you’ll hear the slurp and smack of bluegills and other panfish grabbing insects off the surface. Stripping these poppers across the water imitates the sound and action of a downed insect – an easy target for a hungry panfish. An 8-foot 5-weight fly rod will handle any panfish you hook, along with any bass that crash the party.

Betts

Check Price

The old foam spider is a panfish killer and the Betts Bream Getter commands attention with its durable, buoyant body and latex rubber legs that wiggle with an enticing action. Leg spacing and tension ensure a realistic topwater presentation that opportunistic panfish can’t resist.

Strike King

Check Price

Dragonflies and Mayflies don’t last long when they touch the water’s surface and Strike King‘s soft-body imposters give panfish-tempting targets. Rigged on small light wire hooks and fished on ultralight outfits, these insect imitators are deadly around grass lines, lily pads, docks or anywhere panfish congregate.

Mister Twister

Check Price

A 2-inch grub with stimulating tail action gains visual appeal from a combination of three distinct color laminations, which produce natural baitfish contrast. Fished on a light jighead, the Tri-Alive Hot Curly Tail Grub‘s appearance and action will garner plenty of panfish attention.

Northland Fishing Tackle

Check Price

Northland’s lifelike holographic Baitfish-Image body sports a tantalizing teaser tail that wiggles and displaces water for maximum attraction. Made to shimmer like real fish scales, the body contains Northland’s salted and spiced Sow-Sauce attractant. Hopped or swam on a light tube jig, this little bait looks a lot like the real thing.

Five Simple Panfish Recipes for Your Summer Fish Fry

The best way to end a day fishing for panfish in the summer heat is a fish fry with your family and friends. We couldn’t help including these simple recipes for panfish, from simple pan-fried fillets, to broiled and beyond. Don’t forget to pair them with a cold drink and some tunes.

1. Pan-Fried Crappie

Ingredients

• 2 lb. crappie
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup flour
• 3 eggs, beaten
• Salt, pepper
• Peanut oil

Directions Mix cornmeal and flour in a large zip-seal plastic bag. Salt and pepper each fillet, dip in egg, then shake in bag until coated with meal/flour mixture. Drop fillets in hot oil poured 1 to 2-inches deep in a cast-iron skillet. Cook fillets for one to two minutes each or until they flake with a fork.

2. Broiled Bass with Hot Melted Butter

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb. white or yellow bass fillets
• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp. prepared mustard
• 2 tb. chili sauce
• 2 drops Tabasco sauce
• 4 tsp. lemon juice
• 2 tb. chopped parsley

Directions
Melt butter and stir in the last six ingredients. Pour enough of the butter mix into the bottom of a large glass baking dish and swirl around to coat the dish. Place the fish fillets in a single layer in the dish, then pour the remaining butter mix overtop. Broil, 4 to 6 inches beneath the heat source, for 10 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

3. Bullhead Po’ Boys

Ingredients

• 6 fried bullhead fillets
• 1 cup ketchup
• 3 dashes hot sauce
• 1 tb. minced onion
• 1 tb. prepared mustard
• 6 large crusty rolls
• Dill pickles

Directions
Cut rolls in half, lengthwise, scoop out centers and discard. Place rolls in oven until hot but not crispy. Combine ketchup, hot sauce, mustard, and onion. Spread hot rolls with this mixture, then top with fish, pickles, and the top half of the roll.

4. Panfish with Herbs

Ingredients

• 1 lb. panfish fillets
• 1 lemon
• 1 tsp. each chopped parsley, chives, and rosemary
• 1 tb. Butter

Directions:
Melt the butter and pour into a shallow baking dish. Arrange the fish fillets in the dish. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze about one tablespoon of lemon juice over the fillets. Sprinkle with the herbs. Slice the remaining lemon half into thin slices, and arrange the slices on top of the fish. Bake in a preheated 450-degree oven for 12 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

5. Perch Cakes

Ingredients

• 1 lb. fillets, cooked, flaked
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 onion, minced
• 1 tb. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. parsley flakes
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup cornflake crumbs
• 2 tb. mustard
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Vegetable oil

Directions
Mix egg, onion, mustard, lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl; toss with flaked fish. Add enough cornflake crumbs to shape 4 to 6 fish cakes. Roll each cake in extra crumbs to coat the outside. Heat the oil in a skillet, and fry cakes until crisp and brown.

The post Best Baits: 15 Hottest Lures for Panfish appeared first on Outdoor Life.

When the stars align and the feeding window is open, a big muskie or pike will hit anything that moves. Your bait selection doesn’t matter and all you have to do is be in the right place at the right time. If you’re lucky, you’ll experience this feeding-frenzy action once or twice a season. The rest of your time hunting trophy pike and muskies will be spent cranking, casting, and waiting. The right presentation will make the difference between a bite and a follow-up. So, don’t waste all of your efforts pitching second-rate lures. Here’s our round up of the best muskie and pike fishing baits on the market right now.

Heddon

Check Price

Booyah

Check Price

YUM

Check Price

Eppinger

Check Price

Blue Fox

Check Price

Mepps

Check Price

Suick

Check Price

Tackle Industries

Check Price

Mepps

Check Price

Mepps

Check Price

Musky Shop

Check Price

Northland Fishing Tackle

Check Price

Suick

Check Price

14. Bass Pro Shops Thump N Deal Swimbait

LiveTarget

Check Price

The post Lures For Pike and Muskie Fishing appeared first on Outdoor Life.

Any knucklehead can cast a small spinner into an Opening Day pool of freshly-stocked trout and catch a few fish. But if you want to catch trout more consistently — and not to mention some trophy fish—then it’s time you got serious with your bait selection.

Check out our round up of the 20 best trout lures of all time.

Rebel

Check Price

Designed to imitate a crawfish scooting across the bottom, this 2-inch-long crankbait reaches 5-7 feet. Formed with a tucked-under tail by the bill and bulging claws facing the aft treble, the Wee Craw (and its Teeny version) give the appearance of a fleeing crustacean.

Berkley

Check Price

When the fish need a finesse presentation, Berkley’s buoyant worm does the trick. Packed with the all-natural Gulp! scent attractant, the Trout Worm suspends off the bottom when fitted with a light wire hook. A good choice for float rigs, three-way rigs, or scaled-down dropshots.

Lindy

Check Price

Trout like this grub’s soft-plastic body with its slick, life-like appearance and tantalizing marabou tail enhances the display. This, along with a two-color painted eye on the jig head prompts aggressive strikes and entices the fish to eat the whole bait, then hold on longer for greater hook sets.

Smithwick

Check Price

A good choice for larger trout, the Rogue offers lots of flash and erratic action, along with the ability to sit motionless—a common strike-triggering tactic. The bait’s nearly neutral buoyancy enables it to hold its position when paused and then dart away with the next twitch. Equipped with internal noisemakers, this Rogue is a good choice for cold or clear water.

Rebel

Check Price

The sinking version of the original Rebel Minnow, the Tracdown enables you to reach trout holding lower in the water column. Made for moving water, the bait’s straight tracking facilitates targeted presentations.

Strike King

Check Price

At 1 ¼ inches and 1/8 ounce, this little crank offers a bite-size morsel for feeding trout. Fished on light line, the enticing action and reflective eye makes this little crankbait appealing to fish, while ease of use makes it a good choice for kids and beginners.

Luhr-Jensen

Check Price

With a narrow profile and compact design, the Hus Lure casts like a bullet and cuts through surface current to reach big-fish depths. An erratic minnow-like action produces strikes with minimal angler-imparted action. Swift currents will “work” the Hus Lure for you, but in lighter flows, slight rod twitches snap the bait forward so it can flutter back into the current.

Rapala

Check Price

A consistent sink rate of one foot per second allows for precise targeting of specific depths whether the fish are suspended, at the weed tops or holding on bottom structure. Trolled or cast, this weighted balsa lure swims with a slow-rolling Rapala action. Sized well for stream trout, the inch-long, 1/16-ounce CD01 runs 1-3 feet and sports a single No. 12 treble.

Bass Pro

Check Price

With a 60° shallow depth blade, this detailed spinner runs from the surface to two feet, so it’s a good choice for shallow scenarios. The die cast and chrome plated body has a laser holographic painted finish and emits sonic vibration when the interior section strikes the outer bell. The treble hook is dressed with calf tail and tinsel for visual appeal and enhanced profile.

Mepps

Check Price

The soft plastic minnow’s erratic swimming motion and hand-painted finish imitate an injured baitfish, while the flash and vibration of a Mepps spinner call attention to the presentation.

Mepps

Check Price

Genuine silver plating and a reverse curve design yields intense flashing from this sturdy little spoon. Balanced for consistent side-to-side wobbling over a range of retrieval speeds, the spoon maintains its action when paused for an active fall. Ideal for 2- to 4-pound line and ultralight spinning tackle, the Little Wolf casts easily so it’s a great way to introduce kids and novices to the sport.

Bass Pro

Check Price

Sized and shaped to resemble a juvenile crawfish, the Mr. Twister Micro presents an irresistible meal for trout foraging over stream rocks. Rig this soft bait on a 1/64-ounce jighead and slowly scoot it over the bottom like a real crustacean.

13. Mr. Twister Twister Mite

Crafted to resemble a hellgrammite, this soft plastic bait performs well on a light Mister Twister jig head, a drop shot or a Carolina rig. Work the Twister Mite in an around structure to temp hungry trout.

BioBait

Check Price

Rigged with a light jig head inserted into the body (line tie pushed through), a tube does a good job of mimicking a fleeing crawfish or baitfish feeding along the bottom. Match bait length—1.5-, 2.75-, or 3.5-inch—to fish size and vary colors from standard solids to the ultra realistic finishes of BioBait’s DNA series.

Berkley

Check Price

Presenting a look similar to the real deal, the artificial option saves a lot of muss and fuss. Powerbait egg clusters are authentically soft and boast greater durability for a longer usable life. Available in fluorescent orange or shrimp colors, Berkley’s proprietary PowerBait formula enhances the clusters with natural scent and flavor for a more convincing ruse.

Z-Man Fishing Products

Check Price

Flash and vibration; the two things that immediately attract attention aren’t just for the bass world. The compact profile and holographic soft plastic minnow body help fish home in on this proven design. Made in 1/16-, 1/8- and 3/16-ounce sizes, this is a good search bait.

Strike King

Check Price

A good alternative to in-line spinners when you want a more significant profile and thump for low visibility scenarios, this compact spinnerbait features a narrow head that punches through swift current and allows the bait to track true. Available in 1/4-, 3/8- and 1/2-ounce sizes, the Rocket Shad sports a Colorado blade that spins freely on a ball bearing swivel for maximum display.

Rapala

Check Price

Whether it’s cast to trout in moving water, or trolled behind downriggers or planer boards for lakers, this articulated or “broken-back” bait can be fished high or low in the water column. The exaggerated action mimics the movement of a distressed baitfish, while the balsa construction gives it maximum buoyancy. Fish it fast for the ones that are fired up, or retrieve it slow for the post-frontal glum.

Panther Martin

Check Price

Highly effective for casting or trolling, this venerable trout taker comes in 1/32- to 1/2-ounce sizes for a variety of casting and trolling applications. The convex/concave blade creates serious sonic vibrations, while the shaft through blade design facilitates smooth spinning action. For added visual appeal, the Teardrop Spinner is available with a red hook and dressed treble options. Also available in single-hook models to comply with regulations or facilitate catch and release.

Berkley

Check Price

One of the most user-friendly, yet endearingly productive, artificial baits, Trout Nuggets are fortified with flavor bits that keep fish holding on long enough for a hook set. Available in chartreuse, cheese, orange pulp and rainbow colors, the pre-formed floating nuggets keep your bait in the strike zone, whether free-lined or fished beneath a bobber.

The post Top Trout Lures: Best Trout Fishing Baits of All Time appeared first on Outdoor Life.

At this time of year, finding walleyes is usually the hardest part of catching them. But if you tailor your search methods to the water color and temperature, you’ll be on the biggest fish of the season in no time.

Spring can be the most rewarding time of year to fish for walleyes, but it’s also the most challenging. On the Great Lakes and across the Upper Midwest, for example, the two biggest problems are stained water from monstrous winds and icy water temperatures–a result of melting snow pouring into lakes from feeder rivers and streams.

Dirty water, typically a few degrees warmer than clean or off-color water, provides baitfish with warmth and visual cover from predatory fish. However, years of guiding experience has taught me that it is very difficult to catch any fish in what often amounts to a muddy mess. Inversely, the gin-clear water that takes on an almost Caribbean blue hue is nearly void of life, due in part to its cooler temperature.

Between the two is chalky water, which is off-color enough to hold a decent population of baitfish yet provides enough visibility to allow walleyes to feed. It’s the key to catching big fish in the springtime.

Chalky water can be hard to find since it doesn’t usually cover a large area, but it’s not as difficult as it used to be. Instead of driving around aimlessly in search of optimal water color, you can use new marine electronics to find critical clues such as temperature breaks. You can also use satellite images available on the internet to narrow down the hunt for the best places to fish (coast watch.glerl.noaa.gov/modis). The satellite images are especially useful given the speed with which water clarity changes–not only day to day, but hour to hour. It is not uncommon to make a trolling pass and then head back for another, only to find that the same area has changed to a completely different color, either cleaner or dirtier. Armed with this water-eliminating information, further pinpointing the fish-holding water becomes a simpler process.

Find the Spot On the Spot
Professional walleye angler Joe Okada of Fitchburg, Wis., has spent his adult life as a walleye guide and tournament angler, fishing more lakes in a year than most of us will fish in a lifetime. This experience has taught him some simple tricks for getting on big spring fish.
**
Weeds:** Emergent weed growth indicates the first sign of new life in many lakes and a tip-off to nutrient-rich areas that attract and provide cover for baitfish. This is also a signal that the water temperature is optimum.

Major Points: Points hold fish virtually year-round, and can actually act as underwater barriers that keep cold water from rushing back into warmer, more sheltered bays. Hydraulically, they behave similarly to the way wing dams force warmer water toward main channels in rivers.

Discharges: Culverts, water discharges, or power plants can provide the warmest water on the lake. These easy-to-spot locations are a great place to fish, especially early in the spring, when general water temperatures are still very cool.

Water Clarity: Water that is extremely dirty makes for a small strike zone. Instead, look for that in-between water–the chalk.

Direction: The north to the northwest side of the lake will always warm fastest because this section has more direct sunlight. It will be several degrees warmer on average.

Wind: A constant flow of water can have a river-like effect on a small lake. It delivers plankton for baitfish to eat, which causes walleyes to follow. Wind-blown points and bays promote food delivery and also provide enough chop to cover your tracks and keep walleyes from spooking in shallow or clear water.

More on walleye fishing
Best Walleye Fishing Baits of All Time

The post Fishing Tips: Where to Find Spring Walleyes appeared first on Outdoor Life.

With something like 280 fires burning throughout Florida, and winds from the west and north, the air is worse than in New York City and the little fish the tarpon eat like popcorn in Boca Grande pass have vamoosed. By the time we arrived at Capt. Ray Van Horn’s other hotspot, a place where the silver kings were corralled by sharks the day before, the fish were gone from there, too. What to do?

We slipped into the backcountry trying to scratch some redfish and snook at least to get tight on something. Bad joss there, too. It took all day to take and release a small snook, and finally a just-legal redfish. That baby went into the cooler for dinner. Not that it would feed Capt. Van Horn, Capt CA Richardson, Senior Editor Brian Lynn and yours truly, but it was going to make some pretty picking, Cajun style, as a test, really. The restaurant at Burnt Store resort/marina where we were staying is called Porto Bello, and they’ll cook up fish you elect to keep. Let me tell you what they did to that redfish was magic. I tried keeping the dish away from everybody but without success. Sure wish we’d had some more.

We have one more day here. Capt. Ray says he’s never seen the tarpon leave the pass more than three days during peak season—which is now. Tomorrow is day four. We’ll see.

The post Where are all the fish? appeared first on Outdoor Life.

Grass equals bass. It’s a timeless angling axiom, but in some cases, the meaning is much more immediate. Consider a couple recent examples from geographically diverse events with similar grass-related truths.

COMFORT OVER CONVENTION

During a recent top 10 performance on Texas powerhouse, Lake Sam Rayburn, Alton Jones Jr. initially assumed the post-spawn bass would be staging close to their summer offshore spots. However, he found his fish back in spawning pockets; not actually in the bedding areas, but a lot closer to that zone than to the deeper stuff.

Reason: Better grass.

“The grass has come back really strong at Sam Rayburn, but it’s mostly growing in the ditches, which lead into the backs of these pockets,” says Jones. “The deepest grass that these fish have access to is in these spawning pockets and they just hadn’t decided that they wanted to leave that grass.

“If grass had been growing out to 10 feet of water on these main lake points, it would have been a completely different event. But for right now, it’s not that prolific.”

As Jones explains, the fish positioned based on comfort level more so than normal seasonal patterns.

PERIMETER PRODUCTIVITY

In a recent California Delta tournament, several anglers fared well by cranking riprap, but the key was a prominent grass line adjacent to the rocks. The proximity to vegetation offered three distinct benefits:

1. A staging area for fish moving up to spawn and dropping back after the nesting routine.
2. A constant supply of forage, with baitfish, bluegill and crawfish utilizing the cover.
3. Ample targets for the co-angler to fish from the back deck. Fishing reaction baits down a prominent horizontal bank can be unintentionally exclusive for the guy on the back deck who has a hard time placing an effective cast off the front of the boat and has only a small window of castable water as he passes the rocks.

Suffice it to say, fish-friendly cover on the opposite side of the boat from the riprap is a co-angler’s dream.

Bottom line here is that it’s rarely a bad idea to fish around grass, but when fish are finicky, pay particular attention to how grass sets up the travel lanes and provides fish cozy habitat they seek.

When it doubt, this is always a wise fall-back.

The post Read The Grass, Catch More Bass appeared first on Outdoor Life.

From his convincing pitch about the rosy future of Lake Erie’s walleye fishing, you’d think Travis Hartman worked for the local tourism council. Not so, but as Lake Erie Program Administrator at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Sandusky Fish Research Unit, he makes a strong case — backed up by encouraging biological data.

“I think that literally, these next three to four years we’ll see some of the best Lake Erie walleye fishing we’ve seen in a long time, so come now, while it’s good!” he says.

Hartman bases his outlook on some promising numbers. Estimates from 2016 put the Erie walleye population around 33 million and nearly half of those were from the large 2014 year class. Walleyes from the 2015 year class joining the party as 2-year-olds seem a little chunkier than the previous group, Hartman said.

Combining the strength of these two recent groups with large, mature fish from 2003 yields a stellar 2017 outlook.

For clarity, Hartman notes that late springs typically equal exceptional year classes because walleye larvae emerge just in time to capitalize on large plankton blooms. With late ice postponing the spawns of 2003, 2014 and 2015 until late March or early April, those little walleye enjoyed belly-stuffing buffets.

“We have walleye living over 20 years up here and we had one of the biggest year classes we’ve ever seen in 2003,” Hartman says. “Those fish are 14 years old now and they’re the ones providing all the 10- to 13-pounders that have been caught recently.

“Early in the season, a lot of those 2015 fish are going to be below the 15-inch limit, so as the season progresses, it should get better and better with more of the fish being caught being legal size. There are most likely, 15-inch 2-year-olds from the 2015 year class right now, but by June and into July, you’re really going to see numbers of them hitting that legal size.”

One caveat to Erie’s rosy outlook is the possibility of harmful algal blooms. A dry spring limits the risk, but if this spring is wet, rains will wash lots of nutrients into the lake and trigger sizable blooms

Fortunately, Erie’s massive size means you can almost always find clean water to fish. Hartman suggests monitoring satellite imagery for current algal bloom locations.

“The nice thing about Lake Erie is it’s a large lake and you can avoid the algal blooms and still find catchable fish,” he says. “It’s not a fish health or edibility issue. The fish don’t incorporate the algal toxins in their meat, so they’re safe to eat.”

So, in the proverbial nutshell: If spring rains fall heavy, expect to move around and locate the clean waters. If it’s a dry spring — game on!

The post Lake Erie Walleye Fishing Set for Banner Year appeared first on Outdoor Life.