What would give you a better chance at a fifty?

[Sea Dangles]

I think if you know how to present live bait properly there is no comparison. Fish the same spot next to a lure guy and you will frustrate him very quickly.Try to make a lure swim,wiggle and smell like live bait without a retrieve and you run into problems.The number of fish I have caught over 35# with plugs is VERY small compared to fishing with the bass' natural prey.

Flap,we know where you stand, but according to the title of this thread you should explain why you think YOU stand a better chance at a fifty with plugs. Enlighten the masses.

[Flaptail]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

I think if you know how to present live bait properly there is no comparison. Fish the same spot next to a lure guy and you will frustrate him very quickly.Try to make a lure swim,wiggle and smell like live bait without a retrieve and you run into problems.The number of fish I have caught over 35# with plugs is VERY small compared to fishing with the bass' natural prey.

Flap,we know where you stand, but according to the title of this thread you should explain why you think YOU stand a better chance at a fifty with plugs. Enlighten the masses.

SD, it's an easy answer. I don't think plugs give you a better shot and never will. Hands down live bait will take the bigger fish time after time. I have an addiction to plugs though ( you have all seen pics of my basement) But I believe in my heart of hearts (yes I do have one) that live bait is more of an insurance against failure. If you want to talk about staying positive throughout the fishing experience you better have it in multitudes when fishing plugs especially on the Cape these days.

I watched and listened to the live herring soakers in the canal proclaim themselves to be the sharpest of the sharpies when it came to catching bass there. While I cast away with my Polaris and Pencils. Legends were born and self promoted. Then came the herring ban. Where are most of them now? Relegated to obscurity and consoling each other on good they were while eating breakfast together at a Buzzards Bay eatery each weekend.

My personal preference is holding my chances back, way back. But it's a goal I continue to try to attain. I keep hoping to repeat the days of Monomoy when we landed there and cast rebels to fish breaking in the dark that sounded like someone ch#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g boulders. Where the magic happened. To watching the sun rise on the 14 fish I took that night laying on the sand next to the skiff with the smallest weighing 38 pounds and the largest in the high 40's. All on plugs.

Someday maybe just maybe it will happen again.

[DZ]

My preference would be to use plugs as my largest fish have all fallen to plugs. Using them is my favorite method by far.

As for the question of which method would give you a BETTER CHANCE at landing the 50?

Assuming everything is equal, you’re on a beach, and the bass in question are willingly taking both artificials and eels - I’d have to say eels and my reason is this – single hook versus treble. You have a much better shot at landing a huge fish with a single hook be it attached to an eel or plug. Big bass have the uncanny ability to play treble hooks against each other gain leverage and straighten them causing a lost hookup. Not many plugs come with a single hook (with the exception of the original stubby needles which was originally designed with a single hook for the exactly this reason – to land more bass). Large bass hookup-to-land ratio is much better with a single hook.

DZ

[Slingah]

from my own personal stand point I would have to say live bait (eels)...even if just for the confidence factor ....

[Goose]

aaaahhh is this what winter is for.

1. Where do fifty's spend most of there time? Close to the bottom.
2. Why, that's where the food is and the water conditions suit them.
3. Fifty's don't eat appetizers all day they eat meals.
4. What do their meals consist of? Lobster, crab, fluke, tog, scup seabass, pogies, eels ect.. Whole or not they are piece of sea fresh meat.
5. Bait is whole or pieces of fresh sea meat

They've been caught on fly's lures probably appetizer size lures but doesn't change the fact bait is better, lures satisfy the angler and if thats what floats your boat then you never have to touch another peice of bait again.

[Tagger]

Choice was live bait or plugs ... My personal experience at one time ,would be a big bloody fresh chunk of bunker on the bottom . Key word "Bottom" .. Hooked up some I couldn't get in on heavy conventional gear .. Interest change over the years . I still wonder if sometimes the speedy smaller fish are quicker to raise than the beast laying on the bottom .. I catch fewer,,, but larger fish on a slow sink needle I can get down in thier face .

[Back Beach]

Originally Posted by Flaptail

live bait is more of an insurance against failure..

I agree, but only in the case of large fish, say 20+ pounds. If I needed to catch a fish regardless of size, I would take some spinning gear with 12# or 14# mono tied direct to a 5 1/4" rebel and catch fish at will.

Originally Posted by Flaptail

I watched and listened to the live herring soakers in the canal proclaim themselves to be the sharpest of the sharpies when it came to catching bass there. ..

Gotta agree there too, but when the herring usage stopped I was introduced to a better method utilizing artificials. Believe it or not my ratio of small to large is much more in favor of larger fish now without herring. Yes, I get many fewer fish now, but better quality. A herring did produce my best canal fish though.

Like DZ mentioned, the single hook thing makes utilizing bait very effective for landing large fish.

The reason most people fail to produce large fish on plugs is because they don't/can't get their offering close enough to the bottom or keep it there long enough to intercept a large fish. A cape legend once told me "targeting for the largest fish involves fishing the bottom." It doesn't matter if its a lure or bait.

Save the poppers for bluefish.

[Slipknot]

Originally Posted by Flaptail

Relegated to obscurity and consoling each other on good they were while eating breakfast together at a Buzzards Bay eatery each weekend.

.

wow, there's a shot


IMO what would give me a better chance at a fifty between the 2 choices you give would be live bait. But I would prefer dead bait presented to a big old cow bass over 50 pounds because they can be lazy and opportunistic. I prefer to fish for large with jigs, it's what works for me. I enjoy fishing with plugs and get alot of satisfaction when I succeed and actually catch bass with them.
Live bait is so much more realistic, it has scent,it moves on it's own, it reacts to attacks the bass doesn't have to be tricked into thinking this bait is actually a fish, because it is a fish(or eel).

[jim sylvester]

what would give me a BETTER shot

BIG EELS
BUNKER
LIVELINING SCUP/TINKER BLUES UNDER A BALLOON

will they go for a plug, if they were hungry and there was no bait in the area, probably, but why wold you be there in the first place with lack of bait?