What is the best Reaction Bait?

Scoot549 · Post by **Scoot549** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 3:14 pm

I know this is a personal opinion, but I am still new at this and the stores are full of merchandise. I am just trying to find out where to start. I currently have used spinner baits and have caught some fish with them; I also have had one good day on a Bomber 7a. Other than that no much success I am trying to gear up for Tournaments but I also want to be confident when I enter one that anything could happen. Any tips on bait, size and technique would be really helpful and could save a man some cheese!

Thank you for any info given!

PM me if you wish!

Mike Phua · Post by **Mike Phua** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 3:55 pm

You can't go wrong with a lucky craft jerkbait. Try a pointer 78 or a pointer 100. I also like to throw a slender pointer 97 mr because it's a small jerkbait with 3 hooks. A little on the pricey end of jerkbaits but I like them because of their finish and they pack alot of weight in a small package which is important especially when there's wind involved.

Another form of reaction that is fun is topwater. Surface baits like the Super Spook and the Vixen are great baits to get bit on at our local lakes. The list can go on and on but these are baits that I consider go to baits for this time of the year and are especially effective at getting those sluggish post spawn fish to bite. Have at it and tear it up. MP

big_gorilla · Post by **big_gorilla** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:13 pm

The Rapala X-Rap 10 is an awesome jerkbait that has alot of action to it. Half the price of most of the Japanese jerkbaits too.

The Pointer is a good bait too.

DanWarme · Post by **DanWarme** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 5:32 pm

First of all, I would recommend that you start thinking of lures as tools. Pick the right tool for the right job and you are way ahead of the game.
Second of all, reaction baits are typically thought of as cranks, blades, etc. but the fact is, a bait is a reaction bait depending on how you fish it.. Flipping a jig can become a reaction bite. Rick Clunn fished a worm as a reaction bait at a recent Vegas Open. Similarly, a BASS tournament was won on Lake Minnetonka several years ago with a spinner bait. (Wish I could remember the name of the pro, might have been Jim Bitter but don't quote me) All reports said he was fishing a spinnerbait so slowly he was imitating a clam!

With all that being said, I would have to say the best reaction bait is the spinner bait. I refer to it as the bass fisherman's ratchet set. I used to carry about 30 pounds of blades with me on the tour. I could do anything I wanted with the baits depending upon head size, and blade configurations. Change it up to make it do what you want.
Few baits are as versitile. Fishes fast or slow. Waking it under the surface, to super deep. I have caught bass (spots) in 80' with a spinner bait. (1 1/2 oz. ledgebuster) They are remarkably weedless and will work under most conditions. (flat calm clear water being a exception). Then it is a low percentage play, but I have seen it work then too. Caught fish on blades 12 months out of the year as well.
Now here comes the real drag, So cal lakes are not great spinnerbait lakes. Sometimes they work like magic here, but usually they are not as productive as elsewhere in the country. I personally think that it is due to the pressure we have on our waters. Also has to do with the conditions. Castaic can produce a great blade bite in the summer months, but I have found it only when there is grass or flooded brush. Bare banks and the fish don't want it. On the other hand, I've knocked the hell out of fish on castaic in december on a blade. Not a twig or blade of grass to be found anywhere. Which gets us to the final and ultimate rule.

Fish the bait the fish want to eat.

dockboy · Post by **dockboy** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 6:42 pm

Depends on what you like to fish on reaction. If you like to move the rod constantly, then a rip bait like a Pointer 100 is good. Ripping is a technique that has worked for a very long time, and will continue to because it imitates a wounded baitfish with all the pause, rips, and pulls of the bait. Belive it or not, the X-Rap 10s are actually fairly good baits, and so far they've produced a lot of fish for me during the warmer months. Good for throwing a rip where you wouldn't want to risk a Lucky Craft or similiarly priced bait. Both baits have a good long distance cast system, so they cast welll in the wind.
Topwater is also good at our local lakes. A Super Spook, Sammy or Vixen can be an awesome bite, especaily at Castaic and Piru. Big topwater baits are a great way to weed out the smaller non-keepers in a tourney, also, though if you're fishing for spots farther north that isn't necessarily true.
If you like to throw blades, we do get some opportunites down here is SoCal to throw'em. Like Dan said, they are the most versatile reaction bait out there. But therein lies the problem; lots of guys turn to the blade as their go-to reaction. The fish see a lot of them. The lake that really has any form of a decent blade bite is Castaic. When the pleasure boater armadas are out and the wind starts rippin', the mudlines along the main lake points and bluffs get goin'. Along with the grass and stickups at Castaic, throwin' blades along the mudline edges can get fish during the real busy, crazy days with lots of people on the water. And like Dan said, you can catch fish on a balde during the middle of winter too.
But mind you too that a reaction baits is not a specific category. A 1oz football head fished fast along the rocks 40' down can considered a reaction bait too. So can a 6" drop shot worm when you swim it along a bluff bank. In that same ideal, a swimbait is a reaction bait too, if you think about it. Lots of times you catch fish on a Hudd that still has a trout tail sticking out. That fish probably ate the bait because he reacted to it; it wasn't a hunger thing. The baits looked perfect and was just there at the right time to provoke a strike. The Hudd or whatever you were throwing represented a likely target that swam into the bass' area; he ate it out of reaction to invasion of "his" territory. That's the same basic theme of all reaction fishing; provoke a strike from a bass' instincts.