Twitch'n is what it's all about!

When it comes to panfish, smaller is the way to go. Rarely are my lures larger than 2.5 inches with the exception of 5" Kut Tail worms and Mann's 3" Shadow minnow, but even those lures do best when twitched. Granted, there are swimming baits such as Sassy Shads, curl tails and b. spins as well as bottom hopping lures, but my best presentation is twitching lures no smaller than 1" mid-depth.

So, what mini-lure shapes have I found to produce more strikes and hooksets?
Grub bodies (no tail) - due to body bulk and short length, even 3" bass clobber them seeing as how they lure dart back & forth, pause & wobble = super-twitch action on the slowest retrieve.

Stinger tails/ spike tails - even when at rest those thin tails quiver in place; a fish thinks (if that's possible) - "you better tremble - Jonah's here!"

Thin straight tail - similar action except wider which creates a flutter-in-place.

Cone tail/ tapered tail - kinda like the Ned rig in action except much smaller. It also darts, bobs & weaves and glides

Believe or not but a 1" floating Rapala can be considered a twitch bait. Watch was it does on the surface as it pushes water when twitched, zig zagging a few inches leaving concentric circles. There's noth'n like the surface strike by a pan fish! It's like a fish thinking - "guess I'll put you out of your misery.
examples:

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Even this catfish appreciated twitch'n:
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Of course, how could I forget the almighty Crappie Magnet with it's parallel textured tails that also quiver when twitched, making a fish strike after imagining the thing said to it, " don't eat me, I was only joking!"
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The largest of the twitch lures are Gary Y. Kut Tail (lt.) and Softie Worms (rt.):
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When twitched, the back & forth extreme darting action when twitched fast and then paused, drive fish crazy! To get that action, I rig them on a 1/32 oz jig with #1 hook.
Even this pumpkinseed was p.o.'d by the audacious body/tail action of the shortened Softie interrupting its slumber:
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Twitching twitch lures is so much easier to catch numbers of fish, especially when fish aren't active like under a hot sun with zero clouds and no wind at 3pm.

Great post sir. I twitch under a tiny float and it works well for me too. Twitch on…

I agree , twitching is where it’s at !

I Confess , “ I am addicted to the Twitch, and the Thump “ !

All I’ve been doing for the past 16 years or so is twitching. Did it so much had to have both wrist operated on for carpal tunnel. A few years after that developed de quervain's tenosynovitis. Get shots in each hand for that about every two years. Twitching has served me well for catching fish.


Regards



Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

Before I discovered tungsten beads , I did a good bit of float fishing with microjigs , 1/200, 1/100 , 1/80 , 1/64 jigs . Mostly 1/80th .
Until on a slow day , I took the float off and did the best I could casting the tiny jig without any added weight.
I got bit ! Saved the day . I began to think the float was spooking the fish on some days .
So , I started trying different ways to fish a jig without a float .
That lead me to twitching . And that’s the rest of the story ……..

I loved watching that float disappear, but love the thump a little more . :)

Today twitch'n paid off BIG under I hot cloudless sky. I found aggressive fish in pad channels in 5'. Casting to pad edges got fish moving and in some cases the fish wouldn't stop attacking! As I said, even little bass got into it. Spike tail, cone tail and no tail got clobbered even by small fish! I didn't expect to catch 26 fish after 1 pm!

(BTW, I was having too much fun to take the time changing to a float - maybe next time)

Nice day ! Don’t think I would have changed either.

Duplicate

The sad thing is that I carry 150 soft plastics I want to experiment with including those I would use under a float. But when the bite gets so difficult in the suck days of summer, just catching many fish in a short period of time is so exciting I can't change (except changing rods that that have different lures attached like the ones shown). 'Next time' is the thought that rarely comes true until spring of next year when fish bite just about anything/ anywhere.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Spoonminnow

The sad thing is that I carry 150 soft plastics I want to experiment with including those I would use under a float. But when the bite gets so difficult in the suck days of summer, just catching many fish in a short period of time is so exciting I can't change (except changing rods that that have different lures attached like the ones shown). 'Next time' is the thought that rarely comes true until spring of next year when fish bite just about anything/ anywhere.

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I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting myself lately , with the hit and miss fishing lately .
Usually I wind up experimenting the first hour , then I’ll chose a rod and method and go after whatever I can get to bite .
Always looking for that perfect bait and combo that works the best , most of the time .
Thanks for sharing
I hope our sharing our experiences helps those that don’t have the time to experiment.

We are on the same page Gillchaser !

In the last three days I caught 190 fish via twitch'n & pause. I finally tried a small lure under a float and caught a few gills and a small bass!
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Too slow for me so back to twitch'n so as to cover as much water as possible. The last day (yesterday) with 90 fish caught, I could have done well with the float considering the dense schools located in different pad areas. I anchored for 20 minutes at a time and blasted fish close to pad edges!
A bit of background any angler would drool over:

The bite was slow starting out near one shoreline so I moved to the northwest where giant leaf lily pads had produced in the last two days. I started to see schools of fish near the surface in different areas out from the pad edges that I presumed were baitfish. But then, further away, the schools were being attacked on the surface creating big splashes! Note: the day was perfect: partly cloudy sky, water like glass and a low sun angle at 5pm. But as important was the fact the giant leaf pads have stems that grow 8 ft. (Note the transducer on a t.m. is about 1 ft. further from the surface.) which is where all the fish were located !
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All lures I cast caught fish - all were rigged on 1/24 or 1/16 oz jigs. Fish hit close to the surface on splashdown or mid-depth at 4' almost vertical twitching. Many fish attacked a lure 5x on the same retrieve before hooking themselves! Here are a few:
Attachment 494000 As the sun was going down, splashes happened all over the place - BIG SPLASHES ! - making me think bass were getting into the fun. I didn't have my bass rod or large surface lures or I might have moved to those areas.

I will venture out this afternoon late to see if this crazy scenario is repeated. But as usual - right place/right time always prevails and likely not to be repeated. (But hey, I can hope it is...)

sometimes I twitch too .....I will just have to man up and admit it ....:Rofl

Okay, I am going to be the dumb one and ask, what is twitch fishing and how do you do it? Any video links?

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Originally Posted by peshtigost

Okay, I am going to be the dumb one and ask, what is twitch fishing and how do you do it? Any video links?

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You cast your jig out , let it sink to desired depth, start a very slow retrieve while twitching the rod tip ..
gives your jig an erratic movement through the water .
Seems to Drives fish crazy !

Check out some of Troutmagnetman’s YouTube videos.
In some you can see his retrieve and how he works the rod .

He uses trout magnets of course .
I mainly use handtied micro hair jigs .

Quote:

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Always looking for that perfect bait and combo that works the best , most of the time

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Gillchaser, you said it all with that statement.
I guess that's why I tinker making hybrid (Frankenstein) soft plastics - always trying to find more 'toys' to play with. The majority of those shapes/actions affect the fish's senses which include motion detection (especially very subtle finesse actions) and sight (which confirms the shape and actions of the moving body and tail (if any).

Twitching is a presentation unlike that used for most bass lures. Bass lures such as heavy skirted jigs with trailers, spinnerbaits with large blades (with and without trailers), 3" crankbaits with larger diving bills, 4" surface lures and Texas rigged 8" plastic worms with 1/8 - 1/2 oz. bullet weights, all have actions and visuals that are far more extreme, that move faster and steadily.

My twitch-retrieve is this:
I use a combination of slight rod tip twitches - raising the tip no more than 1" and lowering each time along with slight turns of the reel handle - not only to take in line slack but to impart more slight movements in between rod tip twitches. Even lures with no tails have an action fish can't ignore and that drives them nuts! such as two grub bodies melted together - totally unique and sold nowhere:
https://www.crappie.com/crappie/atta...n-img_5187-jpg
Just one example of what Gillchaser stated about finding perfect lures for most situations. Only twitching makes this lure work to the max along with 40 or so other designs I've discovered - modified or right from the mold. Even molded lures have parts I can use to add to others, and man, I got a lotta molds!
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There are other lures that benefit from twitching: the 2.5" Floating Rapala a good example. When twitched, the balsa lure dives slightly as it wobbles forward 2", creating surface rings. I pause it between each slight rod-tip twitch/slight reel handle turn (some say it copies the action of a dying minnow). Of course the Rapala can be retrieved by cranking steadily past targets in open water, but fish gotta be in a chasing mood for them to attack.

Twitch'n focuses on suspended fish that are semi-active, waiting for that opportunity to show a moving object who's boss and then relaxing with fellow slouches. Unlike large bass lures that are more dramatic, finesse lures and retrieves are super-subtle exuding a. 'please, please don't hurt me as I wiggle & twitch in place!'

BTW, twitch lures and retrieve catch mighty big fish!
examples:
bass, channel and mud catfish, white sucker, carp and pickerel
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This disproves targeting only certain species and weight classes of fish by using specific lures. Granted, larger lures generally exclude catching smaller fish species, but small lures are fish-species universal and a big challenge when big fish hit - especially fished hooked on 1/16 oz. jigs with #4 hook.

Large crappie, white and yellow perch and sunfish have been caught using 4" Kut Tail worms on a light jig:
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I'd bet with the much larger (heavier) panfish down south, twitching large soft plastics should catch some monsters!

Thanks a lot guys. Sounds like using my trout magnet twitch on something larger. I will give it a try! I have a couple of great baits in mind!

What I really like about this group is how we think. Like you guys I have never been content using the same thing everyone else uses. Experimenting and finding something better that not everybody is using is half the fun. Catching fish is the other half of the fun!