A couple of years ago a good friend and I were talking about different fishing techniques and lures. He mentioned that one of his favorite fall and winter time baits were suspending baits (more specifically, slow sinking baits). I knew some bass fishermen over the years that fished with these types of lures, but had never given much thought to fishing them myself. I went out and purchased a couple of lures and gave it a shot. I caught a fish here and there, but did not have the type of success that I normally have with other types of lures. I talked with my buddy again and told him that I was a little disappointed in the results and had not fished with them much since. We did not have much time to talk, but he said he could not believe that I was not getting more fish than I was.
After looking at those lures in my tackle box for several more trips I decided I either needed to try fishing with them again or get rid of them and put something in the box that I would use. I went online and read article after article trying to learn what I could about this type of fishing. The more I read the more I realized that I did not know the purpose of suspending baits or how to fish with them. I was retrieving them much too quickly and not allowing them to work as they were designed. I can now say that these types of lures work very well especially in the fall and winter months here in Charleston.
Here are a few things I have come to understand:
Suspending baits are designed to hang in the strike zone. Many models are slow sinkers and are designed to look like an easy feeding target for a fish that may not want to exert a lot of energy in cooler water temperatures. As water temperatures cool and bait thins out, fish automatically lower their activity levels and slow their metabolism way down so they do not need to eat as often. They prefer to hunker down and if something comes along that is just too tempting to pass up they will eat.
Taking your time and allowing a lure to stay in one spot in the water column is