Quote Originally Posted by crappiepappy View Post
I've only fished for Hybrids, to amount to anything, at Taylorsville. Three particular baits have produced fairly well, numbers wise ... but, size wise, I haven't fished for them in many years, so I can't attest to any of these baits being superior on catching the bigger ones.

Baits & methods used : (but not in order of productivity)
#1 - (white) Silver Buddy ... casting to jumps, trolling
#2 - Kastmaster w/bucktail ... slow trolling over sandy bottom humps, casting
#3 - Hot-n-Tot w/jig trailer ... trolling (Jig was a 1/16oz marabou Crappie jig ... white or chartreuse)

Downriggers on Taylorsville would probably be overkill, since dragging a crank or crank & jig will get you down to their level.

Note : I rig my Hot-n-Tot leader (~18") on the front hook, rather than the rear hook, as it helps prevent the crank from rolling/spinning/surfacing at speed. I didn't have this problem as much with the larger HnT, as with the smaller one ... but, I also didn't catch as many larger Hybrids on the larger HnT, as I did on the smaller one. (I mainly used two color patterns - the solid chartreuse & the silver scale)

One other bait that worked, but which I never got around to using, was the #5 Shadrap (trolling).

It's been many years since I've fished Taylorsville for Hybrids, and back then the size limit was 15" (that tells you how long it's been ... LOL !!). But, with the 10under/5over 15" rule, for a 15 fish limit, in place ... Taylorsville Lake may see me dragging my HnT/jig rig, again soon.

Oh, and if you do decide to troll cranks at T-ville ... BE SURE & have a good lure retriever along !! All you have to do is get back one or two cranks, and they've paid for themselves. I'm pretty sure mine has save me over $100 in potentially lost lures. (& I've never paid over $5 for a crankbait !!)

And don't be surprised if you catch Catfish, Bass, Crappie, etc ... when dragging a crankbait around (jig trailer or not) !!

.... pappy
Thank you for the very in-depth description. Definitely going to have to give them a try next time out there. Im very new to hybrids and the only method I really know is to troll using flukes and such, which is why the riggers are nice. Like you said, might not need them with crankbaits.

I had a guy show me some pictures of nice hybrids they caught at taylorsville and I think he said there is a big hump or something straight out from the settlers trace marina and they catch em' there all the time trolling. Dont know nothing until I get out there and give it a try...Thanks for the Tips!!!