Search baits are just that: Baits that allow you to cover water more quickly, and pick up those active fish. If you don't use them, you're missing fish that are more easily caught. It, generally, will also allow you to learn what fish are doing in terms of location and activity level. A search bait can be a swim jig to a crank, a spinnerbait to a jerkbait. There are only a few times that I consider bottom contact plastics to be search baits, and those are in very specific conditions.
There's never a situation that I discount a search pattern, never. #1 those baits target more active fish, more aggressive fish. More active, aggressive fish generally lead to being bigger than others. #2 anything that I can do to speed my way to five fish, be it one or five, is making better use of my time on the water. If I'm fun fishing- the more and bigger fish I catch the more fun I'm having.
After I've really pummeled an area with a search technique, I may or may not go back through more slowly. The secondary aspect of a search, or fast moving technique, is that it allows me to pay very close attention to the 'Bird in the front of the boat. It allows me to pay attention to the moods of the fish, where they are in relation to structure, where they are in relation to wood or submerged vegetation. If I see fish that are placed in a specific way, I'll go back through and fish thoroughly with one of any number of techniques, but generally, it's going to be something very specific that I'm looking for when I do that. That's what a search pattern tells me, above all else.
