Staying with only one type of lure to get better with it

[Retrofan]

Has anyone stayed with just one type of lure (plastic worms, flukes, spinners, crankbaits, senkos, etc.) when you go fishing specifically to make yourself focus on getting better with that one presentation?

I am not talking about doing away with everything else forever, but just spending an extended time (few hours or a day) really trying a lure in as many different ways as you can think of.

I sometimes find myself when out fishing switching between all the different presentations and wonder if I would be better served sometimes by staying with one longer and trying different speeds, depths, colors, etc. instead of moving to a different type of lure.

I know from my old (way back!) sports playing days we sometimes would concentrate on one specific skill to work on for a day or session so we could maintain a focus in one aspect of our performance. Does that apply to fishing?

Thanks!

[Use ONLY Stren]

Did it yesterday, threw a Yum Money Minnow for 3 hours. I was never a big swimbait guy, but needless to say im workin on gettin a swimbait rod now. I caught a a bunch of dinks a 3 and loss one next to the boat that was all of 5.

 

 

[skillet]

 It works ...

skillet

[Jake...]

how else you gonna learn??

practice son

[5bass]

It does work...and if you are really serious about catching fish with a certain bait, take everything out of the boat except the bait you want to fish. You learn real fast like that.

[Hook Set]

Did that last fall with a jig. Left everything else at home so I HAD to fish it all day. Now, I love the jig bite!

[Hammer 4]

I've spent about 6hrs each day throwing just, spinnerbaits, worms, jigs, almost everything except cranks.

[Bryce C]

That's the best way to learn.....and gain confidence in a new bait.  And once you gain that confidence in a lure it's always game on!

[CanalStalkin]

I am going to try this next time I go out, leave my plastics at home and throw some cranks,jigs, and spinners.

[roadwarrior]

That's how I learned to fish a jig.

8-)

[MALTESE FALCON]

About four years ago I did the same thing with a spinnerbait.(I always refered to them as the most useless lure ever made) Now I NEVER leave the dock without a spinnerbait tied on.

Falcon

[Uncle Leo]

Did that two years ago with soft plastics and jigs this year. I use to fish Crankbaits 90% of the time. I think I threw a crankbait no more then 1 hour this year. I have to say my production and size of fish went way up.

[Chris W]

Did it about 15 years ago with a jig, never fished them much before that now it is one of my favorite baits.

[Lucky Craft Man]

six years ago, main focus: Spinnerbait

five years ago, main focus: Weedless Frog

four years ago, main focus: Lipless Crankbait

three years ago, main focus: Jerkbait

two years ago, main focus: Senko

last year, main focus: Drop Shot

this year, main focus: Shakyhead

Every year, I pick one technique that I really want to learn and I use that technique about 60% of the time.  It is amazing when you really learn a technique how much more successful you become overall, because you have one more confident tool in your arsenal and you instantly can recognize what conditions it works best in.  Also, I have found, by learning one technique, it helps decrease the learning curve on another (I was able to achieve what I feel is success quicker with the Shakyhead worm, because of all my time I spent with the DropShot the year before and both techniques fish similiar).

[retiredbosn]

I do it quite often.  The only way I'm successful is to leave everything else at the house except what I want to fish with.  When I was wanting to learn crankbaits, nothing went in the boat but my crankin rigs and a box of cranks.  I like catching fish to much, and if I take something else I know works I'll put away the new stuff and fish what I already know.

[roadwarrior]

...if I take something else I know works I'll put away the new stuff and fish what I already know.

Exactly!

8-)

[slider head]

It does work...and if you are really serious about catching fish with a certain bait, take everything out of the boat except the bait you want to fish. You learn real fast like that.

FBL was whipping my butt last year with a jig. I did this last fall. I had never had much success at all with a jig. So, 2 rods on deck.....both with jigs. Did this for 6-8 trips. Caught quite a few fish and developed the confidence I lacked in them. Now a jig is one of my top 5 confidence baits and I always have one on deck.

[bilgerat]

Got my first jig fish this year by sticking with it.

[detroit1]

Can't do it. Not all day. And no-way could i bring just 1 bait or presentation to the lake. I've spent partial days, but full ones- no. That is very hard to do, but if you have the discipline, or the time, there's probabally no better way to learn. If i could fish 50+ times a year, i think maybe i could....

[grimlin]

I did it with stickbaits/worms this year....it paid off for me.

I took nothing but a pack of yum dingers and a spinning set up.A good portion of my fish came off that bait this year including my PB smallmouth.  

[looking4structure]

It does work...and if you are really serious about catching fish with a certain bait, take everything out of the boat except the bait you want to fish. You learn real fast like that.

x2

[Raul]

That 's how I learned, sticking to one bait until I consistently caught fish with it.

[angler1]

i do that frequently. nothing wrong with tring to master your skillsat a particular lure

[RoLo]

It goes without saying, if you're serious about learning ANY lure, you'll need to spend 'many days' perfecting your presentation.

However, I don't believe it's necessary to limit yourself to one lure all day long, that can be dangerous.

If the lure in question happens to be ineffective on that day (happens often), you may end up despising that lure,

which only defeats the purpose.

Experimentation is the most enjoyable phase of my fishing day, so I have absolutely no problem sticking to the same lure

all day long -OR- putting that project on hold for a more suitable day. It's not something you're going to pick up in one day anyway.

By now of course, I've been around Robin's barn with all the lures, yet I still learn new things practically every day on the water.

Roger

[K_Mac]

One of the main things I've learned by focusing on different lures is that some fishing presentations and techniques are just not for me. I know that crankbaits will out perform most everything else at times on the waters I fish. A couple of weeks ago I caught the biggest fish of a very good day on a 100 series Bandit. We found a huge school of bait fish in a small cove. I caught the fish on the first cast. A wiser man would probably have thoroughly fished that cove with the crank, but I lost interest and soon went back to a jig. I did "swim" it a few times, but my point is if I took only crankbaits along I would, as Roger suggested despise them after a very short time, even if I caught fish.

To be a well rounded angler you need to have a working knowledge of as many different techniques as possible. Sometimes you have to do what the fish wants, even if that is not in your wheel-house, but it is more important IMHO to know what your strengths are and concentrate on them. Just rambling... :