Favorite Fishing Find Of The Year.

[MacP]

I've landed more fish with Berkley Subwoofer trailers than any other new bait I've found this year.    Second place is Zoom Z-Drop worms.  Third is Storm Gobys/Sculpins swimbaits.

 

 

 

[KDW96]

Kietech swing impacts and megastrike buzzbait for me.

[ww2farmer]

Every year dozens of new baits get tried, but few make it into the permanent rotation. This year a few made it. For soft plastics............the Berkley twitch tail minnow, the Havoc Devil spear,  and the Havoc soft jerk bait called "the jerk", and for hard baits the SK KVD jerk baits, and popper. I also had some really good success with the Booyah pad crasher frogs late in the season, enough to earn them a full season trial next year, they won't replace my "regular" frog until I can see what they do for a full year. I like the fact they come in all the colors you really need for frogging, plus are a few bucks cheaper than my usual frog.

[kylek]

Storm Arashi Square bills

 

I did really well on these the last few times out.  I am looking forward to fishing the flat 7 and the deep models next year.

[MacP]

Every year dozens of new baits get tried, but few make it into the permanent rotation. This year a few made it. For soft plastics............the Berkley twitch tail minnow, the Havoc Devil spear,  and the Havoc soft jerk bait called "the jerk", and for hard baits the SK KVD jerk baits, and popper. I also had some really good success with the Booyah pad crasher frogs late in the season, enough to earn them a full season trial next year, they won't replace my "regular" frog until I can see what they do for a full year. I like the fact they come in all the colors you really need for frogging, plus are a few bucks cheaper than my usual frog.

 

Pad Crashers in Cricket is my favorite frog now.

 

 

Storm Arashi Square bills

 

I did really well on these the last few times out.  I am looking forward to fishing the flat 7 and the deep models next year.

 

I've zeroed every time with Arashis.  Only have crappie and baby bass.  However, I'm not giving up on them because I've also not caught anything on my strike king square bills either.

[wisconsin heat]

Another vote for the twitch tail minnow! Awesome drop shot bait, caught a lot of fish on it this year.

[MacP]

In the line of the twitch tail minnows, I love the Pin Tail Shad from Jackall...but I'm not paying that price.  No way, no how.

[basshole8190]

D&M custom blade pirahnna jig caught 2x more quality fish with it than any other lure this year

[mnbassman23]

I started throwing Huds and Mattlures u2 gill with success this year. They were the only new to me baits I bought and they both have there place and time for next year.

I tried the subwoofers last year as a swim jig trailer and now have a pile of them, great bait.

[Bluebasser86]

Bigger swimbaits, for me anyways. Started tossing quite a few 5-8 inch baits and had way better results than I thought I'd have, not all big fish either. I also fished Keitech Swing Impacts for the first time this year, they're now a go to bait in clear water, especially for smallies. 

[SirSnookalot]

Not a new lure but used these quite a bit this year with great success, a jigging spoon.  I jig them in deepwater, troll them and cast them what I think are incredible distances, their motion reduces line twist on spinning gear.  I've caught fish of all sizes and species.

[MarkH024]

Manns Minus -1 was a first for me this year and I love them. They work perfectly for my lake which is loaded with weeds. I didn't fish as much this year as I'd like to. There are a few other baits discussed here that I'd like to give a whirl next season.

Everything from Siebert Outdoors. Swim jigs, punch skirts, grass jigs and more. I'll definitely have one of Mikes jigs tied on at all times next season.

I also picked up a lot of 5-8" swimbaits that I didn't get a lot of time with. Looking to put those to work next season.

[RAMBLER]

For me it was both a lure and a location.  Not a new lure but one I just started using, a Producto Buzz Tail Shad, fished across the tops of weeds.  The location was a shallow, wide cove on the St. John's river.  I was told by several people it was to shallow to hold fish.  I like that, nobody else fishes it.  I have NEVER seen a boat in there.  I went in, using that buzz tail and caught 9 bass, the biggest was 4.5 lbs.  Now that was fun. 

[whitwolf]

I don't know If this goes with the theme of the thread but.... The most positive thing that happened to me this year, with regards to fishing, was cutting ties with a longtime fishing partner.

 

I have thoroughly enjoyed this year and have stepped outside my usual fishing parameters and tried different presentations, I tried some combinations that others might consider oddball combinations, and generally didn't have the distractions and negativity from the previous years.

 

It's safe to say that not even 50% of the bait combunations were a rousing success but there are a few  that I will fish at least a decent part of my time out on the water.

 

To pick just one; a Siebert outdoors Zenith shakeyhead paired with a smallie beaver.  I had always fished this with a Zoom finesse worm. I was thinking about it one night and decided to try the beaver as It made sense to me. I caught a 7 during prespawn with that exact bait and will throw It from bare banks to the thickest brush. To say I'm pleased with this combination Is an understatement!

[Jolly Green]

Northland Buck-A-Roo bucktail jigs, fished naked, were a surprise winner for me this late season.  After a week of fishing them normally, I saw a guy fishing panfish with a little marabou jig under a bobber, and decided to mimic his setup with a 1/4 oz. bucktail under a much bigger float. It actually worked great for picking off less aggressive fish... as well as a couple extremely aggressive pike.

[roadwarrior]

Rage Tail Cut-R http://www.ragetail.com/news/08/the-cut-r-worm-new-2014/

 

MegaStrike Tube Craw  http://www.megastrikefishing.com/shop/Watermelon-Pearl-Belly-Mega-Tube.html

 

 

 

 

[Dwight Hottle]

Scrounger jig for me or should I say "SCROUNGA"

[A-Jay]

Strike King Red Eye Shad  3/4 ounce ~

 

I guess I'd call this one more of a Re-acquaintance than an actual find.

 

Regardless of which category the bait goes in - It was Killer a couple of weeks ago.

 

A-Jay

[Dwight Hottle]

Strike King Red Eye Shad  3/4 ounce ~

 

I guess I'd call this one more of a Re-acquaintance than an actual find.

 

Regardless of which category the bait goes in - It was Killer a couple of weeks ago.

 

A-Jay

 

 

For both of us. That bait had PB written all over it. As I remember Catt said his pb was on a lipless crank.

[A-Jay]

For both of us. That bait had PB written all over it. As I remember Catt said his pb was on a lipless crank.

 

I'll admit, that this baits effectiveness really caught me off guard.  I've always likes the 1/2 version and felt it was fairly effective, but this situation was on a whole different level - in the best way possible.

 

A-Jay

[FD.]

Rage Tait Cut-R http://www.ragetail.com/news/08/the-cut-r-worm-new-2014/

 

MegaStrike Tube Craw  http://www.megastrikefishing.com/shop/Watermelon-Pearl-Belly-Mega-Tube.html

 

 

 

 

Another vote for the cut-R worm. We got to see it at the road trip and it has not disappointed.

Also the Rage Menace on a rage rig.

Both are on the deck at all times.

[AK-Jax86]

FROGS never fished them before this year and have not put them down since May

[mjseverson24]

biggest discovery for me this year was creating custom jigs, I caught some really quality fish on my custom jigs.

 

Mitch

[jignfule]

Every year dozens of new baits get tried, but few make it into the permanent rotation. This year a few made it. For soft plastics............the Berkley twitch tail minnow, the Havoc Devil spear,  and the Havoc soft jerk bait called "the jerk", and for hard baits the SK KVD jerk baits, and popper. I also had some really good success with the Booyah pad crasher frogs late in the season, enough to earn them a full season trial next year, they won't replace my "regular" frog until I can see what they do for a full year. I like the fact they come in all the colors you really need for frogging, plus are a few bucks cheaper than my usual frog.

I think you will conclude that the "pad crasher" is a great find. My experience has them lasting longer, costing less and working just as well if not better than many of the other brands.

[hookset on 3]

Another vote for the Havoc baits " The Jerk" for soft plastic jerkbaits.

The shimmy on the descent is a really effective strike trigger. I've watched it in very clear water and it looks so natural. Fakes out the big girls, too.