Lure Specialization Vs Variety

[Texas Hawg Hunter]

Seems like you always hear about people taking lots of baits with them, and you hear about guys who are particularly good at one type (e.g., Jimmy Houston and spinnerbaits or Larry Nixon and worms).  

 

But, you don't really hear about people who fish only one type of lure year round.  I'm thinking of trying this with spinnerbaits since they are so versatile.  Anyone ever try this?  Or anyone ever take just one type of lure with them on a trip?  Seems like you would really learn a lot doing this.

 

BTW, just caught this guy last night as it was getting dark.  I used a 3/16 oz. Booyah Pond Magic spinnerbait (dark green/black skirt and gold willow/colorado blades).

[roadwarrior]

There are usually a few baits at any point in time that are "hot". Right now what's working

for me are Chatterbaits, Spinnerbaits and The Bug. We (Mid South) are on the verge of

Square Bills, Alabama Rigs, topwater and jerkbaits.

[Catch and Grease]

I would hate having to use one lure all year, I like those pond magic spinnerbaits BTW good little lure.

[BassinLou]

Just limiting yourself to one bait, regardless of its versatility will limit the amount fish you will catch. There is no doubt, that on any given outing the spinnerbait will work. But what about the day it isn't, and another common lure is the "hot lure" of the day. Why limit yourself? 

[Texas Hawg Hunter]

Just limiting yourself to one bait, regardless of its versatility will limit the amount fish you will catch. There is no doubt, that on any given outing the spinnerbait will work. But what about the day it isn't, and another common lure is the "hot lure" of the day. Why limit yourself? 

 

I would limit myself to force myself to get really good at understanding the in-depth intricacies of one type of lure.  I wonder if when people say "what about when the lure isn't working" how much of it is actually the lure and not the person using the lure.

[einscodek]

of course joe shmoe w/ a spinnerbait vs KVD/Clunn/Houston aint the same

in many respects its the man behind the weapon

 

Getting good and isolating a lure practice always a good idea but some lures arent that comprehensive

imo a spinnerbait is

in fact Ive caught spinnerbait fish all year round (I dont count winter sorry) and yes in clearwater

Ive several spinnerbaits I use in clearwater and they are as effective as my plastics in clearwater

I just let the fish tell me in clearwater situations which they prefer on that day

you aint going wrong with spinnerbaits

I've posted some 20+" fish on the forum which absolutely crushed my spinnerbaits one having snapped one in 2 pieces

fish CRUSH spinnerbaits

[gulfcaptain]

The only time I limit myself to 1 type of bait is when fishing a big swimbait....why, because it forces me to keep fishing it and not decide to try something else.  But then that is a time of year pattern for me normally from the midde of Nov. to Mid April depending on the body of water I'm fishing.

[WRB]

No reason to handicap yourself by fishing 1 type of lure, bass react to a wide variety. If you want to focus on using a specific lure type to learn it, good idea but not all year unless you are a very slow learner.

I often use jigs, worms, swimbaits and crankbaits during a days outing and settle on the 1the bass prefer. If I see or determine bass want spoons or top water or whatever, I will try it. Still learning how to fish the A-rig, however I try to learn when the bass are active and easier to catch, not waiting to try something new when all else fails.

Tom

[Texas Pride]

Some times when im gonna fish for a hour only i will carry what i have on the pole tipicaly crankbaits and popp ers my favriot

[Texas Hawg Hunter]

No reason to handicap yourself by fishing 1 type of lure, bass react to a wide variety. If you want to focus on using a specific lure type to learn it, good idea but not all year unless you are a very slow learner.

Tom

 

Ah, but each season brings different conditions and fish behavior so you have to go a year to get the comprehensiveness of the self-training this is designed to produce.

[Bruce424]

cool idea. I usually use a jig, spinner bait or square bill. trifecta for me. as people are saying its a handicap for using one lure for a year... I see it as trying to master a technique.

[Texas Hawg Hunter]

cool idea. I usually use a jig, spinner bait or square bill. trifecta for me. as people are saying its a handicap for using one lure for a year... I see it as trying to master a technique.

 

I'm gonna try it for a while and see what happens.  Yes, "mastering a technique" is what its all about.  I usually bring a spinnerbaits, worms, and jigs with craw trailers.

[WRB]

The few things I have learned after 60+ years of bass is not to force feed bass lures I like to fish.

KVD made his name using Nichols spinnerbaits, covering water making hundreds of casts and it for him.

Spinnerbaits don't work for me very often, unless the bass are very active eating baitfish near cover edges.

The reason being my style of fishing is slower and deep structure where the classic tandem spinnerbait doesn't work well.

Good luck!

Tom

[Texas Hawg Hunter]

The few things I have learned after 60+ years of bass is not to force feed bass lures I like to fish.

KVD made his name using Nichols spinnerbaits, covering water making hundreds of casts and it for him.

Spinnerbaits don't work for me very often, unless the bass are very active eating baitfish near cover edges.

The reason being my style of fishing is slower and deep structure where the classic tandem spinnerbait doesn't work well.

Good luck!

Tom

 

Yep, but slow rolling a single colorado blade is a classic winter/deep water spinnerbait technique.  Try it out this winter!

[PersicoTrotaVA]

I think it all depends on confidence.  I love to wacky rig fish but I can't get my brother to try it.  He likes to fish grubs, I am not to fond of it, even though I have caught fish with them.  I don't limit myself to one technique but I do know what my strong one is(wacky) and which ones are not as strong(jig, crankbait).  I should practice my weaker techniques more next year and I will.  Hopefully by 2016, I will be the bass angler I want to be.

[Team9nine]

I would limit myself to force myself to get really good at understanding the in-depth intricacies of one type of lure.  I wonder if when people say "what about when the lure isn't working" how much of it is actually the lure and not the person using the lure.

 

Personally, I think you're on the right track and line of thinking. I do it all the time; sometimes for a single trip, sometimes for months at a time - just depends on the specific bait/technique. It works for things besides lures, too, like line types, rods, etc. IMO, the absolute best and quickest way to learn as you put it, "the in-depth intricacies of one type of lure." If you do it and stick with it, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the outcome

 

-T9

[ClackerBuzz]

if the fish aren't biting that particular lure that day all ur going to become is a master caster.

yes i'm out there to enjoy nature but i also like to catch fish so why rule out catching possibility b/c of only one lure.

i prefer to go with minimal tackle instead. 3-4 strategic rods that will cover fast to slow, top to bottom.

maybe a jig, spinnerbait, drop shot, crankbait. i can usually get them to hit one. after that i'm free to 'learn' that technique for a few hours. as opposed to learning that they didn't want a spinnerbait that day.  

i've even gone out with 2 rods: a senko and 8" swimbait. after i'm defeated by swimbaits i can just re-inflate my ego with a quick senko fish

i'm amazed when a guy tells me how much he learned b/c he stuck with a crankbait all day, 8 hours on the water, hundreds of cast, dozens of locations. and in the last hour he caught 4 fish which made it all worth it... 'sticking with his plan'.

imo the crankbait bite turned on at sunset and he wasted 7 hrs of his day.

Edited October 22, 2014 by ClackerBuzz

[Texas Hawg Hunter]

if the fish aren't biting that particular lure that day all ur going to become is a master caster.

yes i'm out there to enjoy nature but i also like to catch fish so why rule out catching possibility b/c of only one lure.

i prefer to go with minimal tackle instead. 3-4 strategic rods that will cover fast to slow, top to bottom.

maybe a jig, spinnerbait, drop shot, crankbait. i can usually get them to hit one. after that i'm free to 'learn' that technique for a few hours. as opposed to learning that they didn't want a spinnerbait that day.  

i've even gone out with 2 rods: a senko and 8" swimbait. after i'm defeated by swimbaits i can just re-inflate my ego with a quick senko fish

i'm amazed when a guy tells me how much he learned b/c he stuck with a crankbait all day, 8 hours on the water, hundreds of cast, dozens of locations. and in the last hour he caught 4 fish which made it all worth it... 'sticking with his plan'.

imo the crankbait bite turned on at sunset and he wasted 7 hrs of his day.

Yeah, the fish I caught in the picture was caught at sunset too.  If they really aren't biting the lure on a particular day that is knowledge in the bag.  But before I would make such a statement I would look at all the weather factors at play as well as the  myriad characteristics that can vary within the type of lure used.  By focusing on one type of lure you get that specialized knowledge.

[Texas Hawg Hunter]

I think it all depends on confidence.  I love to wacky rig fish but I can't get my brother to try it.  He likes to fish grubs, I am not to fond of it, even though I have caught fish with them.  I don't limit myself to one technique but I do know what my strong one is(wacky) and which ones are not as strong(jig, crankbait).  I should practice my weaker techniques more next year and I will.  Hopefully by 2016, I will be the bass angler I want to be.

 

Yeah I avoid crankbaits...just can't get into them.  I tend to avoid treblehook baits in general and go with spinnerbaits, jigs, and plastic worms.

[Texas Hawg Hunter]

I think it all depends on confidence.  I love to wacky rig fish but I can't get my brother to try it.  He likes to fish grubs, I am not to fond of it, even though I have caught fish with them.  I don't limit myself to one technique but I do know what my strong one is(wacky) and which ones are not as strong(jig, crankbait).  I should practice my weaker techniques more next year and I will.  Hopefully by 2016, I will be the bass angler I want to be.

 

Yeah I avoid crankbaits...just can't get into them.  I tend to avoid treblehook baits in general and go with spinnerbaits, jigs, and plastic worms.

[MassBass]

The thing about spinnerbaits is that their are so many different ways you can customize your spinnerbaits for different conditions and locations. I feel I could fish only spinnerbaits all year and do half decent. But I would need to fill my whole binder with a ton of different spinnerbaits.

[Texas Hawg Hunter]

The thing about spinnerbaits is that their are so many different ways you can customize your spinnerbaits for different conditions and locations. I feel I could fish only spinnerbaits all year and do half decent. But I would need to fill my whole binder with a ton of different spinnerbaits.

...or you "get to" fill your binder with spinnerbaits  I'm just going to focus on the big things first like a larger and smaller size, a lighter and darker color, and a willow vs colorado blade.

[gobig]

If I was going to roll with one style of bait it would be a swimbait hands down. If you pay attention will learn more than you ever thought possible. 

[Bluebasser86]

Denny Brauer didn't fish much more than a jig his entire career and did alright for himself

[WRB]

Yep, but slow rolling a single colorado blade is a classic winter/deep water spinnerbait technique. Try it out this winter!

The twin spin with spreader wires and #2 Colorado blades ( home made) works a lot better on deep vertical walls and humps with sharp breaks in the cold water period. Single spins can be good at night at times, not a go to lure for me.

I fish custom hair jigs every outing year around, rarely fish with just 1 type of lure, like to keep the bass honest. If I am fishing deep structure with my jig, like to give a swimbait a try or a Scrounger, something for a change of pace, even when the bite is good.

Tom