Is Spending 250 Dollar Worth Of Lures To Much

[noobiebass]

I'm just getting in to lure bait instead of live bait 

[bigbill]

Welcome to the bass forum.

Fishing 5 to 6 days a week it was costing me $50+ a week on live bait. That's roughly $350 a year. Then one night I found out inline spinners caught more bass then live bait.

I started fishing using two setups one with live bait and the other with lures. The more I learned about the presentations with different lures the more I continued to out fish live bait. I started using lures only and spent $50

a week on lures.

Once you learn how to use lures your catch rate will increase. The bass are predators like kittens they want something moving to attack it.

Now is $250 too much to spend on lures? Let's say it's a good start.

[DogBone_384]

$250's not a lot for lures, especially if you're new to artificial baits. A lone Rapala X-Rap is $10-12, for example.

[bigturtle]

I'm just getting in to lure bait instead of live bait 

$250 is a very good starting point, but its considered as a lower-end budget for many hard core lure fishermen. I probably have $400 myself, and know many who own $700-1000. 

 

 

Fishing 5 to 6 days a week it was costing me $50+ a week on live bait. That's roughly $350 a year.

you only fish 7 weeks(less than 2 months) a year? you need to get out more

[JazzPipes]

It all depends on how much money you can spend on the hobby.

 

I quickly realized that fishing can go as expensive as you want. You get nice rod, a nice reel, another rod, another reel, a bunch of lures, another rod, a boat, you go ice fishing and buy ice fishing rods and lures and shelters... its just infinite.

 

So, $250 does not mean a full tackle box. But its a very good start. 

I started with lures recently and the biggest mistakes I made were 2:

 

- I bought a bunch of lures to fish clear water but I did not realize that 90% of the places I fish are murky waters.

 

- as Im fishing from the shore, buying lures that can go 30ft deep was not a smart purchase.

 

Try to not make the same mistakes as I made.

 

Buy lures thinking of the place you are going to use them and if you decide not to go the jerkbait rout, you might save a lot of money for cranks, spinners, buzzbaits...

[sprint61]

Not to much at all, but like jazzpipes said buy stuff you will need/use. For example don't buy a bunch of 6xds or 10xds if your not gonna deep crank.

[Montanaro]

My lone crankbait box probably has that much or more in it.

[aceman387]

Some day you will be building a pole barn for all your stuff...LoL

[Bassun]

If you have the disposable income to literally throw away $250 bucks, then no - it is not too much.  If you don't, then yes it is.  I don't mean to sound harsh, but the reality is you cannot buy a lure and plan on using it and not be willing to lose it.  I fish with a lot of different people, many end up borrowing my tackle and they are always worried about losing a lure.  I tell everyone the same thing, "I didn't buy them to look at, I planned on losing it the day I bought it."  The trick, which I didn't learn early enough, is buying the "right" lures. 

 

For example if you fish small streams for smallmouth and redeye - you don't need to buy a dozen 3/4oz jigs or 8 inch jerkbaits.  However, a couple J7 Rapala's would be a great choice.  If you fish for panfish, you don't need those spooks and flukes, but a beetle spin and some 1/16th oz grubs would be great.  I would personally suggest starting with smaller lures.  I know, I know - big lures catch big fish.  But when the bite gets tough, we down size.  If you don't have smaller, more versatile lures, what do you down size to?  Another reason I suggest going with smaller lures is two fold.  First, they "may" be cheaper, secondly you will generally have better catch rates on smaller lures.  But, at the same time - smaller fish more often.  Which, to me, is ok.  Especially if you are learning how to use artificials.

 

If I were to start fishing today with no tackle, and just learning I would look at the following as a starting point (assuming you are fishing mixed species water with a variety of sunfish):  I'm in SW Virginia and fish a mix of streams and lakes.  Most notably, I would NOT buy ultra high end lures.  I would start my "core" hard plastics with quality gear, Rapala, Strike King, including the cheaper Bandits and Rebels.  But I would avoid stuff like Livingston and Livingtarget where to cost is just so high.  (But they do work!)

 

Grubs  - I would get a mix of 1/16 up to 1/4 or maybe even a couple 3/8 oz jig heads and a variety of sizes and colors up to 2 inch.  They will flat out catch anything that swims.  You could stop here and catch TONS of fish.

Crankbaits - I would get a few smaller ones, and a couple larger - all shallow to mid running.  Maybe buy 1 or 2 deep runners if you have deep enough waters.  Great search baits that catch tons of fish.

Spinnerbaits - no need to buy a box of these on day one.  1/2 oz white, with willow leaves.  1/2 oz "bluegill or perch colored" with mixed Colorado and willow.  3/8 black and blue with big Colorado blades will get you through a lot to start out.  And they are hard to lose, so you don't "have" to have so many backups.

Jigs - I would get a few jigs, notably a 3/8 oz black and blue, and a back up of the same.  Then maybe something a little smaller like a 1/2oz in pumpkin seed etc.  These, for me, are super easy to lose lol.  remember, a grub on a jig head is a jig too - so if the jig bite is on, and you lose your big guys - you still have options - get creative.

Soft Plastics - By plastics I mean worms / flukes / senkos etc.  Great thing about these is that you can use many of them on the same hooks.  So getting a couple dozen hooks and a variety of soft plastics gives you a ton of options and offers great success.  I personally opt for 3/0 Extra Wide Gap hooks 90% of the time.  Small enough for dinks, but big and solid enough for bruisers too.  Sometimes, I will down size, or sometimes I'll jump up to even a 5/0 depending.  But 3/0's are my staple.  Flukes and Super Flukes are killer, 4-6" worms, senkos, etc.  Don't forget terminal tackle like swivels, weights etc.  Soft plastics can be as versatile as you want them to be from floating on top, to dragging the bottom to anything in between.  Draping a worm on a football head jig can work wonders at the right time.

Top Water - I would get a couple top water guys like a zaraspook and/or skitter pop, and a good ole fashioned el cheapo popper.

 

Then from there I would do two things:  First look for sales.  You can often times find a good deal on a variety of different lures with big box sales.  it's a great way to supplement your collection, and build up different colors and looks.  And don't be a snob.  Sure, those $20 lures look great and do catch fish.  But so does that $2.50 Rebel you just found on sale.

Secondly - Look for used stuff - yard sales, flee markets, friends selling off stuff, sometimes even ebay.  If you look around, you never know what you might find.

 

Now, I can guarantee if you ask 10 people, they will give you 10 different answers on what they would spend $250 on -- but that's where I personally would start.  But, keep in mind -- $20 worth of grubs can be just as much fun as $2000 of too many options to choose from.  Sometimes it's easier not having so much...

 

Oh, and having the same lure in 18 different colors is nice sure --- but to start out - not really worth it.  Color is important, but starting out I would look for a few simple combinations.  Natural, bright w/ chartreus, darker.  And that doesn't mean that you must have three Rapala's of every size in that set - but a bright Bomber Fat Free shad, a Natural looking Rapala DT6 and a dark Normal Little-N would be a simple starting set of cranks. 

 

Tight lines!

[WIGuide]

It depends on if you can afford to spend $250 or not. Don't think you need to spend that to get into fishing. It can be done on any budget, but as you get into it you'll realize that the sky is the limit. If you are just starting out, $250 would be a pretty good starting point I think. 

[Siebert Outdoors]

It depends on if you can afford to spend $250 or not. Don't think you need to spend that to get into fishing. It can be done on any budget, but as you get into it you'll realize that the sky is the limit. If you are just starting out, $250 would be a pretty good starting point I think. 

 

I agree,  250 should buy a lot of tackle that will do most presentations. 

[hatrix]

There is a little know technique I use a lot with good success. I like to pick a area and chum it with quarters. It really get the fish fired up quickly. Then I take $20 bills and nose hook them and make super long casts. I can spool a 300 soze reel and have to actually stop it so I don't hit my knot. Then just work it like a fluke the whole way back. I catch a ton of fish but go through a lot of 20's. I will switch to $10 bills after I run out of 20's but they catch a lot of dinks. When I think I have a shot at a giant I will bust out a $50 and it always pays off but I rarely do it. I have toyed with the idea of using $100 bills but Ohio won't set a world record so I don't even bother. I would suspect though if I lived in like Cali it would only take a couple hours to set the record with 100's. If I could get my hands on another $500 bill "I had one when I was younger" I am thinking I could set it first cast.

[Molay1292]

I would like to answer your question, however, I have an aquaintance that is much more qualified.   I will send him by your house or workplace, be looking for the "Bait Monkey".

[Evan K]

Like others have said, it all depends on your income.

I've found that quality baits and gear seem to add to the fun for myself though. Keep a lure retriever handy and do reconcile yourself to the fact that you'll lose a lot of baits.

[Raul]

Before this becomes a peeing contest about which one can pee the farthest and coming from someone than can pee really far away, $250 is a truckload of money to purchase lures, you can go and catch a bunch of fish with a lot less than that; a few Rat L traps, a Tiny Torpedo, a couple of spinnerbaits, a few bags of "senkos", curly tail grubs and worms is pretty much what you need to go and have fun for a long time. One thing that I have learned is that it´s better to have a few good quality selected baits and know how to fish them right than a ton of baits and not fishing them right.

 

If there´s any doubt on how much tackle I have let me show you my spares:

 

 

That´s only a small part of what I have.   So, who wants to start the peeing contest ?

[Ratherbfishing]

$250 is an enormous amount of money if you can't afford it and/or if you want the biggest bang for your buck and then don't use the baits you purchase properly. A person with a handful of beetle spins and curly tail jigs who then uses them properly and in the right places can fish circles around someone with a whole boat load of lures who doesn't.

[zeth]

Hey it's up to you.  IMO 250 not to much. But if you got only a dollar to your name then yeah it might be.

 

Start out with basics:

soft stick bait, couple hooks to rig wacky and texas

Drop shot any bait thats about 4" or under like a Keitech Shad Impact, hooks, weights

Pack of ribbontail worms and 1/4 oz bullet weights

Couple of 3/8oz casting jigs and chunk trailer

 

That's what I would start with at least.

 

Buy brands like Bass Pro Shops, zoom etc to save some $ at first because they make good stuff at fair prices.  FYI Academy Sports has cheapest Zoom prices and Tackle Warehouse has a big sale coming up. Winter is upon us so you can also find deals at sports shows etc that will start to show up around January if you are near a big city.

[Fishes in trees]

Aceman 387 posted earlier to the effect that  "someday you will consider building a pole barn . . ."   Anyway, I did that in 2001.   Should have built bigger then.  Seriously considering rebuilding.   My advice is to spend what you want to on fishing.  Should it happen that you spend "too much" rest assured that you could have spent that money on dumber stuff.  As you acquire more fishing gear, you will become very familiar with the semantic difference between "need" and "want".

[Fisher-O-men]

$250 is way too much... for one lure, but a lot of guys are shelling it out for the Deps 250 glide bait.  Not me, those things sink!!!

[PourMyOwn]

250 is a nice chunk of change to get started. I'd start closer to 150, then use the extra 100 to replace/expand on what you liked. The last thing to do is waste money when you don't really know what you want just yet.

 

These guys have the bait part covered, so I'll skip it.

 

Don't get sucked into an expensive tackle box-Plano 3700s and old backpacks is a way cheaper option. When you have a system figured out for carrying your stuff, then you may know what kind of box to get. 

[blckshirt98]

$250 will get you a ton of lures if it's spent efficiently and you use it on stuff youre going to actually use, just be sure to mix it up and not do something like buy 10 different colors of a 5" senko or 5 different colors of a KVD 2.5 squarebill because that'll chew up your budget really fast.  Part of the fun is being able to use different lures/presentations to keep it interesting and fun.

 

Also when people here say that $250 is a nice start, remember that I'd say the majority of bought tackle gets unused, or sees the water once or twice without catching anything, then gets put away.  If armageddon came tomorrow I think I have enough tackle to catch fish to survive on for the next 20 years, which means 95% of the stuff I buy really doesn't see much use.

 

Now I'm considering putting together an imaginary $250 lure cart at TW to see what I would get if I were starting from scratch.  If everyone here did that it would stink to be the TW admins when they see a ton of $250 carts that never get checked out.

[F14A-B]

Not nearly enough... When you get to 25,000 then you can claim your a Bass fisherman.

[tholmes]

$250 is a very good starting point, but its considered as a lower-end budget for many hard core lure fishermen. I probably have $400 myself, and know many who own $700-1000. 

 

 

 

I probably have $700 - $1000 in my "main" tackle box.

 

I have several smaller boxes that each have $50 to $200 in them. At this point, I spend a couple hundred bucks a year just to maintain my stock.

 

Tom

[bigbill]

How old are you son? I think $100 worth of lures could get you going. The other $150 towards furthering your education.

[soflabasser]

Live bait is free if you catch it yourself. $250 is more than enough to easily get yourself a years supply of lures that will catch bass of all sizes.