The Annual Boom or Bust Lure thread - 2017 edition

[Koz]

I bank fish only and I think that influences what I toss on a daily basis. I've caught fish on jigs this year, but I don't throw them that often. If I was fishing from a boat I'm sure I'd fish them a lot more.

 

Boom

These are the ones that I toss every time I head out. If I don't catch something quick on these I know it's going to be a grind that day.

 

Whopper Plopper 90,110,130 in Bone

Texas Rigged Yum Dingers and GY Senko's

 

 

Bust

Swimbaits

Crankbaits

 

I've caught one fish each on a swimbait and crankbait this year no matter how I fish them. If fishing is slow on a given day these are usually the last things that I pull from my tackle bag.

 

Now that my son loves to fish this is the first year that I have fished a lot in a while (we probably go out 3-5 nights a week). Not only does that make it fun, but I've caught fish on just about everything this year including jerkbait, jig, frogs, chatterbait. spinnerbait, beetle spin, popper, and trick worm. Biggest bass this summer was 4+ lbs, so the only thing that can make this year better is landing one over 6, even if it's not a PB.

 

[buzzed bait]

On 7/30/2017 at 7:54 AM, Mike L said:

So far this year there are 2 that I tried and would consider a bust for me...a small underspin (Clayton, don't feel alone ) and the ned rig. 

I'll keep trying to make the underspin work but forget the Ned.

 

nailed it for me, both of those baits are useless in my hands (i know they catch fish, but i just can't seem to figure it out).

 

Boom lures:

5" weightless stick bait (old faithful)

bett's spinner blade, 1/4oz jig head and a single tail grub has been killing it on the river for me for 2 years now so that one stays in the boom category!

[Dorado]

41 minutes ago, buzzed bait said:

 

nailed it for me, both of those baits are useless in my hands (i know they catch fish, but i just can't seem to figure it out).

 

Boom lures:

5" weightless stick bait (old faithful)

bett's spinner blade, 1/4oz jig head and a single tail grub has been killing it on the river for me for 2 years now so that one stays in the boom category!

I hear you on the bett's spinner blade and single tail grub combo. I caught my PB crappie this year that way and countless bass and channel catfish too. Interchanging that spinner blade with a Roadrunner easily puts that in  my top 5 lures of all time. 

[Choporoz]

Boom: Rage Tail plastics...is there a bad one?

 

Bust: the answer to the question above just might be Smokin Rooster....got a pack as a gift...so, I have tried really hard....worked them much longer than I'd have ever stuck with something that I bought...I just need to send one pic of a fish caught with one...but, not sure its going to happen

[buzzed bait]

18 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

Boom: Rage Tail plastics...is there a bad one?

 

Bust: the answer to the question above just might be Smokin Rooster....

 

that's the only rage plastic i consistently see on sale and yet i've never felt the urge to purchase one!

[CroakHunter]

34 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

Boom: Rage Tail plastics...is there a bad one?

 

Bust: the answer to the question above just might be Smokin Rooster....got a pack as a gift...so, I have tried really hard....worked them much longer than I'd have ever stuck with something that I bought...I just need to send one pic of a fish caught with one...but, not sure its going to happen

I plan to pick some up to carolina rig

[Choporoz]

3 minutes ago, CroakHunter said:

I plan to pick some up to carolina rig

That's where I've had it the majority of the time....had one good bite, but lost him halfway up

[J Francho]

The smoking Rooster is a dead ringer for the small bullhead and madtom that are all over the place here in the spring, during the spawn.  I Rage rig them, and gently guide them through spawning flats.  I don't particularly target beds with them, though.

 

Boom: 30+ bass yesterday on the new Savage Gear Goby Tube.  Drop shot the smaller size.

 

Bust: Whopper Plopper.  I caught a few on it.  Meh.

[Cgolf]

Booms

Gambler Ugly Otter

Rage Menace, still hate the price, but they work

Spin Frog, Homemade, fished it twice now in less than ideal locations and got a nice pike and multiple hits. This thing seems like a winner. 

Lipless baits The fish can't stay off these things

Arishi Spybait Tried this for the first time this year and it worked extremely well for me. 

 

Busts

Lipped cranks aren't working as well as years past, but I am chalking it up to all the rain and funky weather patterns putting the bass into a more passive mode this year. 

 

Everything else i have tossed this year has worked for me. 

[scaleface]

I need to add Rapala Fat Rap to the Boom list . Bass were close mouth on cranks today but the Fat Rap seduced a few... 

 

...and add the Red Eye Shad to the bust list . One of my favorite but they just havent got it done this year.

[tcbass]

I forgot to add the chatterbait to the bust category. Only used it once but didn't get a bit. However, I haven't caught anything on spinnerbaits either. 

 

And add the Booyah Vibra Wire Spinnerbait to the bust for me also. Only used it once. Feels a lot heavier than the same sized Terminator and is much harder to work. 

[Bluebasser86]

Need to add the craw tube to my boom category. Never had much luck with them but they've been doing work for me this year. Seems like the average size of the fish is really good with them too. 

[FryDog62]

Booms

• 5 inch Caffeine Shad on an Owner 3/32 oz Screwlock hook.  If there is a bass anywhere near where this hits the surface and does the slow fall - lights out.  Its such a good skipping lure under docks too.  Pearl, Glacier colors.    
• 5 inch Kalin's Baby Bass 5 inch Wac-O-Worm.  Weightless in lakes, 1/16 oz VMC wacky hook in rivers.  It just works... around cover, skipping, weed edges, etc.  Old Faithful.
• Keitech Fat 4.3 inch on a 4/0 1/4 oz swimbait hook.  As a search bait I prefer this over crank baits now, covers water and weeds don't stick to it like a crank.  Caught my PB walleye this year on one.
• Shadow Rap - high confidence lure in cold water (which we have a lot here in Minnesota).  Caught my PB pike while jerking for smallmouth this Spring. 

Busts

• Drop-shotting.  I caught my PB smallmouth on Mille Lacs last year drop-shotting ala Seth Fieder style, but have yet to catch anything on a drop-shot this year.  But then again I haven't been back to Mille Lacs either --

 

[tcbass]

24 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

Booms

• 5 inch Caffeine Shad on an Owner 3/32 oz Screwlock hook.  If there is a bass anywhere near where this hits the surface and does the slow fall - lights out.  Its such a good skipping lure under docks too.  Pearl, Glacier colors.    
• 5 inch Kalin's Baby Bass 5 inch Wac-O-Worm.  Weightless in lakes, 1/16 oz VMC wacky hook in rivers.  It just works... around cover, skipping, weed edges, etc.  Old Faithful.
• Keitech Fat 4.3 inch on a 4/0 1/4 oz swimbait hook.  As a search bait I prefer this over crank baits now, covers water and weeds don't stick to it like a crank.  Caught my PB walleye this year on one.
• Shadow Rap - high confidence lure in cold water (which we have a lot here in Minnesota).  Caught my PB pike while jerking for smallmouth this Spring. 

Busts

• Drop-shotting.  I caught my PB smallmouth on Mille Lacs last year drop-shotting ala Seth Fieder style, but have yet to catch anything on a drop-shot this year.  But then again I haven't been back to Mille Lacs either --

 

 

 

Does the caffeine shad float if not weighted down?

[Bluebasser86]

6 hours ago, tcbass said:

 

 

Does the caffeine shad float if not weighted down?

No

[gilkeybr]

Boom:

 

Ned Rig.  I had great success this weekend with a 1/15oz head (preferably a dark color, but white also worked) and a tail in a green pattern (New Money or Canada Craw).  Tried PB&J TRDs and didn't get as much success.  The down side is you will catch numbers, including little fish.  Caught more than one 6-8" bass.  But also caught a 3.2lber as well as several other respectable fish

 

S-Waver 168.  Picked this up last winter in the "I Know It" Color.  Got a hit on my very first cast.  Nothing like the thrill of seeing that "big" bait glide through the water and seeing the flash of a fishes side come out of the shadows.  So sold by the 168 I just got a 200 size in Bluegill pattern.  Can't wait to try it some more!

 

Bust:

Jigs.  Never have gotten even so much as a sniff on a jig.  I know this has to do with the times/places i'm throwing them since they clearly work for many people.  I need to improve this technique.

 

Shaky Head.  Same story as the jig.  I don't have the confidence to throw them in good conditions because i'd rather throw something I think is going to work.  I need to dedicate some "prime time" to fishing these presentations

 

Flukes.  Tried various colors and can't seem to get a positive response from the fish.  Have caught a couple, but much less then I would catch in the same span of time with a t-rigged stick bait

[tcbass]

11 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

No

 

 

So, it's basically just like a fluke?

[J Francho]

5 minutes ago, tcbass said:

 

 

So, it's basically just like a fluke?

 

A fluke with coffee scent and a different body and tail, but I treat it like fluke, rigging and fishing wise.

[tcbass]

1 minute ago, J Francho said:

 

A fluke with coffee scent and a different body and tail, but I treat it like fluke, rigging and fishing wise.

 

 

Cool. So you think it's more successful for you than a fluke?

[FryDog62]

32 minutes ago, tcbass said:

 

 

So, it's basically just like a fluke?

It does sink - it has an extremely high salt concentration so it will sink on its own.  I've used it weightless and on the 3/32 oz weighted hook.  Because it's so full of salt they don't last long.  That's why I think you have to use the screw-lock type of hook, either weighted or weightless.  It does help them from crumbling apart as easily but you'll still go through them.  I may catch a couple fish per Shad, sometimes more.

 

I'd say the Caffeine Shad is somewhere between a fluke and a wacky worm.  The front-end is like a fluke but the thinner tail has a small air bubble in it.  Between the bubble and that the weighted hook is in the middle (not like your typical nose-weighted jig) the lure will stay horizontal more like a wacky worm.  When it hits the water be sure you have semi-slack line like when you fish a wacky worm - then it typically dives a foot or so to the side or backward like its swimming, then slows and starts spiraling downward like a dying baitfish.  Most of the time it stays horizontal - a slower fall when weightless and a little more rapid at 3/32.  Either way the darting then dying action usually trigger a strike if there's fish in the area.  If not twitch/jerk the rod tip up gently a couple times and let it dart/die again.  Great action -- better than your typical fluke IMO. 

 

Skips very well up underneath docks.  I also had good luck this summer throwing it about 4-5 feet deep into the Lilly pads then wriggle it on top back to the weed edge and let it dart/die back into the open water.  Caught a lot of bass that watched it come over the top of them, follow back to the weed edge and then hammer it once it falls back into the water.  

 

BTW, the 3 fish in my photo were all caught on the same Caffeine Shad on a 20 foot section of dock within about 4 minutes...

 

Its not a new lure on the market but it was for me this year and I've had a ball with it!

[fishwizzard]

Caffeine Shad's are great if you can accept the durability.  They are also almost twice as heavy as a Zoom Super, so you can use heavier tackle and fish them around cover a bit more fearlessly.  

[J Francho]

2 hours ago, tcbass said:

 

 

Cool. So you think it's more successful for you than a fluke?

 

Maybe some days, others maybe not.  They're similar, yet different baits.  I like them, but I like Super Flukes, too.

[tcbass]

On 7/30/2017 at 7:35 PM, Gundog said:

Boom would be the swim jig. I know that any jig can be a swim jig and that its more of a technique than a lure but I've caught a good number of fish on it this year. And they don't just hit it, most of the fish I've caught were solidly hooked. 

 

Bust...well if you have read some of my other posts you know how I feel about the Whopper Plopper. I've fished it at various times and it just hasn't produced. I mean, no fish at all on a lake that is pretty good for top water baits.

 

Whsy speeds are you fishing the Plopper? I almost always catch my fish going pretty slow. 

[Gundog]

9 hours ago, tcbass said:

 

Whsy speeds are you fishing the Plopper? I almost always catch my fish going pretty slow. 

I've been varying the speed. Keeping in mind that the plopper is a combination of lures, I've varied the retrieve speed from just twitching it and pausing to a steady retrieve and everything in between.  The funny thing is after I stopped throwing it I would come back to that area with a torpedo, a buzz bait, a spook or a zoom toad and catch fish. I really don't know why it hasn't produced. I doubt its the speed. 

[tcbass]

41 minutes ago, Gundog said:

I've been varying the speed. Keeping in mind that the plopper is a combination of lures, I've varied the retrieve speed from just twitching it and pausing to a steady retrieve and everything in between.  The funny thing is after I stopped throwing it I would come back to that area with a torpedo, a buzz bait, a spook or a zoom toad and catch fish. I really don't know why it hasn't produced. I doubt its the speed. 

 

Weird. Maybe color, size, or they just don't like that lure.