Who mainly uses the same lures every time they fish? - I'm down to the same 4 lures

[RPreeb]

So far in this, my first modern summer of bass fishing, I've used several different baits, but only actually caught fish on 3 of them.  As a result, those are the ones I start with when I go down the pond.  If I don't get anything, or if they bite for a while and then stop, then I'll pull something new out of the box and have a go with it.  I'm mostly still teaching myself proper technique for casting and for retrieving (with a lot of help from this site and YouTube), so when I don't get bit, I usually figure that it's just as likely me as it is the bait.  

 

I learned Northwoods bass fishing in Wisconsin back in the late 50's and early 60's, and had the most success fishing topwaters, so that is still my usual starting point unless it's just the wrong thing for the time or location.  I generally have some sort of soft plastic rigged weightless on my spinning rod, and I throw cranks and topwaters with the baitcaster.  

 

I don't own a spinnerbait or buzzbait yet... so I know I'm probably missing some opportunities, but I need to improve my approach with what I do have before I branch out any further.  I already have a pile of baits sitting on a table here in my study for which I don't even have a box yet to store them in, so I need to slow down feeding the monkey for a while.

[tcbass]

6 minutes ago, RPreeb said:

So far in this, my first modern summer of bass fishing, I've used several different baits, but only actually caught fish on 3 of them.  As a result, those are the ones I start with when I go down the pond.  If I don't get anything, or if they bite for a while and then stop, then I'll pull something new out of the box and have a go with it.  I'm mostly still teaching myself proper technique for casting and for retrieving (with a lot of help from this site and YouTube), so when I don't get bit, I usually figure that it's just as likely me as it is the bait.  

 

I learned Northwoods bass fishing in Wisconsin back in the late 50's and early 60's, and had the most success fishing topwaters, so that is still my usual starting point unless it's just the wrong thing for the time or location.  I generally have some sort of soft plastic rigged weightless on my spinning rod, and I throw cranks and topwaters with the baitcaster.  

 

I don't own a spinnerbait or buzzbait yet... so I know I'm probably missing some opportunities, but I need to improve my approach with what I do have before I branch out any further.  I already have a pile of baits sitting on a table here in my study for which I don't even have a box yet to store them in, so I need to slow down feeding the monkey for a while.

 

 

Same issue.....I own plenty of baits and definitely am not planning on buying any more baits for a long time. I just keep using the ones that work. 

 

I need to try other baits, baits that work in areas that I normally don't fish.

[J Francho]

1 hour ago, tcbass said:

 

Well, fortunately I've always done well with this sort of configuration. 

 

 

However, I would like to expand my skills to deeper fishing.

Always?

 

 

[tcbass]

23 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Always?

 

 

 

 

Meant usually. lol. But yes, the fish move into deeper and you have to be follow them and be have the skills to catch them that way. Which the OP isn't about. 

[J Francho]

I'd say start working with some Texas Rigged plastics.  Start with a 3/8 oz. bullet sinker, some worm hooks and 7" ribbon tail worms.  It doesn't have to be complicated.  Any old MH/F rod will work.  Start casting to breaks in 7-12' water.

[tcbass]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

I'd say start working with some Texas Rigged plastics.  Start with a 3/8 oz. bullet sinker, some worm hooks and 7" ribbon tail worms.  It doesn't have to be complicated.  Any old MH/F rod will work.  Start casting to breaks in 7-12' water.

 

Cool. Thanks. I actually have those baits and will try it. 

[the reel ess]

A lot of times, I'll use the same 6 or 7 lures, but they're all tied on a combo. If they're working, there's no need to change. I'll adjust the lipless crank to a topwater as the light fades or I'll change up the T rig to a jig or something else to get bites. When I was a teen I would only use a T rigged worm and a crankbait. If they weren't biting one of those, I was done fishing or I was going after another species.

 

I'd say 95% of my fish this year came on:

Worm of some kind,

Lipless crank

Spinnerbait

A topwater of some kind, mostly Spook

A Rooster Tail (don't judge me)

And last, but not least, the frog. This is by far my favorite lure of all time.

 

[The Bassman]

4 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Anymore, I take the fish on my terms, not anyone else's. The day you truly grasp the importance of controlling the depth and speed of your lure - at the same time - is the day you'll realize how little tackle you actually need to consistently catch bass. This year, I'd say 80-90% of the bass I've caught have come on just three or four baits.

 

One of the most important lessons I've learned this year is to assess conditions and location and focus on a very limited lure selection.  When I start jumping from bait to bait my success tanks. True, there might be that one lure and presentation I don't try that really rings the cash register but day in and day out I do best with this approach.

[bagofdonuts]

my brother swears he can catch any bass swimming with a zoom fluke, and usually catches just as many if not more than i do, using a large assortment of baits. he'll fish it anywhere from split shoting it on the bottom to screaming it on top. about the only time i can get him to switch is when their fired up on a crank bait bite and he just can't keep up with the fluke. those days are precious to me.

[StrikePrince]

5 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Anymore, I take the fish on my terms, not anyone else's. The day you truly grasp the importance of controlling the depth and speed of your lure - at the same time - is the day you'll realize how little tackle you actually need to consistently catch bass. This year, I'd say 80-90% of the bass I've caught have come on just three or four baits.

Can you explain a situation that helped you realize the importance of depth/speed control? 

[the reel ess]

27 minutes ago, bagofdonuts said:

my brother swears he can catch any bass swimming with a zoom fluke, and usually catches just as many if not more than i do, using a large assortment of baits. he'll fish it anywhere from split shoting it on the bottom to screaming it on top. about the only time i can get him to switch is when their fired up on a crank bait bite and he just can't keep up with the fluke. those days are precious to me.

My friend only uses a weightless Trick Worm in bubble gum color. I turned him on to it. And he does pretty well year round. My dad only wanted to use T rigged worms until I showed him I could do well with a crank at different times.

[Dtrombly]

Frogs, jigs, senkos and craws are 95% of my spring-summer fishing. Cold months is jigs and jerkbaits. 

[fishindad]

The OP's question is in a similar vein as the "specialist vs. generalist" thread. Here's my thoughts based on my experiences.

 

1. Most of us would probably quit bass fishing if we could only fish 4 (or less) lures every outing, as JFrancho pointed out.

2. If one only fishes the same body of water and same locations then it's easier to get dialed in to what typically works. I will bet that one can catch more smallmouth over the course of a season on a 4" tube rigged on a 3/8th oz head over   any other one lure (except maybe a dropshot worm). But of course there are times and locations when the tube or dropshot is not the best lure to throw.

3. There's fishing for big fish (i.e., frog) vs. numbers (i.e., Ned rig) - in general. You probably won't catch much throwing a Ned rig on Okeechobee nor will you catch much throwing a frog in a 100 acre quarry pond with no weeds.

4. If you're happy with the numbers and size of bass you're catching then why change? But no angler weekend or pro is happy with their catch each and every time out.

5. One of the most fun things about bass fishing is buying and throwing new lures, buying new rods and reels, new line types, etc etc. Who doesn't love coming home to a TW box and opening it and trying out the new baits that weekend!

6. I think there have been statistics showing that the winning lures of all the BASS events for the past umpteen years and a jig, spinnerbait, or Texas rigged plastic has won like 80%+ of all tournaments. But those guys will fish 8 hours for only 6-7 bites but they are all bigguns. That's not how most of us fun fish or want to fun fish. I certainly don't want to catch less than one bass per hour!

7. I play some golf and would probably get almost the same score if I played a round with just my driver, pitching wedge, 7 iron and putter, as I would with a full set of 14 clubs. But it wouldn't be as fun and wouldn't be as easy using only 4 clubs.

 

All that said, I have been refining my tackle such that 4 rods (not including duplicates) and 4-5 types of presentations will make me a better angler, both smallies and greenies. But, it still means I carry lots of soft plastics and hard baits. A 6'10"MH, 6'10"H, 7'3"H and 7'M spin rod (2 of each!) can do 99% of what I need/like to do on every body of water I fish here in Michigan. I found over the years that way too many rods on deck or in the locker are just too confusing and inefficient, for me. I used to waste so much time deciding what to change to and re-tying. KISS is what works for me.

 

 

[Team9nine]

2 hours ago, StrikePrince said:

Can you explain a situation that helped you realize the importance of depth/speed control? 

 

Most fish I catch reinforce the concept. To get bit, you typically have to put a bait in front of a fish (right depth) for the right length of time (right speed) - what Rich Zaleski termed "close enough for long enough," one of the 10 best pieces of fishing wisdom ever written (JMHO). If you're dragging a jig along the bottom when the bass are up shallow and feeding, you probably won't catch much - (wrong depth control). Likewise, you might have the right depth (shallow and feeding up top), but if you're burning a spinnerbait instead of pausing a top water, you might not get bit then either (wrong speed control). Only when those two factors coincide will good things begin to happen. Once you understand this concept, you'll realize you don't need a ton of different baits to accomplish this, or at least get you pointed in the right direction for the day.

 

[tcbass]

2 hours ago, Team9nine said:

 

Most fish I catch reinforce the concept. To get bit, you typically have to put a bait in front of a fish (right depth) for the right length of time (right speed) - what Rich Zaleski termed "close enough for long enough," one of the 10 best pieces of fishing wisdom ever written (JMHO). If you're dragging a jig along the bottom when the bass are up shallow and feeding, you probably won't catch much - (wrong depth control). Likewise, you might have the right depth (shallow and feeding up top), but if you're burning a spinnerbait instead of pausing a top water, you might not get bit then either (wrong speed control). Only when those two factors coincide will good things begin to happen. Once you understand this concept, you'll realize you don't need a ton of different baits to accomplish this, or at least get you pointed in the right direction for the day.

 

 

I agree and I think if most fish are hungry they'll eat most whatever is put in front of them. Sure they can get finicky and changing size, color, or speed can help but usually hungry bass will eat what's put on their plate. 

 

 

I test test this theory some times. If a friend is catching them on a Whopper Plopper I'll try a buzzbait, if a friend is catching them under docks with Wacky Rigged Senkos I'll try a Zoom Super Fluke to see if they'll hit similar baits and usually bass will hit my lures too. 

[OCdockskipper]

I believe this also gets back to confidence baits, the 3 or 4 ones that you have had success with in the past and know how to make produce bites.  I have noticed that when using something I don't have alot of confidence in, if I don't get bit pretty quick, I decide that particular lure may not be in the fish's wheel house today.  However, if I am using something that I have a lot of confidence in & I don't get bit, I decide that the fish are not where I am at.  

 

For that reason, I will fish a confidence bait much longer without getting bit than a non-confidence one.  In my mind, I have removed one of the variables (something they will bite) and now all I have to do is find them & get that confidence bait in front of them.

[IndianaOutdoors]

11 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Anymore, I take the fish on my terms, not anyone else's. The day you truly grasp the importance of controlling the depth and speed of your lure - at the same time - is the day you'll realize how little tackle you actually need to consistently catch bass. This year, I'd say 80-90% of the bass I've caught have come on just three or four baits.

Care to expand on that?  I thought more tackle options allowed you to choose the right bait for speed and depth.  Seems like this could be apart of the fishing equation I haven't figured out yet.

[Team9nine]

9 hours ago, IndianaOutdoors said:

Care to expand on that?  I thought more tackle options allowed you to choose the right bait for speed and depth.  Seems like this could be apart of the fishing equation I haven't figured out yet.

Sure - No doubt, having more tackle means you have more options, and more specific ones at that, but the drawback is it cost you a lot of money to buy the baits, then likely the different combos to fish those baits, plus you have to haul all of it around to the lake each trip because you feel like you might end up needing something you left back at home. In addition, you're going to have a lot of decisions to make. Just in the shallow water you'll need to figure out whether to throw a spinnerbait, your new Teckel Sprinkers, a Plopper (what size and color?), maybe a Spook or a buzzbait,..how about a Senko, or a Pop-R. Don't forget your pitching outfit, and be sure to bring plenty of Rage Craws, beaver style baits, some brush hogs, the newest punching deal, and try them all, because you just never know which one they'll like better today...and we haven't even made it out of the first cove yet...oh, and don't forget the Ned outfit! One thing is for sure, you'll have the love and appreciation of the tackle manufacturers

 

I just want to go out fishing for a few hours, have a good time, and catch some bass. So, lets use @bagofdonuts example. You bring 4 outfits and a huge backpack to carry everything to the lake with you so you can "cover all your options." I grab a single rod/reel outfit along with a pack of my favorite color Zoom flukes. In that bag of flukes, I throw in a couple EWG and dropshot hooks, a couple bullet weights, 2 scrounger heads, 1 underspin body and a split shot or two. The whole thing goes in my back pocket.

 

Now, when we arrive at the lake, I start by tossing my weightless fluke along the bank, next to laydowns, in behind docks, and along the weeds, basically covering some shallow options. If the weed growth is thicker, I can twitch the bait over the moss and let it settle in holes, work it through pads, etc. If I get some halfhearted swirls in the weed openings, I can simply add a bullet weight to my outfit and now pitch the holes and work it slower, or do the same around laydowns and bushes along the bank.

 

Otherwise, no bites, so I start moving out a bit. By pinching a split shot on the line at the head of the bait, I can now fish down a few feet into the opening of docks, the deep ends of laydowns, or the deeper weedline edge. Put a fluke on one of the scrounger heads, and I can now work the bait like a crankbait, paralleling docks and weedlines, fan casting the flats, or throwing out into deeper water and counting the bait down to various depths. I can even rip it and let it drop trying to trigger bites like a spoon or Trap. Not as aggressive, rig it dropshot style and pitch the deep weedline or very ends of docks, finessing a few bass along the way.

 

If a group of schoolers comes up, I'm ready, going back weightless or tossing it on an underspin. If it turns out we need to go deeper to catch them, I can peg the bullet weight above the bait and fish it like a Carolina rig, dragging the bottom. If it's brushy down there, back to the Texas rigged version with the bullet weight, working it through the limbs.

 

If the fish are even halfway active today, I've done a pretty good job of covering all the available depths and speeds, around most every cover option the lake has to offer - all with a tackle pack that fits in my back pocket giving me supreme mobility and less hassles - and cost me almost nothing. I probably have caught my share of fish, also.

 

Of course, this is just an example and not all encompassing, but hopefully you get the idea. You don't need a lot of tackle to effectively fish a body of water and catch some bass. 

[fishindad]

3 hours ago, Team9nine said:

You don't need a lot of tackle to effectively fish a body of water and catch some bass. 

This!! 

[fishwizzard]

5 hours ago, Team9nine said:

I grab a single rod/reel outfit along with a pack of my favorite color Zoom flukes. In that bag of flukes, I throw in a couple EWG and dropshot hooks, a couple bullet weights, 2 scrounger heads, 1 underspin body and a split shot or two. The whole thing goes in my back pocket.

This is more an more how I am doing things, but using a fly fishing slingbag so I can carry some little first aid/comfort items along, but I never take more than a single 3600 box and a few loose bit and pieces.  

 

But once I got into jigs and chatterbaits, the single 3600 box got too heavy, so now I am on the hunt for a few little boxes or heavy duty baggies to pare down even more.  

[Team9nine]

27 minutes ago, fishwizzard said:

This is more an more how I am doing things, but using a fly fishing slingbag so I can carry some little first aid/comfort items along, but I never take more than a single 3600 box and a few loose bit and pieces.  

 

But once I got into jigs and chatterbaits, the single 3600 box got too heavy, so now I am on the hunt for a few little boxes or heavy duty baggies to pare down even more.  

 

Takes some discipline and a little creativity. In the boat, I drag a few more 3600s myself (still much lighter than most), but from the bank, it better all fit in some pockets or it isn't going with me. Some days, like when I'm going on a frogging trip, the only bait I bring is the one tied on my rod 

[fishwizzard]

3 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

 

Takes some discipline and a little creativity. In the boat, I drag a few more 3600s myself (still much lighter than most), but from the bank, it better all fit in some pockets or it isn't going with me. Some days, like when I'm going on a frogging trip, the only bait I bring is the one tied on my rod 

See, I hate having stuff banging around in my pockets, so I prefer a small pack.  I sent some plastics through the wash once and my shorts were a little tie-dyed for a while.  

[Koz]

I have some lures that I really LIKE to throw (T-rig Senko, Whopper Plopper, Booyah Pad Crasher) so I usually start with those. But if those aren't producing I'll start working through my bag including different plastics, buzzbait, chatterbait, spinner bait, jig, or something else. I'm definitely not afraid to go through my tackle bag.

 

For me it really depends upon a combination of what kind of cover or lack of cover I'm seeing and what I feel like throwing that day. If I was a professional fisherman I'd probably break things down a lot more and base my decision of what to throw based on that analysis. But I'm not a pro, so I fish the lures that for me are fun to use.

[GreenGhostMan]

On ‎9‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 8:55 PM, IndianaOutdoors said:

I'm starting to break out of this habit.  I have purchased soooo much tackle the last couple years that I feel guilty if I don't use it.  When I make it to the water I still start with a confidence bait. If the bite isn't on I'll change up.  Sometimes I think I change baits too much.  When I reach this point i pick a presentation that should be working based on conditions and start working different areas looking for active fish.  This is something I'm still working on to become a better fisherman.

 

X2.  This describes me almost exactly.  

[waldo567]

I try different lures but always go back to the Ned rig and TRDs