Do we all carry too much tackle for too many techniques

[Cgolf]

Just reread an old article from Mark Hicks 'Are you versatile or plum confused' where G man talks fishing smart and not having baits that serve the same purpose on deck at the same time. 

 

Now that I am going to be adding swimbaits and topwaters to my box, this got me too thinking are we loading up on too much tackle/techniques that it is holding back our fishing. 

 

Take my vacation lake as an example.

confidence baits:

tubes

grubs kalins and Menace

gambler ugly otter

spinnerbaits

swim senkos

lipless baits 

square bills

deep divers

Finesse worms on slider head

 

building confidence:

spy baits

Swim jigs

finesse worms on drop shot 

ribbon tail worms

 

could throw need to build confidence in:

topwaters in general

swim baits

jerkbaits

 

that list is crazy and I am probably missing some cranks and other stuff. There are years that in a week of 12+ hour days of fishing I don't even try all of my confidence baits much less ones I need to build confidence in. Since a lot of those baits excell in different conditions, I never really feel I get a chance to learn when different baits excell or fall flat. 

 

I got lucky last year figuring out when spy baits are really good, but didn't fish them a lot to find other conditions they work in. 

 

So so would I be a better fisherman if I limited the baits I fished, or am I missing out on fish if I don't become more versatile. It is crazy though how many different ways we can catch fish. Not sure there is a good answer and just realized I forgot to add the Ned rig to the confidence baits lol. 

[Catt]

Do we all carry too much tackle for too many techniques

 

Uhhh Nope!  ?

[WRB]

I know in my boat is the lure the want to eat and the rod/reel/line to present that lure to the bass. Now all I need to do is figure what that lure and presentation is! If I knew what the bass wanted it would be simple, that all that's needed and what I would use, because it always comes down to a few lures and presentations that work at that time.

Tom

 

[scaleface]

One day I forgot   my soft plastics at home . I dug through my stuff and found a pack of black Fats Gizits .I Texas rigged them and didnt miss my horde of plastics one bit .

 

 I carry to much . I could cull out half my lures and catch just as many fish if not more .

[Team9nine]

The more I fish (and learn), the less I need. Have no interest in stocking up with the latest tackle trends or hot baits. 

 

 

[Kyhokie]

I bring a lot of tackle, because I enjoy bringing a lot of tackle. I enjoy catching fish on a variety of baits. If i was trying to feed my family, I probably would only fish a Ned rig or a paddle tail.

[padon]

Yeah I probably bring more than I need but I always have that what if in the back of my mind.also the last couple seasons I've forced myself to try some different lures and techniques just to learn about them.plus I like tackle.lol

[IndianaFinesse]

Do I carry more stuff than I need?  Yes.  Does that keep me from bringing it anyways for the "what ifs" that almost never happen? No.

[A-Jay]

Sometimes I fish the right place, at the right time, with the right bait / presentation. 

I know because I catch some bass.

Now if & when one or more of those "rights", end up being wrongs, then I usually don't catch as much. 

So it seems to me that being in the right place, at the right time is at least as important as having the right bait.  

While I could (and may be coming close) carry half of TW's inventory, but if my location & timing is off, it may not help.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

A-Jay

 

 

[jbmaine]

If you are out on the water, look behind you, and see that you are towing a " tackle barge", then maybe you have too much tackle with you LOL. Seriously though I always carry as much as I can for the days " old faithful " doesn't do the trick, and I have to throw everything under the sun to find what the fish want. That being said, I don't have, nor can I afford every size, shape, and color out there, but I always try to carry a few of enough different things so I never have to think " If only I had brought XXXX or XXXX I would have caught fish.

                                                                  Jim

[tcbass]

For most lakes I fish it comes down to Whopper Plopper, Homemade Teckel Sprinker Frog, Wacky Rigged Senko, and nose-hooked Zoom Super Fluke. I have a feeling that these lures would work well in a lot of lakes across the country.

 

 

I will say that it took a lot of trial and error for me to pair it down to these 4 lures, now these 4 lures are all I really use. Rest of my lures sit in the tacklebox until those 4 don't work well again.

[hawgenvy]

In any given bass fishing situation there's going to be one bait that will be more effective than the others.  And half the time that bait is going to be somewhere amongst the 1200 different baits I have brought along.

[bigturtle]

Nope, I take 1 plano 3600 box and whatever fits in there is all I ever take.

[IndianaFinesse]

1 hour ago, tcbass said:

For most lakes I fish it comes down to Whopper Plopper, Homemade Teckel Sprinker Frog, Wacky Rigged Senko, and nose-hooked Zoom Super Fluke. I have a feeling that these lures would work well in a lot of lakes across the country.

 

 

I will say that it took a lot of trial and error for me to pair it down to these 4 lures, now these 4 lures are all I really use. Rest of my lures sit in the tacklebox until those 4 don't work well again.

What do you do in the cold water then?  Doesn't seem like those four lures would work so good then IMHO.

 

Something like 90% of my bass are caught on shaky heads, the ned rig, buzzbaits, jerkbaits, frogs, and shallow cranks-so I really don't branch out as much as I could on a regular basis either.  Several techniques are all I use for short, seasonal windows but aren't used much the rest of the year (weightless trick worms in the postspawn, rattle traps for a week or two in the fall and spring, blade baits and hair jigs in winter, etc.).  Those are typically my "money" bites so to speak.

[Cgolf]

I guess I am not alone lol. my problem is I am very analytical so I of course want to know why they bit what they did and is it a repeating pattern. At the same time at least with plastics I tend to be that junk fisherman switching shapes and colors till I find what works 

 

My weekness is I don't switch up techniques often, I will get locked into a bait category, say plastics or cranks, and throw what I have at them. Maybe my New Years resolution will need to be instead of fishing another plastic switch to a popper, swimbait, etc. Hopefully with time I will learn these other baits like I do my core presentations. 

 

Maybe I will try to limit my baits in the boat a bit giving me flexibility, but limiting it to a smaller number to choose from. It helps having a narrow beamed 16 ft boat, because I can only carry so much tackle and still move around. 

[JustJames]

Or we should go back to where we stop at our backyard digging for worm before each fishing trip. Very simple one bait for all the fish.

Nah never too much on lures or plastics. The thrill of bass fishing is to get them to bite on something especially the one that you never catch fish before. 

[Bluebasser86]

I bring too much, but I've culled out a lot of tackle this past season. I carry 1 box of cranks, that's it. I've gotten rid of a ton of the baits that are similar colors (no more green pumpkin/red/blue/magic/candy/purple/orange), just sticking to standard colors and 1 or 2 companies. It's cut down a bunch of weight in the boat and opened up a lot of storage space. I've also tried to keep fewer rods on the deck. In the past, I've averaged 8-12 rods on the deck per trip. My target is 4 rods now, but it's usually 5-7. I notice a lot of similar baits being out and tried to cut down on it. I feel like I do better when I simplify things. 

[The Bassman]

I try to determine what tackle will best suit the situation before I  start. For me too many choices is a recipe for failure.  I tend to change lures too often. When I get into that mode my catch rate tanks. Some of my best outings have been when I walked out the door with my rod and maybe two or three lures in my pocket. @Team9nine stated it well.  That said, we're all just big boys who want more toys.  Too many goodies out there.

[scaleface]

I carry a bag that holds 6 plano boxes   and stuff the pockets with soft plastics . Heres what each box holds .

 

1 . terminal tackle  

2  spinnerbaits / buzzbaits

3 topwaters

4 square bills /lipless

5 long bill cranks

6 lures  that dont fit the above categories like spoons ...

[Deleted account]

9 hours ago, cgolf said:

... this got me too thinking are we loading up on too much tackle/techniques that it is holding back our fishing. 

 

YES.

[thinkingredneck]

I was talking to a fishing buddy, and we thought it might be fun to try all of our unused lures--the ones we have never gotten wet.  That would take a good year.   

[Sam]

Funny you should ask your question.

 

I carry way too many baits, rods and reels.

 

This past weekend I had 12 tackle boxes plus plastics on my boat. So what did I throw? The pattern called for a KVD Sexy Shad Red Eyed Shad.

 

I caught 11 on the Red Eye Shad plus one on a 1.5 Sexy Shad crankbait.

 

I threw a spinnerbait, too, but no takers. The pattern was a lipless crankbait about 15 to 20 feet from the bank of the Historic James River.

 

Now to put all of the tackle boxes away this weekend.

[Cgolf]

40 minutes ago, thinkingredneck said:

I was talking to a fishing buddy, and we thought it might be fun to try all of our unused lures--the ones we have never gotten wet.  That would take a good year.   

I actually printed out all of my TW orders and marked off what I have tried, it was pretty sad. Since that time I have been using the unused lures from that list and had some success. It has really made me think harder about my last couple of orders to ensure that I spend $ on lures I am actually going to use vs. having them sit in a box somewhere.

[ohboyitsrobby]

No we don't don't carry too much tackle. There's always a time place and setting it all may be needed. Now to the seriousness. Don't talk about men thinking we may have too much tackle because sometimes my wife reads this. And that'll just give her fuel for her fire. ?? lol

[DINK WHISPERER]

When it takes me about an hr to load all my stuff up the night before....i would say yeah, just a lil too much.