Afraid to use....

[Mr. Aquarium]

3 minutes ago, Catt said:

Would love to but I'm currently having major back issues & digging those tackle boxes out aint happening!

d**n dude! hope you heal up quick. 

[rippin-lips]

I throw a good amount of Megabass hardbaits. I’m not afraid to lose them but in my head I’m hoping that it doesn’t happen. Some of the 110’s aren’t the off the shelf colors you can just pick up. I’ve had a few days that I lost $100 worth and it does suck. 

[fishballer06]

When the Megabass S Crank squarebaills came out I went out and bought one. Tied it on and started casting. About the fourth or fifth cast I hung it up on a wooden fish cage and lost it. That one hurt, but I still throw my expensive Megabass, Lucky Craft, pre-Rap warts, Rick Clunn squarebills, etc. because if you don't throw them in areas where they'll get hung, you're not going to catch nearly as many fish.

[Dorado]

10 minutes ago, fishballer06 said:

When the Megabass S Crank squarebaills came out I went out and bought one. Tied it on and started casting. About the fourth or fifth cast I hung it up on a wooden fish cage and lost it. That one hurt, but I still throw my expensive Megabass, Lucky Craft, pre-Rap warts, Rick Clunn squarebills, etc. because if you don't throw them in areas where they'll get hung, you're not going to catch nearly as many fish.

last sentence was perfectly stated. Cost of doing business. 

[Cgolf]

This sounds silly as I am writing it, but I still have 4 or 5 4" rattlesnake chartreuse silver ribbontail worms. They were my first go to River Smallie bait and I still can't find a replacement. Suppose I could trim down a 5" kalins char holo grub to give me the same profile but that is too much work for a bait that likely isn't as good as what I have found in recent years. 

 

Do have some Bandit 100s I retired after they caught me a bunch of River fish and managed to avoid snagging up on a rock. Most River cranks average catching 3 fish before they are lost, so when one gets 50 it is a big deal. 

[MBB Nate]

Where can I buy phoney frogs?!?!?! I must have right now!

[MassYak85]

I fish everything I buy but there are definitely some baits I'd consider swimming for under certain conditions. 

[Bluebasser86]

6 hours ago, MBB Nate said:

Where can I buy phoney frogs?!?!?! I must have right now!

Search online or try to get them on FB or Instagram about getting one, but mostly you'll have to buy from an individual that is selling one. Typically run from 150-200 dollars. 

[scaleface]

I did something stupid two years ago . I was searching for a brush pile that I knew was there but hidden by high water .  I was fan casting a prized Rebel Deep Wee R in Naturalized crappie searching for it .    I lost it  in that sunken brush . That one hurt because the outcome was predictable .

 

The same summer I was bouncing one of my favorite vintage silent Bayou Boogies in the rip rap of a dam , knowing that it was just a matter of time before I lost it but it was producing .

[Oregon Native]

17 hours ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

d**n dude! hope you heal up quick. 

Amen

[Bankbeater]

I have some baits that belonged to my Dad and grandpa. I keep them in their own tackle box. I think the last time I used one of them was about 7 or 8 years ago. 

[the reel ess]

20 hours ago, scaleface said:

  I would hate to lose this  , but dont hesitate to use it . 

 

 

If you'd hate to lose it, that means it works. I Have a gold Trap I'd climb a tree with a hornet's nest in it to get back. I have three more like it, but they aren't it.

[Bluebasser86]

20 hours ago, scaleface said:

  I would hate to lose this  , but dont hesitate to use it . 

 

 

I believe I have a deeper running Big Jim in kind of a crappie/splatterback pattern if you want it? I've kept it as kind of a nostalgic decoration in my shop but no reason for it to fade into oblivion if someone would get some use out of it.

[scaleface]

16 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I believe I have a deeper running Big Jim in kind of a crappie/splatterback pattern if you want it? I've kept it as kind of a nostalgic decoration in my shop but no reason for it to fade into oblivion if someone would get some use out of it.

Thanks but I havent had any luck with the long lipped ones .  This is the small sized Big Jim without rattles . These lures have the action that new plugs claim to have . The two  I have had hunt like mad . They hunt so hard that sometimes I think they are out of tune then they head the other way .  

[MBB Nate]

8 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Typically run from 150-200 dollars. 

Things have changed boys.  All of a sudden I don't need one!

[RPreeb]

Maybe I don't have the same sense of attachment to them as some of you do, but I doubt that I'll ever buy a lure that won't be fished.  I don't have anyone to pass down any antiques to me, nor anyone to pass them on to after me.  We moved away from Minnesota and our Wisconsin cabin (1/3 mile of lakefront and 25 acres of woods) when I was in high school.  Had I known then that my grandmother would sell the lake property and all 3 cabins without so much as consulting the rest of the family, I'd have taken some of that stuff with me.  That was 1963. 

 

By the time I was able to go back for a visit a lot of years had passed, there were 2 huge "mansions" on the property where our 3 little clapboard summer cabins used to sit.  The fishing gear was always stored in the cabins for winter (it wasn't much to think of then, but some of it would be considered collectible now), and we left Minnesota for Montana on Jan 1, 1964, with no reason to think that we would never see the cabin again.

[MNGeorge]

I have a Norman Deep Baby N from before they changed the plastic. It is the last one of about a dozen I had at one time. Without question, the best crank I ever threw for Smallies on the upper Mississippi. Can't really explain why I refuse to use the last one...but I just can't bring myself to put that last one at risk.

[MassYak85]

6 hours ago, MBB Nate said:

Things have changed boys.  All of a sudden I don't need one!

The swimbait game is a slippery slope for sure lol. You start out hesitant to pull the trigger on a 20 dollar bait and all of a sudden Phoneys and Hinkles start showing up in the mail. I'm not too far down the rabbit hole myself....yet. 

[Chefster]

There’s only one bait I am afraid to throw.   My first vision 110.  Bought 3 years ago and has given me the pleasure of my pb.  Just over 10, a 9, and countless fish over 5 pounds.  I have a 8 inch Huddleston that I caught my first swimbait fish on that is also retired for now.   Certain sentimental attachment to those 2 lures.  

[fishwizzard]

34 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

The swimbait game is a slippery slope for sure lol. You start out hesitant to pull the trigger on a 20 dollar bait and all of a sudden Phoneys and Hinkles start showing up in the mail. I'm not too far down the rabbit hole myself....yet. 

I am trying to stick to a "no swimbait over ~$10 unless I buy it for at least 20% off MSRP".  I stocked up this past black friday and I hope to make them last until the next one.  

[MassYak85]

1 hour ago, fishwizzard said:

I am trying to stick to a "no swimbait over ~$10 unless I buy it for at least 20% off MSRP".  I stocked up this past black friday and I hope to make them last until the next one.  

If it's a mass produced bait I try and wait for sales but the custom makers don't do a ton of sales themselves and the ones that sell to places like TW have unpredictable delivery dates due to the nature of custom bait making. I bought a slammer from TW and I finally had to cancel the order out of impatience 3 months after the original backorder date. To me getting the bait within the week is better than saving 5-10 bucks. If I find it available and I'm ready to buy I just bite the bullet at this point. But I'm always on the lookut for a good deal. 

[fishwizzard]

This will be my first season with swimbaits, so I am sticking with mass produced lures for now.  

 

Swimbait related, the only lure I will hesitate to throw is a bbz rat that I bought, fished for three days (and did great on!) but then lost when I got cocky and made a sloppy cast into some pads.  Like 2-3 months later I found it floating on the far side of the pond.  That rat proved it's loyalty and gets a place of honor on the Christmas tree.  

[Munkin]

15 hours ago, scaleface said:

I did something stupid two years ago . I was searching for a brush pile that I knew was there but hidden by high water .  I was fan casting a prized Rebel Deep Wee R in Naturalized crappie searching for it .    I lost it  in that sunken brush . That one hurt because the outcome was predictable .

 

The same summer I was bouncing one of my favorite vintage silent Bayou Boogies in the rip rap of a dam , knowing that it was just a matter of time before I lost it but it was producing .

I have one of those Deep WeeR baits in Crappie you can have.  It isn't in the best shape but definitely fishable.  

 

Allen 

[MBB Nate]

3 hours ago, fishwizzard said:

This will be my first season with swimbaits, so I am sticking with mass produced lures for now.  

 

Swimbait related, the only lure I will hesitate to throw is a bbz rat that I bought, fished for three days (and did great on!) but then lost when I got cocky and made a sloppy cast into some pads.  Like 2-3 months later I found it floating on the far side of the pond.  That rat proved it's loyalty and gets a place of honor on the Christmas tree.  

I love a happy ending!

[Dorado]

Not because I’m afraid to loose em, because......