Anybody have the opposite effect from the Bait Monkey

[king fisher]

The Bait Monkey is patient. He can wait for years, then strike when the time is right.  He is always out there.  I have got him off my back many times, but he always comes back.  Good luck.

[Chance_Taker4]

6 hours ago, Dirtyeggroll said:

Or it’s the ideal time to get a great deal because people are trying to get rid of boats to avoid storing them and there is low demand.

That was my original thinking but I have planned on going with a newer Tracker 175 TXW ($12K Budget I'm on) but there is absolutely nothing for sale around. I went to Bass Pro and was going to bite the bullet and go the new route but the salesman told me to hold off till March that's when they start seeing used boats getting traded in. A few other Marinas told me the same thing. Craigslist and Facebook are dried up with nothing privately.

2 hours ago, GoneFishingLTN said:

See I find this hard to believe in this day and age your telling me someone who is versatile and in every technique is not going to put more bass in the boat than you if you fish the same areas? 

You must not watch KVD fish a whole. No matter the conditions or locations that man has a jerkbait in the water.

[Ratherbfishing]

Compared to some true bait monkey addicts, my bait arsenal is pretty modest however there came a point when I realized that I'll have to live to be 583 before I could give all my lures a reasonable shake.  So...I mostly stopped buying-unless I find a really good sale on something I really use a lot of-and THEN I'll break down.  Most recently, I found Senko's about 50% off.  And Keitech Swing Impact baits for a third off.  It's difficult to resist them because I know I'll run out eventually.

[Boomstick]

I tend to keep most things very simple. For plastics, I'll have a handful of colors of senkos, ribbon tail worms, craws and flukes, roboworms, berkley dreamshots and keitechs (either as trailers or as swimbaits with owner beast hooks). I usually keep two bags or so of each, in different colors (often experimenting with new colors too). Most of these I can conveniently buy locally, so once I run out of a bag, I buy a second before my backup bag is empty too. Easy enough!

 

For swim jigs and chatterbaits, I will largely stock a light colored 3/8oz, a darker colored 3/8oz and 1/2oz, and a black 1/2oz plus whatever else I picked up, but that is generally what I look for. A second of each is often good too because I usually fish with my kids so this way if one of them is using one and I want to throw the same thing, I can. I can make it down to about 4 jerkbaits with a similar selection as well and a handful of frogs and poppers. So far, not too bad.

 

When it comes to spinnerbaits, it gets a little more complicated. I tend to keep a white/chartreuse and brown ccolored dual colorado blade models, white and chartreuse, sexy shad willow and nearly white willow/colorado bladed spinnerbaits and white/chartreuse and white dual willow blades. Then I want some 3/8oz and some 1/2oz models.

 

When it comes to crankbaits, it gets a bit more expensive. I tend to keep usually tigher wobbling lipless models for early spring and late fall, then a varying selection of squarebills with different wobbles for more and less aggressive bass. Then there's medium divers and deep divers on top of that, so my crankbait arsenal has gotten pretty pricey, especially after this year's Black Friday purchase.

 

The nice thing about rods and reels is that I have carefully chosen my rods and reels to ensure as I add more, the ones I have already bought will still be useful. So far so good here.

 

I will always try something new here and there, but other than this Black Friday it's usually a little bit here and there. It just so happens that I broke a few cranks trying to cast under a bridge from up a hill (a fairly difficult cast) and lost a few more this year and there were quite a few new lures I wanted to try, so I took advantage of the 20% off Black Friday sale.

[TOXIC]

If we were all honest with ourselves, a good part of the fun in fishing is the simple buying baits.  Whether it be different colors, styles or types, there is a certain amount of joy from just owning them.  It's like women with shoes or purses!!

[Catt]

11 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

If we were all honest with ourselves, a good part of the fun in fishing is the simple buying baits.  Whether it be different colors, styles or types, there is a certain amount of joy from just owning them.  It's like women with shoes or purses!!

 

Was wondering around in Academy the other day when a young lady asks, "can I help you find something?". My answer, no ma'am looking is half the fun!

[Hook2Jaw]

 

Catt visits the first BPS at the grand opening, circa 1893, colorized. 

[TnRiver46]

I don't buy much tackle..... mainly because I don't have much money....... 

[Spankey]

Admittedly I have my share of baits. But a life’s worth of fishing to go along with that. If I do pick something up or order it I’m using it. Heck that’s what I bought it for.

 

In my area Dicks, Wally World and other SG stores suck. Not worth me going, waste of time, outside of getting my license. If I don’t order from TW or a couple of places like that it pretty much doesn’t get bought. Cabelas and BPS are nice but I don’t impulse buy there. If I did those days are long over. In my opinion both are not what the use to be. They seem to put too much emphasis on the store brand knock offs. 

 

Over the years I’ve accumulated a stellar collection of Rapala and Bandit Crankbaits. But I believe I’ve caught at least one bass on each one. Sure some colors are not productive as others. Some that may seem bizarre I bought it and challenged myself to catch something on it. 

[Munkin]

I have slowed down on purchases as I have more lures than I could use in my lifetime. For 2019 I only plan on buying line, some terminal tackle,  and a few baits.

 

Allen 

[GoneFishingLTN]

11 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Come on down to the Big Pond & we'll put it to the test!

 

I'll only throw Texas Rigs & a Jig-n-Craw, you can throw what ever you want.

see I've must've fallen deep in the bait monkey trap then because I don't see why the professionals would have all these different baits if it didn't make the difference at all what you threw in certain situations, If you could just throw them two items when fish are suspended or schooling and be just as prepared as the guy with 15 techniques and have them all mastered.

 

I do get LOCATION is what matters that's the first thing and main thing but I just think in a tournament situation having multiple baits/presentations will prepare you to out preform the guy that just throws a jig/worm. 

[Catt]

@GoneFishingLTN Don't know how tournaments you have actually read the results but the vast majority are won on 1 or 2 lures.

 

[Mobasser]

I could probably fish this whole next year without buying any new baits. I'm pretty well stocked up, but I might buy a couple things to try. Fresh line is one thing I always buy.

[N Florida Mike]

I dont have a bait monkey problem because ... I dont have much ( sometimes any ) money to spend on baits. This year especially. Just paying the mortgage to live on my lake just about does me in.

I have been using up my stock of plastic baits I accumulated through the years. I wouldnt think of selling any..... If I do buy baits lately its been yum dingers. Cant go wrong for 2.99 a pack.

[Sam]

Yes.

 

I have a lot of hard baits and plastics so I do not plan to buy any more until I run out of a specific color I want.

 

Otherwise, the Bait Monkey will not love me next year.

[TOXIC]

Educate me, who originally came up with the term "Bait Monkey"?

[Team9nine]

47 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

Educate me, who originally came up with the term "Bait Monkey"?

Good question. A search puts it back at least a dozen years on this site, and from the context of the conversations in that thread, would suggest it goes back a little further. Raul actually takes credit for it, though I didn't dig through all the posts. There is almost nothing showing in wider web searches from that same time period and before.

 

 

[NYWayfarer]

On ‎12‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 4:09 PM, Chance_Taker4 said:

Anyone else just hit the wall and say enough is enough and kill the bait monkey?

Nope.

 

I enjoy buying fishing gear almost as much, if not more than actually fishing itself.

[Darren.]

Good topic. There was a span of time when I let the Bait Monkey hop

on my back with abandon. But I have endeavored to be content with

what I have.

 

Not that contentment is always...content.  As for baits, like others,

I do not throw every technique in the book, therefore, I do not need

all manner of baits. So at this point I pretty much top off what I'm 

running low on be it terminal tackle, line, baits.

[fishwizzard]

I went crazy when I first really got into bass fishing and bought so so much random tackle and lures.  Over the last 3ish years I have really refined down what lures and plastics I actually use and have given away every thing else.  

 

I still buy too much stuff, but it's more focused. For example I use a ton of Zoom Trickworms but will still buy a bag or two of something else if I find one that looks basically the same but with some feature I think might be an improvement, like the Netbait trickworms with the flat head and a bit more salt.  But I am not going to buy a million bags of worms just because they are on sale like I used to do.  "It's not a good deal if you don't need it in the first place" is my new online shopping mantra.  

[MIbassyaker]

My purchasing did slow way down over the last year...the bait monkey seems to have finally moved on for now.

 

On the other hand, the Kayak Monkey returned in his place to remind me that I've been fishing out of the same 2009 WS Tarpon model for a long time now.  He has convinced me the world will probably end unless I make a major upgrade for 2019. That sounds pretty serious, so who am I to argue?