Lures everyone has, but never catch fish on

[Guest SkyChimp]

It seems everyone has a Jitterbug in their tackle box.  I've got several but have never managed to catch a fish on them.   I know how to fish top waters, I just can't get anything to hit these.  I'm not knocking the lure, but I'm jinxed with it.

Anyone else have any classic lures that don't produce?

[linesider7]

I've got a few Zara Spooks in my box, don't catch fish because I just don't fish them.  

For that matter, I've got a LOT of tackle I don't fish.

[David P]

SPINNERBAITS, Period.

I have several, but just don't catch fish with them.

[Jeff H]

My biggest waste of money years ago was a Dancin' Eel.   I still have it around here somewhere, I think my youngest son has it in his box.  I never caught a fish on it, my oldest boy never caught a fish on it and now it is the box of my 5 yr old son who I'm sure will never catch a fish on it.  

[Cajun1977]

the only lures i have  that dont catch fish are the ones that aint been fished yet

[Mattlures]

Spinnerbaits for me too. I realy have no desire to learn them eithr. The Dances eel is the biggest let down ever. The bait looks great! it has a ton of action and the design was cutting edge. I KNEW this was a great bait back when I was a teenager. I never caught anything on it though. I do have a theory as to why it sucks. When I was a kid I would use crawlers and minnows and crawfish for bait. They all caught bass. I would even use bullfrog tadpoles but they didnt work. I had a small pond with pet bass and they would only eat the tadpoles if they were starving and they would spit a lot of them out. I think there is something about the taste of a tadpole that repells bass. The dances eel looks and swims like a tadpole.

THATS WHY IT SUCKS!!!

[David P]

Spinnerbaits for me too. I realy have no desire to learn them eithr. The Dances eel is the biggest let down ever. The bait looks great! it has a ton of action and the design was cutting edge. I KNEW this was a great bait back when I was a teenager. I never caught anything on it though. I do have a theory as to why it sucks. When I was a kid I would use crawlers and minnows and crawfish for bait. They all caught bass. I would even use bullfrog tadpoles but they didnt work. I had a small pond with pet bass and they would only eat the tadpoles if they were starving and they would spit a lot of them out. I think there is something about the taste of a tadpole that repells bass. The dances eel looks and swims like a tadpole.

THATS WHY IT SUCKS!!!

Thank GOD there's someone else in the same boat as me with Spinnerbaits. I can't stand them, yet I still have them for some reason.

Thank you Matt, you made my day!

[islandbass]

Spinnerbaits for me too. I realy have no desire to learn them eithr. The Dances eel is the biggest let down ever. The bait looks great! it has a ton of action and the design was cutting edge. I KNEW this was a great bait back when I was a teenager. I never caught anything on it though. I do have a theory as to why it sucks. When I was a kid I would use crawlers and minnows and crawfish for bait. They all caught bass. I would even use bullfrog tadpoles but they didnt work. I had a small pond with pet bass and they would only eat the tadpoles if they were starving and they would spit a lot of them out. I think there is something about the taste of a tadpole that repells bass. The dances eel looks and swims like a tadpole.

THATS WHY IT SUCKS!!!

Thank GOD there's someone else in the same boat as me with Spinnerbaits. I can't stand them, yet I still have them for some reason.

Thank you Matt, you made my day!

Man, I was too embarrassed to mention it. Spinnerbaits are at the top of my "lures that don't do jack for me," list. The weird thing is that I catch them on inline spinners, homemade ones to boot. But if my life depended on a bass caught on a spinnerbait, I'd be pushing daisies in not time flat. :-[  Then again, I hardly throw them and haven't take the time to learn to use them effectively.  I even caught fish on the flying lure!!! Come on, spinnerbaits, give me a break! ;D

[David P]

Spinnerbaits for me too. I realy have no desire to learn them eithr. The Dances eel is the biggest let down ever. The bait looks great! it has a ton of action and the design was cutting edge. I KNEW this was a great bait back when I was a teenager. I never caught anything on it though. I do have a theory as to why it sucks. When I was a kid I would use crawlers and minnows and crawfish for bait. They all caught bass. I would even use bullfrog tadpoles but they didnt work. I had a small pond with pet bass and they would only eat the tadpoles if they were starving and they would spit a lot of them out. I think there is something about the taste of a tadpole that repells bass. The dances eel looks and swims like a tadpole.

THATS WHY IT SUCKS!!!

Thank GOD there's someone else in the same boat as me with Spinnerbaits. I can't stand them, yet I still have them for some reason.

Thank you Matt, you made my day!

Man, I was too embarrassed to mention it. Spinnerbaits are at the top of my "lures that don't do jack for me," list. The weird thing is that I catch them on inline spinners, homemade ones to boot. But if my life depended on a bass caught on a spinnerbait, I'd be pushing daisies in not time flat. :-[  Then again, I hardly throw them and haven't take the time to learn to use them effectively.  I even caught fish on the flying lure!!! Come on, spinnerbaits, give me a break! ;D

I think there's more people that have no luck / don't like spinner baits then we think, they're just too shy to say it. When you hear spinnerbaits you think bass fishing, but I HATE them.

I use the Banjo minnow with 100 times more success then a spinnerbait.

[T-rig]

I dont seem to able to catch fish on crankbaits for some reason. I only caught like 4 or 5 this year on cranks. I friend of mine has fished this lake for 15 years and also catches very few on cranks.

I guess it's just not a crankbait lake. On the other hand we catch quite a few on japanese spinnerbaits in natural colors like the Megabass V-Flat.

Here one of the very few crankbait bass I caught this year:

[jdw174]

I'm sorry, but for the life of me, I simply can't picture anyone not being able to catch a fish on a spinnerbait  Like any other lure, success depends on current conditions, retrieve, and color selection.  I pitch them into brushpiles and blowdowns like a jig.......bang them off of stumps/trees....let them flutter into crappie stakebeds...the list in practically endless.  True there are days they just don't want one.  If the water is calm and it's sunny......forget it!  There are better lures for that.  But if it's cloudy with a ripple on the water......

[Redtail]

Spinnerbaits and Crankbaits for me.  I always allow some time on each trip for them with the same result, Frustration.  It's soft plastics for me or I ain't catchin any fish!  I just like catchin, I really don't care what I am catchin em on!

[blade]

please send all unwanted spinnerbaits to me. They are without a doubt my #1 producing bait in the spring and they will catch monsters too  8-).  So IM me if you have some you want to get rid of.   My bait I never catch fish on would have to be senkos, I have a bunch of them and fish them fairly often but just never catch much, maybe we can work out something.... Spinnerbaits for senkos...

[bassbob08]

mine would have to be this kind of eel thing.

[Avalonjohn44]

Anything Gulp.

I also cannot buy a bite on Sweet Beavers, believe it or not.

[Vyron]

i would say crankbaits , cant catch a fish on them

spinnerbaits on the other hand , are my goto lures .

[nra4life]

ive never caught a bass on a scumfrog, ive caught fish on horny toads but not on scumfrogs, don't really have any confidence in them because they really dont have any action

[senile1]

the only lures i have  that dont catch fish are the ones that aint been fished yet

I think what Cajun stated is the key.  If one's experience with a lure initially started with no success, from that point on, that lure has probably been used less than others which met with initial success.  I had a period many years ago where I "thought" I couldn't catch fish on spinnerbaits.  When I finally gave them a real chance under the right conditions, they became one of my favorite baits.  How's that for a turnaround in thinking?  I've always found that the lures and techniques that are unsuccessful for me are the ones that I don't use enough and I really haven't given them a chance to be successful.  

[flyphisher #]

Dont really have one anymore. I get sale or giveaway stuff I dont like. I dont think I own anything I "CANT" catch fish on, just a matter of how much i fish it.  Storm swimabaits and hybrid cranks are only lures i have/had i never caught  anything on.

[Mobydick]

Jigs, I cant catch anything on them, and I always have one on one of my rods.

[roadwarrior]

I fish ponds 1 1/2 - 2 hrs at a time. I make it a point to fish one type of bait/ lure only. I may take another, but it is the same in case I lose the first. This forces me to concentrate on one technique only. I often fish lure classes that I don't like (spinnerbaits for example). Over the years I have found that all lure classes work, sometimes. Maybe I'm not always fishing the "best" lure for the day, but I fish that lure "the best I can."

If you want to learn how to fish a bait and become confident that YOU CAN FISH that lure, work one lure ONLY. I think you will be surprised.

[Ky_Lake_Dude]

Probably swimbaits. I have thrown these a lot and have never even had a bite.

[T-rig]

Jigs, I cant catch anything on them, and I always have one on one of my rods.

You are probably not fishing them the right way. Jigs will catch bass anywhere in the world!

[bass109]

swimbaits, and not many bass jigs.

[ejtaylor822]

My biggest waste of money years ago was a Dancin' Eel. I still have it around here somewhere, I think my youngest son has it in his box. I never caught a fish on it, my oldest boy never caught a fish on it and now it is the box of my 5 yr old son who I'm sure will never catch a fish on it.

Ditto. Know the Dancin' eels will catch fish, but, never have for me. Never got so much as a nibble. I have watched the Bill Dance show 2x where he was using these. Nothing for me.

I have/had (2) - shad and chartruese colored. I say had because the fish were really biting Saturday. Opened up my bag to try something different and noticed the eels in there. Thought this would be the perfect opportunity to break my mistake luck with them. Tied on the shad colored one, and just like that - poof - the fish stop biting. I fished it every way I know how - slow, fast, jerk, yo-yo, "dead stick" - nothing.

The good news. After about 30 minutes of no bites I got it hung up on some sunken brush and lost it. I love Bill Dance, but, he needs to come show me how to fish this thing before I buy another one.  

Eddie