What are you giving up on?

[The Bassman]

I don't give up on anything. Baits just go into hibernation then I "rediscover" them. Seems everything has its moment. It's all in my head, not the bass's.

[Mike L]

27 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

It's all in my head, not the bass's.

When we all remember that statement on the water, we’ll all be the better for it. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

[Oregon Native]

No more fluro main line....and this one drives me crazy.....A Carolina rig....yes it works....just not me.  Don't use it.

[roadwarrior]

10 hours ago, NorthernBasser said:

I did have a reply ready. Then I read someone is giving up on plastics. Then someone says they're giving up on frog fishing. Now, I forgot what I was even gonna type. 

[Cgolf]

Ned rig! This started last year and will continue this year. In the past few years I threw it so much that I forgot to toss baits that could have caught them better. Now I will start with the other baits and only if I have to will I go to the ultra finesse ned. Last year it rarely happened.

[Dirtyeggroll]

Braid as mainline for bottom contact techniques. I’ve read and read that it’s more sensitive and it’s the way to go, but after trying it for a year I have not found that to be true. I can feel way more with straight 20-lb Tatsu than I can with braid plus a 10-12 ft Tatsu leader.

[Fishing_FF]

10 hours ago, Mike L said:

Not that I’m giving up on them, I just have no interest and have no need to throw any of that light finesse stuff....Ned, Wacky, Shaky, Drop shot etc. 

 

Interesting that you don't like finesse rigs. I still have not caught a fish on the Ned rig, but I saw it work this year several times on the Central Florida lakes. As for the wacky rig and the drop shot, they saved me from the skunk on multiple occasions this year. The drop shot works well on the deeper, clear lakes, and the wacky/Neko rig for darker water where the grass fouls up a normal finesse presentation like a drop shot or shaky head. During the middle of summer on one of the Fab Five lakes, we went from zero to a 26 fish in a 3 hour period with the wacky rig. 

 

As for what I'm giving up on, fishing an unproductive area for too long. I need to focus more on the 10% of the lake where the fish are. Something about 90% of the lake holding no fish is stuck in my mind. LOL

[senile1]

3 hours ago, The Bassman said:

I don't give up on anything. Baits just go into hibernation then I "rediscover" them. Seems everything has its moment. It's all in my head, not the bass's.

This perfectly encapsulates my thoughts as well.

 

 

 

@A-Jay

Funny but this was my top producer this year.  You just need to give it a little time.  ?

[bagofdonuts]

11 hours ago, FishTank said:

I fish with a guy that likes to fish 5-10 feet from the bank.  I would like to give that up. 

 

Lure wise......  Buzz baits.  The whopper plopper has taken its' place. 

send all your buzz baits to me, I'll put them to use for you, and even send you pics if you like.

[Mike L]

26 minutes ago, Fishing_FF said:

 

Interesting that you don't like finesse rigs. I still have not caught a fish on the Ned rig, but I saw it work this year several times on the Central Florida lakes. As for the wacky rig and the drop shot, they saved me from the skunk on multiple occasions this year. The drop shot works well on the deeper, clear lakes, and the wacky/Neko rig for darker water where the grass fouls up a normal finesse presentation like a drop shot or shaky head. During the middle of summer on one of the Fab Five lakes, we went from zero to a 26 fish in a 3 hour period with the wacky rig. 

 

As for what I'm giving up on, fishing an unproductive area for too long. I need to focus more on the 10% of the lake where the fish are. Something about 90% of the lake holding no fish is stuck in my mind. LOL

It’s just my preference because I’ve had much more success on the waters I fish the most...(Okeechobee, Stick Marsh and the St Johns River) using other presentations. 

None of them are what I would classify as the clear deep lakes you reference.
Do they work? Sure, you’re proof of that, but I just don’t fish those type of lakes. 
However, I agree lakes in the Kissimmee or Harris Chain where there are deeper areas, a light line finesse set up can be a good option at times in certain areas. 
 

I look for and prefer shallow, stained, grassy areas in all stages of growth.
(the heavier the better) Shell beds, humps or small depressions are a close 2nd.
A wacky, ned or shaky type presentation are the least productive for me given the way I like to fish. 

 

I’d much rather get up close and personal with a mid range to heavy flouro or braid setup and go to work. But that’s just me. 

 

 

 

Mike
 

[FryDog62]

I think I’ll most likely stop using a Toadrunner and Tokyo-Rig this coming year.  
 

The Toadrunner goes through slop where the Whopper Plopper can’t, but to spin/plop optimally I think it just goes “too fast in traffic” to either get strikes or a good hookup percentage.  I have better luck moving a Cavitron Buzzbait at slower speeds in weeds or I’ll even throw a Cover Pop if there’s a small area of open water between the weed beds.

 

As far as the Tokyo-Rig goes, I think it’s a good concept but gets hung up more than a traditional jig or Texas Rig when flipping.  And as far as bottom-dragging it long distances across the flats, I think other lures do a better job of this without all the dangling hardware below.  I’ll stick with a Jointed Structure Head jig, Biffle Bug or Dark Sleeper for grinding long distances on the bottom..

[Bird]

I throw a BUNCH of Zman but won't throw a Chatterbait when I can throw a spinnerbait. 

[J Francho]

I will continue my road to recovery through the pain and wreckage fishing a Carolina rig causes.

[Black Hawk Basser]

Done with hollow bodied frogs.  Countless blowups through super thick slop and probably 3-4 fish last year to show for it.  Too much frustration.  I'll commit fully to a buzz toad.

[NorthernBasser]

4 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

You and your gifs. Lol.

[galyonj]

15 hours ago, jimmyjoe said:

This is one small part of my decision. https://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/skinny-fish.html  There's definitely more to it, though.      jj

I really wish the industry would move towards biodegradable soft plastics. For a hobby that, by and large, embraces conservation as heavily as bass fishing does, we sure leave a lot of garbage in the water (and inside the fish).

[plawren53202]

I'm throwing in the towel on the drop shot.  I have tried many times and don't know that I've caught a single fish on it.  Yesterday was a perfect example; cold Missouri farm pond, I forced myself to throw a drop shot for quite a while with no success.  Finally gave in and switched to a shakey head and thereafter a Ned rig, both of which I am much more comfortable with, and caught fish on both.  YMMV, I know many people have great success on a drop shot.  

[5/0]

13 hours ago, slonezp said:

If you like Blinky then....

 

Now that’s what I’m talking about!

[Oklahoma Mike]

For me it will be finesse jigs. I am dragging along a dedicated rig just for them, and the returns are not worth the hassle.

[deadadrift89]

Carolina rig is my nemesis ? I won't even get near one anymore!!

[MickD]

8 hours ago, cgolf said:

Ned rig! This started last year and will continue this year. In the past few years I threw it so much that I forgot to toss baits that could have caught them better. Now I will start with the other baits and only if I have to will I go to the ultra finesse ned. Last year it rarely happened.

Keep a few, especially green ones, then when your regular stuff strikes out, put on the ned.  A guide friend of mine was skeptical until one day he and his clients caught nothing on everything else.  Only the ned produced.  (northern SMB).

[billmac]

25 minutes ago, stratoliner92 said:

Carolina rig is my nemesis ? I won't even get near one anymore!!

I gave up on the Carolina rig before I ever got started.

[Mobasser]

At this point, I'm not giving up on anything. I already gave up on the baits that don't work for me a long time ago.

[Cgolf]

2 hours ago, MickD said:

Keep a few, especially green ones, then when your regular stuff strikes out, put on the ned.  A guide friend of mine was skeptical until one day he and his clients caught nothing on everything else.  Only the ned produced.  (northern SMB).

I always have a few, I just never ended up pulling them out much last year. I got like 200 Producto tourney grubs for christmas, caught a few fish on them on a ned head and then went the Menace ugly otter route never tossing them again. The menace was amazing, I was even catching brown trout on them this year. I just need to remember to be more versatile and not key in on one or two soft baits when I have many I have confidence in.

[Yakalong]

spinner baits, just don't seem to catch much on them, could be that I have great success with bladed jigs so I throw them in place of spinners