What is your favorite lure that doesn't work?

[WI_Angler1989]

On 2/17/2020 at 7:49 PM, Tizi said:

I think nearly any lure will work if you fish with it long enough and especially around active fish.  I saw a guy on YouTube catching them with a lego Chewbacca.

NdYakAngler. Love that guy. 

[Choporoz]

https://img.tacklewarehouse.com/cache/150/JACGRN-CSV-1.jpg

 

[Team9nine]

 

LC LV in Mad Craw...not a single fish - ever.

[J Francho]

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

LC LV in Mad Craw...not a single fish - ever.

Come to Oneida in late April/early May, and you'll have your limit of smallies before breakfast on that bait.  

[Primus]

On 2/17/2020 at 3:44 PM, GrumpyOlPhartte said:

Most of ‘em.  But spinnerbaits are my nemesis.  Never had luck with them. Then, the summer before last on a cloudy, breezy summer day I nailed six bass in the one-to-three-pound range in less than an hour.  Since then ... nothing. Man, I hate spinnerbaits!!! As for white and chartreuse - I don’t believe you can catch a cold with those things.  Ok, I can’t.  Gotta give me credit for trying though.?

 Try a Bluegill color spinnerbait, throw it when it's cloudy & windy. Fish it threw the weeds and around laydowns. Definitely throw it when it's raining, when it's on which won't be everytime you can load the boat and often times catch some of your biggest Bass of the year.

[r3825]

Another vote for the chatterbait,  and I keep buying them.  

[FishTank]

I hate to say it but the Meagabass Cyclone>  I bought several of them years ago and I think I have only caught a couple of fish with them.  Great looking bait though. 

 

 

[Hook2Jaw]

28 minutes ago, FishTank said:

I hate to say it but the Meagabass Cyclone>  I bought several of them years ago and I think I have only caught a couple of fish with them.  Great looking bait though. 

 

 

Looks like that new Okuma reels matching bait.

[A-Jay]

While I get the premise ~

If it doesn't get bites, 

Hard to call it my favorite.

I will admit to having a few deals that I'm 'still working on'. 

(Cough ~ glidebait) 

Fished an A-Rig for just about two full seasons before I got a sniff - Now I'm addicted.

Wish every thing "I Try" worked as fasts & as well as a vibrating jig did.

Bait's pretty incredible & I'm still just getting started with it.

btw - the Buzz Jet pretty much wangs . . . 

A-Jay

 

[GrumpyOlPhartte]

@Primus:  Forgot to mention I was using a “natural” pattern on my one successful spinnerbait outing; too bad it never worked again.  Oh, and I tried fishing a spinnerbait in the rain ... but my wife got ticked off because I broke two living room windows when I forgot to open them before I started casting.  To make matters worse, my house is several miles from the nearest lake.  But I did stay dry!!  ?

 

Seriously,  I believe you are absolutely correct about the bluegill pattern. (I also want to find something that emulates golden shiners - and it ain’t gonna be chartreuse.)

[Joe S]

For me it's a Berkley Ripple shad.    These are great looking swimbaits (color and action) but i have yet to catch a single fish on them (not even a pike).     I can change it up for another brand of swim bait  (same color and all) and will get a hit on the next cast.    It's crazy.     

 

Not sure if there is a smell or something that turns off the fish.   It's a shame since they look great in the water.  After a couple of years of nothing they go in and out of my tackle bag throughout the season.   Fingers crossed something will hit one day or i might just give them to someone to purge....! 

[Koz]

On 2/17/2020 at 5:35 PM, Finessegenics said:

I've never caught a single fish on a chatterbait. I've thrown them for hours with nothing to show for it. 

Are you putting a trailer on them? Black and blue Chatterbait Elite with a blue Zoom Vibe Speed Craw in stained water has been killer for me year in and year out.

[J._Bricker]

ALL the plastics that I got for/with my Color-C-Lector ?. I keep all that stuff around to remind me some things are just to catch fishermen, not fish. And I’m glad I didn’t go hook, line, and sinker for the helicopter lure lol...

[Koz]

Hard to believe because they are probably THE most productive bass baits in the world, but the bane of my existence is lipped crankbaits. I catch more bass on a chatterbait in one week than I have caught on lipped crankbaits in my entire life!

 

It's not like I don't throw them, either. Last weekend I was determined to catch something on a lipped crank and I tossed them for just over an hour straight without a single strike. The issue may be that I bank fish. I think the way crankbaits are designed they are best served by tossing them from a boat and swimming them away from the bank or using a deep dive crank out in the middle of the lake.

[Finessegenics]

26 minutes ago, Koz said:

Are you putting a trailer on them? Black and blue Chatterbait Elite with a blue Zoom Vibe Speed Craw in stained water has been killer for me year in and year out.

I’ve been mostly using the original chatterbait in white with a pearl keitech. Also tried the original chatterbait in Carolina craw with a green pumpkin chigger craw trailer. I think I’ve been unsuccessful because I’m targeting smallmouth 95% of the time and if I’m not mistaken they’re not really into chatterbaits. 

[A-Jay]

54 minutes ago, Finessegenics said:

I’ve been mostly using the original chatterbait in white with a pearl keitech. Also tried the original chatterbait in Carolina craw with a green pumpkin chigger craw trailer. I think I’ve been unsuccessful because I’m targeting smallmouth 95% of the time and if I’m not mistaken they’re not really into chatterbaits. 

I have found that to be wildly inaccurate.

 

A-Jay

[Finessegenics]

4 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

I have found that to be wildly inaccurate.

 

A-Jay

Well I trust your opinion more than my own because of your experience! Those are some beautiful fish! Just haven’t been able to figure it out for my watersheds and every time people mention “top smallmouth lures” the chatterbait doesn’t seem to get a lot of love... Is it a bait you’d consider a “go-to” or is it better for more specific situations? 

[A-Jay]

2 minutes ago, Finessegenics said:

Well I trust your opinion more than my own because of your experience! Those are some beautiful fish! Just haven’t been able to figure it out for my watersheds and every time people mention “top smallmouth lures” the chatterbait doesn’t seem to get a lot of love... Is it a bait you’d consider a “go-to” or is it better for more specific situations? 

There is no such thing as a go-to lures.

Lures are tools and there's no go-to tools. 

It would be like saying whenever something needs repair and I can't figure it out - I always use a hammer. 

Both tool & lures work & produce best when applied in the right situation.

However, a Vibrating jig is a fairly versatile bait - But does seem to excel for me

when bass are in or around some type of mid to shallow depth vegetation / grass.

 

This may help ~ 

 

A-Jay

 

[Michigander]

Sounds to me like we need to have a lure swap since it seems to vary so much person to person. ?

[Choporoz]

13 hours ago, A-Jay said:

btw - the Buzz Jet pretty much wangs . . . 

A-Jay

 

Agreed!  But it sure looks good not catching fish.   Never so much as a follow or a roll on it...by anything....even while in prime snakehead bays....and they'll eat anything.

[Joe_w1234]

Any crank bait. Squarebills, lipless, anything. Maybe one fish ever. 

[billmac]

1 hour ago, Sweet Tater Pie said:

Any crank bait. Squarebills, lipless, anything. Maybe one fish ever. 

I'm kind of in this category, but I know it's all in my head.  They (fat squarebills) just don't look good to me, so I don't throw them.  I kind of like the looks of rattletrap type baits, but I haven't had huge success with them.

[kykayak]

Scrounger. Looks great in the water. But, it has only produced 1 fish for me.