Same baits for a long stretch of time?

[David P]

I'm not sure if this is just me, or if people get into the same "Habits" (for lack of a better word) as I do. I will fish one way 90% of a fishing trip for a few months at a time, then switch to something new.

Ok, so for a good 3 months I was fishing a wacky rigged senko the majority of the time with the occasional super fluke.. Then for the past 2 months now I've been fishing almost exclusively shaky head, with the occasional grub. I just recently started throwing a jig and now that's all I can think about throwing!

I haven't thrown a Senko AT ALL in probably a month or two now. I pretty much only throw a shaky head still, but now starting to throw a jig.

Do you guys get into phases like this? Or are you pretty good about spreading the lovin around to a variety of baits?

[NEBassMan]

I always try to throw a number of different baits each time i go.  If i'm just going for a short outing, i'll take my small bag with a couple small boxes of lures.  Each time, i will take something different than i took the time before.  I feel it helps keep me well rounded in all aspects.  If i'm in the boat, and have my big tackle bag with all my tackle, i'll throw many different types of baits, just because i like to catch bass on different things.

Jason

[Catt]

What I did then is what I do now; 35 yrs of Texas rigged plastic worms  

[Raul]

The only way you can be proficient with a particular type of bait is fish with it until you consistently catch fish with it, this adds to your versatility in different bait styles and different fishing techniques to adapt to different situations and different surroundings and environments.

Catt may have been catching fish for the last 35 years ( me too ) but that doesn 't mean that I would apply that particular rigging technique to every single lake I go to fish, T rig with a bullet sinker any bait in a lake like Zimapán and prepare yourself to hang up every single time you hop the bait in the chunk rock that forms the lake.

[MN Basser]

Right now, I'm stuck on Spinnerbaits. I want to throw jigs and senkos, but I just love spinnerbaits.

[.ghoti.]

Last year was my year to be stuck in a rut. I used three baits almost all year. Senkos, Fat Ikas and X-Raps were pretty much all I used. This year I've been better. It's not good to get stuck. Unless you're catching fish with the same thing all the time. It's hard to argue with success. That was me last year. I caught fish all year on the same three baits.

I'm still throwing those three, but I've added more baits back into the mix this year.

Cheers,

GK

[grimlin]

I've been stuck on jigs since the beginning of this year,i gotten to the point where i almost don't have to buy anymore jigs for atleast 5 years.I'm still gonna buy more though,i love em..it's an addiction.

Lately i been T-rigging a senko/stick baits and also wacky rigging as well.So if the jig bite is slow i'll change to the senko,give em' fish a little bit different baits throughout the day.

My creature baits are seeing alot of action and water time as well.I rig weightless,t-rigged or rigged as a trailer on a jig.Smallmouths are hammering these creature baits here as of lately.

Those are my 3 main baits this year.

[the ohh face]

Generally I tend to favor the newest lure or soft plastic in my bag.  Sometimes switch it up to a technique I am not as comfortable with just to gain confidence with it.  Then I have my favorite lures I go to when nothing else seems to work.

[Catt]

I don't look at it as being stuck in a rut but rather as being able to use a Texas rig to total perfection.

I can catch bass on Texas rigged plastic in 6 of water or 30'; I can catch bass during the spring, summer, fall or winter; I can catch bass swimming it on top or bumping the bottom; I can catch bass in matted grass, timber, or brush. I feel that when the bass are in a non-aggressive mood I can persuade them to bite a Texas rigged plastic.  

I am however smart enough to know a Texas rig doesn't produce in every situation or on every body of water. I'm just a proficient with a Jig-N-Craw, Spinner Bait, Lipless Crank Bait, Top Water, Buzz Bait or Stick Bait.

If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you always got  

[cart7t]

Unless I know ahead of time there's a specific bite going on,  I normally hit the water each morning with at least 5 rods on the deck with 5 different baits going that cover most of the water table from top to bottom.