Popular baits you have given up on

[Cgolf]

I have 4

 

Zman baits for me, mostly because of storage issues and the finesse TRDs and TRD tubes were big  a disappointment to me. That leaves me with, individual baits in various colors, 145 1/2 Zinkerz (some already cut in half), 101 finesse TRDs, 15 Big TRDs, 27 TRD tubez, 60 split tails, and 38 other Zman baits. I was obviously a huge fan at one point.

 

Rage Menace this year, I have hardly fished it at all compared to years in the past. I hope this is temporary because this has been my favorite bait.

 

Strike King square bills, are still drawing a blank for me.

 

Chatterbaits of any brand still also a big zero for me, just can't figure out that bite, so it must be the WI bass lol.

[Team9nine]

Gave up Senkos about 20 years ago  Fastest way to lose $8 other than just throwing your money right into the lake. Have replaced them these days with jighead wacky (worms) and caught thousands since.

 

Also haven't thrown a spinnerbait in something like 10 years - any brand. 

 

And have only caught 1 Whopper Plopper fish and haven't thrown them since (about 4+ years now).

 

Zman baits, OTOH -  Probably 60% of my 1600+ bass YTD have come on either Finesse TRDs, 1/2 ZinkerZ or Finesse WormZ.

[Eric~]

Whopper Ploppers- I used to throw these plenty but without a single bite.
 

Spinnerbaits of any brand- I have thrown these under all kinds of conditions deep and shallow night and day with no luck.

 

 

 

 

 

[Cgolf]

23 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Also haven't thrown a spinnerbait in something like 10 years - any brand. 

 

 

 

22 minutes ago, Eric~ said:

 

Spinnerbaits of any brand- I have thrown these under all kinds of conditions deep and shallow night and day with no luck.

 

If not for vacation this year spinnerbaits would have been on my list. But after multiple cold fronts, some with storms, spinnerbaits were about all they would hit with any consistency. Plastics, cranks, and jerkbait bite had all but disappeared. Before this I probably hadn't fished one in 5 or 6 years.

[DitchPanda]

Ok so the chatterbait and Senko thing I can understand...I catch fish on chatterbaits but they aren't a strong bait for me...as with senkos they catch fish but there are options that produce just as well for me that are cheaper and more durable. 

 

As for the rest of it you guys are killing me. I'm starting to really like the ned with a TRD. Strike king squarebills...in particular the shallow 1.5 have been producing quality fish for me lately. The regular 1.5 has also worked well in the past. Oh and the spinner bait thing...come on man. That and a jig or Texas rigged worm are probably my two biggest confidence baits...ever!

[Bird]

Zman makes up a big part of my tackle selection.....except for the Chatterbait. 

 

 

[NavyVet1204]

1) Chatterbaits. All colors. With and without trailers.Have never caught a single fish on one regardless of weather or conditions. I’ve given up on this one.

 

2) Ribbon tail/curly tail worms. Nothing so far this season. Not even a bite. These are being phased out of my tackle as we speak for more senkos and creature plastics.

 

3) Square billed lures of any depth. Lipless are the only ones doing anything in my AO.
 

Nothing is to say that I won’t ever try these again, but it has really been disheartening  to not catch anything on them.

[PhishLI]

I don't think I'll permanently give up on anything. Last year I caught exactly 2 fish on the Whopper Plopper. This year it's been stellar. Two years ago the 10" Berkley Power worm was unbelievable. This year not a whiff, and this is primetime for that bait according to history. Shallow Squarebills Like the Manns 1-Minus and the IMA Bill Lowen have been great. Last year was dismal with these baits. The Chatterbait was always hit and miss for me until last September. It's been great since right through the winter up until now. Last Saturday night my brother was blanked until I tied one on and started catching then he followed suit. He closed with some good fish. It saved my trip Wednesday night. Spinnerbaits were great a ways back, but have been a stinker for me for a long while, but that may change. I bet it will. I finally broke the Fat IKA curse last Saturday morning. My buddy kills with that bait, but not me. But just like the Plopper, the IKA floodgates might open.

[Elkins45]

I’ve about given up on the rattletrap in spite of the fact it seems like an ideal lure for suspended fish. I’ve also never had a lot of luck with senkos.

 

I love the zman plastics but unless I get the storage issues worked out I’m only going to be able to fish them in spring or fall.

[scaleface]

Strike King square bills . I have other cranks that have just   outfished  them .

[cal9323]

Chatterbait is always a disappointment for me. Never get much action on them. 

TRD’s are my go to - surprised you don’t get anything on those. I always know I can throw one of those and catch something. 

[Bluebasser86]

Missile D-Bomb and Gene Larew Biffle Bug. I could count on both hands the number of fish I've caught on those baits combined. Got rid of all of them and haven't missed them one bit.

[Cgolf]

20 minutes ago, cal9323 said:

Chatterbait is always a disappointment for me. Never get much action on them. 

TRD’s are my go to - surprised you don’t get anything on those. I always know I can throw one of those and catch something. 

For me it’s more of a storage issue. In boat I use Rubbermaid shoe boxes for slider rigged plastics, and on shore I use a small 3500 bag with one plastic box and one crank box. In both cases carrying both types of plastics is a pain. Caught lots of fish on Zman, just sick of dealing with plastics that don’t play well together in one small bag. 

[Black Hawk Basser]

I've mostly given up on curl tail worms.  I've done great with finesse and cigar worms, but I've blanked on the curl tails the last couple years. I've not had much success with jerkbaits this year but I won't be giving up on them.

 

I don't get the spinnerbait thing either - they are one of my main "moving bait" options.

[FryDog62]

Toadrunner - -

 

Theew it fairly extensively for two straight seasons. Death knell was the first cast I caught a 19.5 inch LMB.  I think I tossed it 1000 times after that and caught maybe two dinks.  
 

IMO, a well-tuned, squeaky Cavitron serves a similar purpose and catches a significantly higher percentage of the active/neutral/negative fish that just watch the Toadrunner slide on by...

[the reel ess]

Tubes, Senko, deep diving cranks, all for different reasons. Tubes produce no bites, deep diving cranks wear my elbow and shoulder out and Senkos just aren't my thing.

 

I'm thinking hard about giving up the walking baits. I can fish these for a couple hours with no action, take it off and replace with a Pop R or Chug Bug and catch a few. Could have been catching all the time I wasted on the Spook.

6 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

Toadrunner - -

 

Theew it fairly extensively for two straight seasons. Death knell was the first cast I caught a 19.5 inch LMB.  I think I tossed it 1000 times after that and caught maybe two dinks.  
 

IMO, a well-tuned, squeaky Cavitron serves a similar purpose and catches a significantly higher percentage of the active/neutral/negative fish that just watch the Toadrunner slide on by...

I have a Sprinker and think I've used it once with zero bites.

[A-Jay]

Perhaps not totally giving up on them,

(sheer stubborn) 

but I'm getting very close

 

Glide Baits ~

I just don't get it.

A-Jay

[TnRiver46]

10 hours ago, Eric~ said:

Whopper Ploppers- I used to throw these plenty but without a single bite.
 

Spinnerbaits of any brand- I have thrown these under all kinds of conditions deep and shallow night and day with no luck.

 

 

 

 

 

Are you...... me?

 

 

 

 

 

7 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Missile D-Bomb

Wha?? That bait seems right up your alley for shallow pitching. I use it for smallies in roaring current up against the bank on a heavy Texas rig, they chomp it. Judging by your videos, you like a skirted jig or yum bug better? 

[Bluebasser86]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

 

Wha?? That bait seems right up your alley for shallow pitching. I use it for smallies in roaring current up against the bank on a heavy Texas rig, they chomp it. Judging by your videos, you like a skirted jig or yum bug better? 

They look good, good enough I bought a few bulk packs before ever fishing them, but all the bombs they sent me were duds.

 

I fish the SK Rodent and Big Bite Baits YoMomma a lot as well as the YUM Bad Momma and Woolly Bully.

 

A jig is my favorite thing to fish so yes I fish them a lot. 

[Teal]

31 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

They look good, good enough I bought a few bulk packs before ever fishing them, but all the bombs they sent me were duds.

 

I fish the SK Rodent and Big Bite Baits YoMomma a lot as well as the YUM Bad Momma and Woolly Bully.

 

A jig is my favorite thing to fish so yes I fish them a lot. 

Dbomb is a one of my favorite flipping baits or punching baits.   They are aggravating a jig trailer but perfect as a HEAVY t rig with a straight shank hook for flipping.  John crews has pretty good.luck with them too! 

[gim]

12 hours ago, Eric~ said:

Whopper Ploppers- I used to throw these plenty but without a single bite.

I have caught a couple fish on it but for the most part it has been a complete bust. I got sucked into the hype a couple years ago when they first became popular. The old saying that some lures are marketed to catch anglers is absolutely true.

[Captain Phil]

This thread reminds me of something that happened in my youth.  Back then, I read all the popular fishing magazines.   These magazines where always full of ads for the Helin flatfish.  If you read one of their ads, you would think this lure was the greatest lure of all time. The instruction sheet that came with the lure was so inspiring, I couldn't wait to try it out.  Try as I did, I never caught a fish on one of these lures.  I understand they sold millions of them, so I guess they worked for someone?  I still have a few in my lure collection. Other than the Roland Martin Helicopter lure, I can't think of anything more useless.

     

[JediAmoeba]

Squarebills - all brands.  I just don't fish any waters where these are the ticket.  They either snag on weeds or just harmlessly crank over the cover holding fish.  I would much rather throw a bladed jig where I can control the depth and snag less weeds.

3 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Perhaps not totally giving up on them,

(sheer stubborn) 

but I'm getting very close

 

Glide Baits ~

I just don't get it.

A-Jay

Glide baits are probably my favorite big bait nite - so much fun to fish and I can choose when to impart crazy action over structure or when I have a follower.

[basser27]

Chatterbait 

[Munkin]

13 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Missile D-Bomb and Gene Larew Biffle Bug. I could count on both hands the number of fish I've caught on those baits combined. Got rid of all of them and haven't missed them one bit.

Gambler Otter was the creature bait that disappointed me the most. I have caught some fish on the D-Bomb but I will stick with Smallie Beavers and Zoom Hog baits. No use in searching for a new bait when I have caught 1000+ fish on my favorites.

 

And if its the last thing I ever do in fishing I am going to catch a dam fish on a chatterbait. If I have to add a big treble and just snag a carp I will do it just to say I caught something on it.

 

Allen