What's The Hardest Bait/Lure To Fish with?

[ATA]

I want to know, What bait/Lure you found more difficult and challenging to fish with. I choose big swimbait/glidebaits because they wearing me off, Even Jig fishing is very challenging for me and detecting bits with  it is very hard but big swimbaits beats the jig for me coz at least I can fish it all day.

[Hammer 4]

Being 73, the old muscles, and joints just aren't what they were even 6 years ago. Back then I was tossing 8 and 10 inch Hudds all day long. Nowadays, it takes much more effort, and is fatiguing after 2 or 3 hours at most.

So, I selected Big swimbaits and glidebaits also. 

[scaleface]

I never fished big swimbaits or glidebaits so I went with crankbaits . Not that they are hard to fish but because its a bit tricky finding the correct one for the depth targeted .

[Chris Catignani]

I only say crankbait because at times (windy) its hard to be accurate...and at times it just wants to helicopter.

Sometimes in skinny water I'll throw a floating Rattle Trap and its pretty much a crap shoot where the thing goes.

[Bluebasser86]

For me personally, it's a crankbait, because I don't really enjoy fishing them. I'd say for a lot of anglers, a jig is one of the hardest baits to master. 

[jimmyjoe]

   I fish from shore. Anything (like jigs) that slack-lines on the bottom goes bye-bye.  ?       jj

[ATA]

17 minutes ago, jimmyjoe said:

   I fish from shore. Anything (like jigs) that slack-lines on the bottom goes bye-bye.  ?       jj

But you didn't Vote for jig :-?

 

 

[TheBasslayer]

Jig because I also fish from shore, and the place where I fish the most is a silt bottom that is easy to stir up. Idk if you are supposed to do that with jigs, but I just avoid jigs at that spot altogether.

[Dwight Hottle]

Big glides/swimbaits because of the fatigue factor and achieving the perfect cadence can be difficult. 

[jimmyjoe]

16 minutes ago, ATA said:

But you didn't Vote for jig :-?

 

 

 

   I thought I did. Evidently, I'm too old to see my hand in front of my face. I went back and voted correctly. Thnx for the heads-up.   ?                    jj

[A-Jay]

Above & beyond the physical demands of large baits / gear

as well as long bombing and winding in large deep crankbaits for hours,

the 'hardest' bait for me to fish, is one that I have little to no confidence in.

Then the question becomes, then why the heck would you fish it ?

Usually happens while trying to 'learn' what it's all about, 

but not always.

Fish Hard

A-Jay

[thediscochef]

I'm shorebound for the most part but I started with jigs and finesse fishing so those are simple. Big swimbaits and stuff like that are relatively easy to maneuver but I don't use them because I like catching all sizes of fish and would rather catch quantity over quality. crankbaits have always caused more trouble to me than they've been worth and unless I get one that floats or just doesn't go beyond 4 to 6 feet I wind up leaving them in the hydrilla or rock pile. Plus I hate working with treble hooks so...

[JoeDeal55]

Was a toss up for me between jerkbait and crankbait. I chose jerkbait because I have yet to catch a bass on one where I have caught 2 bass this year on a crankbait. I dont use glidebaits, buzzbaits, or spinnerbaits. At least not yet. So far I have been gaining confidence with jigs, ned rigs, and yum dingers. My PB on a jig this year. Most of my catches this year were on those three. A few more on topwater spooks but not a lot of confidence in topwater yet. With more experience and proper gear, I am sure this will change in the future.

[the reel ess]

Swimbaits for several reasons. Expensive, almost requires you but at least one expensive dedicated combo and you may go several trips without a bite. That said, I don't enjoy deep cranking and I usually use a lipless crank instead if possible.

27 minutes ago, JoeDeal55 said:

Was a toss up for me between jerkbait and crankbait. I chose jerkbait because I have yet to catch a bass on one where I have caught 2 bass this year on a crankbait. I dont use glidebaits, buzzbaits, or spinnerbaits. At least not yet. So far I have been gaining confidence with jigs, ned rigs, and yum dingers. My PB on a jig this year. Most of my catches this year were on those three. A few more on topwater spooks but not a lot of confidence in topwater yet. With more experience and proper gear, I am sure this will change in the future.

The jig is a fantastic bait for big bass that doesn't require a dedicated combo that can't realistically be used for any other technique.

[JoeDeal55]

51 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

Swimbaits for several reasons. Expensive, almost requires you but at least one expensive dedicated combo and you may go several trips without a bite. That said, I don't enjoy deep cranking and I usually use a lipless crank instead if possible.

The jig is a fantastic bait for big bass that doesn't require a dedicated combo that can't realistically be used for any other technique.

Being a novice on a budget, my goal is to get 4-5 versatile combos that I can gain the experience needed before going technique specific. 

[Bass Rutten]

Between the many different actions combined with the ever changing buoyancy due to constantly changing water temps I find the jerkbait to be the most technically difficult and high maintenance lure category by far.

[the reel ess]

19 minutes ago, JoeDeal55 said:

Being a novice on a budget, my goal is to get 4-5 versatile combos that I can gain the experience needed before going technique specific. 

As it should be. I started with a 6-6 MH and went form there. I usually take 6 combos, but I can carry as many as 8 on my kayak with the crate and flush mount rod holders. I carry the kitchen sink when I bank fish.

[Smells like fish]

Of the choices given I had go with big Swimbaits and glides because I have used those the least and am newest to them

[fishballer06]

Catching fish on a jerkbait is so much fun (and I've been very successful with them), but man is it a workout on your forearms. 

[Jmurphy87]

Jig for me, I was supposed to focus on it this year, but plastics took over lol. The reason it's hard for me is because I don't have a lot of experience with them and I don't always take my kayak out. I like to go wading a lot. 

[Columbia Craw]

Of the categories listed, the jerk bait.  Over the years I’ve had enough experience with most baits to know what lure or techniques would be the most effective and or efficient but the jet bait still stumps me.  When the conditions seem to suggest a jerk bait would illicit bites, I’m not seeing the bait trigger that response.  I need more time on the water with them. 

[HaydenS]

This was a jig fish from the shore, two summers ago:

Ballhead, finesse jigs work best for bank fishing IMHO.  Love a Yum craw chunk on the back of them.  Bluebass86 makes a great one.

 

7 hours ago, fishballer06 said:

Catching fish on a jerkbait is so much fun (and I've been very successful with them), but man is it a workout on your forearms. 

Threw a jerkbait all day this spring, sore forearms and a couple blisters.

 

I put big baits since I don’t have a ton of experience with them.  @BoatSquirrel has been helping me with that though! 

9 hours ago, the reel ess said:

The jig is a fantastic bait for big bass that doesn't require a dedicated combo that can't realistically be used for any other technique.

X2

[PressuredFishing]

anything with treble hooks that gets deeper than five feet, living in a hit southern climate grass is alive from early april all the way till late December, then you have dead grass, and that stays around until January. 

8 hours ago, Smells like fish said:

Of the choices given I had go with big Swimbaits and glides because I have used those the least and am newest to them

have confidence brother, I have dedicated 5 hours to them thus far, one rod one bait mindset, its rough, gotten two bites, one got hooked, he jumped and threw the trebles. it was a five pounder id say moderatley. when I am struggling with these baits, I just think about when I started fishing, and how I went weeks without even getting a bite, and it really puts things in perspective.

[flyfisher]

They are all easy to fish with but not always the easiest to catch fish with.  I like fishing all the ones mentioned depending on the situation.  Last couple years I have primarily fly fished though and bottom contact type baits are super difficult to fish on a fly rod for a multitude of reasons yet I keep doing it and it does produce.  

[Log Catcher]

I voted for the jig. I have never tried big swim baits or glide baits. I don't fish jigs as much as the other baits is the reason I picked them.