Tunnel vision ?

[Bird]

I'm experiencing tunnel vision in my bait choices this year and can't seem to stray from them. Lol

I fish a lot, I'm talking 3 - 4 days a week but yet every fish I've caught this year has been on 2 baits.

Swim jigs and spinnerbaits, that's it.

 

Now I find myself grabbing one or the other and not experimenting with other baits that could potentially produce.

 

My fishing partner is starting to become concerned asking why I bring all that tackle. Idk

 

Went today and threw swim jigs and spinnerbaits for 6 hrs straight but had Jerkbaits, flukes and wacky tied on other outfits. 

Perhaps I need counseling. 

 

Ever get fixated on certain baits  ??

 

 

[dodgeguy]

I get fixated on what works. If it stops then I change.

[gim]

4 minutes ago, Bird said:

Ever get fixated on certain baits  ??

Sure do. But it’s usually because it’s working at the time or recently has. The route out of the tunnel (vision) is all mental.

 

I know people who essentially fish one lure the entire outing, even if someone else starts slaying them on another lure/tactic. They just refuse to deviate.

[cyclops2]

I am a 1 lure person.  The size changes for the size fish I am after.1.5" , 6", 8".   If they all fail ?

 

 Jar of meat.

[dodgeguy]

I knew a guy we called Baron Von Senko. He fished nothing but senkos t rigged weightless. He caught fish on them when nobody else could.

[cyclops2]

I do unusual baits when the fish are VERY WELL fed in July & August.   My senior friends look forward to sharing the fish.

[TOXIC]

If you fish long enough, you will get favorites in multiple categories.  Crankbaits/jerkbaits/plastics/bladebaits/top waters, Etc,…..Figure out which “style”:they want and whittle it down from there.  With that being said, there’s some baits that produce in multiple conditions.  Plastics have so many ways to rig you can usually get bit on them but if the crankbait is shut down, you get a lot of casting practice.  

[LrgmouthShad]

I see nothing wrong with this at all. Swim jigs and spinnerbaits... man both those are awfully fun to fish ?

 

Past couple weekends it has been too high visibility for me to want to toss a spinnerbait, YMMV, so swim jig has gotten a lot of use. I have started off days throwing a variety of baits, but right now a swim jig is producing best. 

[DitchPanda]

Oh yeah I get locked in...last summer I went months throwing a popper, 1\4oz red eye and Ned rig. Kept catching em so why not.

[Bird]

12 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I see nothing wrong with this at all. Swim jigs and spinnerbaits... man both those are awfully fun to fish ?

 

Past couple weekends it has been too high visibility for me to want to toss a spinnerbait, YMMV, so swim jig has gotten a lot of use. I have started off days throwing a variety of baits, but right now a swim jig is producing best. 

Correct ?

Today was very windy with ripple and Spinnerbaits trumped. 

Yesterday was glass water, clear water and fish didn't want the flash....swim jigs. 

Eventually I'll navigate a little. 

[gim]

35 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

but if the crankbait is shut down, you get a lot of casting practice.  

That’s what I’m doing when I tie on a whopper plopper. It’s purely for practicing purposes.

[BrianMDTX]

I have baits I know will catch bass. Maybe not the biggest, but they will catch bass. They are Senkos, Zoom Tricks, Jelly Worms, Neko Machos and Fat IKA’s. See a trend?

 

What I’ve been doing lately is leaving them sit and fishing other baits first. If I catch bass on a topwater, I’ll stick with that until the bite dies off. Same with a spinnerbait, etc. But as I really prefer the cadence and feel of fishing soft plastics, I feel I often revert to Old Faithfuls too soon. I’ve contemplated leaving all soft plastics at home and forcing myself to fish other baits exclusively. But why deny myself of something I love?

[TOXIC]

6 minutes ago, gimruis said:

That’s what I’m doing when I tie on a whopper plopper. It’s purely for practicing purposes.

You and me both.  Add in a freaking Chatterbait as well ?

[king fisher]

       When the fishing is slow, I tend stick to one or two baits.  When the fishing is good, I love to experiment.  A friend of mine has wondered if I'm crazy at times.  He can't believe I will change baits during a hot bite, just to see if something else will work.  He tells me we already found what will work and should capitalize on it.  I tell him to keep using what is working, as a control group on my experiment, and I will keep switching to see if I can find something better.  Then there are those days, that once I finally catch a bass I don't even think of changing baits.  The places I fish are mostly rocky, and windy, so crankbaits, and spinner baits get used 80% of the time.  Last year I had a near fatal case of tunnel vision, so I decided this year I would started using the C rig in order to expand my soft plastic use with some success.  

[LrgmouthShad]

40 minutes ago, Bird said:

Correct ?

Today was very windy with ripple and Spinnerbaits trumped. 

Yesterday was glass water, clear water and fish didn't want the flash....swim jigs. 

Eventually I'll navigate a little. 

Next up for me is trying swimbaits. Looking at 3:16 lure company. Bait monkey has convinced me to try everything but chatterbaits.

[cyclops2]

After I catch enough fish for the guys. I relax & fish for pleasure. Last year was a lot of work time. The fish get used to boats a lot. I was getting fish pings while anchored near weed edges. The fish were coming under the boat shadow. And staying there.

[The Bassman]

I tend to cycle in and out of favorites. Some of my most productive baits get put aside while a new star steals the show for a while. I've concluded that location, depth, and speed are far more important than any one particular bait. Some lures are just more fun to use. I like being connected with my bait by feeling its vibration rather than, say finessing a weightless fluke for instance. I fish to have fun and being engaged with my lures enhances that. All that said, lures such as neds and wacky worms are necessary tools at certain times.

[ironbjorn]

10 hours ago, TOXIC said:

You and me both.  Add in a freaking Chatterbait as well ?

I had a good Chatterbait bite going for awhile and then it died a couple years ago. Not even a sniff. Sold all my Jackhammers. Have been trying the new Mini Max with the same results of absolutely nothing. It's the same exact thing that happened to me with a spinnerbait for a long time, it was useless. Now the spinnerbait is one of my best producers. Really believe in fish becoming educated. Of course Senkos and Ned Rigs are education proof, like men and pretty women.

[LrgmouthShad]

19 minutes ago, ironbjorn said:

Of course Senkos and Ned Rigs are education proof, like men and pretty women

 

[ironbjorn]

1 minute ago, LrgmouthShad said:

 

Poor understanding is more likely. Bass are as stupid for Senkos and Neds as men have been for and around pretty women for countless millennia.

[LrgmouthShad]

Just now, ironbjorn said:

Poor understanding is more likely. Bass are as stupid for Senkos and Neds as men have been for and around pretty women for countless millennia.

No no. I understand what you meant. ?Just as the joker understood what Batman was saying. I’m messing with you! But, taken out of context, your comment was open for misinterpretation. 

[Catt]

11 hours ago, dodgeguy said:

I get fixated on what works. If it stops then I change.

 

I throw what they eating!

 

They quite eating it I'll quite throwing it!

[gim]

12 hours ago, king fisher said:

When the fishing is slow, I tend stick to one or two baits.  When the fishing is good, I love to experiment.  A friend of mine has wondered if I'm crazy at times.  He can't believe I will change baits during a hot bite, just to see if something else will work.  He tells me we already found what will work and should capitalize on it.

Your friend is right.  When you dial something in, you stay with it.  Strike the iron while its hot, me boy.

2 hours ago, ironbjorn said:

Really believe in fish becoming educated.

Oh absolutely.  Pressure can educate fish.  In the realm of muskie fishing, this happens even faster than in the bass fishing realm.  They wise up so quick you wonder if there are even any left in the lake to catch.

[Bankc]

3 hours ago, The Bassman said:

I tend to cycle in and out of favorites. Some of my most productive baits get put aside while a new star steals the show for a while. I've concluded that location, depth, and speed are far more important than any one particular bait. Some lures are just more fun to use. I like being connected with my bait by feeling its vibration rather than, say finessing a weightless fluke for instance. I fish to have fun and being engaged with my lures enhances that. All that said, lures such as neds and wacky worms are necessary tools at certain times.

Same here.  I have noticed a tendency to start off power fishing the shallows, and slowly work my way towards finesse fishing deeper water if the bite doesn't come.  I feel like I'm fishing harder if I can feel my bait working the entire retrieve.  

 

I also throw way too many glide baits because they are just too fun to retrieve!  And for whatever reason, I only catch channel cats with them.  And I hate having to unhook a channel cat!  But glide baits are like remote controlled lures, and you can make them do just about anything, dart and roll, shimmy, swerve, spin around...  So I just can't say no!  

[Aaron_H]

17 hours ago, dodgeguy said:

I knew a guy we called Baron Von Senko. He fished nothing but senkos t rigged weightless. He caught fish on them when nobody else could.

 

I fear not the man who has thrown ten thousand baits once, but I fear the man who has thrown one bait ten thousand times.