Money that you regret spending on tackle related items

[the reel ess]

22 hours ago, gimruis said:

 

Whopper plopper is a waste of money and time.  So you're not the only one with that problem.

 

I've done really good on buzz baits and hollow body frogs at various times and locations over the years, but the WP just doesn't produce.  I don't necessarily regret buying one and trying it.  I'll try just about any lure at least once to give it a chance.  What I regret is buying three of them at once when DSG had their buy two/get one free sale.  So now I have three of them that don't work instead of one.

There are certainly times when they work better. Early, late, overcast and in shadows. I can count on 1 finger the number of bites I've gotten in full, high sun on a WP. They also start producing earlier in the year than most people throw topwaters. Prespawn bass get vey angry at anything invading the shallows. The bites are vicious. That is, if you can find bass shallow. I caught one in February this year on a WP.

 

But they're a big fish bait. If there are none around, it might intimidate smaller bass. In 2021 I caught a 6, 4, 7.93 and a 5.75 lb. on the WP. And I lost a big one. The last two were caught on the same day. (I keep a log). I prefer the 110 model in bone. This size doesn't tend to roll over at the end of a long cast. The smaller ones do for me. But they too get bites. Go smaller, get more bites. I accidentally ordered some knockoffs off Amazon that were advertised as Whopper Ploppers. I complained to them and they refunded the money and told me to keep them. I have yet to try them.

[TnRiver46]

22 hours ago, gimruis said:

 

Whopper plopper is a waste of money and time.  So you're not the only one with that problem.

 

I've done really good on buzz baits and hollow body frogs at various times and locations over the years, but the WP just doesn't produce.  I don't necessarily regret buying one and trying it.  I'll try just about any lure at least once to give it a chance.  What I regret is buying three of them at once when DSG had their buy two/get one free sale.  So now I have three of them that don't work instead of one.

I caught one on my 130, the other day. The fish was small but hit it twice in a row, aggressively 

[gim]

28 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

But they're a big fish bait. If there are none around, it might intimidate smaller bass. In 2021 I caught a 6, 4, 7.93 and a 5.75 lb. on the WP.

I will keep this in mind.  Perhaps I need to be willing to sacrifice bites in order to make it work.

 

I will admit that the topwater lure bite in general has gone into the toilet for me in recent years.  So maybe its not just a WP issue.  I used to slay them on a frog and a buzz bait on a lake near me...can't even get a sniff with one anymore.

[the reel ess]

17 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I will keep this in mind.  Perhaps I need to be willing to sacrifice bites in order to make it work.

 

I will admit that the topwater lure bite in general has gone into the toilet for me in recent years.  So maybe its not just a WP issue.  I used to slay them on a frog and a buzz bait on a lake near me...can't even get a sniff with one anymore.

I finally went early one early morning with one rod and a WP 110 tied on. I caught a few good fish. I only do this at times when the bite is so slow, I'm fishing for a few bites anyway.

[gim]

15 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

I finally went early one early morning with one rod and a WP 110 tied on.

That takes a lot of will power to only bring one rod n reel with a WP tied on.  Basically just forces one to use that the whole time.  Not sure I can do that lol

[the reel ess]

30 minutes ago, gimruis said:

That takes a lot of will power to only bring one rod n reel with a WP tied on.  Basically just forces one to use that the whole time.  Not sure I can do that lol

I left the rest in the truck just in case. LOL. In fact, I probably took my whole topwater box.

[Kev-mo]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

That takes a lot of will power to only bring one rod n reel with a WP tied on.  Basically just forces one to use that the whole time.  Not sure I can do that lol

It's a really good way to gain confidence in both the lure and your angling abilities. You really have to be confident the fish are there and they will bite tho. I've done this a couple times and not been disappointed along with learning a few things.

[NavyToad]

15 flavors of drop shot worms. I should have known I’d never use them.

I also had 20 bags of senkos that sat around for years because they didn’t work when I first tried them. Luckily I decided I might have been wrong and now I love fishing a wacky rig.

Maybe there’s hope for the drop shot….someday.

[MAN]

Fluoro.  Ran back to Big Game and promised I would never cheat on her again. 

[Gera]

I bought a bag of worms with rabbit ears from some 13 guys brand.. I kind of feel ashamed to use them.. 

[schplurg]

My practically new kayak that has sat unused. Not sure where I'm going with my fishing so we'll see. No hurry.

 

Yes, the Old Town I talk about here. Awesome kayak, haven't used it in awhile. Haven't even fished in almost a month. Not sure what's going on except that I'm hiking more often. I'm hiking so that I can go fishing in more remote locations though. At least that's the plan.

 

Strange days indeed.

[the reel ess]

23 hours ago, gimruis said:

That takes a lot of will power to only bring one rod n reel with a WP tied on.  Basically just forces one to use that the whole time.  Not sure I can do that lol

I went yesterday evening. I downsized to the 90 size and go 3 bites on it, all small fish. Unfortunately, I lost two of them. Also got one on a jig and one on a spinnerbait. Missed another on the spinnerbait. So there was the potential for 6 fish, but I landed 3, 2 of them on the WP.

[Bankbeater]

When I started fishing plastics I bought colors that looked good.  Now those plastics are sitting in a spare tackle bag in the basement.  Every once in a while I take a package to the lake to try it and end up putting it back in the spare bag.

[Kelvin]

Power pro.  Cheap, crappy, loud, grindy, fades.  The company cranks out junk line.    

 

Whopper plopper.  Overrated that and bass got conditioned to it.

 

Any reel not Shimano or Daiwa.  Other brands do not compare....I will not debate this.  You want to use a coffee grinder that's your business.  I couldn't afford nice stuff when starting out as a kid now that I can it makes the experience much better.

 

Any Fluoro not Sunline Shooter or Seaguar Tatsu or Gold.

 

Nearly all BPS rods.  Boardy, stiff and heavy.  Great warranty but since it collects dust in the garage it won't be used. 

 

Anything made by Googan Squad.  Schlocky trash made to sucker kids.  From their lures to their rods; worst company at their price point.  Everything in the line reeks of knockoff marketing designed to entice inexperienced entry fishermen.  No one in their right mind would use a Googan rod over a Loomis or a lunker log over a senko. 

 

Any jerkbait not made by Megabass.  The hype is real.  Had a tough day threw everything in the box with no results tied on a vision out of desperation and caught 3 fish in 10 casts then got it hung and lost it.  Nearly cried over losing 25 bucks but ordered 10 more.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ChrisD46]

On 5/24/2022 at 11:00 AM, roadwarrior said:

 I went through that a few years ago myself.

*Totally agree !! ... If you are a senior basser getting up and down in a standard kayak is a real pain and not especially comfortable or stable and too low to the water ... The solution (not cheap new !) is what I saw Jimmy Houston do cart wheels and squeal like a kid  the first time he ever fished out of one : https://jacksonkayak.com/blue-sky-boatworks-360-angler/ . I know all the haters will push a jon boat on you for similar pricing (been there - done that) . If I wanted a "kayak" this is the only solution I would consider ! Get up and down easy , stand any where you want , it moves well  and it's stable - enough options to make anyone happy and gets in and out of skinny water well .

[FishTank]

I thought of another one, Gamma Edge FC. I bought three spools many years ago (2007?) and it was a waste.