The Bait Monkey

[Mobasser]

I'd never heard of the bait monkey until I joined BR. Going through my tackle collection last night, I can see the bait monkey has taken a toll on me.                            I have so much fishing stuff I've collected over forty years it's ridiculous. Bags of unopened plastics, hard baits, spoons, and everything else. I've already given my grandson and his friend a good amount of these things, and I still have too much.                                              Thing is, I usually use the same five or six baits when I go fishing, because thats what has worked well on my lakes.                                                   Would a golfer have too many golf clubs? Would a ballplayer have too many gloves, or pairs of cleats? I don't know?                                      My wife made a good suggestion. She said I should contact the local scout troop and make a donation. They have a couple of fishing derbies each year, and would probably appreciate this stuff. She then said," your problem is that your tackle bound". She's right.                           Fishing, and buying tackle is an addiction.And the bait monkey is real.                   Anyone care to comment? Have you been influenced by the bait monkey?

[A-Jay]

Same for me.

I am no longer in denial however and the last few years at least I have taken steps to reduce my deal to a more manageable level.

#sellingstuff

Still have a ways to go.

But at least now there's more going out than coming in which was not the case for a LONG TIME.

A-Jay

 

[Jig Man]

I went through my stuff last winter and donated a bunch to a local high school fishing team.  I still have a couple of lifetime supplies not counting the 5 dozen pacs of ZinkerZs that I got last week.

[Choporoz]

Sure.....but not so that I'm concerned.   It was nearly out of control for first few years of bass fishing, but much less so now.  Most of the tons of stuff I will likely never use were bought when finding out what worked for me and what didn't.   I have found organizations that support youth or disabled vet fishing opportunities and occasionally dump stuff on them.  I do need to start losing crankbaits at a faster rate.....and terminal drawers are overflowing.  But all in all, I don't think I admit that I have a problem....today

[volzfan59]

I'm with you, the Bait Monkey has been whooping my butt for years. I've been giving stuff away here and there, but finally I sold well over half of my rods and reels. Not gonna lie, I got exactly what I was asking but took a beating so to speak. I don't care, wasn't using the stuff anyway. I'm still going through tackle, but I'm doing with a mindset to get down to what works for me. The rest is clutter.

5 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

But all in all, I don't think I admit that I have a problem....today

HA, good one! 

[LrgmouthShad]

5 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

It was nearly out of control for first few years of bass fishing

I totally agree; it was the same for me. It was at the point where I would watch a YouTube video and then be convinced to go out and buy the baits mentioned in the video because I thought they would catch me more fish ?.  As Ive learned more and started to understand how I like to fish and catch fish, the deal is decently manageable for me now. Bait monkey still convinces me to buy stuff sometimes, like custom Nichols spinnerbaits, but he is manageable. It will probably remain that way so long as I don’t pick up crankbaits, jerkbaits, A-rigs, swimbaits, or the like. Crankbaits or swimbaits especially. Those would be a mess for me

 

 

[king fisher]

The Bait Monkey, and his cousin the guns and amo monkey lived with me for over 30 years.  They especially enjoyed showing me new Cabela's catalogues while drinking beer late at night, every time I got back to my house after working in the AK Bush for a few months.

        When I got married, I assumed they would simply move to the spare room in my house, and life would continue as normal.  Living in Mexico forced the G and A Monkey to move out permanently, and I haven't seen him in years.  The Bait Monkey keeps coming back, even though my wife has bloodied his nose more than once.  Poor guy has a permanent limp, and lives in a homeless camp a few blocks away.  He does still get to celebrate Christmas and my birthday with me, and once in awhile I meet with him in the alley behind my house.  This usually happens after watching a Tactical Bass'n video or looking at one of AJ's posts complete with obscene tackle photos.

      The truth be told, I don't need the Monkey at all.  I have enough fishing gear to last a lifetime.  I just hate to severe ties completely with such a good life long friend.  I do wish he would quite climbing on my back and yelling Zillion in my ear every time I see him.  After all  Christmas is a long way's off.

      Even if it is my birthday, he better not bring up the expensive glide bait subject again.  I don't think my wife is capable of murder, but I sure would hate to have to buy the Monkey a head stone with the words I told you so written on it.

[Big Rick]

Identifying the problem is a big step. Reaching the point I decide the cycle needs to be broken is a HUGE step. I'm having too much fun. I've reached a point in my life that the enjoyment of fishing is way more important to me than scrounging pennies to leave to my kids.  I have retirement and policies to take care of them in the case of my demise, so I'm gonna enjoy my fishing and trying new baits. I'm not in denial, I just don't care... And I've got 5 boys that readily take any and all gear I pass to them. I doubt they've spent $100 in the past year on gear and baits. As soon as something happens to a bait or rod and reel they bring it over and we hang out while I re-spool, re-tie and replenish whatever is needed. Win-win as I get to see my grown boys and they get their gear fixed up. 

 

Yeah, me and the bait monkey got it going on and don't need anybody messing with our relationship. 

[PourMyOwn]

There's a few things I just can't say no to- TDX and TDZ reels at reasonable prices, and the Fuji Lews rods from the 70s. 

 

And Bandit 200s. And mud bugs. Oh, and Collins jig molds. 

 

So unlike you guys, I don't have a problem at all.

[Choporoz]

One thing that helped me with another interest that can be subject to 'over acquisition'....was when a friend asked me how I felt when I close my eyes and imagine my widow's next husband smoking my cigars.....can be extrapolated to lures and rods I haven't used yet...lol 

[Jar11591]

I consider my tackle and gear collection forever a work in progress. 

[LrgmouthShad]

@Mobasser your tag of “He’s real” on this post ??.

[WVU-SCPA]

Since Tackle Warehouse is nice enough to save your order history it's amusing looking back over the last 5 years. 

 

Looking at a 20 line order from 2017, there are items from it sitting ideal on a shelf and I wouldn't order half of those items again.  Sure I read or saw something at the time and thought it was needed.

 

At least I've hit the point of seeing a pattern to ordering since 2020.

[PourMyOwn]

2 hours ago, PourMyOwn said:

There's a few things I just can't say no to- TDX and TDZ reels at reasonable prices, and the Fuji Lews rods from the 70s. 

 

And Bandit 200s. And mud bugs. Oh, and Collins jig molds. 

 

So unlike you guys, I don't have a problem at all.

I just bought an OG Fuego. It may be time to sell some things.

[NorthernBasser]

I have no idea what you're talking about. ?‍♂️This is all mostly reserves. Needless to say my buddies come to me when they need something. The amount of plastics I have in the Sterlite containers alone is probably enough to last me a lifetime. (wait, that'd mean I'm not catching much...haaha)

 

 

[Columbia Craw]

I’ve found the majority of my purchases over the last eighteen years have been based on speculation.  I honestly saw myself fishing so often at so many various locations, I would use or use up what I was purchasing.  Now I know my expectations were not coming to fruition and the result is CC-Overstock.com.  
 

I sold three rods and four reels to a club buddy yesterday. He’s getting his grandson fully set up to fish team events and I was happy to save him some money.  I won’t miss any of it.  I have enough tackle to last the rest of my life.  I overbought and know I won’t use it up.  I had a period where overtime was abundant and I never bought fishing gear out of my wages.  
 

I admire A-Jay for his on going evaluation of lures and to their right to go with him on the lake. But his selling became my purchases. No complaints.  I figure I will bury what I have left with me. Now I just have to find a cemetery that can fit my truck container coffin.

[schplurg]

No problem with the bait monkey here. I don't buy stuff I don't really really want, fishing or other.

[The Pond King]

Threads like these make me feel glad that I'm not the only one. I've been buying so much tackle lately it's not even funny. Too much money has been squandered on tackle lol. Lately, I've been obsessed with the chatterbait, so now, I have a boatload full of them. Buying tackle when you already have more than enough is not a financially sound decision because you're just incurring liabilities and depreciating assets, but life's too short not to have fun. There's much worse things to waste money on. 

[Log Catcher]

I too have way to much stuff. More than I will ever use. I have way too many crankbaits, spinnerbaits and soft plastics. The Bait Monkey has really worked me over. I don't get enough fishing time in to need all of this. Maybe some day I will find a place to make some donations.

[GRiver]

The bait monkey is REA! But I don’t have a problem, nope not me. I just don’t listen to him, I can ignore him completely.

   Did mention I’ve been checking the tracking number to a new rod and reel combo that I’ll keep in my truck. 
 

[LrgmouthShad]

Bait monkey heard that I was talking smack about him and told me about the Garcia Fantasista Premier rods being half price.

 

Might be half off but it's not worth it because Abu rods aren't "all that" right? Right? 

 

Dang monkey

[gim]

I’ll tell you what, when you move, you find out real quick you have way too much stuff. I just did this in May.

 

One of my friends recently asked me what the worst part of moving was. I said “even when you think you’re done, you’re not done.”

 

I loaded up pretty good the winter of 2021 because the first season of the pandemic cleared out shelves. I really had to scratch for basic stuff I used that season. So when I saw it on the shelf again the following winter, I bought it. A lot of it, mostly because I was worried about not finding it again. Of course that proved to be wrong eventually because the shelves are full once again.

[Darth-Baiter]

if anyone has a bag or two of Zoom Z-Drop worms in Morning Dawn..we need to talk!!

[DitchPanda]

I do not have a tackle addiction and the bait monkey has no power over me. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go find my morning dawn yum dingers..make take a while since my worm container has approx 1756 bags in it.

[Drawdown]

6 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

if anyone has a bag or two of Zoom Z-Drop worms in Morning Dawn..we need to talk!!

I love the Z-Drop worms. I think the color I used is called purple smoke, and the North Georgia spotted bass seem to love them.

 

As for the Bait Monkey, I really have a frugal mentality, so I am in agony when I buy tackle. Really I try to keep myself to $15, give or take, whenever I buy at Wal-Mart, Bass Pro, or my local shop (minus say, the cost of spooling bulk line). 

This is one reason I avoid hard treble hook baits like the plague. Can’t afford them with this philosophy…but I’ll give in someday. Probably after I get a new job.

 

Rods and reels I’ve only bought when I get extra money.