Go-to lures

[Rockhopper]

This has probably been discussed before.  Last weekend I was having fun in my shop, drinking a brewski, and digging through my tackle boxes admiring all the cool lures I have, and how I have multiples of certain lures in different colors.  Then it started to dawn on me that I have thousands of dollars tied up in tackle, but yet I really don't use any of it.  Like ever.  Obviously I am a fish/tackle junkie, but what's the point?  I have all this stuff and in reality all I use is the same three or four baits over and over and over again.  (not the exact same bait, but the same bait in multiples.)  Its because they work and I catch bass on them.  I could literally bass fish the rest of my life with these four baits and never be bored.

 

Dobyns Beast willow/willow shimmer shad 1/2oz

Riot Baits lil creeper black/blue 1/2oz with riot baits little fuzzy money trailer

black/blue fleck yum dinger

black/blue fleck 2.5" stupid tube.

 

Okay technically that's five baits with the trailer, but you get the idea.  I have spent about $300 this spring alone on crankbaits because I never have tried crankin' and want to expand my repertoire.  Trying new things is fun, but I really don't need any of it to catch a bass.  I guess my childhood dreams of being a pro angler still sit in my mind and I think I need all this stuff to catch what is really one of the dumbest and easiest fish to catch there is.

[Reel]

I have NEVER used any of the lures mentionned here and I catch a lot of fish.  Other things work too. 

I would get bored always using the same lures.  

[Rockhopper]

19 minutes ago, Reel said:

I have NEVER used any of the lures mentionned here and I catch a lot of fish.  Other things work too. 

I would get bored always using the same lures.  

I would definately get bored always using the same fishing technique.  But not the same lures.  A black/blue jig vs. a green pumpkin jig in a different size for instance.  Or casting a moving bait like the spinnerbait vs. instead throwing a chatterbait or a paddle tail on a flashy swimmer.  Or weightless finesse a dinger vs any other plastic.  If you close your eyes and cast and never see whats tied on...the techniques don't really change.

So why do I really own dingers in 20 different colors?

[nso123]

I have to admit I’m stuck on drop shot rigs with Robo Worms and a plain old wacky rig with either a green pumpkin or black and blue Senko. When they stop catching fish I will change to the next thing. 

[gim]

43 minutes ago, Rockhopper said:

Then it started to dawn on me that I have thousands of dollars tied up in tackle, but yet I really don't use any of it.  Like ever.  Obviously I am a fish/tackle junkie, but what's the point?  I have all this stuff and in reality all I use is the same three or four baits over and over and over again. 

 

Take a stroll over the latest tackle purchase thread aka the bait monkey and you'll see hundreds of us with way too many lures that we're never going to use in a lifetime of fishing.  @NorthernBasser's collection takes it though.  He has a SHED of tackle.

 

When the pandemic started, there was definitely a surge of tackle sales and shelves/pegs were wiped out that first year.  I needed some items and could not find them, so I stocked up the following winter when items slowly came back into stock.  I went overboard.  I soon realized that I'll never use them, so now the only tackle I regularly buy is line, hooks, and plastics that need replacing.

 

Tackle companies want you by more and more and more.  They're in that business.

[BrianMDTX]

Well, had you asked me this in April a jig would be nowhere on this list. But, things change. Sometimes for the worst and sometimes for the better. So right now, I’d put a 1/4 oz. blue/black jig with a Rage Craw or Bug on that list 

 

Others would be a 7” watermelon red Zoom Trick, a 5” #956 and #297 Senko and a #956 or #021 Neko Macho. 
 

I certainly fish other lures, but there’re my go-to’s. 

[scaleface]

Lures get hot and cold for me. A few years back crankbaits were catching big bass left and right . I dont think I caught 6 bass on cranks the past two seasons. Almost 100 per cent of the bass I have caught this year have come on six lures

 

Bomber Long A

Buzzbait

Spinnerbait

Plastic worm

Ned

Tube

[Bass Rutten]

I catch about 80-90% of my fish on some form of a jig or worm #kiss

 

Strike king hack attack fluoro flippin jig

Strike king elaztech finesse worms

Z-man trd ned rig

 

 

[OmegaDPW]

I stick with the same things and still collect stuff, also. I don't fish hard baits 99.9% of the time so I hadn't collected anything there, but let me see a finesse worm or stickbait in a different color than before and I'm buying numerous bags without even trying them out first. 

 

 Over the years, my absolute go-to bait to catch a fish (any kind) has been a Beetle Spin. It has to be the smaller black grub without a split tail. I will probably always have one tied on to a rod. I've actually caught all of my biggest bass on panfish lures, so there's that. 

[RRocket]

I only have 2 rods and a small shoulder sling. That's all I carry whether boat or bank. I am a dedicated minimalist via "Okkappari" style fishing.

 

I have a couple of baits and techniques that are my "go to". But my tackle choices (hooks, weights, baits) allow me to fish multiple techniques without requiring additional tackle. Multiuse if you will.

 

That's how I do it...

[WRB]

Jigs; 7/16 iz hair jig, Puff Ball jig, 1/8 dart. Flashy Swimer.

Soft plastics; finesse Roboworms, Flutter Craft screamers and Reapers, 5” Senko’s, Yamamoto Hula grubs and Twin Tail jig trailers, Jackall Flick Sake 4.8 worms.

Kietech  Fat swimmers.

Hard lures; Custom 7A ghost, Zoner Hunter, Megabass medium diver (?), LC Pointer 98, Wooden Sammy, Micheal popper, Structure spoons / feathered trebles. Buzz bait.

These allow me to target surface to the bottom while back seating,

Tom

[waymont]

5 hours ago, Rockhopper said:

Dobyns Beast willow/willow shimmer shad 1/2oz

Riot Baits lil creeper black/blue 1/2oz with riot baits little fuzzy money trailer

black/blue fleck yum dinger

black/blue fleck 2.5" stupid tube.

 

No top water? No chatter bait? No swimbaits? No Swimjigs? No Neds? No cranks in the spring and fall? I think you might be missing out on som fish.

[JackstrawIII]

I guess I’m similar… I have a handful of confidence lures that I always bring with me on every outing. 
 

But yet, I do like trying new things on days when the bite is good. After I’ve caught 10 fish on my favorite swim bait or frog, I do get the hankering to try something new just to see if can catch a fish on a __________. 
 

So, I guess what I’m saying is that I always reach for one of my top 5 confidence baits on a tough day to “make something happen”, but I get a lot of joy out of catching fish on a diversity of lures on days when the bite is good. 
 

 

[roadwarrior]

37 minutes ago, waymont said:

No top water? No chatter bait? No swimbaits? No Swimjigs? No Neds? No cranks in the spring and fall? I think you might be missing out on some fish.

 Hmm...

[12poundbass]

I have a bad habit of getting comfortable with lures and forgetting the rest. The past couple years it’s been a swim jig, lipless crank, T-rig craw, and spinnerbait. I still throw a frog from time to time but it hasn’t been as productive for me the last couple years which really bums me out. 
 

I have a ton of other lures but have gotten into this rut. 

[Munkin]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

Jigs; 7/16 iz hair jig, Puff Ball jig, 1/8 dart. Flashy Swimer.

Soft plastics; finesse Roboworms, Flutter Craft screamers and Reapers, 5” Senko’s, Yamamoto Hula grubs and Twin Tail jig trailers, Jackall Flick Sake 4.8 worms.

Kietech  Fat swimmers.

Hard lures; Custom 7A ghost, Zoner Hunter, Megabass medium diver (?), LC Pointer 98, Wooden Sammy, Micheal popper, Structure spoons / feathered trebles. Buzz bait.

These allow me to target surface to the bottom while back seating,

Tom

 

Tom, what are your thoughts on the wooden Sammy vs the regular plastic ones? I recently picked up 2 along with a Mike Bucca Bull shad to try.

 

 

As for confidence baits I have a ton of different ones based on where I am fishing. Where I live in Maryland I have to fish a lot of different water/conditions. Upper Potomac River is mostly SM in a clear to stained rocky river so a lot of tubes, finesse jigs, jerkbaits. Lower Potomac is Tidal, muddy, and all LM so baits are different for example rattle traps, big bladed spinnerbaits, etc that fish can find using their lateral line. Third set of conditions is deep really clear lakes and reservoirs which usually means light line and finesse baits like drop shot. So for all of these I have developed confidence lures over the years for each situation. The lures that crossover all of these though are; shakeyhead, flick shake, spinnerbait, creature bait, and a jig.

 

Allen 

[Bird]

I definitely fall into a rut of throwing a bait over and over because it produced on a recent trip.

I can also say with confidence that I could fish for the next 10 years without purchasing any tackle, maybe longer.

 

Wacky rig, fluke, Shakyhead and spinnerbait is responsible for 98.3 % of the fish I've caught this year.

[Pat Brown]

Frog/Buzzbait/Spinnerbait/Jig/Lipless/Plastic/Jerkbait/Swimbait.

 

Right now I bring a frog and a weightless plastic to the lake and maybe a buzzbait or t rig and that's it!

 

Summer is easy.

[NorthernBasser]

9 hours ago, gimruis said:

 

@NorthernBasser's collection takes it though.  He has a SHED of tackle.

 

 

 

I'll admit, I'm part-time fisherman, part-time tackle collector. 🤦‍♂️

[Catt]

Bored fishing?

Only when I ain't catching!

 

My goal is to catch, not practice casting. 

 

As for new lures, most are just a variance of something already made. 

[Catt]

Now this one I definitely will try!

 

[LrgmouthShad]

I use a bunch of different baits. I throw jigs, spinnerbaits, and texas rigs primarily, but I have a lot of plastics, a lot of jigs, and a lot of spinnerbaits. I will often go back to old baits after a hiatus. I think good organization helps revitalize old baits. If you know where everything is - including your old stuff you haven't used in a while - there may come a day soon when you decide to tie it back on. 

[scaleface]

If theres something I want to try I'll have it tied on before leaving. Then I'm almost surely going to make at least a few cast before I decide I dont like it. 😁

[Bankc]

It seems like every year I form a different go-to.  I don't know why, but it seem like one year the bass will really get after on thing, and then the next year, completely ignore it.  You might think they "learned" something from the past year, but there's no way everyone else on the lake is throwing the same thing I am.  I don't really follow trends.  And there's no way I've shown more than 10% of the bass in these lakes my lure collection.  So I don't know what's causing it, but it's real. 

I still haven't found this year's lure. 

[king fisher]

In the game of life, the person that ends up with the most tackle wins.  It is that simple, you can't have to much tackle.  If you don't use it, collect it.  The next lure you buy will be the magic lure, if it isn't buy another.