I put lures on sabbatical. Do you?

[Swamp Girl]

If you read my trip reports, you know I was a Whopper Plopper angler who became an underspin/Crush City Mayor angler. I now use these two lures less than 5% of the time because I've read your accounts of bass learning not to hit certain lures. Because the Whopper Plopper is so fun and the underspin is so versatile, I don't want the bass I catch to learn these lures, thus I've been fishing flukes, Mepps spinners, T-rigged worms, walking baits, poppers, spinnerbaits, wacky Senkos, etc. recently. Do you ever put lures on sabbatical for the same reason?

[Mobasser]

I've never put any lures on sabbatical for the reason you mentioned Swamp Girl, but I've got a bunch of lures that I stopped using for various reasons.I also think in the type of waters you fish, bass won't learn to not strike the baits you throw.              More remote backwoods swamps etc, don't see high fishing pressure.

[J Francho]

17 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

I've read your accounts of bass learning not to hit certain lures.

There are some baits that never wear out their welcome.  They are tried and true, and mostly what I throw.

[F14A-B]

33 minutes ago, J Francho said:

There are some baits that never wear out their welcome.  They are tried and true, and mostly what I throw.

Exactly true. 

[Jig Man]

I do not.  I see no need for that.  The impoundments that I fish range from 25,000 acres to 54,000 acres having from a few hundred to over 1,000 miles of shoreline.

 

One of my favorite feeder creeks has dozens of coves containing hundreds of cedar trees and is close to 2 miles long.  
 

During a normal day I will travel 6-10 miles to fish different places.

 

Where I live there are lakes in all directions within an hour’s drive.  Some offer black bass only while others have musky, stripers, or hybrids.

[Pat Brown]

56 minutes ago, J Francho said:

There are some baits that never wear out their welcome.  They are tried and true, and mostly what I throw.

 

 

These are the only baits that have better than a snowballs chance in hell at getting bit around here.  

 

I find that when fish learn lures - YOU start to learn conditions.

 

The first thing I am FORCED to do when I arrive at a pond is make the determination what lure is best suited to the water clarity/amount of wind/depth/forage/speed I need to work the bait.

 

If I was asking myself 'what lure do I want to fish today?' I'd never catch anything.

 

I think fishing pressure merely expedites the process by which we are forced to adapt as anglers to conditions because every lure is ideal for certain conditions, even the Whopper Plopper!

 

I think when fish haven't learned a lure yet, they'll hit a noisy big bait that doesn't look like their food on a calm day in clear water, but only to a point. 

 

I think if we learn where and when certain lures shine, regardless of pressure - we'll never have a day where the bait is making it harder to catch the fish.

 

The added bonus of doing things this way is you get good at identifying a 'whopper plopper day' and you can get justifiably excited when you see a good opportunity to throw one!

 

What's interesting is I typically go the opposite route when I'm ready to really learn a lure!  I might throw it every day in all conditions for months at a time.  I want to learn EVERY nook and cranny the bait can shine in and the only way to do that is commit to it.

[A-Jay]

Sabbatical for me = Doesn't get big bass bites for me here.  Eventually they usually get rehomed during hard water season. 

#glidebaits

A-Jay

[J Francho]

2 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

make the determination what lure is best suited to the water clarity/amount of wind/depth/forage/speed

You got one right in my process.  The other consideration above all is cover present.  Those two come before all others, which are totally variable.  You don't want to toss a treble hook bait in slop.  Likewise, you probably don't want to wait for a senko to fall 20'.  Those two things not only determine bait selection, but also what set up I'm going to use.  Line, rod action and power, reel retrieve speed, etc.  There's a pond I show up at that is literally completely slop streaked with hollow frog trails, and several spots where you can tell a fish was caught.  They still bite a hollow frog there.

[Pat Brown]

2 minutes ago, J Francho said:

You got one right in my process.  The other consideration above all is cover present.  Those two come before all others, which are totally variable.  You don't want to toss a treble hook bait in slop.  Likewise, you probably don't want to wait for a senko to fall 20'.  Those two things not only determine bait selection, but also what set up I'm going to use.  Line, rod action and power, reel retrieve speed, etc.  There's a pond I show up at that is literally completely slop streaked with hollow frog trails, and several spots where you can tell a fish was caught.  They still bite a hollow frog there.

 

 

Absolutely - my list wasn't exhaustive!  Can't believe I left out type of cover I'm targeting but I'm still on my first cup of coffee! 🥹😂

[islandbass]

Short answer is no. I think you’re giving the fish too much credit. You might very well be denying yourself the opportunity that the lure you put on sabbatical might very well have been the lure they were going to receptive to. This is my reason to not put a lure in the penalty box, but that’s just me. 

[J Francho]

Just now, Pat Brown said:

I'm still on my first pot cup of coffee!

Fixed that for me.

[Mike L]

I guess I’m the oddball again.
I don’t see a bass stopping, make a well thought out, conscience decision not to hit something because he’s seen it too many times before!
Isn’t that what they swim around all day looking for???
 

But hey, I’m the same guy who says that Ma Bass won’t just turn away because of a piece of line in its face too. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

[J Francho]

I think we try to link negative feedback with too many other variables.  I've seen bass annihilate panfish as well as be harassed by them, only to catch them on Hard Gill.  I think something else is always going on, like they just aren't in the mood for your crystal clear fluorocarbon landing on the water, but later will almost catch your spinnerbait as it lands.  Who knows. Just keep fishing and looking for the willing participants.  I also find it interesting that most people try new lures out they bought over winter during the prespawn season. Hot tip: they will bite almost anything if you can get into their strike zone that time of year.

[Catt]

@Mike L That's a fact Jack!

 

I've been throwing curly tail worms since the 70s, why? Cause they work!

I've been throwing a Jig-n-Craw since for ever, why? Cause they work! 

 

A worm & a jig are arguably the #1 & #2 lures ever produced. Why would I not want to throw #1 & #2?

[J Francho]

12 minutes ago, Catt said:

A worm & a jig are arguably the #1 & #2 lures ever produced. Why would I not want to throw #1 & #2?

Also, they work in almost any depth or cover.

[Bankc]

If the bass tell me to, I will.  I'll wait until they stop hitting something to bench it.  If you've got something working, work it until it don't work no more! 

 

Besides, fish are dumb.  If the fish can "learn" a lure, they will also "forget" that lure in a year or three.  Their brains aren't big enough to remember things long-term without writing them down.  So long as you don't drop mechanical pencils in the pond (because the wooden ones float and are too hard for them to use), you'll be fine. 

 

That's assuming, of course, that you're the only person fishing this pond.  Because if a whole lot of other people are fishing it hard every day, then it doesn't matter what you do.  They'll learn or unlearn those lures with or without you. 

[F14A-B]

Man. I’ll throw a swim jig over a crank bait unless it’s early spring then it’s pick your favorite because active fish won’t care much. I love to throw a big ole LC BDS 4 on Kentucky lake. But worms n jigs are the deal for me any other time. 

16 minutes ago, Bankc said:

If the bass tell me to, I will.  I'll wait until they stop hitting something to bench it.  If you've got something working, work it until it don't work no more! 

 

Besides, fish are dumb.  If the fish can "learn" a lure, they will also "forget" that lure in a year or three.  Their brains aren't big enough to remember things long-term without writing them down.  So long as you don't drop mechanical pencils in the pond (because the wooden ones float and are too hard for them to use), you'll be fine. 

 

That's assuming, of course, that you're the only person fishing this pond.  Because if a whole lot of other people are fishing it hard every day, then it doesn't matter what you do.  They'll learn or unlearn those lures with or without you. 

I listened to one pro lament about how the whopper plopper didn’t work as good as it had for the previous 10 years… yea, I guess he was implying it took the fish a decade to figure it out. 
 

The next day on Lake Fork I think it was, Hackney caught a 3 pound fish on a whopper plopper , boy ole Davy Hite liked to come unglued about that 😂🤣😂

[Catt]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Sabbatical for me

 

Sabbatical for me is they're taken out of the rotation permanently!

[GreenPig]

No. I only have a couple lures.😄

[king fisher]

If I have a lure that is working, I usually give it a permanent sabbatical in a tree, wedged between rocks, or on rare occasions simply cast it off in to space.  Then I have to try something else.

[Susky River Rat]

I do not put baits on sabbatical. I do switch just because I don’t want to be a one trick pony and keep my skills sharp on many skills 

[softwateronly]

Seasons put baits on sabbatical for me.  Slow meandering glides and blade baits don't do much for me in water above 60.  7-8" flutter spoons and large preacher jigs haven't produced for me in cold water yet, but I think they're gonna get another shot this winter/spring.

 

scott

[river-rat]

Sabbatical for me is when the lure is no longer made.

 

For example, when Gene Larew was bought by Pradco, they quit making all but a handful of colors of the 4" Salt Craw. My two favorite are Black/Blue Glitter/Blue Claw and Black Neon, neither of which are available any longer.  Also, the Larew 6" Hawg Craw and the regular size Hoodaddy were taken out of production.

 

I'll always have a worm and jig-n-craw tied on because they have worked for me for many years. And, I'll put spinnerbaits in the same category.

 

[Brian11719]

Nah I just bring a few that I think would do well that day based on conditions, time of year, water clarity, etc. Then if one doesn't work I move on. But I don't know that I'd preemptively try to figure out what lures the bass have had enough of...seems like they have a way of proving me wrong enough as it is and if anything I'll try another brand / model out of curiosity but I imagine most of the fish in the places I fish get enough traffic that it wouldn't really matter what one angler decides anyway.

[Bankbeater]

There is no sabbatical, if the bait doesn't catch anything it gets retired.  The only time I stop using a bait that works is when I only have one left and the manufacturer has stopped making it.