Setting confidence lure goals this year

[Joedodge]

So I’ve always been a soft plastics guy. Moved from Florida to Iowa. New water new seasons and temps. So I’m gonna throw spinner baits, mini max chatter baits, and jerk baits and top water frog.  Most of the season. I’m gonna try to stay away from Texas rigged stick baits and creatures and weightless flukes as long as I can till the ponds become trashed with scum and moss. Anyone else done this before or doing anything similar? 

[12poundbass]

The Senko was my crutch for years. I would fish other lures but didn’t give them a fair shake and would quickly resort back to the Senko when others didn’t produce after a few casts. I gave up the Senko and all stick baits well over a decade ago.

 

Since giving up the Senko I’ve added many different presentations to confidence list.

[Joedodge]

  On 3/16/2025 at 1:59 AM, 12poundbass said:

The Senko was my crutch for years. I would fish other lures but didn’t give them a fair shake and would quickly resort back to the Senko when others didn’t produce after a few casts. I gave up the Senko and all stick baits well over a decade ago.

 

Since giving up the Senko I’ve added many different presentations to confidence list.

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That’s my plan. I am pretty much the exact same way.im glad to hear that others have done this as well 

[papajoe222]

I thought this was going to be setting a goal for how many fish we're going to catch on our confidence lure this season.

No way I'm abandoning a jig.

[Joedodge]

See I’m going for the opposite this year. My confidence baits will come out but I wana work harder on stuff I’m not proficient at 

[Catt]

[A-Jay]

  On 3/16/2025 at 12:35 PM, Joedodge said:

See I’m going for the opposite this year. My confidence baits will come out but I wana work harder on stuff I’m not proficient at 

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I hear ya ~

However, I've had some success becoming proficient

at matching the presentation to the conditions.

Never really worked out well for me trying to select an effective bait

in advance of knowing what I was fishing. 

Good Luck

A-Jay

 

[bassmedic46]

Going to work on using a Baitcaster and for a lure a jig.

[Joedodge]

Aweosme! Glad to hear that.

[Joedodge]

  On 3/16/2025 at 7:12 PM, A-Jay said:

I hear ya ~

However, I've had some success becoming proficient

at matching the presentation to the conditions.

Never really worked out well for me trying to select an effective bait

in advance of knowing what I was fishing. 

Good Luck

A-Jay

 

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One thing I need to work on is honestly trying to present baits well and trying to pay closer attention to what I did when I caught a fish so I can repeat the exact same retrieve 

[herder]

bladed jig, gonna try and catch some fish on it this year, so far only have caught one tiny bass on it.

[Joedodge]

  On 3/16/2025 at 11:30 PM, herder said:

bladed jig, gonna try and catch some fish on it this year, so far only have caught one tiny bass on it.

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Same here. Definitely a goal. I haven’t caught one on a bladed jig ever lol

[Harold H]

This year I'm slangin live goldfish and 3" to 4" bluegills under a slip float. The biggest bass i've hooked into was on live bait twice, same fish, guessing it was over 12 lbs in a pond. Backing that up with a 7" power worm t rigged with an 8th oz sinker and a Rapala shallow shad rap

[Harold H]

  On 3/16/2025 at 11:30 PM, Joedodge said:

Same here. Definitely a goal. I haven’t caught one on a bladed jig ever lol

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Try fishing without a trailer if you haven't before, might notice a difference

[Joedodge]

  On 3/17/2025 at 1:55 AM, Harold H said:

Try fishing without a trailer if you haven't before, might notice a difference

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I’ll have to try that this year I planned to get away from large trailers and go more subtle like a small fluke. But I’ll try no trailer!!

[Harold H]

Here's my live bait setup. Consists of a snelled 1/0 Gamakatsu trailer hook on 15 lb big game mono, a #7 barrel swivel, a 1/2 egg sinker, a Thill 4" big fish slider float, a bead, and a stop knot. My leader is a little long here but I just open the mouth of my bluegill and hook through a nostril, preferablly in the same nostril I hooked it in when I caught it. Throw that little guy out there and let it swim around until a big bass takes it down. I wait about 5 seconds while the bobber is down before I set the hook. Can also use big black salties if availablein your area, also juvenile bass work well. Just another tactic for catching buckets, when they've seen every lure under the sun, it's still difficult for them to pass up a lively kicking morsel

[Swamp Girl]

I want to add at least one new lure to my rotation in 2025. I can't tell you what that new lure will be. The bass get to decide. 

 

By rotation, I mean the lures I am confident casting. For example, I've caught bass on jerkbaits and jigs, but they're not one of my I'm-about-to-catch-a-bass lures. Same with strolling baits. I bought some new ones that @AlabamaSpothunter/Alex highlighted and I look forward to fishing them. 

 

In 2024, I added spinnerbaits and walking baits to my confident lures. I know I'm about to catch 2025 bass with those baits. Lots of bass and big bass.

 

Now I want another one or two new lures that give me the same confidence. 

[Joedodge]

  16 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

I want to add at least one new lure to my rotation in 2025. I can't tell you what that new lure will be. The bass get to decide. 

 

By rotation, I mean the lures I am confident casting. For example, I've caught bass on jerkbaits and jigs, but they're not one of my I'm-about-to-catch-a-bass lures. Same with strolling baits. I bought some new ones that @AlabamaSpothunter/Alex highlighted and I look forward to fishing them. 

 

In 2024, I added spinnerbaits and walking baits to my confident lures. I know I'm about to catch 2025 bass with those baits. Lots of bass and big bass.

 

Now I want another one or two new lures that give me the same confidence. 

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Love it! Glad to hear ya have a solid plan. Moving baits is certainly in my plan. As well as learning a whole new water system in another part of the country. I’ll be surprised if I catch anything since I moved to Iowa from Florida lol

[Swamp Girl]

  16 hours ago, Joedodge said:

I’ll be surprised if I catch anything since I moved to Iowa from Florida lol

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I won't be surprised when you catch bass. Go get 'em, cowboy!

[IYAOYAS]

I am a fluke guy. This year I am gonna put a swim jig in my hand and throw it till I either start liking it and am so dang good with it the fish see me grab a swim jig and just jump in the boat or I hate it so much I'd rather dig up my mother in law than fish one.

[Functional]

I tried it but when things got tough I always ended up grabbing what I was comfortable with. Took my literally taking the lures out of the boat and leaving them home to give new stuff a fair shake. Since then I've gotten confident in swim jigs, chatterbaits, jerkbaits and more so on frogs. Just as important I've also learned what conditions work better for similar but different baits like a bladed jig vs spinnerbait. 

 

Prior when I just used what I was originally comfortable with I'd have skunked days somewhat regularly, now its very rare I get skunked and can probably count on 1 hand how many days I zeroed last year. Combo of being confident in more lures and knowing my lakes better but its translated to areas I haven't fished often or ever. 

 

Still working on that jig though...

[JHoss]

  15 hours ago, Functional said:

I tried it but when things got tough I always ended up grabbing what I was comfortable with. Took my literally taking the lures out of the boat and leaving them home to give new stuff a fair shake. Since then I've gotten confident in swim jigs, chatterbaits, jerkbaits and more so on frogs. Just as important I've also learned what conditions work better for similar but different baits like a bladed jig vs spinnerbait.

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This is the only way to get confidence in a new bait IMO. I know myself well enough to know that if I go an hour without a bite on a new bait, I'm going to pick up an ol faithful and use that. So when I want to gain confidence in a technique, everything else comes out of the boat. I will, however, usually bring two techniques I'm trying to gain confidence in so that I can not be entirely screwed if the fish aren't doing what they need to for a certain technique.

 

Right now it's a jig and jighead minnow for me. My primary focus is getting better with jighead minnow, but if I get out there and can't find any offshore, I'll pick up the jig and go flip shallow cover. 

[Functional]

@JHoss yes, never one new technique, I'll usually bring 2 new ones and the 3rd will be one I've been working on but still need experience with. 

[casts_by_fly]

Every year I’ve done at least one trip where I picked a technique or theme and only did that. It started with the “all plastics outing” a couple summers ago. Last year I did a finesse only trip. I don’t limit it to one particular lure but to a theme that I’d like to be better at so that when I need to pick it up in the future I have a good basis and confidence. After the all plastics outing I actually swapped from throwing a jig to throwing a Texas rig for the bulk of my pitching. Last year I caught so many bass on a ned rig that I’ll never not have one tied on.

 

I’m not sure what this year will bring yet. It might be a big bait day (nothing smaller than a 6” magdraft).  Might be a FFS day and only catching fish I can see first (minnow, jerkbait, etc). I think a day of dragging (Carolina rig or football jigs) would serve me well also. 

[Don Harris]

This year I hope to gain confidence in a jerkbait and a jig. I've caught some fish on them but want to make them confidence baits. I used to catch a lot of fish on a Rapala Original Floating 11S. I just quit using them for some reason. I want to learn to fish a suspending or sinking jerkbait. I just haven't fished jigs. I know with consistent use they will produce.