The Bait Monkey always wins, but we do too.

[Swamp Girl]

I have had sooooooo many lures recommended to me that now just sit on a shelf. I tried them and they didn't work well enough to keep using them. I still experiment and will do so this year, but I've also determined a number of lures that work well where I fish, just as I've located some spots that are more likely to hold fish. I have reported the successes I had in 2024 with Rapala's Crush City Mayor, Yamamoto's Zako, 13 Fishing Dual Pitch Pencil, Dobyns Beast, and Deps Sakamata, but do I think others should go and buy every lure that worked for me? 

 

No.

 

Not unless you're fishing clear, but tannin-stained water that's shallow, rocky, and also weedy. Even then, if you're standing atop a bass boat, other lures might work better. If you're fishing current, that's entirely different. If you're fishing a place like Florida where the bass can feed heavily year-round, different again. Highland reservoirs? I don't have a clue what would work for you.

 

My point is that it's really hard to advise each other on lures. We all have to find our own ways and we all have different expectations. It's a common human tendency to want others to align with us. My dad would visit Paris and then URGE me to go to Paris, again and again and again. My friends want me to like the restaurants they like. And so on. 

 

But bass are regional and quirky. Where they live determines what, how, and when they eat. Behold this lure:

 

I caught thousands and thousands of smallmouth bass with it, but if you're targeting smallmouth bass, do I think you should buy it? Again, NO. I caught those bass in northwestern Ontario on oligotrophic, glacial lakes, largely in June. If you're fishing similar lakes in that region at that time, then give Rapala's F13s in fluorescent red a try, but stay nimble. Don't keep casting this lure if you're not catching bass.

 

Have I even cast a Rapala's F13 in fluorescent red in Maine once? No. Maybe I should, but I assume it's a lure that caught bass in another place and when I did catch thousands with it, I was using six-pound test in nearly weedless water. Six-pound test wouldn't work where I fish today. No way. And heavier line would impede its action and my casting distance.

 

However, we still help the Bait Monkey with the VERY BEST OF INTENTIONS, even though we fish in VERY DIFFERENT PLACES. And sometimes our suggestions are sweet pitches that let us hit home runs. Here are some examples:

 

Alex/@AlabamaSpothunter suggested the Deps Sakamata to me and it works great in Maine. It does tear easily and is expensive, but when I cast it, I have learned to expect a strike. My local bass love it. Someone else suggested the Dobyns Beast and he was right; It's a spinnerbait that doesn't break; I can catch 100 bass with it.

 

I stumbled on the 13 Fishing Dual Pitch Pencil and that's the walking bait that my local bass love, but don't go buy it thinking it's going to work for you too. Yamamoto's Zako is another fragile, but effective lure and it works in Maine, but will it work in California? Alabama? The Potomac? I don't have a clue.

 

We have to buy the lures and try them to know, which is why the Bait Monkey always wins, and why buying baits and trying them is so much fun: It's fun to not know.

 

The Bait Monkey always wins, but we do too.

[DaubsNU1]

Outstanding post @Swamp Girl!

 

29 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

We have to buy the lures and try them to know, which is why the Bait Monkey always wins, and why buying baits and trying them is so much fun: It's fun to not know.

 

The Bait Monkey always wins, but we do too.

 

 

[F14A-B]

2 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

I have had sooooooo many lures recommended to me that now just sit on a shelf. I tried them and they didn't work well enough to keep using them. I still experiment and will do so this year, but I've also determined a number of lures that work well where I fish, just as I've located some spots that are more likely to hold fish. I have reported the successes I had in 2024 with Rapala's Crush City Mayor, Yamamoto's Zako, 13 Fishing Dual Pitch Pencil, Dobyns Beast, and Deps Sakamata, but do I think others should go and buy every lure that worked for me? 

 

No.

 

Not unless you're fishing clear, but tannin-stained water that's shallow, rocky, and also weedy. Even then, if you're standing atop a bass boat, other lures might work better. If you're fishing current, that's entirely different. If you're fishing a place like Florida where the bass can feed heavily year-round, different again. Highland reservoirs? I don't have a clue what would work for you.

 

My point is that it's really hard to advise each other on lures. We all have to find our own ways and we all have different expectations. It's a common human tendency to want others to align with us. My dad would visit Paris and then URGE me to go to Paris, again and again and again. My friends want me to like the restaurants they like. And so on. 

 

But bass are regional and quirky. Where they live determines what, how, and when they eat. Behold this lure:

 

I caught thousands and thousands of smallmouth bass with it, but if you're targeting smallmouth bass, do I think you should buy it? Again, NO. I caught those bass in northwestern Ontario on oligotrophic, glacial lakes, largely in June. If you're fishing similar lakes in that region at that time, then give Rapala's F13s in fluorescent red a try, but stay nimble. Don't keep casting this lure if you're not catching bass.

 

Have I even cast a Rapala's F13 in fluorescent red in Maine once? No. Maybe I should, but I assume it's a lure that caught bass in another place and when I did catch thousands with it, I was using six-pound test in nearly weedless water. Six-pound test wouldn't work where I fish today. No way. And heavier line would impede its action and my casting distance.

 

However, we still help the Bait Monkey with the VERY BEST OF INTENTIONS, even though we fish in VERY DIFFERENT PLACES. And sometimes our suggestions serve up pitches that let us hit home runs. Here are some examples:

 

Alex/@AlabamaSpothunter suggested the Deps Sakamata to me and it works great in Maine. It does tear easily and is expensive, but when I cast it, I have learned to expect a strike. My local bass love it. Someone else suggested the Dobyns Beast and he was right; It's a spinnerbait that doesn't break; I can catch 100 bass with it.

 

I stumbled on the 13 Fishing Dual Pitch Pencil and that's the walking bait that my local bass love, but don't go buy it thinking it's going to work for you too. Yamamoto's Zako is another fragile, but effective lure and it works in Maine, but will it work in California? Alabama? The Potomac? I don't have a clue.

 

We have to buy the lures and try them to know, which is why the Bait Monkey always wins, and why buying baits and trying them is so much fun: It's fun to not know.

 

The Bait Monkey always wins, but we do too.

Hi. I’m more than a little curious on what you’ve determined that the BASS in your location eat? Perhaps you’ve said before and I’ve missed it..

 

I learned a couple things in Florida fishing that water hard for several years and the only bait that continually works anywhere is……😉

 

That Rapala bait in Gold n black is killer in the back waters of Florida, particularly the Osceola forest where you have hundreds of pits. Many with lots of varying types vegetation. An old trick I learned from Doug Hannon was to rubber band those hooks up against the body helping with foul hooking grasses etc. I’ve had great success with that orange fluorescent in the 2” version in my state of Indiana. 
 

Are you getting thawed out way up yonder? 😂

[Swamp Girl]

1 minute ago, F14A-B said:

Are you getting thawed out way up yonder? 😂

 

No, dang gummit!

 

2 minutes ago, F14A-B said:

I’m more than a little curious on what you’ve determined that the BASS in your location eat?

 

Golden shiners are the most-ordered item on the menu. However, there are also crayfish, alewives* in some ponds, pumpkinseeds, white perch, and yellow perch. In short, mostly yellowish/orangeish/reddish food, which is why, I'm guessing, I do so well with chartreuse and white Zakos.

 

*I've seen some of those anadromous alewives returning to fresh water and they appeared to be about a foot long. That would be a big meal for a big bass. 

[F14A-B]

13 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

No, dang gummit!

 

 

Golden shiners are the most-ordered item on the menu. However, there are also crayfish, alewives* in some ponds, pumpkinseeds, white perch, and yellow perch. In short, mostly yellowish/orangeish/reddish food, which is why, I'm guessing, I do so well with chartreuse and white Zakos.

 

*I've seen some of those anadromous alewives returning to fresh water and they appeared to be about a foot long. That would be a big meal for a big bass. 

Wow golden shiners? That’s definitely a number 1 bait in Florida which is my all time favorite fishing place. Didn’t know y’all had those in Maine..learning everyday on here. 

[LCG]

This is so true. It took me longer to realize this than I care to admit.

 

Over time I learned that I only need to throw a handful of lures and plastics that actually produce in my area. South west ontario mainly and northern ontario two weeks a year.

 

Spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, jigs, inline spinners, crankbaits, senkos or trick worms, baby brush hogs, beaver baits, Ned rigs, and tubes cover all my bases.

 

One day I will actually toss out all the lures and plastics that never get used... Not today... But someday

[gim]

I've learned my lesson on lures.

 

The first pandemic year (2020) pretty much wiped out most tackle on the shelves at retail stores.  They were bare in a couple months (and I'm almost strictly an in person shopper).  I was unable to find various tackle items I routinely need to use such as line, hooks, sinkers, plastics, etc.

 

The following winter, supply began to catch back up.  I'd find myself in those stores seeing something "I might need in a few months" and I'd buy it.  The problem is that it became more of an impulse purchase because I was worried about a repeat of the previous season.  It's kind of like when people think there is a looming shortage of ammo, so they hoard it.

 

Well, as it turns out, I bought too much, especially hard baits.  I would say that 50% of them have never even been used and are still in the original packaging.  Its easy to see what went wrong, and I've learned from it.

 

No more bait monkey, no more impulse purchases, no more buying lures that may not get used.  Tackle companies are very good at what they market but I'm not giving in.  My will power is perhaps stronger than some on this subject, however.

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, F14A-B said:

Wow golden shiners? That’s definitely a number 1 bait in Florida which is my all time favorite fishing place. Didn’t know y’all had those in Maine..learning everyday on here. 

 

Maine's Fish and Wildlife reports Golden shiners in all the water I fish. So, I often throw lures in the gold and yellow spectrums. Don't know if it helps, but fingers crossed it does!

 

45 minutes ago, gim said:

I would say that 50% of them have never even been used and are still in the original packaging.

 

You're aren't alone in overbuying, Gim. 

[softwateronly]

I tend to buy/try new to me lures for specific instances.  My hit rate is pretty decent, but I do have a tendency to forget my initial intentions if my black friday purchase is for the dead of summer.  Last year I dipped into the poop baits on BF and missed lots of opportunities to learn it's nuances as I started throwing it too late in the season, imo.  On the other hand, if a new to me bait hits at the time and location I expect it to, I'll keep it tied on and try to learn and expand on my ways of presenting it.  Jighead minnows have done that for me last year.  I expected to target mid column suspended bass, and did so successfully.  But pushing it; I've found in my water that it's actually in relation to the bottom when it's most successful.  Tracing the bottom within a foot or two has way out produced mid column.  Spoons were cold water bottom hopping baits for me until I chased schoolies in the dead of summer ripping and fluttering mid column out over 40' fow.  Having a small, home lake is the bait monkeys best friend; i'm always looking for things that are different.  This way I can keep my junk fishing of 10-12 rods rigged up, searching for a type of "active that day" bass.  So yes; the bait monkey is certainly winning.  

 

scott

[Darth-Baiter]

hahah..I have a Jackall Bounty fish pile thanks to one of you all.  I cannot catch a fish on it at all.  hahha..

[Pumpkin Lizard]

Buying all these lures is so irrational and I do it all the time.  I just bought a bunch of glide baits because they look cool and it seems to be a fun way to fish. 
 

I probably have 5-6 baits that catch all of my fish and of that number, 3 of them probably catch 80% of them.

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, Darth-Baiter said:

hahah..I have a Jackall Bounty fish pile thanks to one of you all.  I cannot catch a fish on it at all.  hahha..

 

I bought some of those too. They were okay, but not productive enough to join the rotation.

 

Their SwampyRating (TM): Meh.

[primetime]

Good post. I buy tons of lures because I enjoy "collecting". I do my best to try all the lures I buy, but it's hard to break habits of what you like to use in terms of color, size and brands.

 

Out of all my lures in my boxes....I rarely reach for new stuff anymore so I am going to try to stop buying hardbaits. You can only use so many lures, especially when you graviate to the old scuffed up ones.

 

I also love the F-13 Rapala and I throw it on heavier line here in Fl. often and I will report that it works awesome on straight braid 10-30llb test, 12lb mono etc....I love me all Rapala Floating Minnows, especially firetiger, perch, and silver/Blue. 

 

Just realized...I need to replace my gold one in the bigger size....Guess I need more hardbaits.....never ends

[Swamp Girl]

1 minute ago, primetime said:

I also love the F-13 Rapala and I throw it on heavier line here in Fl. often and I will report that it works awesome on straight braid 10-30llb test, 12lb mono etc....

 

Well, that makes two of you catching largemouth bass on the original Rapala. Do tell. How, when, where, etc. I might give mine a try. 

[primetime]

6 hours ago, F14A-B said:

Hi. I’m more than a little curious on what you’ve determined that the BASS in your location eat? Perhaps you’ve said before and I’ve missed it..

 

I learned a couple things in Florida fishing that water hard for several years and the only bait that continually works anywhere is……😉

 

That Rapala bait in Gold n black is killer in the back waters of Florida, particularly the Osceola forest where you have hundreds of pits. Many with lots of varying types vegetation. An old trick I learned from Doug Hannon was to rubber band those hooks up against the body helping with foul hooking grasses etc. I’ve had great success with that orange fluorescent in the 2” version in my state of Indiana. 
 

Are you getting thawed out way up yonder? 😂

I never tried rubber banding the trebles to the body...Great idea...I am for sure going to do that on some of my floating minnows since I fish Florida also and one of my go to confidence techniques is throwing topwater floating minnows over weeds. I usually try to shorten treble hooks, smaller split rings, remove barbs to snap off weeds etc....

 

I like that concept....Thanks for posting. 

[Swamp Girl]

1 minute ago, primetime said:

I fish Florida also and one of my go to confidence techniques is throwing topwater floating minnows over weeds

 

Okay, but do you twitch them? Slow, steady retrieve just under the surface? A morning, mid-day, or evening lure?

[primetime]

8 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

Well, that makes two of you catching largemouth bass on the original Rapala. Do tell. How, when, where, etc. I might give mine a try. 

I tend to simply work them slow on top instead of using other topwater lures. I have also had days where straight reeling them like a crankbait works.

 

The Jointed Rapala is one of my favorite wake baits, same with the original, just wake it really slow on top and pause....I try to never tie a clinch knot to the lure, I either tie a loop knot or add a split ring or use a snap if water is dirty...

 

The OG Rapala will catch fish in any water. Great bait.   Overall, twitch, twitch and pause....I love long pauses and barely moving the bait most days but will let the fish tell me if they want it more aggressive...You have to play around with cadence but if fish are in the area, you will get bit.....

[Swamp Girl]

1 minute ago, primetime said:

I tend to simply work them slow on top instead of using other topwater lures. I have also had days where straight reeling them like a crankbait works.

 

The Jointed Rapala is one of my favorite wake baits, same with the original, just wake it really slow on top and pause....I try to never tie a clinch knot to the lure, I either tie a loop knot or add a split ring or use a snap if water is dirty...

 

The OG Rapala will catch fish in any water. Great bait. 

 

Okay, I'm sold. Luckily, I don't have to busy since I own dozens of them, but I'm sure going to try them for lmb.

[king fisher]

5 hours ago, gim said:

No more bait monkey, no more impulse purchases, no more buying lures that may not get used.  Tackle companies are very good at what they market but I'm not giving in.  My will power is perhaps stronger than some on this subject, however.

Good luck.  I have been there and done that, worst 10 minuets of my life.

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, king fisher said:

Good luck.  I have been there and done that, worst 10 minuets of my life.

 

[MonsterZero]

Once I find what works, I rarely branch out unless something really wows me, or someone does something legitimately new. That is a significant part of why I have started buying JDM tackle. They are building traditional baits to a higher standard, as well as experimenting with new, interesting designs and techniques. The fish do not particularly care what we think; they are going to eat what they want to, when they want to, and that is going to change without notice.

[Jar11591]

Unfortunately for the bait monkey, I found that the same lures that work in my quiet, clear Adirondack lakes also work for giant Mexican bruiser bass in lake Baccarac. Fortunately for the bait monkey though, I consider myself a tackle collector, and there is no world in which I don’t continue to buy lots of tackle I don’t need.