Great lure.........for some.

[Popeye]

Lazy Ike. I've got several and never had a bit of luck with any of them. Daredevils/spoons are another type of lure that I've had no success with either.

[Tokyo Tony]

Good thread - a weakness of mine is the Rattle bait.  I haven't had much success with it, and because of that, I haven't really gone out and used it a whole lot.  And because of that, I don't have much confidence in it.

Something that would help a lot of you (and me) is to go out one day with ONLY that one bait that you want to learn how to use.  It's best to do it somewhere that has a lot of fish.  All you have to do is catch a few fish on a certain bait, and it's like magic: you all of a sudden have a bunch of confidence with it.  

Another thing you can do is fish with someone who is proficient with the bait you're trying to learn.  For example, when I first saw the Chatterbait, it looked like a complete gimmick to me and I refused even to try it.  I was fishing last spring with my brother who bought a few after they caught his eye, and he was throwing the chatterbait while I was throwing other stuff.  I had caught a couple dinks, and he kept landing larger fish.  Then all of a sudden he hooked into his PB, a fat 6 lber (big for CT), and that did it for me.  I tied one on and haven't looked back since.  It's now one of my confidence baits.

This coming spring/summer I plan on going out one day with only rattle traps to get some confidence with them.  After reading X number of posts here about technique, I certainly know what I'm supposed to do with them  

I was just thinking - a reason a lot of us have trouble gaining confidence with a bait we don't use is probably because we only try it out when nothing else is working.  Next time you're slammin' them, try out one of the baits you're not comfortable with.

[farmpond1]

As far as unproductive baits, I think we have a tendancy to fish what we like or what we have confidence in. Perhaps not giving other baits a fair chance. I could go a fish a plastic worm all day tomorrow and not get a bite, but would still consider it my go to bait.

I have to agree with biggerworm.  We catch the most with what we have the most confidence in and, of course, use the most.  It's kind of like the woman who complains, "How come all the men I date wind up being alcoholics?"  Well, it might be because she only hangs out in bars.  Ok, maybe a weird analogy but it seems to fit.

I'm lousy at using deep diving crankbaits but that's mostly because I haven't had much luck and confidence in deep water and it has little to do with the baits I tie on (or don't).  That's just one of my weakest areas.

[Guest avid]

jointed cranks.

they look awesome.

I just can't seem to catch anything on them

a close second would be prop baits with props on both ends.

I read an article about this guy in N. Florida who wins many tournaments and catches huge bass on NOTHING BUT the devils horse.

I would love to fish with that guy.

[Bassin_Fin@tic]

Ya Avid,and I have read in so many places that prop baits are supposed to be great baits in Florida.I couldnt catch a cold with one of those LOL.One of the last things I would tie on.

[brewfish]

I would have to say that a rattle trap has to be my least favorite bait of all time. I have fished em'every which way i can think of for years and havn't ever got so much as a single bite on one. Why i still keep them in my box is beyond me. Buzz baits also seem to be another mystery to me. I'm sure both of these baits catch fish but i have all but give up trying to learn how to fish them.

Give me a rubber worm (or frog), jitter bug or crank bait any day and i'm sure i'll catch something. Another bait i'm almost ashamed to say is an old favorite is a bettle spin. I've never caught a lunker on one but can't count the number of quality bass i've reeled in with these things.

[Guest muddy]

Hey Muddy, I searched for pictures of the crankbaits you were talking about, and they all had fairly big lips on them. The crankbait I have is a Luckycraft shallow fat cb, and the lip is very small, are you sure I can fish it in the heavy stick piles without getting caught up with a lip that small? Heres a picture of it, you'll see what I mean. http://www.angelrausch.de/angelrausch/images/cebbra/L-5204.jpg

By the way, those lures you listed, are they sinking? floating? or suspending?

I don't even know The Rapalas and Bombers float at rest for sure, Sorry

[ABC123]

I have not been left fishless with any TYPE of lure, but I have a few lure that have not caught anything. By far the type of lure on the bottom of my list of productive lures is the spinnerbait. I have about a dozen of them, had most all of them a good 15-20 years, and I think the combined fish total is 3 (many years ago). One thing I give myself credit for is I try to never give up on a type of lure. The spinnerbait is about as close as I have come to giving up on one. They will see water time this year though. I feel I need to keep working at as many types of productive presentations as possible if I want to boat more fish. The spinnerbait is productive for some, so I just have to figure out where, and how, I am using them wrong.

[garry77]

I need to amend my statement about the rattle trap.I managed to catch a fish on one today.My first for 08 incidentally.

[Ryan_Johnson]

Not much luck on the rattletraps, LC live pointers, YoZuri Crystal minnow, and the ole monsters

[Ballpark Frank]

Green tubes, brown tubes,white tubes, black tubes, small tubes, big tubes, t-rig tubes, rattle tubes, alka seltzer tubes, backward tubes, etc.

I guess what I am saying is TUBES.

[Shadcranker]

Spinnerbait-

Under the right conditions I can catch em on it, but day in and day out, it's just practice casting for me.

If I can throw one around shallow cover, in stained water, and if the wind is blowing, in warmer water temps, I can catch a few. Other than that I do not have much confidence in them.

It's weird b/c I have a ton of confidence in a buzzbait in low light conditions in warmer periods. You would think when the buzzbait bite dies, you could just pick up a spinnerbait and keep catching them. I've not found it to be the case.

[senile1]

Seems different lures just work better in different waters.

I really think this has a lot to do with it.  I have had much success with spinnerbaits, but there is one lake I fish on a regular basis that I have never caught a fish on a spinnerbait.  

[detroit1]

So - it seems that all but 1 of us can slay them on a Helicopter Lure!! ;D  I was wondering if anyone would mention them. For me, it's spoons- casting or jigging types, but i gave up on them years ago. Only caught 1 on a buzzbait, and nothing on a trick worm.

[tritz18]

jigs, tubes and spinnerbaits. hope to change that this season