Follow-Up: How Many Lures Do You "USE?"

[roadwarrior]

I think it's safe to say, everyone except LBH has WAAAAAY too many lures, but how many do you actually fish?

Here's my guess for 2006:

Jerkbaits: 2 LC, 1 Husky Jerk, 2 X-Raps, 0 Rogues

Spinnerbait: 1

Buzzbait: 0

Topwater: 4

Crankbait: 5

Jigs: Many

Soft Plastics: Many more!

6" Senko, Fat Ika, El Gordo tube, Mizmo 3 1/2" tube, GYCB Kreature, Kut-tail, 8 1/2" worm, lizard, Single Tail Hula Grub, grub and Roboworm.

Me thinks me need to broaden my horizons...

[Rattlinrogue]

Depending on the season,I only use 15-20 baits.During certain times,I 'll only use 5-10.

[Catt]

Every thing I own I fish; if I don't fish it I chunk it  

Plastic 80% of the time

Jigs 15% of the time

Every thing else 5% of the time

[lovecranking]

Well, if nothing is working, I just dump all of my lures into the water and have them pick the one that they like.

[Fish Chris]

The 8" Huddleston trout..... usually the ROF #12, but some times the #5, in regular trout color.

And in the Spring for bed fishing, a Basstrix Bluegill, rigged on a 1/4 oz Owner jig hook.

I guess nowadays, I use the Hud about 70% of the time, the Basstrix Bluegill about 20% of the time, and live bait (50/50 between dads and crawlers) the remaining 10%.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, admittedly, my kind of bass fishing has become very specific to big, trout-eating bass, and so my techniques and lure choices have become very specific as well.....

However, IMPO, the vast majority of anglers have become way too caught up in a bazilion different lure choices (colors, sizes, weights, etc) and I believe this hurts them, much more often, than it helps.

"EVEN IF" I were fishing for numbers of small to medium fish, and / or fishing tournaments, I'd whittle my lure choices down to only a few. Maybe a crank or two, in one or two basic colors. Then maybe a chartreuse spinner bait. A few 6" worms in maybe a dark solid, and a lighter broken color.

Instead of worrying about my lure, I'd put the vast majority of my attention towards the time, the place, and the presentation. But maybe that's just me.

Peace,

Fish

[Bud]

My guess is

Jerkbaits:    4 LC, 2 X-Raps

Spinnerbait: 2

Topwater: 5

Crankbait: 5

Jigs: Many

Soft Plastics: Many  

Fat Ika,  Mizmo 3 1/2" tube, GYCB Kreature,  6" worm,  Single Tail Hula Grub,

[Siebert Outdoors]

Me thinks me need to broaden my horizons...

That is what this year is all about for me.  One specific technique is wacky rigging.

I am going to guess for 07 I will be at 75% usage on tackle. Thats not per trip though thats avg of the whole year.

Here is my break down.

Jerkbaits: rogues, x raps, lc(2)

Spinnerbait: bunch of them  

Buzzbait: 5  

Topwater: 10

Crankbait: 30-40 mostly bandits, rapala, norman, and manns

Jigs: alot but all similiar colors/natural colors

Soft Plastics senko styles, lizards, worms, creatures etc

% I use these baits

Jig 80

jerkbaits 1

buzzbait 1

topwater 1

crankbait 5

spinnerbait 2

soft plastic 5

That is an estimated last years usage.  Like mentioned earliar this year I'm going to broaden my horizons and fish more baits.  Well atleast try too.

[justtrying]

Every thing I own I fish; if I don't fish it I chunk it

that just about sums me up.  i used to fish (1) culprit worm (2) bush hog spinner bait (3) bang 0 lure (4) very seldom - crankbait  ...and, That was IT!  

now, i have 6 - 10 rods on the deck & i'll usually cast every one of them during the day ..sometimes even tie on other baits.    ...but, you know what?   i probably caught just as many when i fished 3 or 4 things exclusively....  go figure......

[justtrying]

Well, if nothing is working, I just dump all of my lures into the water and have them pick the one that they like.

that's funny  ;D

[T-rig]

That is funny!!

[Raul]

In a trip I may use 4-5 cranks, a couple of spinnerbaits, a couple of jerkbaits a couple of topwaters and a few soft plastics & jigs, ocassionally one or two swimbaits. The problem is that I have to carry the truckload of baits because I don 't know which ones I 'm going to tie until I get there, I choose the baits depending upon the conditions ( water clarity, temperature, wind, weather ), if I had that information before I leave home I would not have to carry all the stuff.

A couple of years ago I fished heavily one lake about an hour drive from home, every week from March until September all I needed to fish it were an in-line spinner, two crankbaits, a topwater and a spinnerbait and made a killing.

[TournyFish001]

soft plastics: 70%

spinnerbait: 15%

crankbait/jerkbait:10%

topwater:5%

[.ghoti.]

I'm the Raul camp. I have to carry all that stuff around, because I don't know what I'll need until I get there. Sounds like justification to me. Really.

I'm still in the re-organization process. It's going very slowly. I keep changing my mind on what goes in and what just goes.

Here's my best guess for now.

Plastics: 5" & 6" Senkos, 10" & 7" Power Worms, Zoom tubes, Power Brush Hawgs, Super Flukes, Zoom Trick Worms, Fat Ikas, GYCB Cuttail Worms, Power Craws. I'm giving away all the rest of the plastics I've stocked up on over the last few years, and I'm only going to stock a few colors of each of the ones I'm keeping. I've been carrying around 8 BPS double binder bags full of plastics. My goal is to get it down to two, maybe three. Plus one Facon terminal tackle box. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Jerkbaits: one Shimano 3700 sized box is all I'm going to carry, stocked with X-Raps and LC Pointers. The rest go into storage or will be given away.

Cranks: one 3700 box each shallow and medium divers. The list now includes Minus1', Shad Raps, DT's Bandits and Bomber As. I'm no longer gonna carry around hundreds of cranks. I'm getting rid of the deep cranks. I don't use one often enough to keep carrying them with me.

Spinnerbaits/buzzbaits. One Falcon spinnerbait box with mostly Terminators in 1/4 and 3/8oz. I like those becuase I don't have to tune them. White, charteuse and bluegill colors, with a couple of blacks. One Falcon spinnerbait/buzzbait box, again mostly Terminators.

Topwaters: One 3700 box, Spooks, Spit'n Images, Skitter Pops and Skitter Walks.

One Shimano 3700 sized box full of original floating Rapalas.

One 3700 box for misc hard baits.

The 8 3700 size boxes will fit in the main compartment of my Fats bag, the terminal box will fit in the back pocket, and tools and scents will go in the front pocket. The two side pockets will hold 3600 boxes, one full of jigs and one with Brody swim baits. I figure the whole thing will weigh in at about 40 pounds. Maybe less.

That's the plan as of thiw week. It will probably change, but not much. Still trying to figure out how trim down the number of rods and reels.

Cheers,

GK

[liquidsoap]

I will start out with...

Senko- 5"

Finesse Worm- Trick worm or finesse worm on a shakey head

Jig- strike king premier pro model exclusivley

Buzzbait - Booyah

Crank- Rapala, Norman, Strike King, or Yozuri

Jerkbait- Husky Jerks, X-rap

I will then move to carolina rig, spinnerbait, other topwaters, and different depth cranks.

On any given day I retie probally 50 times.  Not because  I check knots, but because I love changing.  

[roadwarrior]

ghoti,

Man, I like your plan. It seems very well thought out to me.

[bassmasta7]

35% 5in. Senko

20% 12in. worms

10% lizards

10% Topwater

5% Buzzbaits

5% Jigs

5% Crankbaits

10% other

[Triton21]

% I use these baits

Jig 80

jerkbaits 1

buzzbait 1

topwater 1

crankbait 5

spinnerbait 2

soft plastic 5

GMAN

What do you use the other 5% of the time? DYNAMITE?????????????

[.ghoti.]

Thanks for the kind words, RW. I have put some thought in it, but not that much. Here's how I did it, for any who mat need a nudge.

I went through every bag and box, and asked one simple question. Did I use this last year? If I answered yes, it made the cut.

I eliminated at least 60% of the stuff I was lugging around. Maybe more.

Now, all I have to do is get it all put together. It should be much easier than last year's re-organization, because I have a plan. I also have a small list of things to buy to round out the color selections, and a couple of bulk spools of line. It doesn't amount to much.

I'm having a much harder time figuring out how to trim down the number of rods. I've made at least five different lists, and every time I look at it, I change it. AH well, it keeps me somewhat occupied during this nasty, fishless time of the year.

Cheers,

GK

[cart7t]

I did the big purge over the winter last year.

I've gone with 2 of these

I can add specific 3700 style boxes as needed and remove them. Very handy.

I've got a smaller bag with Senko stuff in it and bags of plastic worms are kept in clear, ziptop larger plastic bags.

I'm still probably carrying way to much stuff.

[hi_steel_basser]

I use every thing I carry. It makes my aluminum jonboat heavier, so the wind can't blow it around so much. As to what I throw in the lake, pointers, topwaters, finesse worms, and lizards for spots. Largemouths will get alot more airtime this year, so ask this ? again in 12 months.

[Munkin]

Like someone said you are only going to use a small percentage of the lures you bring but I like to be prepared. I use a BPS tackle bag and will switch 3600 plano boxes our according to conditions. There were several days last year that I only fished the baits that were tied on my rods already.

Allen

[Alpster]

I want to say that I fish everything in the box to the max, but the truth is, Culprit worms, Arkie jigs w/pork or creature trailers, and senko type baits get 80% of my attention. Then top waters, spinner & buzzbaits get a little action and last on my list are crankbaits. That's how it is now, but I am determined to give some new baits a "hard work" chance.

Ronnie

[senile1]

Are we talking about the number of actual lures used or different types or brands?  For example, I use Rapala DTs but in three or four colors and depth ranges.  I'll count these as one crankbait.  I guess my 2006 list is for number of types/brands.  

Topwaters 6

Buzzbaits 1 (Two different sizes and multiple colors)

Crankbaits 7 (doesn't count different depth ranges of the same crankbait)

Spinnerbaits 3 (3 brands with different weights, blades, skirts, and arm lengths)

Jerkbaits 3  (multiple sizes)

Jigs 3 (3 brands in mutiple colors and sizes)

Soft Plastics   Too many in every different style

Spoons  1  (1 brand in different sizes and colors)

[roadwarrior]

My answer was "actual different lures used."

With the exception of soft plastics and jigs, I just realized that I don't fish many lures.

[5bass]

Being a crankbait guy,I'll probably use a total of 30 different cranks this year.

I'll use probably 10 different plastic baits. Maybe 8 different jigs. 3 different spinnerbaits. 4 different topwaters. 8 different jerkbaits. 2 buzzbaits.

This thread reminds me of my dad. I remember growing up,he owned 3 or 4 huge tackle boxes stuffed to the hilt with this and that. Now when I take him out,he's got what looks like a mini-tackle box with just a few different things and he catches his share of bass with what he's got in that little box. He only uses one plastic worm (Culprit) in 2 different colors,about 5 old Bomber cranks,a few black and/or brown jigs and a couple of topwater baits.