Your "turning Point" Purchase

[Fat-G]

Mods, forgive me if this isn't the right section.

What single purchase (fishing equip, not a boat) changed the way you fished forever?

It can be a type of line, lure, reel, rod, anything as long as it's tackle related.

I would have to say mine would be braided line or Rage Tail products. Braid showed me that you actually CAN set the hook from 45 yards away, and land the fish. As for the Rage Tails, yeah. They just catch fish.

[TouchTooMuch]

Mine was probably the Spro Bronzeeye Frog Jr. I never was into bass fishing, I always liked catfishing at night and blue gill fishing because it was so high paced. But one of my buddies told me I would like bass fishing and let me use his frog. I loved it so much that I went and bought one myself. That frog got me so hooked I went to the bait store and bought some stuff, and now I almost have a full tackle box and wonder why I didn't get into bass fishing earlier!

[flippin and pitchin]

My first flippin stick. It was a Fenwick HMG Dee Thomas model. No trigger, straight metal reel seat. I still have it. This was in the day when stubby pistol grips were the norm. I taught myself to pitch before it had a name. I watched the video ( real VHS mind you ) called Flippin with Dee Thomas. I went right out to my local back water slough and flipped my brains out and caught my first flippin fish, a 15 incher. At the time, that was neatest fish I had stuck to date. My old 1972 Terry Basser, 55 HP Evinrude and 36 lb thrust MinnKota was the deal. A black 3/8 ounce Arkie jig and a black #11 Uncle Josh pork frog. That was some seriously good times.

[Catt]

Mine wasn't equipment

1974: Joined two bass clubs in Hemphill, Texas whose members included John Torian, John Hall, John Dean, Villis P "Bo" Dowden SR, Harold Allen, Larry Nixon, Tommy Martin, & Zell Roland

1976: Attended a 4 day seminar in Houston Texas that totally changed my outlook on bass fishing. The man putting on that seminar was Elwood L. " Buck" Perry, not only did I buy his books but I became a devout student of his teachings.

Still paying off

[K_Mac]

Two items: a black 1/4 oz arkie jig and a bottle of black #11 Uncle Josh's pork. Went night fishing on Bull Shoals and caught fish on off-shore structure. A complete game changer.

[Avalonjohn44]

Mine was a move from a spinning reel to a baitcaster.

[jwfflipper]

1981 after watching Bill Dance using Daiwa rod and reels went out and bought me some and haven't looked back!

Jeff

[deep]

#1. GY senkos. Had no confidence in plastics before that. Texas rigs led to jigs (I fish them pretty much the same way). And now I use jigs and swim jigs 80% of the time.

#2. A dedicated swimbait set-up. It hasn't quite borne fruit yet. But I'm having fun with it, and learning new things on every swimbait trip.

[SausageFingers]

My inflatable and trolling motor.

I can get on bigger water and off the bank.

[OHIO]

Mine was a move from a spinning reel to a baitcaster.

Same for me. Baitcasting opened up a lot of new baits and techniques for me.

[Jigfishn10]

I was a fly fisherman and the ponds and lakes I fished at were way too seasonal, so I purchased a spincaster and a Zell Rowland signature Pop'R and caught my first bass. I fished it it few more times with success and purchased my first baitcaster. Haven't looked back...

Good thread!

[grimlin]

I can't say purchase...My turning point in everything i own,is because I caught my first smallmouth bass here in Michigan.I became devoted to catching them in turn I try/buy everything I can in quality now...It makes a big,big difference.It makes it even more enjoyable too(for me at least).My cheap combo I caught that first smallmouth I was even lucky to land it to be honest.Cheap line,cheap rod and reel.

[basscrusher]

This is a great question, and I've been thinking but I keep coming back to the same answer...for me, my most pivotal purchase was probably my first really high end rod. While I was in grad school I worked at a sporting goods/tackle store and I could get 60% off St Croix rods. Before working there, my best rod was a St Croix Premier. Once I worked at the store long enough I got 2 Legend Elite rods at the discounted rates. The sensitivity in those rods opened up new worlds for me. since I fish plastics about 75% of the time anyway, the effect of being able to feel bottom composition -- and tell the difference between cover and a bite -- has been immeasurable. I absolutely became a more successful angler with the better equipment. Sure, I caught lots of fish before the high end equipment...but how many did I miss because I couldn't feel those subtle bites? I still miss plenty of fish, but not because I couldn't feel the bite (usually).

Runners-up: braided line, first Curado B(could not use a baitcaster until I got a quality one), Senkos.

[dulouz]

1. My first custom rod paired with a good reel.

2. Switching to Braid.

3. My recently purchased boat.

[PondBoss]

I had always heard about how jigs were great to use, so I bought a handful in different colors after one trip I was hooked and always have one rigged up. The second would be Big Bite Baits, they just produce!

[RoLo]

An interesting question

Three pivot points pop into my mind:

1....About 60 years ago, I graduated from baitcasting gear and got my first spinning outfit (blue conolon rod <> Mitchell-300 cap)

2....In 1975, Al Lindner and his brother Ron launched the In-Fisherman Magazine (their first issues were a high-tech encyclopedia)

3....In 2005, I finally graduated from monofilament line to superline braid (a godsend).

Roger

[Sam]

My turning point purchase was an engagement ring.

Cost a lot, too, Hayden!!!!!

[Red]

Mine would have to be purchasing an Internet plan, without it I would never found BassResource.com. It has certainly been a game changer for me.

Switching to braided line was a big one too.

[tomustang]

I'd have to say it was when I called shimano service up and asked them what a better rod was since theirs broke on me and the guy said "try a different brand, I don't know"

That led me in the hands of St Croix

[Gangley]

ZOOM Horny Toad: Caught my first bass with it that wasnt a random occurance. I learned to fisht aht lure every way possible which taught me how to be more versatile with other lures. Basically, it got me hooked on bass fishing and taught me there is "more than one way to skin a cat/catch a bass".

Bait Casters: Goodness gracious, don't even know where to begin.

Drop Shot: Never caught a bass deeper than 10 feet until fishing a drop shot on Lake Fork 2 weeks ago.

[J Francho]

What single purchase (fishing equip, not a boat) changed the way you fished forever?

Texas rigged Culprit worm.

[basskitty]

ZOOM 6 inch lizards this spring single handedly got me so addicted to bass fishing... I wanna throw plastics all day everyday thanks to those lizzy's ...

[TimJ]

In the mid 70s, I was about 15 and used hula poppers and jitterbugs. We used to go to nascar at MIS and I was about to fish the campsite lake. An older gentleman (whose name escapes me) hooked me up with rebel ringworms and taught me how to texas rig a worm. We caught the only bass on the lake that day. THAT was my turning point. I went home and bought a worm kit and off I went.

Over time, I started to like taking unskilled anglers out in the boat and putting them on fish. Very satisfying to hear them talk to their friends about how much fun they had and the fish they caught.

I guess it went full circle.

[tholmes]

There were a couple.

My first good baitcaster, an Ambassadeur 5000 in 1968.

Mann's Jelly Worm.

Tom

[BassThumb]

Interesting topic.

Back in my teens, my summers practically revolved around river wade fishing for smallmouth bass. My "turning point" purchase around age 15 was a 7' 6" custom long-handle G. Loomis GL3 spinning rod. It allowed me to cover a lot more water than I had previously with mid-6' rods and it could handle the lighter lines with ease. I could toss light lures like 1/16 - 1/8 oz tube jigs, flukes, and mini 1/8 oz buzzbaits a mile. Instantly, I was catching more fish than I ever had previously, and my confidence in bass fishing grew immensely.