Do They Still Produce???

[Bass Junkie]

  We've all heard it, " The fish are conditioned", or " The days are gone when you can win wit a spinnerbait". And the pros seem to beleive it, as you never see a pro throwin' a spinnerbait.The pros also almost never throw any of the older lipless baits, 'cause again, "The fish are conditioned". I am startin' to beleive it to, as it seems Ican never get a bite on the "Standards" of the older or weekend warriors box, such as "Traps", spinnerbaits, or just about anythin' Walmart sells. I have especially noticed this in a highly pressured pond near my house. It seems impossible to catch fish on the normal baits, and 90% of the time it seems you must downsize, burn, or trick out your lures to make them different from what they normally see. Either that or throw baits like froggies or swimbaits, that your average weekend warrior dosen't throw, or that is hard to "Pattern" or become conditioned to. So,do the old baits like Rat-L-Traps, spinnerbaits, 7" Berkley Power Worms, Pop-R's, ect. still produce, especially in pressured waters?? Just somethin' I've thought about lately. I mean, you would see the guys back in the late 80's through nineties throwin' alot of spinnerbaits and absolutely SLAYIN' 'em, but when was the last time you saw a pro take top honors wih a spinnerbait?

[Grey Wolf]

Do the pro's reveal what baits they are really using all the time ? I doubt it.

[crw]

I still catch fish on Rattle Traps, Lazy Ike, Hula Poppers, and Jitterbug's, along with spinners, Pop R's and others.  These lures that have been around for a long time for a reason.  I fish on a river that has 3 tournaments a week in the summer, a lot of pressure for a small river.

[Steven Ladner]

Yeah they still produce... People still fish and CATCH with these baits.

[Josh Bassman]

They still bite spinners in my lake.

[ww2farmer]

I guess some one forgot to tell the fish in my lake that spinnerbaits, Rat-L-Traps, and power worms don't work any more. If you look at some recent big time Tx results you'll see a lot of the old standards still working. Skeet used a spinnerbait to help him win this years Classic, the last 2 B.A.S.S. tx's on Kentucky Lake have been won on 10" power worms, and Boyd Ducket used a Trap in the 07' Classic.

[grimlin]

A white/chart spinnerbait is killer around here right now.

[Bassn Blvd]

All tackle will be outdated by year 2025 and we'll have to resort to bow and arrow in order to catch fish.  Scientist have found that bass can communicate with one another via flapping their gills.  Some bass have even learned to send radio type waves from Florida all the way to California to communicate.

Actually, I suggest you get more practice using everything you mentioned because they all work just fine.

[Glenn]

They absolutely still produce. Otherwise the jig, spoon, worm, senko, buzzbait, etc. would be obsolete.

BTW - I just took 2nd at a tournament, and spinnerbaits were key.  I caught the biggest fish of the tournament on a spinnerbaits.

Oh.... wait... no, they don't work. Don't use spinnerbaits....ever.   :

[KYntucky Warmouth]

Even though you may not hear of them being used, spinnerbaits and older techniques are still in play and heavily relied upon.  It's true there are many newer techniques in the forefront but the old reliables are still there.  

[bigtimfish]

The very first bait I ever threw still works today. The devils horse. I threw it first when I was about 5 years old, now I am 30 and it is still my favorite topwater bait. A ton of others still work.

[iceintheveins]

There are some lakes and regions even where a certain lure doesn't produce that consistantly, but I can tell you that all those lures CERTAINLEY DO work. I catch quite a few bass on buzzbaits, and I have caught a bass on a buzzbait twice in a row at a lake where hits seem to be rare on buzzbaits, so I know they work.

[Bassin_Fin@tic]

The absolute difference is in fishing pressure. Even when you do "trick out"your baits or modify them or throw something new altogether you will still never have that "virgin water" bite.I believe fish eventually associate flaws in your presentation,line used,sounds in the boat,sounds of the motor,strange vibrations produced from lures in general,sounds of people walking on shore,and even the way that baitfish act when people or boats are around, to danger and they tend to shut off.

That said there is a reason why certain baits mentioned herein still and always will produce.They have stood the test of time and are still capable of producing even in the most pressured waters and conditions.

It is discouraging when your go to's stop working but the only real solution is to cut down on your fishing and don't burn your honey holes.(yeah right : )

[Raul]

Do I have the most modern baits in my arsenal ? Yup yes I do.

So I have the most modern baits in my arsenal so here 's a list of what I fish with most of the time:

Zara Spook

Hula Popper

Jitterbug

Rapala Original Floating Minnow

Rapala Shad Rap

Rapala Fat Rap

Rat L-Trap

Storm Wiggle Wart

Bayou Boogie

Culprit 7.5 ribbontail worm

5" curly tail grub

6. "X" straight tail worm ( used to be Jelly Worms, now it 's Trickworms )

Soft plastic lizard

Soft plastic craws

Strike King spinnerbaits

Been catching fish with those same baits for more than 20 years on my local lakes and my local lakes get pounded on a daily basis.

[fishfordollars]

Friend, don't believe everything you see on TV. the pros are still catching fish with the older stuff. They even get better when most everyone quits throwing them. They recycle just like clothes and hairdos. They get better with age.

[J Francho]

They recycle just like clothes and hairdos.

For some reason a dude with a mullet, fishing a Slug-O came to mine, LOL. So true, though.

[MALTESE FALCON]

I just checked my fishing log. Of the 315 LMB/SMB I've caught this season, 63 were caught on a spinnerbait, 39 on my Shad Raps that I've been throwing for over 25 years, and 31 more on lipless crankbaits. Yes, the old baits are alive, and well, and still producing. 8-)

Falcon

[Mottfia]

I just checked my fishing log. Of the 315 LMB/SMB I've caught this season, 63 were caught on a spinnerbait, 39 on my Shad Raps that I've been throwing for over 25 years, and 31 more on lipless crankbaits. Yes, the old baits are alive, and well, and still producing. 8-)

Falcon

You know I should keep count like this one day. I suppose if I had ,about 50 % would be on spinnerbaits.

Mottfia

[Bass Junkie]

WOW!!! I Didn't expect such a response, especially all of 'em bein' positive. Once those marketers force feed ya enough, ya kinda buy into it, even if you doubt it..........The whole conditioning thing kinda makes since, but for me its just one 'o those things that comes to your mind during/after a bad day of fishin'!!! Looks like I'll be stockin' up on the "standards", and concentrate on makin' a good presentation. Anyway, The bad bite at the pond afformentioned and the marketers force feedin' can kinda brainwash a bas fisherman. Even a good one ( I know, shameless, but true........I hope )

[Grey Wolf]

WOW!!! I Didn't expect such a response, especially all of 'em bein' positive. Once those marketers force feed ya enough, ya kinda buy into it, even if you doubt it..........The whole conditioning thing kinda makes since, but for me its just one 'o those things that comes to your mind during/after a bad day of fishin'!!! Looks like I'll be stockin' up on the "standards", and concentrate on makin' a good presentation. Anyway, The bad bite at the pond afformentioned and the marketers force feedin' can kinda brainwash a bas fisherman. Even a good one ( I know, shameless, but true........I hope :

They don't brain wash the good ones.

[Bass Junkie]

Touche', my friend. I guess I was makin' excuses....... I was brainwashed. I consider myself good, but thats my HO. I know I need to work on my fishin', and it will take me a long time to get anywhere near where I would like to be, so sorry........Now, if I could just find those Culprits.............

[bilgerat]

One of the better fishing quotes I've read:

There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process.

Paul O'Neil