Lure Confidence...

[zildjian]

hey guys,

my buddy got me into the sport of largemouth bass fishing last year around this time. ever since then i've been hooked! ever since the beginning, i was buying every type of bass lure, different kinds of line, rods, reels. i just converted over to bait casting reels and rods. i knew i was going to have to "learn" the reel since all you hear is bad stories about how everyone you know hates these types of reels because of constant backlash blah blah blah.. well i wanted to figure it out for my self. and yes i did have my fair share of backlashes in the beginning, but hey that's trial and error right?

i'm now very good with my bait casting setup and i caught my first bass of the season with it! and my second bass with my setup was my PB! 4lbs 10oz. you guys have no idea how excited i was to feel this amount of power pulling on my lure! especially since around my area of local lakes your average largemouth bass is a little over 1lb. If you catch a 2lb bass around here your high fiveing all your buddies lol. so a 4lb 10oz Bass just a couple oz's short of 5lb is on heard of for us here.

well that leads me into this.. every time i go out fishing no matter what, i always use my Zoom Trick Worm: Green Pumpkin with Gamakatzu EWG Offset Shank Worm 2/0 Hook Texas rigged weightless. on 8lb mono. i always start out with this, becuase when i was first starting out, I only used worms. senkos, ribbon tails etc.. and the only color that really worked well was green pumpkin. so everything i bought was green pumpkin this and that. and i would always catch bass no matter what on the zoom trick worm. worked every time! i have so much confidence in this worm its ridiculous.

but now, like today for example, i started out with that worm and nothing all day.. for hours. but i know it works. so what do you guys go to next for lure choice if your go to lure doesn't work? i know it matters about what the condition the weather is, what time of day, water temp, etc.. im not even talking about that. i just have zero confidence is anything else other than worms. i started using jigs at the end of the season last year and i bought every kind, every color, every size with every different type of trailer... im weird like that, and i actually caught my past pb on a jig. (the pics of the bass that ate is in my photo gallery)! the bass was 3lbs 3oz. huge for around here. this picture i took of the bass with the jig in it's mouth was right as soon as i pulled it from the water! i was so shocked my jig and trailer worked! and how awesome it looked in it's mouth!

but i just don't know what to do when your go to lure doesn't work... i tried spinners, buzzbaits, jigs, flukes, jerkbaits, frogs, popers, crank baits etc... the only bait that works is the worm. and every time the worm doesn't work for that day and i switch to a different type of lure, i feel like im wasting my time and i could of caught a bass on my worm by now other than using that current lure i have setup.

i need help!

sorry for the long post about something so simple i need answers for, but i know you guys would listen and give me so advice!

thanks,

-Zildjian

[Marty]

Congratulations on your PB, always a huge thrill.

As to lure confidence, that can be difficult. One of my ways to develop confidence is to start out with the new lure rather than your worm. I used to try new lures after my other stuff wasn't working and that's pretty silly, since the new lure is not likely to catch fish after you've already established that the fishing is no good, at least in there area where you were.

If you can't bring yourself to do that, then start with your worm and if you're catching, then try something else now that you know there are catchable fish in the area. And if you can't do that, then maybe you're destined to remain strictly a worm angler.

But I'd urge you to try your hardest to develop other confidence lures because they're fun and they're effective, sometimes more so than your worm. Finally, as someone infinitely more knowledgeable than me posted somewhere years ago, if you're doing well on worms you may be costing yourself fish. Why is that? Because if the fish are active and taking your worm, you may very well be able to catch even more fish with a faster-moving, horizontal lure, such as topwater, crankbait or spinnerbait.

Good luck. I hope you don't deprive yourself of the enjoyment of the large variety of lures out there.

but i just don't know what to do when your go to lure doesn't work...

Just my personal preference, but I'm more likely to change location than change lures.

[zildjian]

Thank you so much ! I dif will use other lures. I Just have a hard time learning when to use which lure at which time.

Thanks again!!

-Zildjian

[Ratherbfishing]

Figuring out which lure to use and when is a long and imperfect process. But oh what fun!!!

[Vinny Chase]

Is this a duplicate thread?

[zildjian]

Is this a duplicate thread?

Yes, I tried to have the mods lock this thread after I accidentally made two.

But it's still up.