Do you change up your bait for fun or effectiveness? 2025
drmevo reply :
As I start to pick up more lures and try them out, it becomes increasingly clear that some will reliably catch fish (Senko, etc.) and others won't (for me, chatterbait and popper have yet to produce anything substantial). Obviously a lot of this is down to my lack of good technique, as well as knowing the right conditions for a particular bait. I don't think I'll ever get bored of catching fish on Senkos but half the fun for me at this point is trying new techniques and finding success.
So, I got to thinking, when you pick up a new lure or tie something different on in the middle of a trip, are you usually hoping it will catch you more fish or do you just want to try something else to make things more interesting? Clearly if you're not having luck with one lure you'll change things up, but do you ever try something different even though you know you'll probably catch fewer fish with it? For example, I'll often start by throwing Senkos to get some confidence and know I'm almost guaranteed to catch something, and then if I've had decent success I'll try my hand at a crankbait or something that seems make sense for the conditions. I only take out two rods so on my typical 2-3 hour outing I might try 4-5 different baits max. Interested to hear your thoughts!
NYWayfarer reply :
For fun. I tend to stick with confidence baits to shake the skunk. Later in the day I switch up to try new things.
This Saturday as a personal challenge I tried to catch 5 fish in four hours using 5 different baits, 2 of which I had never used before. Sadly I was unable to do it in four hours. I did have 4 catches and missed what would have been my 5th. It was a Pickerel that shook my Pit Boss before I could land him.
Koz reply :
I bank fish primarily in the same 8 lagoons and for the most part my standard approach is to start off with either a T-rigged Senko or Dinger, Booyah Pad Crasher, or Whopper Plopper 90. Which one I start with usually depends upon the time of day and/or weather conditions. For example, in these lagoons I almost never get hits on the frog or Plopper 90 if it's really windy that day.
If the fish are biting at that point I'll start throwing bigger baits like the Whopper Plopper 110 or 130, a big buzz bait, or a jig and craw setup. If the fish aren't biting that well I'll throw a Beetle Spin, small chatterbait, jerkbait, or Ned Rig. Occasionally I'll throw a crankbait, lipless crank, or a bigger swimbait but those have never been good producers for me.
If the bite is slow that day I'll invariably go through whatever is in the 4 trays in my tackle bag, but my emphasis is always on those first three baits.
scaleface reply :
When I was a newer angler I tried everything . Thats how one learns . Now I dont so much .
Scarborough817 reply :
i've started paying more attention to the location of the fish and what i can effectively present to that fish. say a fish is sitting on bottom in 20' of water. you aren't going to effectively present a spinnerbait, you are better with a jig or a texas rigged ribbon tail worm or something that is a bottom contact lure.
so i guess to answer the question i switch more so for effectiveness, not so much because what i'm throwing isn't getting bit but because if i know they are in that area then i try to pick the most effective presentation i can depending on where they may be in the water column
scaleface reply :
On 8/29/2017 at 12:55 AM, Scarborough817 said:a fish is sitting on bottom in 20' of water. you aren't going to effectively present a spinnerbait,
I have spinnerbaits specifically for that but yeah , I dont use them that much .
Ksam1234 reply :
I have a similar question for everyone. Say your out fishing and found the lure fish are biting , for me it was a spinnerbait , and you catch like 15-20 bass but they are all small. Maybe 7 inches -12 inches would you guys move to a different area or stay? Or would you change our lure hoping for something bigger to eventually bite.
NHBull reply :
I would not give up on the baits that are jot producing. Things go in waves and forcing yourself to use them will make it better. You can't have to many arrows in the quiver.
I change bait offen, until I am catching the size I want or conditions dictate.
I throw a surface bait almost 100% of the time when I get to a new spot.
My last resort is using a senko.
My best fish have come from CB,JB and top waters.
Don't limit yourself.
PS, I have not caught a fish on a spinner or Chatter bait this year......and they were my go-to's last
drmevo reply :
On 8/29/2017 at 1:17 AM, NHBull said:PS, I have not caught a fish on a spinner or Chatter bait this year......and they were my go-to's last
Interesting. I had one decent fish take the chatterbait the other day, maybe a 2 pounder or so but he was able to jump and shake it loose. Part of the problem was I didn't realize it was a bite at first - it felt about the same as a huge clump of weeds. Nothing before that or since, and same for the spinners although I haven't given those much of a chance. Guess I'll have to make sure I keep them in the rotation.
Mind if I ask what CB you find works well around here (and if that's getting too off-topic would you mind PM'ing me?)? I've got a Rapala square bill, I think Crankin Rap in yellow perch that does OK on smallies but yet to catch a LM with it and then I've got some smaller, lighter colored CB's that go to different depths that I haven't had any luck with.
BassNJake reply :
On 8/29/2017 at 1:16 AM, Ksam1234 said:I have a similar question for everyone. Say your out fishing and found the lure fish are biting , for me it was a spinnerbait , and you catch like 15-20 bass but they are all small. Maybe 7 inches -12 inches would you guys move to a different area or stay? Or would you change our lure hoping for something bigger to eventually bite.
Did you try changing spinnerbaits? Colors or size can make a difference.
Did you try changing retrieves? Sometimes slow rolling or a faster retrieve can be the trigger
Lets say you were fishing in 10 feet of water and moving the bait fairly quickly.
The smaller fish could be closer to the surface so slow rolling would be a way to work the bait deeper than the ones you were catching
Another option is to give them a different lure fished at the same speed and depth(say chatterbait or squarebill)
If I find fish, I'm more likely to pick part that area to try and come up with a reason as to why they were there.
This way I can look for other areas with similar properties.
tcbass reply :
I only change to improve effectiveness.
I love topwater and will sacrifice a few fish to catch fish on topwater. If I am not catching any or a lot I will change up. I have 4 rods tied up with the same thing, two baitcasting rods, one with a Whopper Plopper 110, Homemade Teckel Sprinker Frog and two spinning rods with Zoom Superfluke nose-hooked, and a Senko.
If I have to change it up I'll probably change to a spinnerbait first.
scaleface reply :
On 8/29/2017 at 1:16 AM, Ksam1234 said:would you guys move to a different area or stay?
Good question.
I might move or stay in the area and fish heavy cover more thoroughly or change lures like from a spinnerbait to a buzzbait .
But if I'm catching numbers theres a good chance I'll stumble on to some big fish and get something going .
Ksam1234 reply :
On 8/29/2017 at 2:16 AM, scaleface said:Good question.
I might move or stay in the area and fish heavy cover more thoroughly or change lures like from a spinnerbait to a buzzbait .
But if I'm catching numbers theres a good chance I'll stumble on to some big fish and get something going .
Ok thanks for the input, the entire day I styed with the same lure, I tried others for awhile but got zero bites .. they just wanted that specific one.
On 8/29/2017 at 2:02 AM, BassNJake said:
Did you try changing spinnerbaits? Colors or size can make a difference.
Did you try changing retrieves? Sometimes slow rolling or a faster retrieve can be the trigger
Lets say you were fishing in 10 feet of water and moving the bait fairly quickly.
The smaller fish could be closer to the surface so slow rolling would be a way to work the bait deeper than the ones you were catching
Another option is to give them a different lure fished at the same speed and depth(say chatterbait or squarebill)
If I find fish, I'm more likely to pick part that area to try and come up with a reason as to why they were there.
This way I can look for other areas with similar properties.
I was pretty much fishing right above the weed beds. I tried changing lures but they would only bite that specific one. I didn't try anything else but a spinnerbait so next time I'll try that.
nighthawk25 reply :
I paint my own crankbaits, jerkbaits etc so I'm always trying to get something going with those but often I fish a weightless senko first to gain confidence and not get skunked (usually
)..
BuzzHudson19c reply :
If I'm trying to learn a new technique I switch it up even if I know I could be catching them easier another way. It sucks for a while but that's how you learn and become a better angler.
FCPhil reply :
On 8/28/2017 at 11:52 PM, drmevo said:As I start to pick up more lures and try them out, it becomes increasingly clear that some will reliably catch fish (Senko, etc.) and others won't (for me, chatterbait and popper have yet to produce anything substantial). Obviously a lot of this is down to my lack of good technique, as well as knowing the right conditions for a particular bait. I don't think I'll ever get bored of catching fish on Senkos but half the fun for me at this point is trying new techniques and finding success.
So, I got to thinking, when you pick up a new lure or tie something different on in the middle of a trip, are you usually hoping it will catch you more fish or do you just want to try something else to make things more interesting? Clearly if you're not having luck with one lure you'll change things up, but do you ever try something different even though you know you'll probably catch fewer fish with it? For example, I'll often start by throwing Senkos to get some confidence and know I'm almost guaranteed to catch something, and then if I've had decent success I'll try my hand at a crankbait or something that seems make sense for the conditions. I only take out two rods so on my typical 2-3 hour outing I might try 4-5 different baits max. Interested to hear your thoughts!
When I'm struggling to catch fish I go to my confidence lures. When the fishing is hot I start expirementing with others. But... a lot of my confidence lures are ones I enjoy fishing because the reason I fished them enough to become confident with them was because they were fun to fish.
It's a vicious cycle!
kickerfish1 reply :
Both to be honest. Sometimes I feel like just catching fish especially after a disappointing previous outing or a rough start to a current outing. Other times after catching a lot of smaller fish I may see what I can do different to upgrade the size of the fish. Other times I just want to catch them in a way that is more exciting like a topwater for example possibly trying to sight fish them if I am on a clear lake.
I love jig fishing so to me that is both effective and fun. May change colors, styles, trailers, or weight of jig.
IndianaFinesse reply :
I usually change lures in an effort to increase effectiveness (or trying to learn a new technique), because catching more fish is more fun.
Spankey reply :
I'm going to have fun regardless of what the fishing day brings.
But I would say for effectiveness. How and where I fish it seems that the smallies need to have that variation. Maybe it be color. Switching between Crankbait to spinnerbaits. Soft plastics to a Crankbait.
I know now a few guys that they have a boat full of stuff. They get that FireTiger color in their head and that's all they throw. ALL DAY LONG. (It is a good pattern) Then tell me they didn't do to well. Oh well that happens. Some game warden tells them this is the color to use, some dude tells them how great the color worked for him, maybe caught a single fish on it that day.
More to my fishing than FireTiger. (Admittedly a good pattern) I know guys with a boat full of stuff that that have a confidence level in about 5% of what they own.
drmevo reply :
Great answers, thanks guys. I find it really interesting that one guy's confidence bait could be totally unproductive in the hands of another angler. It can also be disappointing when you pick up a special/expensive bait only to not have any luck with it. I picked up a Whopper Plopper 130 in Loon a couple weeks back and haven't had a single strike with it. It might just be too big for the area I fish or maybe I'd have better luck with it in the morning (I've only tried it afternoons and a little in the evening). At least my 6 year-old son loves watching it go and getting to reel it in every few casts. So in that case, I'm mostly tying it on for fun 
boostr reply :
I only change if something is not working. I always start with my go to bait which is a Jig n Craw
drmevo reply :
On 9/1/2017 at 12:46 AM, boostr said:I only change if something is not working. I always start with my go to bait which is a Jig n Craw
I think that may become my new go-to over the senko. I wasn't getting anything on wacky or weightless Texas senkos the other night so I tied on a jig with Rage Craw and got a couple of fish pretty quick. It's also a little more fun to fish in my opinion.
gilkeybr reply :
I will switch, even if the bite is hot, if there is a technique that is more fun/interesting that I want to try. For instance at my honey hole, you will ALWAYS catch fish on the MWF rig and they'll range from 1lb up to 4lb. But at some point, after you've caught 10 or 15 fish, one gets the urge to try something different.
This is where, depending on the time of day, i'll try something more exciting. A walking bait in the evening is a fun bait to switch to. Or a fluke or similar soft jerk bait during the day. The last couple times out I have enjoyed experimenting with just a plain keitech swing impact. Previously I had only fished them on a underspin. These are my first occasions to fish it on just a weighted hook
Rick Howard reply :
Mostly for effectiveness. But catching fish is fun! So mostly its for run. On occasion just for the fun of learning something new or trying a bait I have never tried I will change also.
drmevo reply :
I haven't had much luck with senkos lately, perhaps due to the higher winds the last few times out, so I decided to try and learn other baits. Yesterday, I was out fishing with my son in the morning. I started by walking some frogs and drew a few strikes but couldn't hook anything. The wind started to pick up so I decided to try a new Whopper Plopper 110 in Bone (which I picked up since I haven't had luck with the Loon 130). I threw the 110 near the lily pads where I had been frogging and got a decent smallmouth. Then I headed over to some some reeds away from where I had seen everyone else fishing all morning and ended up with my new PB at 4.9lb!
After some more casts my wife came and picked up our son and I stayed out a bit longer. I also tried a spinnerbait with a swimbait trailer and got pretty large pickerel but after that the winds picked up quite a bit and I didn't have my anchor so I decided to call it. Probably a good thing because otherwise I would've been out there until dark trying everything in my tacklebox!
Jar11591 reply :
Both for me. If what I'm throwing is clearly not working, I'll definitely try different things until I find something that is. If I'm catching them good on something like a spinnerbait, I'll sometimes see if I can get them on a topwater if the conditions allow.
RPreeb reply :
I don't have as much bass experience as most here, but for me, if something is catching fish, I'll keep using it until it stops working. I'm not going to take the risk of angering the fishing gods.
related Fishing Tackle topic
previous topic
© 2025 - fishing.qciss.net. All Rights Reserved.