Great lure.........for some. 2024

garry77 reply :

Anyone out there have a lure that everyone else says works great for them,but you can't catch a fish on it by accident.

Mine so far are the zara spook,zoom baby brush hog,and (I hate to admit this one) the rattle trap.Yeah never caught one on a rattle trap,what a sorry bass fisherman I must be.

For the record though I'm still learning and I keep trying these lures.Especially the trap.

grimlin reply :

cranks and rattletraps....i hate em' but i'm determined to catch something on it.

Evan Pease reply :

Ive only caught one bass on a trap. Ole Monsters let me down too :'(

garry77 reply :

LOl'

I've caught them on about every other crank,just the trap is the bane of my bass fishing existence.

dman reply :

topwater baits, no luck with spooks, frogs, jitterbugs, buzzbaits, props etc..... -

Bass XL reply :

Thats amazing! Rattle traps are one of my go-to baits...i actually cought my pb on one.....I really dont have a lure that does not catch me fish...but i guess the jerkbait is the one i catch the least on.

Crestliner2008 reply :

Definitely rattle traps. I never have any success with this lure and I've used them a bunch of times? Bass XL - please tell me your secrets? All the pros say they are great bass catchers, but this is one I've never been able to get a handle on

Gatorbassman reply :

Spinnerbaits. I hate them. I can't catch a cold with one.

=Matt 5.0= reply :

Fat Ika..... the only plastic that I have never caught with. :-[

Gatorbassman reply :

I have about 80 of them and I use every one of them. They are on a rod every spring and fall. I fish alot of grass and they were ment to be fished in the grass. But they work everywhere else to.

guitarkid reply :

cant forget about the banjo minnows and flying lures!!! (sarcasm) but on the true side the cranks and traps. they're killen me.

TI_Bassin reply :

Mine would have to be the chatter bait, every time I try it no Luck. :-/

Micro reply :

Jitterbugs.

LCpointerKILLA reply :

keep trying man! The rattletrap was the first lure I ever used, and it took me a while until I finally caught a fish on one.

JigNBig reply :

Jitterbugs and Pencil Poppers for the big ones.

.dsaavedra. reply :

jigs (caught two)--fish jigs ALL THE TIME, only caught two dinks in a stocked farm pond.

spinnerbaits (caught one)--fish em often, not as much as jigs or worms or crakns.

lipless cranks (caught none)--dont fish em very much at all, but never had anything on em.

Bassin_Fin@tic reply :

Jigs! Grrrrrr! "the go to bait" The go to bait for hauling water lmao.

propbaits(devils horse,torpedo,etc..) can kill em on a spook or popper but never caught so much as a dink on props.

BiggerWorm reply :

I have to mention this because so many here listed the rattle trap as their most unproductive bait. I too agree that I have not done so well with them except for an exception in a tournamnet. It was April. 1:00pm, and our live well was empty. I tied on a diamond shad and caught a 7.5 lb L.M., my biggest fish to date. About 3 casts latter I caught a 4.7 lber.It was good enough to get us in the top ten.

As far as unproductive baits, I think we have a tendancy to fish what we like or what we have confidence in. Perhaps not giving other baits a fair chance. I could go a fish a plastic worm all day tomorrow and not get a bite, but would still consider it my go to bait.

Alpster reply :

For me it's crankbaits. Jigs & plastics are my go to baits. I have even caught quite a few fish on floating treble hook lures. I do well with floating Rapalas, Jitterbugs, Hula Poppers, Spooks & Sammys, but if it sinks, so do I. I have only caught 1 bass on a crankbait with a bill that runs below the surface. I have a box filled with Rapala DTs, Manns -, and LC Pointers, but I'm darned if I can catch a fish with one.

Good idea for a thread, no matter how embarassing. LOL

Ronnie

Jake. reply :

Flukes. :-[

RoLo reply :

Funny thread

I have a hunch though, that each of us has more to do with our own destiny than we might imagine.

It's only human nature to devote the most hours to your favorite lures and the fewest hours to your least favorite lures.

Like KU_Bassmaster, I also place spinnerbaits on the bottom of the heap (I use them ONLY in muddy water).

Without a doubt, there are fellows in here who put in 5 times more spinnerbait-hours than myself.

It naturally follows, these same fellows are probably catching 5 times more spinnerbait-bass than myself ;D

Roger

Jeff P. reply :

Flukes (soft plastic jerkbaits)

Buzzbait

flippin reply :

buzzbaits

Jimzee reply :

Mine is the Brush Hog. I can not catch a fish on this plastic no matter how hard I try. I just give up finally. :-/

MattStrykul reply :

After thinking about it for a while, it's not just a lure but a technique. Dropshotting for me. Only caught 2 fish doing it and I really work at it. That is really all I can think of, I do fairly well with cranks and spinnerbaits, and jigs and topwater are my favorite. Can't forget the good ol plastic worms and C-rigged lizards. I fish a wide variety, my problem was not having a go to bait, which now I see is definetly the jig.

Jake P reply :

The first bass bait i ever tied on a line was a rattletrap. I caught a bass on each of my first 3 casts back to back to back. I have never caught one using a rattletrap since. I think my "worst" bait is a spinnerbait. I have NEVER caught a bass on a spinnerbait. I still use it everyday i fish though.

.dsaavedra. reply :

Quote
I have NEVER caught a bass on a spinnerbait. I still use it everyday i fish though.

its the same way with jigs for me. i fish it for a good while every time i go, you figure a fish has to bite sometime....nope. and its not like i fished it for 20 min once and didnt like it so i put it at the bottom of my list, i fish it soooooooo much but never get a bump out of it. hopefully things will change in '08. :-/

guest reply :

Great Thread! Jigs went from this list, to my frequently used list last season, and will grow in favoritism this year!

As for this list SPINNERBAITS, I have caught fish on em, I hate them . It feels like I am throwing a hardware store around all day! I know they work i just have little use for them

FishTank reply :

For me it's the Rapala X-raps. I have only caught a couple of fish with these things. I have tried several techniques and different lakes and honey holes but no luck. I even tried at a pond where the fish will bite anything exept the X-rap. I don't get it.

skillet reply :

I don't fish them often enough I guess but I couldn't catch a cold with a crank bait. I take that back, a whole bunch of years ago before I all but gave up on'em, I foul hooked a 10"er in a small farm pond :-[...

As Ever,

skillet

Hooked_On_Bass reply :

Quote
For me it's crankbaits. Jigs & plastics are my go to baits. I have even caught quite a few fish on floating treble hook lures. I do well with floating Rapalas, Jitterbugs, Hula Poppers, Spooks & Sammys, but if it sinks, so do I. I have only caught 1 bass on a crankbait with a bill that runs below the surface. I have a box filled with Rapala DTs, Manns -, and LC Pointers, but I'm darned if I can catch a fish with one.

That's hilarious Alpster, I'm the exact same way! ;D My top three baits are jigs, plastics and spinnerbaits. I have done fairly well with top-waters, but I just cant say the same about crankbaits. I too have a box full of crankbaits. I've got to start throwing them this year, I'm starting to feel guilty :-[ ;D.

crankybaits reply :

I'm guessing everyone will think this is crazy... but mine is the senko. i think the problem is i fish to fast and would rather work through an area with cranks, traps and jerkbaits.

fishingfourfun reply :

I have never had any luck with a spinnerbait. I will keep trying however long it might take.

garry77 reply :

Thanks all you guys that said a spinnerbait was your worst.Now I don't feel so bad about never catching one on a rattle trap.(especially since there are a bunch of us out there.

Maybe we should start an online support group."Hello....my name is Garry and I never caught a fish on a rattle trap." :'(

BassFishingMachine reply :

I have a few unfortunately :-/. First has to be a fat shallow/medium/deep diving crankbait, I haven't put much time into them, but the waters I fish are fairly shallow with 4-5 feet being the deepest areas (and I don't fish that deep too often at all) So I rarely ever use the medium/deep diving cranks. But I have thrown the shallow cranks here and there, just can't get a hit with them, I been fishing them in open water or around the sides of cover with a steady retreive or jerk jerk pause nothing bites em for me. But I recently heard your suppose to toss them right into the cover instead of around it, so I plan to give them another shot with this approach.

Lizards are another thing I can't seem to get bit with. The bass don't seem to like them for me, I don't have many salamanders around here (if any) so maybe thats the reason. The pickerel seem to like them though, especially the big ones (but what "don't" the pickerel like is the question). I tryed throwing them on the nests during spawn, but the bass just seem to ignore them. I only caught 1 bass on a lizard, I seen him sitting along side a lillypad, casted it to him and he hit it IMMEDIATELY as it hit the water, which leads me to believe he would have hit anything I had on there (I don't think he even had a chance to look at it he bit it so fast).

Another lure I don't do to well with is a chatterbait/or chatterbait knockoff, they just don't catch many fish for me, I do get bit with them, but nothing spectacular at all. I don't see why I should fish these when a spinnerbait seems to be the same kind of thing and I get alot more hits with them, so I don't think I'll be buying another chatterbait as I've snagged my original one.

The last 2 baits I don't do good with are long curlytail worms (anything 7inches or above) and Zoom Trickworms. I hear so many good things about these baits, Culprits etc. I don't have a problem with the shorter curlytail worms (under 7inches), they catch me fish, its the longer ones that give me issues. I try rigging the curlytails with small bullet weights and bouncing/crawling them along the bottom, almost like you would a jig but I just don't get many hits. I do catch a few fish with the 7inch curlytails, but its just like the chatterbait, not enough to keep me using the bait. As for the Trickworm I tryed this many times, weightless/weighted and I just can't get anything to take it what so ever, so I've pretty much gave up on them.

Seems funny to me, alot of baits I don't do well with alot of people seem to do great with, and the baits majority of you listed I do fairly well with. I can catch a good amount of fish with spinnerbaits, jigs, topwaters of any kind including buzzbaits, lipless cranks, Fat Ikas, any stickbait, pretty much any creaturebait, hard jerkbaits, softjerkbaits etc. But the long curlytail worms, the zoom trickworm, lizards, and chatterbaits I just don't do well with, go figure .

guest reply :

Hey I can give you a big heads up on the crank bait issue, I learned this from the fellas here, I believe 5 bass was the first to give me the heads up with this. You are fishing them like I used to when i was having little sucess and scared of loosing baits. GO RIOGHT FOR THE COVER, hit every rock and piece of timber you can with them! HOLD ON TO YOUR ROD WHEN THEY BOUNCE OFF, a bass could rip it right out of your hands, they smack it so hard!

You will be surprised when you learn how to keep reeling and keep your rod held high, you really do not loose so many baits and the results are well worth a few donations. I like Rapala DT's ,Norman D22's and Bomber 8A's mostly in crawfish patterns. I hope this helps you as much as it has helped me. 8-)

ejtaylor822 reply :

I made the mistake of buying a couple of those dancing eels when they came out a couple of years ago. Fished them a lot and have never caught a single thing on them. Lost one last summer and hoping to lose the others this year. ;D

guest reply :

Quote
I made the mistake of buying a couple of those dancing eels when they came out a couple of years ago. Fished them a lot and have never caught a single thing on them. Lost one last summer and hoping to lose the others this year. ;D

Did you buy the Foxtrot or the Cha Cha baits

Jeff H reply :

Quote
I made the mistake of buying a couple of those dancing eels when they came out a couple of years ago. Fished them a lot and have never caught a single thing on them. Lost one last summer and hoping to lose the others this year. ;D

Those actually came out first in the 80's. I bought one, never caught one single fish on it. They don't even deserve mention in this thread. Completely worthless. Why they brought them back I'll never understand.

For me....I've never done well with buzzbaits.

Muddy, your "hardware store" comment was hilarious. ;D

Hooked_On_Bass reply :

Quote
Hey I can give you a big heads up on the crank bait issue, I learned this from the fellas here, I believe 5 bass was the first to give me the heads up with this. You are fishing them like I used to when i was having little sucess and scared of loosing baits. GO RIOGHT FOR THE COVER, hit every rock and piece of timber you can with them! HOLD ON TO YOUR ROD WHEN THEY BOUNCE OFF, a bass could rip it right out of your hands, they smack it so hard!
You will be surprised when you learn how to keep reeling and keep your rod held high, you really do not loose so many baits and the results are well worth a few donations. I like Rapala DT's ,Norman D22's and Bomber 8A's mostly in crawfish patterns. I hope this helps you as much as it has helped me. 8-)

Hey muddy man, you hit the nail right on the head! The river I fish the most is an old logging river, there is a lot of wood to get hung up on in there >. For that reason I have always neglected using crankbaits and opted for jigs, Texas rigged worms/tubes etc and spinnerbaits in fear of loosing my crankbaits to the river :-[. I am going to take your advice and give crankbaits a fair shot this year.

Thanks,

7magJake reply :

Well I am completly oposite from ya'll. I have caught all my bass on hard crank baits and rat-l-traps. I just fish the trap under the water and reel in fast and they kill it! I really like the blue/silver one. I just wish people sold the bill lewis crank baits. Ive never caught a bass on a soft plastic.

Willzx225 reply :

I guess I would have to say the Horny Toad. yeah I know that is pretty strange but I really haven't thrown it a whole bunch since I don't fish a bunch of grass lakes where it seems to produce better.

MN Basser reply :

Soft Plastics! I put in a lot of time with soft plastics, nothing!! This year, I'm starting out the season with them. Not going to stop until I catch a bass on them.

Davis reply :

Quote
Fat Ika..... the only plastic that I have never caught with. :-[

Funny reading all these posts.

The Fat Ika was my big fish producer this year. First time using it caught a nice 4 lber.

Seems different lures just work better in different waters.

dman reply :

Quote

Quote
Fat Ika..... the only plastic that I have never caught with. :-[

Funny reading all these posts.

The Fat Ika was my big fish producer this year. First time using it caught a nice 4 lber.

Seems different lures just work better in different waters.

I think its a difference in technique. It might feel like your doing the samething as others but your not really. Example: Another lure i catch very little with is a jig, but a buddy right next to me can clean up on them, so its not the waters - its my technique.

I dont understand the whole spinnerbait thing though. To me you just throw it in the water and bass eat it. All the time!

BassFishingMachine reply :

Hey Muddy, I searched for pictures of the crankbaits you were talking about, and they all had fairly big lips on them. The crankbait I have is a Luckycraft shallow fat cb, and the lip is very small, are you sure I can fish it in the heavy stick piles without getting caught up with a lip that small? Heres a picture of it, you'll see what I mean. http://www.angelrausch.de/angelrausch/images/cebbra/L-5204.jpg

By the way, those lures you listed, are they sinking? floating? or suspending?

Puds reply :

Hey guys just signed up after reading this thread. Prior to this I'm sure everyone was asking themselves the same question. How is it possible that the entire fishing community can hook up with this lure and I am so unsuccessful. Guess this proves I'm not alone.

The Rat-L Trap is the scourge of my fishing. Times used=Hundreds.

Bites=Goose Egg.

AKFerzy7 reply :

if your havin probs catchin em on lipless cranks go get a few red craw and gold super spots and a blue chrome rat l trap. the spots are louder and run shallower so I mainly use them in dirty water. the blue chrome kills em in clear water.

dale reply :

My biggest down fall is a Jigging spoon only ever caught cat fish on it.

Avalonjohn44 reply :

I have never caught a fish on a jig. I haven't even tried one for years...

I have only caught 1 fish on a Chatterbait. I have given them a ton of time and money - no more. I will sell them on Ebay closer to spring.

Before last summer I would have but the IKA on this list...I had only caught a few fish on the Fat Ika until I started using it rigged skirt down and walking the dog with it just under the surface. I can't catch a fish on it any other way.

Believe it or not, I have not caught a fish on the Helicoptor lure.

Popeye reply :

Lazy Ike. I've got several and never had a bit of luck with any of them. Daredevils/spoons are another type of lure that I've had no success with either.

Tokyo Tony reply :

Good thread - a weakness of mine is the Rattle bait. I haven't had much success with it, and because of that, I haven't really gone out and used it a whole lot. And because of that, I don't have much confidence in it.

Something that would help a lot of you (and me) is to go out one day with ONLY that one bait that you want to learn how to use. It's best to do it somewhere that has a lot of fish. All you have to do is catch a few fish on a certain bait, and it's like magic: you all of a sudden have a bunch of confidence with it.

Another thing you can do is fish with someone who is proficient with the bait you're trying to learn. For example, when I first saw the Chatterbait, it looked like a complete gimmick to me and I refused even to try it. I was fishing last spring with my brother who bought a few after they caught his eye, and he was throwing the chatterbait while I was throwing other stuff. I had caught a couple dinks, and he kept landing larger fish. Then all of a sudden he hooked into his PB, a fat 6 lber (big for CT), and that did it for me. I tied one on and haven't looked back since. It's now one of my confidence baits.

This coming spring/summer I plan on going out one day with only rattle traps to get some confidence with them. After reading X number of posts here about technique, I certainly know what I'm supposed to do with them

I was just thinking - a reason a lot of us have trouble gaining confidence with a bait we don't use is probably because we only try it out when nothing else is working. Next time you're slammin' them, try out one of the baits you're not comfortable with.

farmpond1 reply :

Quote
As far as unproductive baits, I think we have a tendancy to fish what we like or what we have confidence in. Perhaps not giving other baits a fair chance. I could go a fish a plastic worm all day tomorrow and not get a bite, but would still consider it my go to bait.

I have to agree with biggerworm. We catch the most with what we have the most confidence in and, of course, use the most. It's kind of like the woman who complains, "How come all the men I date wind up being alcoholics?" Well, it might be because she only hangs out in bars. Ok, maybe a weird analogy but it seems to fit.

I'm lousy at using deep diving crankbaits but that's mostly because I haven't had much luck and confidence in deep water and it has little to do with the baits I tie on (or don't). That's just one of my weakest areas.

guest reply :

jointed cranks.

they look awesome.

I just can't seem to catch anything on them

a close second would be prop baits with props on both ends.

I read an article about this guy in N. Florida who wins many tournaments and catches huge bass on NOTHING BUT the devils horse.

I would love to fish with that guy.

Bassin_Fin@tic reply :

Ya Avid,and I have read in so many places that prop baits are supposed to be great baits in Florida.I couldnt catch a cold with one of those LOL.One of the last things I would tie on.

brewfish reply :

I would have to say that a rattle trap has to be my least favorite bait of all time. I have fished em'every which way i can think of for years and havn't ever got so much as a single bite on one. Why i still keep them in my box is beyond me. Buzz baits also seem to be another mystery to me. I'm sure both of these baits catch fish but i have all but give up trying to learn how to fish them.

Give me a rubber worm (or frog), jitter bug or crank bait any day and i'm sure i'll catch something. Another bait i'm almost ashamed to say is an old favorite is a bettle spin. I've never caught a lunker on one but can't count the number of quality bass i've reeled in with these things.

guest reply :

Quote
Hey Muddy, I searched for pictures of the crankbaits you were talking about, and they all had fairly big lips on them. The crankbait I have is a Luckycraft shallow fat cb, and the lip is very small, are you sure I can fish it in the heavy stick piles without getting caught up with a lip that small? Heres a picture of it, you'll see what I mean. http://www.angelrausch.de/angelrausch/images/cebbra/L-5204.jpg
By the way, those lures you listed, are they sinking? floating? or suspending?

I don't even know The Rapalas and Bombers float at rest for sure, Sorry

ABC123 reply :

I have not been left fishless with any TYPE of lure, but I have a few lure that have not caught anything. By far the type of lure on the bottom of my list of productive lures is the spinnerbait. I have about a dozen of them, had most all of them a good 15-20 years, and I think the combined fish total is 3 (many years ago). One thing I give myself credit for is I try to never give up on a type of lure. The spinnerbait is about as close as I have come to giving up on one. They will see water time this year though. I feel I need to keep working at as many types of productive presentations as possible if I want to boat more fish. The spinnerbait is productive for some, so I just have to figure out where, and how, I am using them wrong.

garry77 reply :

I need to amend my statement about the rattle trap.I managed to catch a fish on one today.My first for 08 incidentally.

Ryan_Johnson reply :

Not much luck on the rattletraps, LC live pointers, YoZuri Crystal minnow, and the ole monsters

Ballpark Frank reply :

Green tubes, brown tubes,white tubes, black tubes, small tubes, big tubes, t-rig tubes, rattle tubes, alka seltzer tubes, backward tubes, etc.

I guess what I am saying is TUBES.

Shadcranker reply :

Spinnerbait-

Under the right conditions I can catch em on it, but day in and day out, it's just practice casting for me.

If I can throw one around shallow cover, in stained water, and if the wind is blowing, in warmer water temps, I can catch a few. Other than that I do not have much confidence in them.

It's weird b/c I have a ton of confidence in a buzzbait in low light conditions in warmer periods. You would think when the buzzbait bite dies, you could just pick up a spinnerbait and keep catching them. I've not found it to be the case.

senile1 reply :

Quote

Quote
Seems different lures just work better in different waters.

I really think this has a lot to do with it. I have had much success with spinnerbaits, but there is one lake I fish on a regular basis that I have never caught a fish on a spinnerbait.

detroit1 reply :

So - it seems that all but 1 of us can slay them on a Helicopter Lure!! ;D I was wondering if anyone would mention them. For me, it's spoons- casting or jigging types, but i gave up on them years ago. Only caught 1 on a buzzbait, and nothing on a trick worm.

tritz18 reply :

jigs, tubes and spinnerbaits. hope to change that this season

6190

Great lure.........for some. 2024

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