The one lure fisherman 2024
Mobasser reply :
Most of us take a lot of baits with us for bass fishing, usually, many more than we use on an average fishing trip. We always want to be prepared for any scenario. Have you ever known a bass fisherman who fished one type of bait exclusively? I knew one years ago. I belonged to a bass club, and became friends with an older guy, Frank, who used nothing but plastic worms. Various sizes from 4" to 10", rigged different ways. T- rig, weightless, split shot, or on his own version of a shakey head, before shakey heads became a big thing. His catch rates were impressive, and I saw him place in the top three in club tournaments many times. He had fished for many years, and tried most all other bass baits on the market, some with success, some not. He had the utmost confidence in his bait of choice. It would be hard for me to limit myself to only one type of bass bait. I like having at least a few different choices. But, maybe we over think much of this? Maybe we should be driven by confidence first.That was Frank's simple concept, and it worked surprisingly well for him. Fish the one that works most often, and keep it simple. Many trophy bass hunters, who specialize in targeting big bass, have relied on one bait to target the biggest bass, focusing on seasonal patterns, location, and presentation to catch the biggest fish. Have you ever known a one lure bass fisherman? I tend to think there's not many around anymore.
Todd2 reply :
Not exclusively but I know several guys that keep it to two or three. If I was going to throw only one..it'd be a worm too.
Tennessee Boy reply :
I've said it many times on this forum. You will catch more fish being great at a few things than being average at many. You can't catch every fish in the lake with one bait but who among us can catch every fish in the lake. Many tournaments, even at the highest level have been won with just a worm.
TnRiver46 reply :
I'm pretty much "Frank" except less successful. Worm is the best!!!
Jermination reply :
there's old men around here that seriously do nothing but throw buzz baits and regularly take us all to the woodshed. No idea how they do it, but they do lol
Cory430 reply :
I would get so bored limiting myself like that, part of the excitement for me is trying new things.
redmexican5081 reply :
Worms are a very versatile bait. The options on how to rig and use them are enormous. Topwater, fish them fast and weightless. Subsurface you can swim them at any speed. On the bottom, where do I start? Texas, Carolina, split shot, mojo, jika, neko, on a jighead, need to punch, just up the weight.
Give me an assortment of worms, hooks, and weights and I honestly believe I can catch a fish anywhere.
king fisher reply :
Beware of the man with one gun, he probably knows how to shoot it. Same goes with fishing lures. When I was a kid I would go a whole summer with one lure. One summer it was a River Runt I found on the shore just after loosing my only Heddon Sonic. It didn't dive deep so I caught most of my fish near the surface. Sometime I would put a weight ahead of the lure and catch some a little deeper, I avoided the bottom at all costs, because if I lost the lure I would be back to bobber fishing with a night crawler. Now I have a more disposable income, and the bait monkey and I are best friends. I don't catch any more fish than I did back then, but I have a great lure collection.
Todd2 reply :
On 2/5/2020 at 3:19 AM, Jermination said:there's old men around here that seriously do nothing but throw buzz baits and regularly take us all to the woodshed. No idea how they do it, but they do lol
I fished with an older guy for several years that threw the "ol wood chopper" as he called it a bunch. He always got me number wise it seemed.
NittyGrittyBoy reply :
I keep a rod in my work car with one bait from spring to fall. And catch lots of fish! Buzzbait for a little river I walk off graveyard shift.
Anywhere else is lots a lures. So technically I'm not a Frank! ????
DanielG reply :
Part of the fun is trying lots of stuff to find out what doesn't work. As for me, I've exceeded that expectation.
GreenPig reply :
One lure! That's crazy talk. I know how that works, if I only took worms they'd be crushing spooks, if I only took topwater they'd be crushing swim jigs etc. If my boat will plane off then I don't have too much tackle.
DropShotHotShot reply :
I had a lake that I fished for a few years out of a canoe that I only took one rod and senkos. Caught my 5 largest fish in my life doing that. Never got bites off other tackle so I stopped bringing it
Mike L reply :
You know why Frank is successful with just one bait??
You said it yourself.,
”Maybe we over think this stuff”.....
“He had the utmost confidence in his bait choice”.....
“Maybe we should be driven by confidence first”.....
All so true.
Most of us think that if “this” isn’t working then “that” must be better.
Then we add in the different colors, sizes, action of every new choice and before we know it we’re more confused than when we started.
‘Ol Frank might be old and set in his ways but most of us can learn a lesson from the ‘ol guy.
Mike
M Bruns reply :
"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." -Bruce Lee
Manly Studson reply :
I have spent days throwing one lure, because it worked really well. But I didn’t do it intentionally. Poppers, spooks, worms, jigs, spinner baits, and crank baits are always at the ready.
georgeyew reply :
I am pretty sure that Ned only uses one type of lure. And he's pretty good at it.
papajoe222 reply :
I was paired with 'Frank' on more than a few tournaments. He only used ribbon tailed worms, but he could cover the entire water column from top to bottom and from fast to dead sticking it. He was in the same boat as I was when it came to first place finishes,0, but I lost count of the times he or I finished 2nd or 3rd. Sadly he passed a few years ago, but I learned a lot from him.
DitchPanda reply :
I had years where all I threw was a spinnerbait or a cheap 4inch renegade worm from wal mart...now that I think about it I probably caught more fish back then..makes me wonder why I have all the boxes of lures in my basement
FishTank reply :
I have fished with three guys like that over the years.....
One would only throw a green pumpkin zoom lizard, another a 7in berkley power worm in june bug, and the other, most annoying, was a guy that only fished a 1/4oz Strike King black and blue jig.
The jig guy would fish a few feet away from the bank, drop or flip his jig in and keep the trolling motor going full blast. If he didn't catch anything on that jig, it didn't matter, he wouldn't switch up, even though he had 4 other set ups sitting on the deck of the boat. If I didn't cast a country mile off the end of the boat, we usually wouldn't catch more than 2 or 3 fish between the two of us. It was not uncommon for him to get skunked every other outing.
Mbirdsley reply :
I have had days like that and call it the perfect day. Get lucky, figure it out right off the bat That what ever you are throwing is what they want. Than the rest of the day is easy like it should. Super easy, and just catching fish. Not having to worry about color, sun, wind speed, clarity, and Mercury’s alignment to the moon to get a fish to bite .
try it the next day and the fish won’t even look it. Usually I’m crank fishing or wacky rigging when the perfect day happens
Bird reply :
Interesting thread, makes you think.
I use to throw Buzzbaits, Spinnerbaits, plastic worms, spooks, frogs , Jerkbaits you name it, on the same rod.
Now the back of my boat looks like a bamboo forest due to bait specific rods.
If I was limited to using only a plastic worm I'd be catching fish.....it's the GOAT.
GReb reply :
Find active fish and you'll catch them on most anything
Hammer 4 reply :
There's guy, in his 60's that had been fishing a local park lake. He only used 1 type of worm, a 7" ribbon tail in Grape. Not so unusual, but he's caught the biggest bass out of lake, one went 12 lbs, and a few over 10 lbs..And as you may have guessed, a bunch of the locals started tossing the same bait.
rtwvumtneer6 reply :
I remember times when my dad would take me to the local sportsman's club lake. They stocked it with trout, and a lot of them. The guys to our left would be catching fish. Same with the folks on our right. We wouldn't get a bite. So, we would ask what they were using? We'd go buy the same bait, but have similar results the next time out. What we failed to ask was how they were presenting the bait.
There are endless lure options and combinations, but knowing where, when and how to present them all is a near impossible task. Frank's success is no surprise as it sounds like he mastered the plastic worm. Confidence, knowledge/experience and skill with such a versatile lure can absolutely produce consistent results.
As for myself, I'm too far down the rabbit hole to keep it that basic. But, I do make an effort to try and learn something about each lure I use and presentation I make every time I'm on the water.
roadwarrior reply :
One of our members fished a Bandit 200 exclusively and killed em at Pickwick.
Mostly smallmouth.
BassNJake reply :
This thread is right up my alley!!
I throw a buzz toad 90% of the time March thru November
It's all about the blow up for me
My dad said I always used to love a jack in the box and this is the exact same feeling
Crank the handle, crank the handle, BOOM Blow up!!
Choporoz reply :
I know a man who can spend an entire tourny day within a city block throwing nothing but a jig and regularly be in the money.
stratoliner92 reply :
Had a neighbor like that, 99% a junebug colored Zoom U-tail worm texas rigged. It worked for him with his old Ugly Stick ,Shakespeare spinning reel and Big game mono. Saw him catch a lot of bass. Me on the other hand got have it all I'm a tackle junkie ????
redmeansdistortion reply :
Once I learned how to fish a plastic worm it was pretty much all I used for a few years. It worked that good for me. I was a kid and was invited to fish with my dad and his friend who was a big tournament fisherman at the time (late 80s). We spent a weekend hitting the canals on Lake St Clair and put a good hurting on the bass with Mann's Jelly Worms. Roy was a disabled fisherman, he was in a bad accident and lost much of the use of his legs and spent most of his time in a wheelchair if he wasn't on the boat. What a great time I had and it's just as fresh in my mind now as it was 30+ years back.
Columbia Craw reply :
I know a couple of club members who fish a white spinnerbait about 95% of the time but they will branch out and throw a Bandit 100 from time to time.
Spankey reply :
I know a guy who will throw a firetiger crankbait almost exclusively on the river for smallmouth bass. He told me one day that's what him and some game warden were talking about as being the most productive bait is for the river.
I know a firetiger crankbait is one heck of a pattern. I'd like 10 cents for every smallie I've caught on one. But river smallie fishing goes deeper that the one trick pony firetiger CB. He's went home many of days skunked and chatted at the ramp about how bad the bite was.
I know that I don't live or die by a firetiger pattern CB. Way too many other CB patterns that are just as productive. Way too many soft plastics that can be more productive on the river.
But to each his own. Probably no right or wrong. Do your own thing, all I can do is offer him some other suggestions, we've been river rats for years and years.
RB 77 reply :
On 2/5/2020 at 2:29 AM, Todd2 said:Not exclusively but I know several guys that keep it to two or three. If I was going to throw only one..it'd be a worm too.
If was going to only throw one as well, worm for sure...
kykayak reply :
One of the fastest growing forms of fishing in the fly fishing industry is called Tenkara. My basic understanding is you have a telescoping rod that is a cross between a cane pole and a fly rod. No reel, no fly line. Just a rod, a tapered leader, and a fly. One rod that breaks down into a 1 foot section a couple of flies and you're ready to fish for the day. This fishing seems to be popular with backpackers and people looking to get back to the very basics of fishing. While I haven't bought a setup yet. I'm very intrigued by the simplicity of this style of fishing.
Team9nine reply :
On 2/7/2020 at 9:46 AM, kykayak said:One of the fastest growing forms of fishing in the fly fishing industry is called Tenkara. My basic understanding is you have a telescoping rod that is a cross between a cane pole and a fly rod. No reel, no fly line. Just a rod, a tapered leader, and a fly. One rod that breaks down into a 1 foot section a couple of flies and you're ready to fish for the day. This fishing seems to be popular with backpackers and people looking to get back to the very basics of fishing. While I haven't bought a setup yet. I'm very intrigued by the simplicity of this style of fishing.
Don't hear it mentioned much in bass circles, but this is my largest Tenkara bass to date. Had one of equal or greater size hooked that I played for a while before losing it (it was a largemouth). This was on a Daiwa Kiyose 36S-F
crankbait2009 reply :
I'm almost a one lure person, almost.
I will throw a black bandit, 100/200 series, 98% of the time. That other 2%, I will tie on one of my many plastic worms. Try that for a tad, hoping for bigger/better results. Then I switch back shortly after. Cranks are my friend
lo n slo reply :
texas rig 90% of the time ????
mcipinkie reply :
I can only speak for me. I consider myself a fairly accomplished angler. I fished my first tournament in 1975 and have been fishing tournaments ever since. Fished 20 years before then.
I'm lucky enough to be fairly well off financially and have almost every rod, reel, line, lure combination known to man.
But when the chips get down and I don't know what to do, out comes a Fish Boss Gary Klein Heavy Cover jig. 3/4 oz. Black neon (yes black neon, not black/blue) a Yum Money Craw in black neon. 7'10 flipping stick, 50 lb braid, 25 lb BPS fluoro leader, and I go to work. Clear water, dirty water, shallow water, deep water, wood, weeds, rocks, docks it doesn't matter to me. I will get bit on that jig, somehow or another.
I've cashed checks on that jig when everyone else was drop shotting, wacky worming, ned rigging (I do all those too), every other finesse rig you can dream of. When I pick up that jig, I KNOW I'll get bit. I'll bet in a given year, I'll make 60% of my casts with that jig, and probably catch 75% of my fish.
It's a head game !!
TnRiver46 reply :
On 2/8/2020 at 5:13 AM, lo n slo said:texas rig 90% of the time ????
Are you sure we ain’t kin??? I will admit I put a lot of finesse worms on round jig heads now but Texas rig will always be the best.
billmac reply :
I have lots of baits. But I have a hard time putting down my trusty jig and spinner with curly tail grub.
WRB reply :
Bass fishing is all about trying to determine what to use where.
We all our favorites that catch bass where we fish, to say you don't is kidding yourself.
My favorite lure to fish is a my hair jig with pork rind trailer, it's always tied on. I also get out my Texas rigged worm rod but don't select a worm or soft plastic before luanching my boat. My crank bait, Swimbait, spinning bait, top water, etc, etc rods stay in the rod locker until I check out what's actually going on. My finesse rods are always the last choice to get out if I want to save the day and catch a few bass.
Tom
Cranks4fun reply :
About 20 years ago I was fishing with a friend in Virginia who only used one bass bait. I had bait casting gear and high-end Shimano spinning gear and a box full of colorful lures and he was using a Zebco 33, a cheap rod, and Zoom pumpkin/chart. curly tail worms that he fished T-rigged and weightless... and he humiliated me!
He out-fished me 3 to 1 at least. He would cast out into shallow water and then pinch the line between his thumb and forefinger to feel the pick-up. Then he would let the bass take it for 5 seconds or so before setting the hook.
There was a drawback. Most of the bass he caught swallowed the hook and he released (killed) lots of bleeders. I tried to discourage him from doing that but he thought I was being a sore loser, and I might have been somewhat. What made it all the worse was that he made fun of my high-dollar gear while beating me.
soflabasser reply :
It is better to know how to fish a handful of lures very well than fish dozens of lures and not know how to fish them well.
Raul reply :
I can spend all day long with a 5" grub, with all the available terminal tackle that simple but mostly overlooked bait turns into a feesh ketchin machine.
Fishin' Fool reply :
I threw a weightless senko 90% of the time last summer. I caught some nice largemouth fishing from a kayak for the 1st time. It's weird being a water level with the fish. I thought i would lose more.
MassYak85 reply :
Starting out a weightless stick-o either wacky rigged or texas rigged was 90-95% of my fishing. Fished it on a 4'6" UL ugly stick (I lost a lot of fish looking back cause of that rod lol). A few summers ago I had a whopper plopper tied on all the time I probably fished it 75% of the time I just couldn't keep fish off it and had one of my best days ever fishing a pressured lake on a holiday in near-whitecaps. The lure seemed almost magical that year.
ChrisD46 reply :
Back in the day (Florida) I would observe an older retired fellow on a dock solely fish a 6' black grape trick worm T-Rigged with a small bullet weight ... He'd stitch that worm slowly through emergent bottom grass and catch big bass .
That's all he used was a purple worm or black / grape worm T-Rigged ... He might not have caught great numbers but his bass were all larger than average .
Jaderose reply :
On any given day during season, I'd say 95% of my fishing is with a Blue/Black or Green pumpkin senko tipped in JJ's or a Frog. Couple of areas will get worked with a Spook or Buzzbait. I have 100 lbs of tackle and need about 2.
Maxximus Redneckus reply :
Some guy i read about only used devil horse...in every color all yr long big ones and numbers ..then again i know some bluegill fishers that use nothing but a bobber and worm and constantly catch big bass and numbers all summer along with the intended bluegill...it truely is the indian and not the arrow
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