Items You Do Use That Don't Work

[Juan Grande]

To kind of dove tail off the "Items you don't use..." post, what are some lures that are your guilty pleasures in that you love to throw them but they don't catch much.

Sounds like a dumb question because why would you throw something that doesn't work, but for me it would be buzzbaits. I know they have a time and place when they're fantastic, but I never seem to be in that time or place. Still, I almost always chuck one into slop, wood, pads or whatever looks good. Just the anticipation of a blow up keeps me coming back. I love topwater fishing in general (who doesn't) but don't seem to ever get on a topwater bite.

Ug, back to the senko...

[Deitz Dittrich]

Chatter baits. I get piked to death, but rarely catch a bass on them.

[Larson15]

Swimbaits for me. I know they work I just dont know how to fish them I guess

[NTW]

Same with chatterbaits except I don't even catch many pike. I did watch a web video where a dude provided some better insight about using them. Supposedly they're his go-to.

I am surprised the buzzbait doesn't work for you JaunG...that is a killer for me in the fall

[mozy]

Hard swimbaits. I haven't been able to catch anything on them, and I've used them a fair amount. The reason I throw 'em is because I believe they are a big fish bait, and they just look too good not to use 'em, right?

[IBFishin2]

I love soft bodied swim bait but hard bodied swim bait is just a pricey decoration in the tackle box

[Irish]

I love throwing swimbaits mostly because they look so good in the water...but I rarely catch bass on them. Especially the Strike King Sexy Swimmer I love how they look in the water and if I was a bass I would definitely eat it but I haven't caught a single bass on it.

[Presco]

I'm gonna go with jerk baits here, but not because they don't work. I love them and use them all the time, but I buy far too many of them. If I'm out and see one, I have to buy it. Like Mel Gibson with The Catcher in the Rye in Conspiracy Theory, its like I'm forced to buy it. Plus, like an addict, each jerk bait is a gateway to the next bigger, better bait. I have the colors and brands I like, so most of the new ones just get thrown in a box, never to be used. I need help.

Stuff I use that doesn't work, I always start out throwing a grub. Love the way they look, love its "fish catching potential", but I usually throw something else after a bit and never go back to the grub.

[RK]

Hiya -

Kind of interesting with topics like this how different the responses get.

I see guys saying the don't do well on hard swimbaits and think "Eh? Are you kidding me?" But I don't do as well on soft swimbaits other than fishing them on a jighead, which to me makes them just a grub with a different tail. But...it took me a season's worth of messing around with hard swimbaits to figure them out a little bit.

I use chatterbaits for maybe the first two weeks of the season, when the rushes are just starting to come up. After that, they're pike magnets. REALLY pike magnets. May be the only lure on earth pike like better than a rattle trap...which is saying something.

Believe it or not the bait I rarely do well on is topwater frogs like Bronzeye frogs. Spoons, yes. Frogs, no. And they INVARIABLY get shredded by a hammerhandle pike every time I do use them. Takes the fun out of it at $6 - $8 a pop. Maybe they're just not suited to the kind of heavy cover I fish (the lake my cabin is on has acres and acres of rushes, but about 6 lily pads...) but frogs do nothing for me.

Weird, eh?

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[NTW]

Great point about cover or lake type being fished. That makes a world of difference.

[Juan Grande]

Yep, frogs are another one. Tons of guys on here swear by the Spro frogs in the slop. I'll fish lakes with beautiful pads and slop and I'll throw frogs and get a few boils but not much action. I try to stick with it, but at some point you feel like you're forcing it and change to something else.

[thatoneguy]

To kind of dove tail off the "Items you don't use..." post, what are some lures that are your guilty pleasures in that you love to throw them but they don't catch much.

Sounds like a dumb question because why would you throw something that doesn't work, but for me it would be buzzbaits. I know they have a time and place when they're fantastic, but I never seem to be in that time or place. Still, I almost always chuck one into slop, wood, pads or whatever looks good. Just the anticipation of a blow up keeps me coming back. I love topwater fishing in general (who doesn't) but don't seem to ever get on a topwater bite.

Ug, back to the senko...

Buzz baits for me as well.

[Nick Kuhn]

I never seem to do well on frogs either. It seems the size bass I find in heavy cover are about 8" long, and never seem to get the frog in their mouth.

I hate chatterbaits as well. I can't even catch pike on them. But a rattletrap is no match for a Suick in terms of hammerhandle magnets.

[EBass]

Another vote for the chatter bait. Used it once and got pike, pike, walleye on just a few casts, but I was fishing for smallies.

Oh swimjig is another. I've used it many times and caught a bass on it.

I do love the frog. The bass on my avatar was caught on a spro frog.

[Dylan33]

maybe I am just a terrible fisherman, but I seem to have a long list of baits that I use that I don't catch bass on....buzzbaits top the list. I LOVE fishing with frogs, and seem to get a lot of action, but I am not patient enough to let them actually take it. I get all jittery and as soon as I see/hear the strike, I set the hook and...NOTHING.

[RK]

Oh swimjig is another. I've used it many times and caught a bass on it.

I do love the frog. The bass on my avatar was caught on a spro frog.

There's another one... Swim jigs have pretty much replaced spinnerbaits for me.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Cecil]

Diddo! Only time I use a spinnerbait is when I'm throwing a big charteuse and white one for smallies.

[mozy]

Hiya -

Kind of interesting with topics like this how different the responses get.

I see guys saying the don't do well on hard swimbaits and think "Eh? Are you kidding me?" But I don't do as well on soft swimbaits other than fishing them on a jighead, which to me makes them just a grub with a different tail. But...it took me a season's worth of messing around with hard swimbaits to figure them out a little bit.

I use chatterbaits for maybe the first two weeks of the season, when the rushes are just starting to come up. After that, they're pike magnets. REALLY pike magnets. May be the only lure on earth pike like better than a rattle trap...which is saying something.

Believe it or not the bait I rarely do well on is topwater frogs like Bronzeye frogs. Spoons, yes. Frogs, no. And they INVARIABLY get shredded by a hammerhandle pike every time I do use them. Takes the fun out of it at $6 - $8 a pop. Maybe they're just not suited to the kind of heavy cover I fish (the lake my cabin is on has acres and acres of rushes, but about 6 lily pads...) but frogs do nothing for me.

Weird, eh?

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

Yep, must be a confidence or location thing. I've caught a few of my largest bass on soft swimbaits, and get good sized walleyes on them pretty often as well. I also do pretty well on frogs, but hard swimbaits haven't performed for me...yet.

[FishLocker]

Massive lipped deep diving crank baits...keep trying and only end up annoying the fish...and not even annoyed enough to bite it, just ignore it.

[ted4887]

Last season, it was definitely the Frogs for me. I had hardly any luck on them.

All of my luck comes on hard swimbaits.

[Jig Master]

Very interesting....

Chatter baits and soft swimbaits have been dynamite for me the last two years. Got a check and big bass this spring in an eighty boat tourney and caught all the fish on a chatterbait or dipper. Frogs have become a staple for me since about 2008. Although I had the opportunity to call Guntersville my home lake from 2007 to 2010, so when you go and throw a frog for 8 hours straight you gain confidence.

I would say deep cranks are something I throw a good bit that I don't have much success on. The C-rig or football is always what produces for me, although I'm not giving up on the big plug!

[Juan Grande]

RK,

Do you catch a lot of smallies on swim jigs?

[Deitz Dittrich]

I do..

[RK]

RK,

Do you catch a lot of smallies on swim jigs?

Nope. Never... Not a one... *cough* Shut up Dittrich...

Kidding aside - yeah they work for smallies. Honestly I probably don't use them as much as I should now that I think about it.

Swim jigs a great spinnerbait substitute in clear water where a blade can be a little much for them. When smallies move into the rushes, they're one of the first thing I grab. But I should probably try them in other situations more than I do.

What I like about them is they're compact and you can cast them a mile and fish them quick. White/chartreuse ones are good (oddly enough it's a color I DON'T like for LMBs), but my favorites, which I had made, are brown and pink. Dunno what it is, but they like pink. Brown/purple is almost as good. A lot of the time I don't put a trailer on, but if I do it's usually a 4" grub rigged tail down.

Smallies don't bury in cover like LMB do, so you can actually fish a swim jig with a spinning rod and 20# braid if you want to, although I fish them on casting gear most of the time.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[bassfshin24]

For some reason i have the hardest time catchin fish on deep diving crankbaits. i think i just have no confidence in them. i really need to learn how and when to throw them though because i know they can be the bait to go to. before last year i had a hard time with swimbaits but this past summer i did really well on them.