Help!Can't stop buying lures

[robert aldrich]

Every time i go to a store that has a ice fishing section or fishing section. I head to it and look at the lures. I live two blocks from marine genral. My mom gets mad at me every time i buy one lure. On thursday i brought 3 packs of ice fishing lures. I had to make up a excuse because if i dont, she gets mad.

[pushbutton]

Since you are newer to this Robert there is still hope for you. You don"t have to fall into the trap many of us have. what i am talking about is the sheer number of lures we have bought, and only end up using a small percentage of them. Just start off with a few varieties. if they are not working, it probably will not be because you need a different lure, rather your presentation, bait choice, or simply the fish were not hungry at the time. also, you are not the first to make up excuses to buy more stuff....welcome to the club Robert.....although listening to mom is a good idea

[IBFishin2]

It's called LURENITUS and every true fisherman has that. Very contagious and can be costly or your spouse may threaten to leave you.

[WalleyeChaser]

Welcome to the club! There's a trap and we all fall into it some point or another! I have 3 smaller double sided flip tackle boxes full. 1 for panfishing, 1 for walleye/perch, and 1 of odds and ends stuff. And that's just for the ice season. And its about time for another as I hate having to untangle hooks so I like no more than 2-3 lures in each divider.

I aquire a lure or 2 everytime I go in the store! Hey it happens!

But remember, mom knows best! And when/if you get married the wife gets after ya too! Just keep hiding it and making excuses my friend its what we do!

[robert aldrich]

oh ya, my friend must not be a true fisherman.

[Red Cabin]

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with this disease!

[mtbucket]

Hello, my name is Steve and Im an ice jigaholic. I need to have them in every size/color combination. I carry hundreds of them with me in my tackle box when I go fishing, and still feel like I need more. I have more stashed in different places around my home, just in case. I hate the late ice season because the tackle shops don't replenish their inventory, and what if I run short? That makes me very nervous. I have many unused jigs that I bought years ago. I can't even think about getting rid of them because I may need them someday, and what if they aren't made anymore when I do need them?

It's a disease and I need help. Just ask my wife.

[robert aldrich]

Arnt we all jigaholics.

[Bluegill1510]

I have 3 smaller double sided flip tackle boxes full. 1 for panfishing, 1 for walleye/perch, and 1 of odds and ends stuff. And that's just for the ice season.

Nice! I like it! I don't feel as bad now! It gets 10 times worse too if you start tying your own lures and jigs, because then your always digging in the bargain bins at every Sporting goods store you go through to find some cheap lures or hooks! Then if you spear you always check out the new decoys, or get ideas to make your own! I swear its never ending! Don't feel bad just remember that the one lure you can't stop buying is jig heads!

[foulpole18]

Can't help you there. I suffer from the same devastating sickness. I have 12 boxes of crankbaits. To make it worse, I thought that I would take up painting lures. Guess what it didn't help. Now I have 80 baits in the garage with no paint on them. I need professional help.

Listen to your mom and stop. There is no known cure for LURENITUS.

[centralmneyeguy]

Mom should be happy that your are spending your money on jigs and not cigs, etc! (I hope) I know that fishing kept me out of trouble when I was a kid. I didn't have any money to get into trouble after spending it on tackle and other fishing related expenses.

[DuckBlind]

Doesn't get any easier...wait until you are married! Upsetting the wife is worse!

[SFC]

Take that money u are spending on lures and stash it away for a flasher. Go through all your jigs and lures and put the ones u know u havent used or still have paint covering the tie off circle majiggy in a seperate box. Next time u go out only use these jigs, it will feel like u have a box full of only new jigs.

[nllumberco]

It can get worse, I started buying unpainted ones and painting them myself, pays for itself pretty quick.

[MNFishinAK]

If fish are hungry they are going to eat. Period. Tommy Skarlis said it best at a seminar; jigs, lures, etc. are made to attract people to buy them. We buy lures because we think it looks good, but in reality if we were to go through some of our tackle boxes and look and some of the jigs/lures and think about it, they are just ridiculous. Keep it simple stupid. Moto to fish by, like I told dad the other day there are 10 jigs/lures I need. Stop buying lures and jigs.

[traveler]

If fish are hungry they are going to eat. Period. Tommy Skarlis said it best at a seminar; jigs, lures, etc. are made to attract people to buy them. We buy lures because we think it looks good, but in reality if we were to go through some of our tackle boxes and look and some of the jigs/lures and think about it, they are just ridiculous. Keep it simple stupid. Moto to fish by, like I told dad the other day there are 10 jigs/lures I need. Stop buying lures and jigs.

Can't agree with that statement. For aggressive fish, sure. If they're biting, you can often catch them on almost anything that resembles food. BUT, when they're not biting...I can remember plenty of times when I've gone pretty deep into the tackle box to find the "right" lure for the specific time and place.

You could make the argument that what actually happened was a fish on the feed came along, and that fish would have eaten no matter what i had down there, but it's happened a lot of times over the years...I'll take a full tackle box anyday:)

From a muskie that would only follow 1 lure but smashed a different one, to sight fishing finicky trout and watching them pass up lure after lure until...whamo! they see the ONE they like, to outfishing my stubborn partner sitting 3 feet away who refuses to try my color jig when the crappies are finicky.

I think most anglers have simalar stories. I'm not saying you won't catch plenty of fish sticking with a few basics, I actually tend to do that myself. But you surely limit yourself by not having lure flexibility when the fish need a "little something" different.

And...lures/tackle boxes, gear selection...it's fun:) Who doesn't look forward to the first new cabelas catalog of the season? Kind of like seeing the first robin!

[fish2morrow]

Mom should be happy that your are spending your money on jigs and not cigs, etc! (I hope) I know that fishing kept me out of trouble when I was a kid. I didn't have any money to get into trouble after spending it on tackle and other fishing related expenses.

I wish my brother was doing this instead of smoking and drinking everyday.

[fish2morrow]

Every fisherman starts off like this, because we it's our hobby. Fishing = buying fishing jigs/cranks/frogs/topwater/poppers/flies/etc.

I'm at that stage right now, but thank god my wife doesn't mind and buys them for me .

[Mid-Lake Rock]

I'd consult "The Money Manager" and "The Sociology Professor". Great resources in your own backyard.

[bottom-bouncer]

I am also a jigaholic. And it can get worse before it gets better it used to be just me so I would go into the store and buy several jigs in different styles and colors. Now I have kids and a wife so when I buy a new jig I have to have three or four of them cuz what if that is the one style and color that the fish want on that one day. surely I dont want my family to miss out on the hot bite so I have to make sure I am covered. I dont really know if I will ever be able to quit or even cut back. Does anybody make a patch or something that we can wear to reduce the cravings?

[harvey lee]

I think alot of the jig or lure purchasing has to do with all the marketing the companies do. They say it's a goto lure so we go to the store and buy it.

Yes, I am a lure aholic.

[FISHINGURU]

Buying a bunch of lures is a waste of time and money, most of us use the same few kinds of lures when we fish while the others sit there "just in case"!

[harvey lee]

But that just incase will catch one fish too. I know many guy's that troll and they have hundreds of cranks. Some deep and some shallow runners. Different colors are also nice for different water colors.

Sometimes a different profile or wiggle will turn the finicky fish on.

[mrklean]

do they have intervention for outdoors man?

[mainbutter]

I caught my biggest fish of the past weekend on a last minute impulse purchase.

Sometimes being an addict pays off