When it comes to tackle it comes to 3 things 

1- confidence in that lure 

2 -colors 

3 -that lure i chose 

As far as confidence goes, i believe if its worked in the past it'll work again .

colors at least in my op have a part in my strategy for my fishing .

Then the type or shape of that lure itself . 

Getting back to confidence in my lures ,i think that whatever species of fish you or i am after see a meal that wasn't there before and gonna either eat it or not .

Then there's the color factor we think and is good to think works for our fishing? like i think whatever fish we are after now see a meal that wasn't there before, and now is , in my op. 

type or shape of that lure by its silhouette that species of fish we're after see that as well. in my op confidence is about 25% and colors 50% and type or shape 25% in my op ? what's your op?

Confident 90%, Color 7.33333333333333%, Type and Shape, 2.66666666666666%, .1% Luck

 

Confidence is the biggest to me.  If I'm not confident in what I'm throwing, then I'm not going to give it my best when it comes to presentation, and if the presentation sucks then I am just wasting my time.

 

Color comes in next.  I usually catch fish in my lake on darker colors.  Today was a green pumpkin and watermelon red flake day.  Color is important.  Water clarity, sky color, water color and forage are all factored in to what color is going to work.  This changes daily.  That super awesome color that always works might not work that 1 day and I may have to go digging for something else, like I had to do today.

 

Type and shape is 3rd but no slouch.  Although not as important to me as the other 2 mentioned above, type and shape has a little to do with catching fish.  Seasonal patterns usually dictates this but there are those baits that work 365 days a year like a jig and most plastics.  I don't like throwing a crankbait unless its Spring or Fall.  I don't like throwing a spinnerbait unless its Spring or Summer.  Now I still go out with my favorite crankbaits and spinnerbaits but I hardly ever throw them, even though I have a crankbait tied on all the time.  I have had days where I have caught them on multiple lures and I have days where they will only hit one type.  That's why I love bass fishing.  Every day is different, even on the same lake.

 

And well luck...sometimes you just drop your spinnerbait in the water right next to the boat because you're bored as your fishing buddy is relieving himself of fluids, and as it falls a 5 lber inhales it and you win a tournament because of it.  Yea that happened in a tournament I was in once but it wasn't me.

I agree that confidence is the biggest thing for me!

Lures are simply tools, before one ever gets tied on you have to take a few things into consideration. The first is the season, then the current conditions like water clarity, air and water temperature, and the sky conditions, sunny, cloudy or combination of the two along with, if any, precipitation. Once I get all of those figured out I'll then choose whether to fish shallow, mid range or deep using the conditions as a guide and then choose which type of lure would work best. Once the lure is chosen the deciding factor is color and if I'm in clear water I'll use a natural pattern or color, if the water is stained I will choose something natural but maybe with a bright accent color and if I'm in dirty water I'll use a bait that is visible. The size of the bait will also be affected by season and body of water but I will have confidence in whatever I choose because of experience, I've fished in just about every kind of condition and every season so the experience plays a big part in my lure selection and it brings confidence right along with it. Of course not everything will work like that and we sometimes have to use a totally different approach like a bright color in clear water but that isn't the norm but a fluke thing that happens while fishing.

Confidence for me as well.

There are baits that yopu will always see tied on my rods:

 

1 Lipless crank

2 Single Tennessee blade spinnerbait

3 jig n´tráiler

4 6-8 inch straight tail worm

 

Those are always what I have tied on, why ? cuz those produce for me most of the times in most of the places I go.

 

And when it comes to bare skin and bones, ( like when on the foot patrol where I can only carry one rod ) then it´s the spinnerbait.

There are baits that yopu will always see tied on my rods:

 

1 Lipless crank

2 Single Tennessee blade spinnerbait

3 jig n´tráiler

4 6-8 inch straight tail worm

 

Those are always what I have tied on, why ? cuz those produce for me most of the times in most of the places I go.

 

And when it comes to bare skin and bones, ( like when on the foot patrol where I can only carry one rod ) then it´s the spinnerbait.

This just about what I always have tied on as well. To simplify it even more,a couple of bottom dragging baits and a couple of reaction baits I can fish throughout the water column.