So I have quite a few baits that I have little to no faith in. Some of these include jigs and all top waters sadly. So how can I build confidence in these?

Fish them, that's the only way to truly build confidence in them. If you have access to a pond or somewhere that they'll eat everything that touches the water, I'd start out there. I have a "practice lake", close to me where I try out new ideas because it's packed full of aggressive little bass. 

Fish them, that's the only way to truly build confidence in them. If you have access to a pond or somewhere that they'll eat everything that touches the water, I'd start out there. I have a "practice lake", close to me where I try out new ideas because it's packed full of aggressive little bass.

Truest thing I've ever heard. I've been learning feeling jig and worm bites before I start fishing the stuff out on "real water"

One way is to use them at the right time and conditions. If you don't, you'll end up putting them back in the bottom of the box.Don't expect many topwater bites at high noon with bluebird skies. Unless it's a really weedy place and the bait is a frog.

If you don't fish them hoy can you build confidence ? Btw, I completely disagree with the above post, but you'll never know until you try.

IMO;  reel ess's  post is probably the best advice you are going to get as related to catching more "Top Water" fish in US waters,

Take it one bait at a time.  Learn as much as you can about each one; how to fish it, when, where, why & how.  Knowledge Breeds Confidence. This will be a big help on the road to having success with the baits.

 

One way I do it is, when the bass are in a biting mood, and I'm catching a few, I'll change out to one of my "New" baits right in the middle of the best action.  

 

This solves a few pieces of the puzzle right away.  I know where the bass are and I know that they are in a feeding mood.  Now it's just a matter of finding out if they are willing to eat my new bait.  It helps if the baits are similar.

 

I've been able to gain confidence in several baits this way and have also regained faith in some older baits like this as well.

When the conditions are right this offers a chance to fine tune your presentation too.

 

Clearly this doesn't always work.  And often times if the bait is a dud or I'm fishing it incorrectly, I know I'm missing out on some fish.  But it does pay off enough times to make it a viable option.

 

Good Luck

 

A-Jay

'Hope' drives the opening game, but 'confidence' can only be built on success.

Although you may gain confidence in a lure, your learning experience will never end.

 

One Lure At A Time:

Knowledge is always the first step, followed by time on the water.

Omitting the first step would sharply lower the quality of time spent on the water.

Learn the tricks and tips before wetting a line, and prevent the pitfalls made by your predecessors.

 

Roger

Ya can't gain much confidence unless ya catching

I do like like A-Jay, I try new lures when they are biting

If you don't fish them hoy can you build confidence ? Btw, I completely disagree with the above post, but you'll never know until you try.

I respect your disagreement. But that's what caused me to put the topwaters away for more than a decade before I learned to use and love them. At one time I had concluded they were a gimmick, or at best, a fringe bait that I couldn't count on to get bites. Now they're my favorite. As a rule, if a person tries a bait a few times and gets skunked, that bait goes back to zero. Don't let the first few times you try a new bait be in the worst conditions. There are exceptions to every rule of thumb though.