Thanks to the bait monkey I find myself with a lot of baits I bought for a purpose and then used once or twice or never used. So what I started doing this year was creating a list of baits to try and mark off once I used them. I also will circle the baits that catch fish. I did this for both my yearly fishing trip, separate baits packed for that trip and for my river and lake fishing around home.

 

The goal is to not only use up some baits, but to gain confidence in baits other than my core baits. I bought all this stuff for a reason right;) It has already paid off in my trout fishing. My never used jointed and countdown Rapalas have done very well for me along with a cut down version of one of my favorite Ned rig baits from a few years ago.

 

This may not be for everyone, but if you got some stuff you should try, this is a good way to get motivated to do it.

Good idea!

But too much paper work for an old guy

Over the years I know what I like and what works in my waters and those are the one I stay with.

No need to rotate through the dozens of bags of plastics I’ve accumulated just to see if it works also. 

If I fish in unfamiliar water or take the kids out, I’ll grab a bag or 2 and try them out then. 

But most I just gave away. 

 

 

 

 

Mike

 

I appreciate the devotion it took to create your list and I appreciate you posting them here to start a discussion.  That said,  I totally disagree with the goal of fishing more baits.  My goals were similar after I bought my first boat 30 years ago.  I became familiar with almost every technique I read about in Bassmaster but I wasn't good at any of them.  When I started focusing on mastering a few techniques,  I started catching a lot more fish. 

 

A couple times a year I like to grab baits, some familiar and some that I rarely use, and try to do my own "slam".  Go to a body of water and see if you can catch a fish on each lure.  Its a fun way to spice things up and can be extra fun when doing it with a partner either as a competition or as a team effort.

21 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I appreciate the devotion it took to create your list and I appreciate you posting them here to start a discussion.  That said,  I totally disagree with the goal of fishing more baits.  My goals were similar after I bought my first boat 30 years ago.  I became familiar with almost every technique I read about in Bassmaster but I wasn't good at any of them.  When I started focusing on mastering a few techniques,  I started catching a lot more fish. 

 

Its a little of both. I have my core presentations that I stick with. 5" Kalins, Tubes, Menace and Baby Menace, and RESs always tied on. 

 

That said last year I branched out and learned Jerkbaits and I caught fish on those when other baits weren't producing. I drug out the Gambler ugly otter, favorite before I found the menace, when the menace bite dipped and caught a bunch of fish. So for me many of these baits are confidence baits of the past in colors I haven't tried, or techniques I need to learn to put more fish in the boat when conditions change. 

 

It is always nice to find a gem to, because I do tend to get too locked into one presentation and will throw it no matter what trying to force the fish to bite it and am always a 1/4 step behind the fish before I catch up and change baits.

I don't know if it means I have a great memory, or that I just don't go fishing enough, or I don't have enough baits to forget, but I almost always remember which baits have caught fish and which have not.  I can generally look at a bait or bag of plastics and think to myself "oh yeah, I had a good day with that at Lake X last spring", or "nothing on those/that yet".

I don't know why you would ever be in that position...I mean I know my local ponds so well that I never buy crap I don't need  (he said sarcastically). I did something like this a few years ago but approached it differently. I gave away a bunch of stuff I wasn't using. They were good baits but I had no use for them so I gave a box of stuff to my brother in law. He doesn't fish much but does like artificial for bass when he goes so he was very happy with the gift

4 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

I don't know why you would ever be in that position...I mean I know my local ponds so well that I never buy crap I don't need  (he said sarcastically). I did something like this a few years ago but approached it differently. I gave away a bunch of stuff I wasn't using. They were good baits but I had no use for them so I gave a box of stuff to my brother in law. He doesn't fish much but does like artificial for bass when he goes so he was very happy with the gift

Years ago I gave away some baits I wasn't using. Now I am kicking myself because I now have run into situations I could have used them lol. I have learned to not give away stuff anymore.

 

Fair enough...I gave mine away 3 years ago or so and haven't had that experience...not once have I missed them

32 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

Fair enough...I gave mine away 3 years ago or so and haven't had that experience...not once have I missed them

What got me too was they were mostly Riverside baits, some with the air pockets and some of the BPS catipiller type baits, stick, lizard etc. Basically the same bait type as the smash tech bubble fry. I gave them away when I didn't have a boat or really have enough fishing knowledge to know I was giving away some darn good baits.

This is what I did years ago and still do on occasion. Take 2-5 rods each rigged with a bait you want to learn, leave the confidence baits at home & go to a body of water you're already familiar with. After a few trips the stuff I like goes in with my regular tackle and the stuff I don't goes in a separate box or is given to someone who wants it. I have a much better idea of what does or doesn't work for me now then I did years ago. I still try new things but I'm much more selective and rarely end up with tackle I won't use anymore. 

Wow!  That's me.

 

Every year my goal is to fish EVERY lure I own at least once.

Well, I think I'm up to 5%.