Jig were my every day lure before I got the boat. Perfect on rocks. Everything except carp and eels hit them. Perfect for a kid.

11 minutes ago, Boomstick said:

Jig fishing is addictive. Once you get that first fish, it's on!

I was obsessed with jigs when I first started throwing them. Thought those and chatterbaits were all I was going to throw. I developed a lot of confidence in jigs. Then spinnerbaits came along... ?

Most of my softplactics turned into a big lump in the bag. 

The spinners are sold in the trout section and you see the tiny ones like 1/4" long all over Wal-Mart. Also known as rooster tails

I use 1/2oz now.

1 hour ago, papajoe222 said:

Wasted gear? Never.................Wasted money? It sounds like you have, but don't feel bad because most of us have got caught up in the hot new lure or presentation.  I love to buy lures (you should see my crankbait collection), most of which will never get wet, but you can be sure I've caught bass on a similar lure, or I wouldn't have given them a second look.

 

 

If anyone would like to be the beneficiary of my crankbait, topwater, spinnerbait, or rod collection, send your name address, which type of gear along with $50 to cover the cost of changing my will to.................

 

 

How many rods we talking?  Dibs on G Loomis, Shimano, Abu Garcia and Okuma.

??

40 minutes ago, Boomstick said:

I have a lot of tackle that has yet to land me a fish, although not an entire group of tackle. The largest offender is certain model crankbaits. While I don't doubt they work (a few years ago I took recommendations from people and filled my box, so I have a lot that have worked for some people!) I think it's just that I found some of them work so well in certain situations that I gravitate towards them more often than not.

What is the crankbait?

 

There is no such thing as wasted tackle.

1 hour ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Wait did OP send a kissy face at the end there? My goodness, I didn't send it back.

 

?. Love you boo

That was an emoji representation of Jimmy Houston kissing a bass ? ?, lol. 

Remember a long time ago there was this traveling tackle show with a massive see through tank of bass to sell there lures.

We all bought them...

Then it came out they never fed the bass.

 

Ok OK I'll go get new glasses 

It's as someone posted what ever works for you.

 

 

 

I have a large collection of soft plastics that I give and take from, only so much will fit in the fanny pack at a time. All of them taught me something about swim action and fishing different actions differently, which is worth something to me. But yeah sometimes I look at The Box™ and realize I could have a whole replacement of my favorite rod/reel combo with what's in there. It happens.

I buy lots of stuff I probably shouldn't!  But that is part of the fun of fishing for me, spring, summer, and fall are fishing days.  Winters are for buying gear for me!!  If I don't use something in a years time and don't think I will ever use it, I give it away, so the stuff I didn't use is still not a wasted bait or money.  

Probably half the money I've spent on tackle has been wasted, the problem is, when I look at it all, I can't figure out which half. ?

7 hours ago, HaydenS said:

 

 

There is no such thing as wasted tackle.

This isn’t near the worst of all I have, I just found some quickly this morning when I read your post. These are ones I’m saving for some weird reason, I’ve thrown away hundreds more

 

examples of wasted tackle:

sorry for the blurry pics, making coffee and rushing off to work. Middle pic used to be a shad rap. The little George won’t spin and the topwaters and crank bait sink. The topwater in the second picture bent itself into the shape of a banana while sitting in a tackle box 

12 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

This isn’t near the worst of all I have, I just found some quickly this morning when I read your post. These are ones I’m saving for some weird reason, I’ve thrown away hundreds more

 

examples of wasted tackle:

sorry for the blurry pics, making coffee and rushing off to work. Middle pic used to be a shad rap. The little George won’t spin and the topwaters and crank bait sink. The topwater in the second picture bent itself into the shape of a banana while sitting in a tackle box 

 

And here I thought "That's a perfectly good Stutter Step: why haven't I bought one of those?"

3 minutes ago, BayouSlide said:

 

And here I thought "That's a perfectly good Stutter Step: why haven't I bought one of those."

It used to be a H20 express walking bait, they are normally pretty straight and catch fish very well. I’ve had brands from all across the board swell and explode, but I can’t stop fishing when it’s hot and/or humid.

As I've previously stated in other threads: some lures are designed to catch fish and some lures are designed to catch fisherman.

 

Choose wisely.

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

This isn’t near the worst of all I have, I just found some quickly this morning when I read your post. These are ones I’m saving for some weird reason, I’ve thrown away hundreds more

 

examples of wasted tackle:

sorry for the blurry pics, making coffee and rushing off to work. Middle pic used to be a shad rap. The little George won’t spin and the topwaters and crank bait sink. The topwater in the second picture bent itself into the shape of a banana while sitting in a tackle box 

The walking baits look good!  A little bent, but showing fish something they haven't seen. 

These are examples of broken baits, no such thing as wasted tackle...?

15 minutes ago, HaydenS said:

The walking baits look good!  A little bent, but showing fish something they haven't seen. 

These are examples of broken baits, no such thing as wasted tackle...?

It sinks……. The reason they are all broken is because I stowed them away and neglected them, like wasting freezerburned food. 

 

ive wasted a couple in the tops of trees as well

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

It sinks…….

 

ive wasted a couple in the tops of trees as well

Sub walker!

My wife wastes money on shoes.  I don't waste tackle.  If I haven't caught a fish on a lure, it's not because the lure doesn't work, its time to shine just hasn't come yet.  Someday that lure will be the only one in all the world that will catch more and bigger fish than the friend I'm fishing with who thought it was a stupid lure, and doesn't have one like it.  When I buy a lure, I believe it will help make me the greatest fisherman ever.  Hope is priceless even if it is only delusional thinking influenced by the Bait Monkey.  The big box of lures I don't take fishing is not a waste.  It is full of back up quarterbacks just waiting for the chance to save the day.

Just now, HaydenS said:

Sub walker!

It’s more of a rock crawler haha

I've learned a valuable lesson in the world of fishing lures.  Buy one, try it, and see it it actually works rather than buying several at first.  In the event that it doesn't work, I'm not stuck with several that don't work.  I'm only stuck with one.

13 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I was obsessed with jigs when I first started throwing them. Thought those and chatterbaits were all I was going to throw. I developed a lot of confidence in jigs. Then spinnerbaits came along... ?

The spinnerbait was immediately one of my most productive lures, and still is. I caught several big bass on a spinnerbait last year, and it has been one of my three most productive lures this year as well.

24 minutes ago, Boomstick said:

is. I caught several big bass on a spinnerbait

Down south especially I have found that a spinnerbait is a big bass bait for some reason. As opposed to up here in NY  where it seems like every fish just wants a taste.

39 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Down south especially I have found that a spinnerbait is a big bass bait for some reason. As opposed to up here in NY  where it seems like every fish just wants a taste.

Yup. I've seen a lot of people use big 1oz+ spinnerbaits for big bass down south. Up here, that's pretty much reserved for pike and musky, although you can still get big bass on a smaller spinnerbait.

I get sent a lot of different baits to try out. I really haven't found any bait that I considered a waste of money if someone bought it, unless it was something simply too big, or too small for bass. There's so many companies trying to sell to a relatively small and saturated market, selling junk that doesn't work is simply foolish business strategy. 

I have an oversized soft plastic swimbait (picture a  mutant 8" kietech knockoff)  that may never catch me a fish. But it might catch a PB if i keep faith.

59 minutes ago, PaulVE64 said:

I have an oversized soft plastic swimbait (picture a  mutant 8" kietech knockoff)  that may never catch me a fish. But it might catch a PB if i keep faith.

I have several 8" mutant Keitech ez shiners. Still hasn't caught me a fish yet. But one of these days its gonna get me a real biggun! Might be sooner if I threw it more often.  I do not consider it wasted.

FM