Lately I've been buying two of everything, sometimes three -- don't want to lose a lure and be on the water wishing I had another. 

 

What's your philosophy when purchasing lures / tackle, and why? 

 

No backups for me.  If I lose one, I have something else that's close enough to get me through the day.  Then it's to the store for a replacement.  Of the lures I own multiples of, I get drastically different colors.

 

I'm not a tournament angler.  If I was, I would probably want multiple identical backups.  But as it is, I'd rather save my money and space and focus on good technique.

I have back ups for lures that have proven Them selves.  However, I’ve been buying a lot of 2 packs off of eBay too.  Winning auctions and basically getting 2 for 1 price.  I don’t usually carry the back ups with me though .

 

notable exceptions include and can change depending on where I’m fishing. Summer craw bandito bugs I always carry 2 packs probably have 6 total packs.  Blue and  black flake chigger craws.  If I’m fishing the titabawassee/ Saginaw river I always carry 2 packs out of my probably 20 pack stock pile. Black and blue flake curly tail worm currently, I’ll fish the Berkley or bps version interchangeably. 
 

other than that though I don’t carry back ups it becomes a space issue.  If I loose it I open the new one and replace it when I get home.  Usually if I loose it I’ve got something similar in color or action. 

Two is one, one is none 

4 hours ago, Bass Rutten said:

Two is one, one is none 

Agreed ~

I have/carry duplicates of the duplicates of many different hard baits.

A-Jay

 

Had a friend who was a professional walleye fisherman and he fished cranks a lot.  When he found one he liked, he bought them by the dozen.  Yes, by the dozen.  I usually have 3 or 4 of my favorite cranks and hardbaits but the 1 exception is the SPRO  Little John, original diver, computer chip bill, in the Cell Mate color.   I have a few more of those.  ?

I only have back ups for lures that are not working that day.  I will only have one of the hot lure for the day.  

I'm more about having backup techniques rather than a bunch of the same baits, well excluding soft plastics.

 

I have several dozen Jigs and not one is identical to another except 90% are 3/8.

 

Here's the way I look at it.

If bass are clobbering a black buzzbait and I lose that bait, they ain't going to get lock jaw on a white one. Lol

1 minute ago, Bird said:

Here's the way I look at it.

If bass are clobbering a black buzzbait and I lose that bait, they ain't going to get lock jaw on a white one. Lol

Good luck with that deal.

A-Jay

11 hours ago, Bankc said:

No backups for me.  If I lose one, I have something else that's close enough to get me through the day.  Then it's to the store for a replacement.  Of the lures I own multiples of, I get drastically different colors.

 

I'm not a tournament angler.  If I was, I would probably want multiple identical backups.  But as it is, I'd rather save my money and space and focus on good technique.

I'm with this guy.  one of each.  at least with hard baits.  I'm actually shocked how many lures I have that are fishless

 

jigs, etc  I grab two or three cuz they snag, but I only seem to fish two colors and styles anyways.

My mantra is to always keep multiples of my best baits. Reasons are as follows:

 

Why spend thousands on boat, gear, truck, gas, and then have my day cut short when the one bait I'm having success with is lost? If I have confidence in a bait and have had success with it in past outings I will endeavor to keep several in stock. Few things are as disappointing as trying to force feed the fish on an inferior bait choice knowing full well what they were really biting just before I lost my last one. 

 

I have 5 sons. They fish with me from time to time. Nuff Said....

 

 

8 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Good luck with that deal.

A-Jay

Well I'm kinda of a simpleton.

The faster a bait moves, the less color matters. Imo

36 minutes ago, Bird said:

Well I'm kinda of a simpleton.

The faster a bait moves, the less color matters. Imo

I hear ya ~

And there's most likely something to that.

 But I have some low level and deeply seeded mental issues.

So there's that.

A-Jay

Hard baits, 2 ea

Jigs, 1/2 dozen at least 

Plastics, I will buy a hundred pack

 

As for Y'all's black buzzbait, y'all should at least have another black skirt. I keep a pretty good supply of skirts near by. 

I only buy one of a lure to see if it works.  If I have a good day with it,  then I will buy a lifetime supply.  I usually never catch another fish on it after that.  ?

4 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

I'm actually shocked how many lures I have that are fishless

Probably 40% of my lures have never been fished…I just like getting packages.  Makes it feel like Christmas morn.  I did try the poop lure last Friday though and that’s exactly what I caught on it.

If its a new lure, I only buy one and then try it.  If its a failure, then I'm only out one.  A lure needs to prove itself to me.

 

That being said, I do have a fair amount of back up lures in multiple colors for the ones that I know work.  When the pandemic started the supply chain broke down, demand skyrocketed, and shelves went bare.  The following winter I stocked up when I saw it back in stock.

 

I will also add that I routinely remove old lures that I don't use anymore too.  If it aint getting used, its just wasting space.

I just did a recent post on this subject. 
I just can’t figure out how to post link??‍♂️

7 hours ago, Bird said:

If bass are clobbering a black buzzbait

Someone told me about a successful VA angler they knew who only fished black worms, black buzzbaits, black jigs… you get the picture. Usually only carried two or three rods. I’ve been thinking about that guy quite a bit. What a simple life that woulda been… oh well

2 hours ago, RDB said:

I did try the poop lure last Friday though and that’s exactly what I caught on it.

It would have if it looked like  Baby Ruth!

19 minutes ago, 5/0 said:

It would have if it looked like  Baby Ruth!

 

I haven’t ever been able to buy 1 hard lure, always 2 or more.

Worms I will buy 1 bag to try out and if it works 50 to 100 each.

Tom

24 minutes ago, RDB said:

 

That movie is a classic!