I started reading the found lures thread right after I joined here, finishing it finally after about a week or so. It was a great read and plenty of great lure pics to get the blood flowing. There were several posts that said something to the effect of "I found a lure and tied it on, and then caught fish the rest of the day". 

 

I found this Catchco Baby Bull Gill the other day when I was out at the lake.

 

I changed hooks, tied it on, fished with it today, and caught a bass.

 

 

I'd love to see and hear about other's catches on found lures.

Thanks for looking and sharing, 

Bazoo

I once found a combo in about 7 feet of water, I guess someone just drop it because it was good shape. It had a need rig on it so I used it just to see how the condition of it was. I got a fish on the second cast. 

It was a pflueger president, I almost put back in... 

I've seen plenty of guys post online about finding nice lures and being able to salvage them and fish them. But for me, all the lures I find are usually in poor condition and are basically un-fishable. 

I’ve got beard envy . When I grow mine out I look like a coyote with mange. Ok, back on topic. I think the only lure that was immediately usable with good hardware was an El Choppo I found stuck in a tree. Like brand new. 

I actually fish with several found lures, but I've not had success on the others, one being a whopper plopper. I just ain't been in the right spot at the right time for that one yet.

Some of the lures I find I put new hooks on and fish with.  Some of them work and some of them don't.  The baits that are too far gone go into a basket.  My best catching found bait is a Red Eye Shad that I found about 5 or 6 years ago.

I caught a tree branch that had two red eye shads that had been barely used hung in it and I have both of them in my bank fishing tackle box ready for the cold weather ????

Thanks all for sharing.

interesting, I found an old Rar-L-Trap and stole the hooks from a red eye to put on it!

When I was a kid I had very few lures.  I was on a camping trip with the boy scouts and lost the only couple bass plugs I owned.  After loosing my lures, I was  walking along the shore when I found a Heddon River Runt.  I tied it on and started catching bass.  I fished that lure every time I went fishing the remainder of that summer.  If I hadn't found that lure I would have been back to only fishing bobber and worms, for trout.  I still fished the worms for the trout, but every chance I got I was throwing my plug for bass.

      That found lure helped kick start my passion for bass fishing, and  caused an addiction to bass tackle that only gets stronger as the years pass by.  I don't still have that River Runt, but I bought one exactly like it a few years ago, off of Ebay and I have it in my box every time I go bass fishing. 

I don’t pick up lures. I never find any.  Maybe in trees way up. 

Years ago I found a chrome and blue Lucky Craft Sammy in a tree and used it for over 2 years for many fish.  I caught my PB Alabama bass on it, 4-12.  One very windy day my line broke and after looking for an hour I finally gave up.

The first fish I ever caught on a spinnerbait was on a white/blue head Strike King I found. Same thing happened with a chatterbait. I never believed they'd work until I found one in a tree, tied it on and started wearing them out with it. 

Thanks for sharing all, some interesting stories thus far. A tad light on the pics though.

 

I ain't ever had any luck on a chatterbait... maybe its because mine is bought and not found?

Right at the beginning of 2022, I found a brand new Rapala Shadow Rap Shad in the Halloween color. It was the first jerkbait that I started to gain real confidence in during my 2022 Year of the Jerkbait grind. In November of that year I caught the biggest fish I've gotten on it so far @6lb 1oz. The bass were feeding heavily on shad schools, and I saw one blow up, pitched this in, gave it a couple of twitches on top and she hit it hard. Not my biggest jerkbait fish of last year but one I was very excited for and as I said the biggest on this lure so far. Not bad for $0.

I got this pretty little crappie the other day:

 

 

On this gold crank bait I found the day prior.

1 hour ago, Bazoo said:

I got this pretty little crappie the other day:

 

 

On this gold crank bait I found the day prior.

 

That's an H2OX squarebill from Academy.

Funny story.

I lost My favorite Spook last year, Sent it sailing and it just kept going. I looked for an hour or so and chalked it up to checking my loop knot more often.  This year I was talking to the fella that won angler of the year at our club. He knows I love fishing Spooks and told me he'd been having great success throwing one he found. I described in detail the one I lost. He got this depressed look on his face knowing it was the one he found and had been using.  I told him not to worry, I wasn't going to ask for him to give it up. I'm just glad it's out there catching fish.  I'm still looking for one that can produce like that one.

4 hours ago, Aaron_H said:

 

That's an H2OX squarebill from Academy.

I know... The H2OX mark on the belly is a dead giveaway. Thank you though. I might not have known. It does have a nice wobble to it.

1 hour ago, papajoe222 said:

Funny story.

I lost My favorite Spook last year, Sent it sailing and it just kept going. I looked for an hour or so and chalked it up to checking my loop knot more often.  This year I was talking to the fella that won angler of the year at our club. He knows I love fishing Spooks and told me he'd been having great success throwing one he found. I described in detail the one I lost. He got this depressed look on his face knowing it was the one he found and had been using.  I told him not to worry, I wasn't going to ask for him to give it up. I'm just glad it's out there catching fish.  I'm still looking for one that can produce like that one.

What made that spook different from all the others?

I've caught several Bass on a Bandit 300 that was inside a Catfishes mouth I caught.   

On 12/6/2023 at 1:05 AM, Bazoo said:

I know... The H2OX mark on the belly is a dead giveaway. Thank you though. I might not have known. It does have a nice wobble to it.

What made that spook different from all the others?

 

Fair enough! haha

 

Can't see the logo on the belly from the angle of that picture, wasn't sure if it was rubbed off or something. For a store brand, they're solid baits (though I do upgrade the hardware on the ones I use).

On 12/6/2023 at 12:05 AM, Bazoo said:

What made that spook different from all the others?

Just as with most hard baits, you could have a dozen of the same bait and one will just, flat out, catch more fish than the others.  That particular spook was the quietest one I've ever had, and I had/have dozens. That and the fact that it sported a hand tied feathered treble. It walked and 'talked' different.

On 12/7/2023 at 10:49 PM, papajoe222 said:

Just as with most hard baits, you could have a dozen of the same bait and one will just, flat out, catch more fish than the others.  That particular spook was the quietest one I've ever had, and I had/have dozens. That and the fact that it sported a hand tied feathered treble. It walked and 'talked' different.

Thanks for the info.

I had a few minutes at the lake earlier.  The golden crank works on bass too.

 

https://i.postimg.cc/Bby1CqnC/8-FE525-E1-3-EF8-4-DBF-B9-BE-F5-C4-C5-BC03-B7.jpg

On 12/16/2023 at 8:46 PM, Bazoo said:

I had a few minutes at the lake earlier.  The golden crank works on bass too.

 

https://i.postimg.cc/Bby1CqnC/8-FE525-E1-3-EF8-4-DBF-B9-BE-F5-C4-C5-BC03-B7.jpg

Here's the pic. I hate to report, I snagged this lure underwater and had to break off.

 

Couple of weeks back, I bought a new H20X squarebill. I snagged it badly the first trip out right at the end of the trip. I was able to walk up the bank and finally freed it.

 

The next trip, on the first cast, the bait broke off and slung into the water. I knew I should have re-tied but I neglected to do so. Over the next few weeks during winter, I went several times but didn't catch anything, and always looking for that lure.

 

Well, my buddy was out yesterday and found it, on the bank in the same direction I'd aimed my cast when it'd broken off. I described it, down to the color, and we were sure it was the one I'd lost, so he gave it back to me.

 

We like to do that with each other, though we do play finders keepers if we ain't sure.

 

Today, I caught a couple nice little bass on it.

 

 

2lb 4oz with a nice little belly.