And the flip side of my other post. Lures You Used Less this Year. Here is: Lures You Used More this Year.

 

This year has been a fantastic jig year for me and I’ve fished it much more than in years past. My number one bait, particularly for quality, goes to the jig this year. 
 

What is a lure that you’ve thrown more this year? What lure exceeded your expectations this year?

 

for me it was the plastic worm.....the lure that surprised me was the Gambler  EZ Vibe. that little bait caught me more fish when a worm couldn't get a bite. really was a great year numbers wise, not a lot of fish over 7 lbs. but had a great year overall. was very happy with my results. even won a tourney when I filled in for a friend who needed a partner.

Surprise bait was Keitech swing impact fat.  Regular was jigs and Elaztech worms.

Chad Shad, Free rig (beavers, otters, komodos), flutter spoons, and jigging spoons were my new to me baits this year.  All of them posed some challenges to learn but ultimately opened up opportunities for bass I'm not normally able to target, especially the spoons.  The spoons have kept a place in my arsenal from mid July till ice-in sometime in the near future.  There was a population of shad eaters in open water that were almost uncatchable to me before the heavy metal, but there was also a morning and evening bite on structure that I became more efficient at.  The spoons have been a revelation in some ways. 

 

I caught 18+" bass on the chad shad, gambler big gz, burritos, frogs, grass jigs, swim jigs, preacher jigs, 10" straight tail worms, dd crank, and spoons.  I missed the early spring this year due to work and missed my usual big fish jerkbait bite.  Hoping to add another good one in before the ice.

 

scott

I used a Pop-R more this year.  I didn't go fishing often but the few times I did the popper was a big producer.  A T rigged straight tail worm, was another bait I fished more than in years past.  A T rigged Zoom Mag trick worm caught my biggest bass of 2023.  The Pop -R got the most bass over 7 lbs. and a spinnerbait was responsible for my biggest bag of 5.  I fish a spinnerbait every day, every year so no change there.  Many years I don't even catch a fish on a popper, and T rigged worms have been getting more playing time every year.   

A jig is one of my go to baits, but this year I threw it even more than normal. 

I had to use a lot of soft plastics this year. I can't say one stood out more than another but they are the only things I caught fish on. My biggest surprise was catching a SMB on a Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Worm.

Jigs and cranks.  I always throw both but this spring I was on a good crank bite for months both deep and shallow.  Same with jigs always throw it a ton but this year was better then normal.

Bass Pro Shops The Egg, super shallow crankbait; either size. Caught most of my bass either waking  or running just foot under water.

 

Now they are discontinued.  So glad I have a good Supply of both sizes in Different colors.

I fished jerk and crank baits a lot more this year with some pretty good results.  My best performing treble hook lure was a perch Stunna 112+1, which netted me a good handful of smallies over four pounds, which is very good for my ability.

BFS crankbaits. When nothing is biting,  these things have produced for me.

Buzzbait - caught a pile of fish on this bait and lots of big fish 

 

Jerkbait - caught a pile of fish and kept me skunk free and got me quality bites on many a tough day.

 

Little swimbaits - fished alone/on a jighead/flashy swimmer/swim jig trailer - this year I caught a TON of fish with these popular soft plastics and many many quality fish.  The 3" and 4" size get the most use and my favorite rigs are the flashy swimmer and a Siebert swim jig.

 

Glide Bait - bought a couple for fun and they ended up being VERY fun and caught me and some friends and family members some big fish during the post spawn.  VERY cool when a fish smokes a 7" bait.

 

Fluke - more or less replaced the weightless worm for me and was very fun to fish.  Looking forward to more time and fish caught with this bad little guy.

 

Frog - caught a lot of really good fish on the frog and had a million blow ups that tell me next year I'm gonna be that much more ready to get em when they strike.

 

Lipless Crankbait - became my favorite moving bait this year.  When I'm just trying to catch a fish at a small pond, I know I can grind with a lipless and probably get one or two bites and they're usually better fish.

2 hours ago, ghost said:

Bass Pro Shops The Egg, super shallow crankbait; either size. Caught most of my bass either waking  or running just foot under water.

 

Now they are discontinued.

 

Hate to derail this thread but these are discontinued?  I just bought three from the bargain bin today for $2.99 each.

Yamatanuki

Walking baits

Tubes. Had always done well with them in the past, but was missing some water red tubes and really hadn’t fished them much since I found the menace grub. So I bought a 100 pack of the big bite water red craw tube and caught the heck out of them this year. 
 

second is a 1/4 ounce RES. A bait I had done well with in the past and I had a 46 fish day with one this year. 

I rediscovered Screamers ( 4 1/2” ribbon tail) by locating the original tooling owned by US Bait Co. Screamers were originally marketed by local bass pro Dick Trask who won more tournaments out west during the 80’s to 90’s then anyone else. Dick mentored the late Aaron Martens for example.

 Screamer on a 1/8 oz dart head or split shot was the “secrete” bait for a long time.

The second old timer I dusted off was 3 1/2 Reaper custom poured by US Baits* in Purple Thunder color.

Tom

* Frank Pasalich 858/395.0198

4 minutes ago, rgasr63 said:

Zoom Mag11 worm

Uh yeah I like me some of those

Definitely a stick bait. The Creme 5 pack in Green Pumpkin at Walmart for $1.24 worked great and I was able to catch multiple fish on each one. Of course, now I own a whole bunch of those (including other colors) so I hope it continues. I also fished a Zoom Trick Worm more often this year with good results. With panfish, I've always fished a black Beetle Spin of some sort. Been doing that for 30 years, so there's no sense in changing now. Most productive bait ever for me. 

I used more tubes and frogs this year, of course my old regular, curly/ ribbon tails. Now just because I fished them more doesn’t mean I caught more. I missed more strikes and blowups, with a frog this year, I quit counting. I think that’s why I fished them more this year, trying to master the technique. Plus fishing the pads is fun, watching the surface erupt, line start to tighten up, then me setting the hook, or trying to set the hook. Coming up empty…….. frustrating but still fun. Maybe 2024 will be more productive.

Nothing really exceeded expectations as I tend to only throw baits I have the most confidence in. 
 

As always my #1 bait choice is a Zoom Magnum UV Speed Worm 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

My go to bait this year was a Wacky worm in varying colors depending on water clarity worked on a spinning outfit. 

Shaky head, and bladed jig.   

I use spinnerbaits every year, but only occasionally outside of the Spring and Fall months.

 

But this year I caught bass on them all summer long, seemingly in all conditions, even when I couldn't get a bite on anything else. They kept working, so I kept throwing.

 

I rediscovered  Bomber Prop A   this past year. Its a lure I have used a lot in the past but being stupid, the past several seasons have  ignored it. It slayed them this past spring.

@MIbassyaker I really liked those Revenge BG spinnerbaits. Too bad they’re no longer made.