What Fishing Gimmick Did You Fall For?

[king fisher]

10 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I have one of those, never knew what on earth it was 

Trust me, you would rather fish a spinnerbait

[FryDog62]

Expride baitcasting rods, MH and Heavy St. Croix rods, Shimano MGL spools, and the Tokyo Rig. 

[papajoe222]

Fluorocarbon line here, too.  I first tried it as leader material for my jig fishing. Lost a handful of pricey jigs on the hook set. Swore off it for a few seasons, then tried a different brand as the mainline for my crankin'. Hated how stiff it was, but I wasn't breaking off any cranks.  Tried an expensive one for worming and ran into break offs again, so I switched to a fluoro friendly knot........not! Now it's a staple on all my cranking rigs and I've gone back to mono as leader line for single hook presentations.

[Gera]

I guess everything we use is a gimmick, if the goal is to catch a bass we do not need most of the lures, bunch of different rods and I'm sure a Zebco 33 would do.  I feel like very lure we use has been listed by someone here as a gimmick. 

At the end it doesn't really matter for me, I have as much fun looking at and buying gear as I do fishing. so keep it coming. 

[the reel ess]

16 hours ago, Bankbeater said:

Pocket Fisherman from back in the 70s. 

I saw one in an antique mall Sunday for $25. LOL.

14 hours ago, crypt said:

the helicopter lure...........omg.....wth was I thinking?

Ha! Here's a video of Roland using one recently. 

 

[LonnieP]

Worst thing I fell for was braid is a good multipurpose line, I hate it and only use it for throwing frogs.

[MinDoFmejiA]

40 minutes ago, LonnieP said:

Worst thing I fell for was braid is a good multipurpose line, I hate it and only use it for throwing frogs.

I prefer the feel of braid to floro vs running straight braid or floro.

[Smirak]

17 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

@TnRiver46 once wrote that I could catch bass with my car keys. Well, I use a key fob, so I cast that. I had a couple hits, but couldn't hook them without hooks. So, key fobs are total gimmicks, plus you have to walk home. 

How’d you fish it? Did you fish it as a moving bait or like a t-rig?

 

Asking for a friend…

[Swamp Girl]

2 hours ago, LonnieP said:

Worst thing I fell for was braid is a good multipurpose line, I hate it and only use it for throwing frogs.

 

Huh. I love braid. It casts a long ways, is limp, and wrassles bass out of weeds.

 

Why do you hate it?

[12poundbass]

 

 

I fell for this, “the action of this lure is so lifelike tournaments are banning it.” 
 

Yeah, I’m an idiot. 😂

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

21 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

Expride baitcasting rods, MH and Heavy St. Croix rods, Shimano MGL spools, and the Tokyo Rig. 

Curious what you don’t like about Expride and St. Croix rods?

[FryDog62]

1 hour ago, 10,000 lakes Bassin said:

Curious what you don’t like about Expride and St. Croix rods?

I was a St. Croix fan boy for many years… owned 20 some rods… Many LTB, Mojo, AvidX. Quality build, good warranty. But the rods tended to be heavy, thick, cumbersome and tip heavy when you get into the MH and Heavy models. Looking back, it’s hard to believe St. Croix publishes the weight of their rods on their web site, that’s an eye opener. 

Expride also are a great build quality and good rod actions, but the handles are disproportionately long. If your using it for heavy, winching applications that can be good - but if doing anything where you impart action for walking the dog, frogging, jerkbaits, finesse - they are awkward to fish. 

 

[Big Hands]

On 1/8/2025 at 2:24 PM, Bankbeater said:

Pocket Fisherman from back in the 70s. 

One of the best (bass included) anglers I have ever known (heck, his wife and two sons are as well) swore by a pocket fisherman for some of his more clandestine adventures. He used to compete in baitcasting contests and could cast slingshot style from behind his back with amazing accuracy. Top shelf machinist, gunsmith, and hunter too. 

 

Or, I could just say. . . he was from Texas.

[J Francho]

This might seem like a gimmick, but I still use these two reels with LH retrieve, and a manual spool switch on the top.  They are GREAT for pitching.

 

[GoneFishingLTN]

On 1/9/2025 at 2:25 PM, MinDoFmejiA said:

I prefer the feel of braid to floro vs running straight braid or floro.

I'm ok with it until it's windy, then I feel like I lose all feel

 

[J Francho]

I thought of a couple more. 
 

Flat mono. It was meant for baitcasting and was supposed to cast better. God forbid you got some twist in it. 
 

Gorilla braid was one of the first super lines I tried back in the early 90s. It was terrible. Didn't try braid again until around 25 years ago. 

[Motoboss]

Propel’s pocket fisherman, bought it loved it, got laughed at for using it! Best glove box rod I owned.

 

Helicopter lure, bought them, fished ‘em, never caught anything on ‘em. (Actually just watched a recent Roland show where he threatened to get one out and use it. I believe it was more of a tease to those who had bought into them)

 

Dragon jig (probably a midwest build), a jig head with long flat rubber skirt with an even longer paddle tail which looked soooo good in the exhibition tank as it crawled across the bottom, but couldn’t catch a cold.

 

Bud Erhardt fish’n stiks, loved the idea of the round wrapped guides turning the line from the top to the bottom of the eye. However the action on one was too soft and whippy and the other super stiff. The heavy does make a nice stripper trolling rod though with an Ambassador clicker reel on it. Come to find out they are popular in the walleye world, not so much a bass rods.

 

Recently, the whole BFS craze. I bought in and got three complete setups for the river only to find the small spools s**k. Most small lures are just to light for moving water to have any feedback or feel. I can’t throw a 1/4 oz spinner without spooling all the line. I much prefer my 5’ 6” ultra light spinner setup for small work.

[the reel ess]

On 1/9/2025 at 1:39 PM, LonnieP said:

Worst thing I fell for was braid is a good multipurpose line, I hate it and only use it for throwing frogs.

I like it for that, pitching/flipping but also spinning tackle because it has less twist tendency. Basically, I like it for single hook presentations. But I go 30 lb for the T rigs and jigs, 50 lb. for the frog and 20 lb for spinning gear. I still use mono for spinnerbaits and buzzbaits because I want the fish to take the bait and not pull it away.

[Bucks Bass and Bourbon]

Some of these responses are crazy. Jigs? Dropshots?? Even the DT series raised an eyebrow. 

I fully agree having a different rod and reel combination for every presentation or technique is bonkers (and yeah I’m a little guilty of it) but cmon some of these are a stretch. I need to look up this dancing eel though. Sounds like a winner!

1 hour ago, Motoboss said:

Helicopter lure, bought them, fished ‘em, never caught anything on ‘em. (Actually just watched a recent Roland show where he threatened to get one out and use it. I believe it was more of a tease to those who had bought into them)

I was a kid when those came out and got my dad a set of them for Father’s Day. I have a crazy northern Wisconsin musky story because of that lure!

[Gera]

16 minutes ago, Bucks Bass and Bourbon said:

Some of these responses are crazy. Jigs? Dropshots?? Even the DT series raised an eyebrow. 

If I didn't know anything about fishing and you showed me a jig, I would have not believed that thing would catch anything. like many things we use, there is noting like it in the water. 

 

Do you think someone told Gary that his famous lure was just a gimmick?? 

 

I guess fish are dumb and will eat anything. 

 

 

[scaleface]

On 1/9/2025 at 12:39 PM, LonnieP said:

Worst thing I fell for was braid is a good multipurpose line, I hate it and only use it for throwing frogs.

Same here.

[Bucks Bass and Bourbon]

29 minutes ago, Gera said:

If I didn't know anything about fishing and you showed me a jig, I would have not believed that thing would catch anything. like many things we use, there is noting like it in the water. 

 

Do you think someone told Gary that his famous lure was just a gimmick?? 

 

I guess fish are dumb and will eat anything. 

 

 

Eh somewhat. A jog with a craw trailer looks like a staple of a bass’ diet. Fish are animals. Bass are instinctive predators that sometimes are aggressive and other times are finicky. But neither of those are the point of the conversation. By definition a gimmick (in this context) is a trick or device used to attract business or attention. Jigs and dropshots are two of the most proven bass catching presentations known so to call them a gimmick doesn’t make sense. Although I can understand why some people hate to fish them. No argument there. Some days the last thing I ever want to throw is a jig. 

[Gera]

23 hours ago, Bucks Bass and Bourbon said:

Eh somewhat. A jog with a craw trailer looks like a staple of a bass’ diet. Fish are animals. Bass are instinctive predators that sometimes are aggressive and other times are finicky. But neither of those are the point of the conversation. By definition a gimmick (in this context) is a trick or device used to attract business or attention. Jigs and dropshots are two of the most proven bass catching presentations known so to call them a gimmick doesn’t make sense. Although I can understand why some people hate to fish them. No argument there. Some days the last thing I ever want to throw is a jig. 

I get that part, what I mean is that the first person that came up with the jig showed it to his fishing buddy who most likely only used worm to catch fish, he taught that was just gimmick.. my point is pretty much every lure started that way.. some of them stay and become the real thing, but some stay just a gimmick . 

 

[Glenn]

What fishing gimmick did I fall for?  The weather forecast.

[J Francho]

Innacuweather has bit us all in the butt for sure