If I was gonna pick only one to take to a pond or lake and only one. It would have to be a swim jig. Can swim,pitch,drag, hop it. You name it. probably use a dead action trailer incase they want subtle. But then could always Alabama shake it to make it have the action they may want. 

Got out to Hingham this morning. Grabbed a small LMB & YP on my Mepps, then promptly lost Mr. Mepps in a snag.

 

Walmart didn’t have one so I’ll just use it as an excuse to ride my bike down to Bass Pro in Foxboro.

On 6/25/2025 at 12:06 AM, Bazoo said:

These guys make it work, at least for 1 trip.

I’d much rather make it work with @A-Jay and @Glenn …. 

I can't hack fishing with an in-line spinner anymore  😵‍💫 ... it's Summer and NOT trout season.  

 

I'm still going to go through with my challenge, but I'm switching to a 3/8 oz @Siebert Outdoors jig. I have one that's green pumpkin/black, so it'll cover clear and stained water in my area.  As far as the trailer goes, I have some green/brown Rage Tail craws.

 

I've never given jigs a good chance so I'll be forced to work hard for my catches. 

 

I also have a new Lews Custom Pro reel that I've been dying to try out.

 

So for the next 12 trips, I'm tossing a jig.

On 6/14/2025 at 12:24 PM, gim said:

I decline to accept this challenge.  

 

LOL, same!

 

Went out Friday and took 7 rods with me.

 

Caught fish on 6 of them.

 

It would be a FUN "challenge" though.

 

Hit 3 ponds with my one jig today.  I thought I did OK, with a few quality bass, right until I asked a guy coming off pond #3 with me, HOW'd YOU DO?

 

His top 5 was over 21 pounds.  He had pictures to prove it.  I'm in SE Massachusetts.  A top 5 over 20 is a grand slam kind of day around here.

 

8 more trips with my one jig...  I'm getting out tomorrow.

Got out locally for a short trip.  Took a goose-egg.  Water temps were 84.x

 

That's 4.

IF I could only take one with me it’d be a 3.75” rage swimmer in green pumpkin on a 3/16 jig head. 
BUT I only get out a few times per month on average so conceivably I’d have to go 3 or 4 months on one lure. 

I’d be afraid the bait monkey would track me down and lay a whoppin on me 😆

I tried this. One #956 Senko wacky rig. 
 

First cast- 0700

 

First bass- 0720

 

Lost Senko- 0721

 

Back home- 0800

 

Nope. No more “one lure” fishing for me!

Maybe I’m reading the challenge wrong. 
Is it about becoming effective with one style of lure or seeing how long you can make one lure holdout?
Is it one lure-lose it and go home, restart the 12 trips with a new lure? Or “one” lure, using as many as needed?

To me fishing a wacky worm would allow me to take a bag of my choice of worm, just one specific brand, style and color.

If fishing a jig could I not take several of the exact same jig, color, style and brand to fish in case of loss?

 

If truly only ONE lure for twelve trips, it ain't gonna happen, I can barely make one trip without losing something. If allowed to have duplicates of the exact same lure for twelve trips, thats a doable challenge (and a learning opportunity).

 

A ruling clarification from the council would put me  “in” or “out”.

31 minutes ago, Motoboss said:

Is it about becoming effective with one style of lure

 

This ^^^^^^

 

I started this 'challenge' so I would travel light, focus on one type of bait, and not overthink fishing for a dozen trips.  Anyone else that takes the challenge can interpret it as they want.  

 

I started with a Mepps in-line spinner.  Being Summer and water temps in the '80's, I switched it to a green pumpkin/black/blue 3/8oz jig with a junebug Rage Bug trailer. 

 

I have backup jigs in the same color and a bag of trailers.  I know I'll go through a few trailers but am keeping them the same color.

 

I'm sticking with one style/color jig and am switching up rod/reel combinations to see what works best too.

 

31 minutes ago, Motoboss said:

A ruling clarification from the council would put me  “in” or “out”.

 

Should I ask my wife to chime in?

On 6/14/2025 at 8:08 AM, A-Jay said:

30 minutes into that first trip,

this view point may start to feel different.

 

It's getting there, especially after meeting another angler that pulled multiple six pounders out of a local pond I goose-egged at with a bladed jig, but I'm sticking to my guns.

14 hours ago, DogBone_384 said:

Anyone else that takes the challenge can interpret it as they want.  

On 6/13/2025 at 9:22 PM, DogBone_384 said:

 

 

I’ve decided to take ONE rod with ONE lure out for the next dozen trips and see what happens.

 

I challenge the membership to do the same and report back here.

 

The lure is up to you.

 

 

I'll try and interpret it as stated in OP.

 

This is something I also do from time to time. One rod. One lure. Go fish. I do it because as I grow older, I just don't want to mess with a bunch of stuff I'm not gonna touch or use anyway. Bring only what is necessary.

 

Here in Florida a lot of the lakes and rivers I fish are very shallow. Often the lakes- and where I fish in the lakes is less than 8 feet deep- often only 3 or 4 feet deep. Wide flat eel grass flats and lily pad expanses. Environment requires long casts and weedless as I retrieve through lily pads. The rivers are less than 6 feet deep, often less than 24".

 

So if I had to take one rod and one lure into my favorite bass fishing places, it would be a 7'6" MHF spinning rod, 4000 reel, 20lb braid, and a match the hatch lure closest to golden shiner and other small baitfish bass feed on, so probably a paddletail fluke or that new mooch minnow and a #4 or 5 slightly weighted hook.

 

With the 7'6" and using smallest line possible I can get the most distance. Fish don't even know I am there. Nothing like the explosive top water hits going through the eel grass.

 

On St. Johns river it would be same rod setup, maybe lighter line since not much cover and mostly open water to fight fish in means I can drop down to as low as 10lb braid and a rat'l trap type of lure and cast that sucker a country mile for all those schoolie bass out there.

I've been out twice since my last post here.  I nabbed a couple good smallies at the first and skunked yesterday.  

 

Just a few more trips and I can go back to overthinking and overpacking!  😆 

I think a more reasonable challenge would be 3 lures, one from each water column area. This not only would allow you to get good with 3 different lures, but it would allow you to learn to change depending on the conditions.

If I were committing to one bait, I’d go with a 4” reaper. 
 

Texas rigged, splitshot, dropshot, darter head, pitched weightless into the weeds…..the possibilities are endless. 

Stayed local this afternoon.  I packed it in after tossing a different colored jigs for a three hours, covering more than half the pond and coming up empty.

 

 

Went out for a bit this afternoon.  My weather APP said 7-9 mph winds .... HAH .... It felt more like 15+ sustained.  I managed 1.2 - 1.5 mph paddling into the wind but made it to my spot.  I spent as much time marking stuff with side-scan as I did fishing.  I worked deep and shallow.

 

After 2 1/2 hours of fighting the wind and not so much as a nibble, I packed up and went home.  It was windy, post-frontal, blue-bird clear, and the middle of the day - AND I EXPECTED A BITE !?!??!?!?!

 

Thankfully my one lure challenge is complete and I'm going back to overthinking and overpacking.

 

What I'm taking from my last 12 trips is this:  I don't catch any more or less fish using just one type of bait.  I focus on putting the puzzle together better.  I don't have much more confidence using jigs than I did before I started, but they catch fish.  

 

Now let's her from members that took the challenge!

Wish I could chime in but,,,,took just about the last month off. Lakes are 10-12 foot high, ramps closed and fishing picnic tables and shelters just don’t cut it. River is near flood stage, fast and muddy so that’s been a no go as well.

However today the heat and humidity has gone away, no rain in the forecast so looking to get out soon.

My take on the challenge is one lure for at least three hours, if successful then it’s game on. If a skunk I’ll finish the day with another choice,,,,,,maybe.

My trip is an hour/hour and a half drive one way so I typically try to get in 6/8 hours fishing to make it worth the effort.

 

I will bet that at least you’ve gained some confidence in the jig and will give it a chance in your regular rotation.