I’ve noticed a pattern in myself—I’ll figure out what works, start seeing success with it, and then I catch myself wanting to change things up or chase the next shiny new idea. Even when I know what I’m doing is working, that urge to tweak, add, or switch things up kicks in. How do you stay disciplined and avoid falling into that mindset of constantly wanting to change your style or add more, even when your current process is getting results?

I’m the opposite. I don’t like change. I try something new, don’t get instant results, and quickly go back to my comfort presentations. I’m just hard wired that way.  Last year we had a crankbait sponsor come on board which I haven’t fished a crankbait in years because I never had good luck with them. Naturally, I had to fish them and turns out, I had really good luck and the crankbait is now in regular rotation. 
 

I need to change my stubborn ways. 😁

I never change what’s working. That being said if it’s not working quickly I move on to another presentation until I land on one that does, then work it until it doesn’t.

I see all the new stuff try it, if it doesn't work go back to my old stand by. Can't gor wrong with a stick worm.

I could likely get by with 5 baits year around but have so many variants of the same bait types.

Example would be craw imitation:

Brush hogs - jigs - creature - speed craw - rage craw - Yama craw. Etc

I gotta believe that anyone of those would attract the same fish on a given piece of structure.

You can look at the front deck of boat and get a good idea if the fish are biting.

Good day there may only be 3 rods.

Slow day and the boat deck is littered with rods and reels and I'm playing twister to get to the one I want next.

 

If a bait is producing, I'll throw it all day.

 

As a balance, I try to add something new when possible.  BUT….it has to be significantly different from anything that I currently have.  For example, my go to bait for a Ned is a 4” Senko.  When Yamamoto came out with the Yamatanuki in the Ned size, I had to try it out.  Now it’s in the rotation because it surprised me how well it worked.  It is so different from the Senko it garnered a tryout when the Senko wasn’t working.  

I’m pretty much the same way. I’d almost rather be catching a few fish on something new/different than be catching a bunch with pattern that I know I can capitalize on.

lots of the time I’ll spend the first couple hours messing around and trying something different but if that’s not working I’ll go back to something tried and true for the last part of the day. 
The exception is when I don’t have much time to be on the water or I’m fishing on a new lake. In that case I’ll stick to a few things and go with that. 

Edited June 29, 2025Jun 29 by 10,000 lakes Bassin

38 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

I’m the opposite. I don’t like change. I try something new, don’t get instant results, and quickly go back to my comfort presentations. I’m just hard wired that way.  
😁

 

Ditto 

The only difference is that I rarely try something new now. 

It took me years to gain confidence in my arsenal to cover as many different conditions as possible. 

I’ll change baits, weights, presentations locations etc before I’ll try something just for the sake of change. 
 
I really don’t feel I need too. 
 

 

 

 

 

Mike

2 hours ago, GoneFishingLTN said:

I’ve noticed a pattern in myself—I’ll figure out what works, start seeing success with it, and then I catch myself wanting to change things up or chase the next shiny new idea. Even when I know what I’m doing is working, that urge to tweak, add, or switch things up kicks in. How do you stay disciplined and avoid falling into that mindset of constantly wanting to change your style or add more, even when your current process is getting results?

 

 

Okay for me - I try to expand laterally if I really think I'm on a pattern but want to weed out smaller fish.

 

A mag trick worm instead of a trick worm if they're eating a weightless worm could be a change I might make if I know they're eating a floating worm but I want to stop catching 2 lbers.

 

I also think it's ALWAYS wise to at least rotate slow and fast and high/mid/low in areas you're catching fish or getting bites.  And even small/big to some degree.

 

So with that in mind I try to rotate more within or around the things that are working rather than all over the place for funs sake.

 

Hope that makes sense?

3 hours ago, GoneFishingLTN said:

I’ve noticed a pattern in myself—I’ll figure out what works, start seeing success with it, and then I catch myself wanting to change things up or chase the next shiny new idea. Even when I know what I’m doing is working, that urge to tweak, add, or switch things up kicks in. How do you stay disciplined and avoid falling into that mindset of constantly wanting to change your style or add more, even when your current process is getting results?

I'm like you.   probably because I get so bored of throwing a Senko.  ha!

 

I used to be the opposite.  this resulted in me owning a surveyors bag full of Beavers.   it will take me 3 seasons to burn thru them, since I have kinda wandered away from them a bit.   nobody tell my wife this.  

 

I am trending towards moving baits.  

If I am catching fish, I beat it into a pulp until it stops working.

 

I could never understand why someone would stop using an effective presentation for something else.

 

Strike when the iron is hot.

I feel your frustration.  I often would change for the sake of change alone or to try new techniques just because I read about them here or saw a YT video or tutorial. 

 

I originally thought this was a good thing but now I realize that it’s prevented me from forming an identity as an angler.  Instead of being a jig guy or a crankbait guy or a finesse guy I was all over the map.  

 

The solution I’ve tried this year was to develop an organized approach to selecting what techniques I want to throw depending on the primary cover, water clarity, light and weather conditions.
 

The idea being that if I have a systematic way of doing things it would keep me from just changing baits on a whim.  
 

I break it down like this:  If the conditions are favorable I’ll try topwater and/or reaction baits first.  If that doesn’t work then I’ll go the bottom contact route. Lastly if I’m still not getting bit I’ll fall back on finesse stuff.  

I do allow myself some flexibility.  As an example:   If it’s pretty obvious that it’s not a great day for topwater I’ll skip it and start with something mid column.  Or if it’s a calm sunny day with tons of pressure I’ll jump straight to finesse. 

I’m usually limiting myself to 1 or 2 baits per category which has also helped me to eliminate redundancy and reduce the amount of tackle I take with me.

4 minutes ago, bp_fowler said:

If the conditions are favorable I’ll try topwater and/or reaction baits first.  If that doesn’t work then I’ll go the bottom contact route. Lastly if I’m still not getting bit I’ll fall back on finesse stuff.  

Pretty much exactly how I do it too.

 

If they’re willing to bite an aggressive presentation, it won’t take long to realize it. And if they are, that’s how I keep doing it. Sometimes they just don’t want to chase a moving lure though so I have to incrementally slow down.

 

If I get all the way down to a Ned rig, that’s my last option.

 

If they ain’t biting the Ned, it’s time to go home and come back another day lol

@GoneFishingLTN I feel like at times I've hit a sweet spot regarding this.  Here's a quick story from yesterday that didn't get results, but the process was correct.  I was out in the early morning, fish were where I expected them; deep weedlines and transitions.  Caught my 8 or 9 on a deep crank, burnerworm and bullflat before the skiers and tubers took over and the bite just collapsed.  I had about another 45mins so I pulled up to a known big fish spot; it's a little shelf in about 17' fow that sits right out from a sharp cut choked with hydrilla and outside the shelf it drops to about 28' fow within a boat length.  I surfed a big chicken jig down the break, tightlining thru the weedtops, blanked.  Then swam a 4.8 bullflat both down the break and across the shelf; blanked.  Worked a gambler burner worm thru what seemed like everything and all the way down to 28'.  Blanked again.  So now I used up close to 25mins and felt like I was still leaving something on the table.  

  So I went back to my heavy swim jig, and methodically bulldozed my way thru the hydrilla with slow steady reeling and a sharp 1/4 handle turn to break it free.  Near the edge of the shelf on the third cast, I was rewarded with tell tale thunk!  I immediately set the hook and she shot straight up out of 17' fow and got at least 2 body lengths out of the water with massive head shakes in about 3 seconds about 6 feet in front of me.  It was a big, healthy, and smart fish that threw my jig because I was lackadaisical in keeping up with her.  An easy 5, possible 6lber definitely won that round. 

  A few more casts of the swim jig resulted in nothing and decided I'd try one more thing before I went home.  I had a 5" weightless worm on a M/F rod rigged up, I quickly switched to 3.5" deps cover scat and fired to the same portion of the first shallow break.  I gave it a couple double snaps // slack line fall and the third fall had the same tell tale thunk.  Instead of learning my swim jig lesson and fast reeling into her, I reeled down and went for power hookset.  Well this fish probably hit the same way; coming up out of the abyss with speed.  So my massive hookset, turned into a snap set with all the slack in my line and my 10lb floro couldn't take the shock as I just barely felt the weight.  And a few moments later she came up to the surface about 15' away to throw the hook and line.  Another picture worthy plus sized bass lost, when finding any fish was difficult.

  Long winded way for me to cope with my last hour of fishing for a few days and maybe a lesson that at certain times it can be the "arrow" or really the abrupt change of fast to slow; when trying to trigger a big bass.

 

scott

It’s called bass fishing, we are always looking for the next lure, technique or presentation to improve catching more or bigger bass. 
Settling down on a few successful lures or area’s will leave you wondering should I move or change lures? 
Bass anglers use more different lures and presentation than any other fisherman, it’s nearly unlimited.

You are not alone!

Tom 

Interesting discussion.

 

If I'm fishing and they are biting, I might stop using something that is working, in favor to use something I have less confidence in. For example, if they are hitting crankbaits, I'm likely to try another type or color, or I might try a bladed jig or spinnerbait. Or if they are hitting a texas rig, I might throw a jig. Or I might try a different kind of worm.

 

I might also change directions and try something completely different, in an effort to understand what they want and why on that day.

 

Now... I say this with some reservation, because I don't always change things up when somethings working. It all depends on what I'm learning, and if I think a change will help me to learn something.

 

My goal is not simply to catch bass... my goal is to learn to catch bass. I want to be able to go to any lake, any pond, any time of year, and catch bass.

When I'm on The Right Ones, whatever the bait or technique may be, it's working for a reason.

Personally, I do not have to know what the reason may be, just that it is working,

is good enough for me.

So I will usually let it play out.

For a while.

However there have been MANY deals where a slight variation

to the successful deal has paid of.

A different profile (larger or smaller)

a different sound signature (rattle vs silent)

a more subtle or even a super bright colored pattern

or a different depth (deeper running vs regulars or shallow running bait,

has allowed me to pick off a few more or even one bigger bite

I might not have realized without a slight bait jog one way or the other.

The important part of that for me was learning to and having the confidence to

pick and choose my spots.

As I do not believe it's totally necessary to change things up Every Time.

My final tweak, is to go home and come back when they are feeding.

YMMV

A-Jay

 

9 hours ago, GoneFishingLTN said:

I’ve noticed a pattern in myself—I’ll figure out what works, start seeing success with it, and then I catch myself wanting to change things up or chase the next shiny new idea. Even when I know what I’m doing is working, that urge to tweak, add, or switch things up kicks in. How do you stay disciplined and avoid falling into that mindset of constantly wanting to change your style or add more, even when your current process is getting results?

 

I'm the opposite due to old age and stubbornness. 

 

It sounds like you have been caught up in the commercial sales gimmick fishermen preach to keep switching things up so you have to buy more. Got the bait monkey on your back!

 

Buy this color. Buy that color. Only this works. Only that works! Heck it all works sometimes! But that's not the point. The reason bait and tackle stores are filled with every variety and every color, size and shape is NOT for the fish! Its for the fishermen to bring their wallets and buy into it.

 

I left that train decades ago.

 

Today I can get by with one bag of stuff. The basics. Often one rod, maybe two. And I can do just fine. Florida bass when biting will hit about anything that moves.

 

My problem is not the urge to keep switching up baits. My problem is sitting still in one place too long. I got fishing buddies who drive me crazy with pulling up on one spot and then wanting to sit there all day long sure there is another fish in there somewhere.

 

I move through an area faster. I work it over good, and quick to move on. I'm a new water guy.

 

Last month I went fishing and found I forgot all my lures left at home! All I had was what was on the rods and what was laying around in the boat. Amazing what you can do with old lures when ya have to. Not gonna let not having any lures in the boat slow me down! 

 

When it comes to lures, I generally fall into light, medium dark and dark. I don't worry about blue or purple or red because quite often the waters I fish in Florida are darker than coffee and tea with bright sunlight directly overhead you can't see your hand six inches under surface of water so no way a bass is gonna determine color 4 feet down. Not physically possible. No light. So I wanna make some noise and flash and maybe some lure scent as well.

 

But if I can, sometimes I will do an entire fishing trip on one lure. And if my buddy goes white, I go dark. And if he goes dark I might go light just because. And still out fish some of my buddies who are doing the bait monkey shuffle.

 

 

 

I used to be that way, but over the years things have come full circle. I just roll with a handful of proven techniques and baits that I enjoy using these days. 

23 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

When I'm on The Right Ones, whatever the bait or technique may be, it's working for a reason.

Personally, I do not have to know what the reason may be, just that it is working,

is good enough for me.

So I will usually let it play out.

For a while.

However there have been MANY deals where a slight variation to the successful deal has paid of.

A different profile (larger or smaller)

a different sound signature (rattle vs silent)

a more subtle or even a super bright colored pattern

or a different depth (deeper running vs regulars or shallow running bait,

has allowed me to pick off a few more or even one bigger bite

I might not have realized with a slight bait jog one way or the other.

The important part of tjhat for me was learning to pick and choose my spots.

As I do not believe it's totally necessary to change things up Every Time.

My final tweak, is to go home and come back when they are feeding.

YMMV

A-Jay

 

Ditto x 50…years.

It appears that these latter posts by experienced fisherman are making bold claims.......the bait monkey is a hoax. 

Say it isn't so 😳

I do both: cast the same lure until it's ragged as a scarecrow's shirt and switch lures every time I catch a bass, much like some days I'm happy with a busy boat and other times, I'm hunting big bass like I'm A-Jay Hottle. I have more gears than a Peterbilt 389. 

I'm always trying to dial it in.  I never know what's working best.  I can eliminate what not working.  If I'm skunking then I've been able to find plenty of approaches that are not working.  What is working depends on my expectations which I try not to limit.  Am I catching some fish?  Am I catching good fish?  Would I win the Bass Master Classic if I was fishing in it today?  If I'm catching a few fish then I have an approach that's working and I try to spend a few cast each hour to see if I can tweak it.   Tweaking does not always mean changing lures.  It might mean changing the rate of retrieve,  fishing a little deeper, the variations are endless.  To me that's the challenge of fishing.

I have a very simple mindset.  I take 5 steps back and look at a bait and see how it differs from the other 500 baits of the same style.  Take craws for example.  EVERYBODY  makes a craw.  What is different from 1 to another? Is is that % of difference required to avoid copyright infringement? More legs, bigger claws, added antennas? Or is it truly something “new” that gets more fish? I get it that there’s different plastic formulas but realistically there’s a 🦞 crawfish lookalike and that’s it.  

I’m always settled, never switching