...this one is going to catch me a lot of fish? Immidiately becomes part of your arsenal.

This fishing season the following three lures fit this category for me -

--RAID Japan Libero (5g and 7g size)

--Megabass Griffon MR-X/SR-X (BFS)

--RAID Japan Egu Chunk (Craw - 3 in./3.5in)

 

I have one or more of them tied on at all times now.

I'm a spinnerbait guy... When I try a new spinnerbait I can usually tell in the first few casts whether it's a winner or a dud.  Way more duds out there than winners 😂.

Deps Cover Scat... a nice fish on the first cast.

I think it was spring  2024.

Might have been fall.

Vision 110 in Shrimp.

A-Jay

 

Copper Red Baits tsunami frog - things moves gallons of water silently- gets huge bites!

Way back The Manns baby 1 minus . That was one heck of a bait 

I went out with a light rod last Thursday and got on some fun lmb (<1-2 lbs) - I could not keep them off a weightless Raid 1-Way Hybrid and Big 2-Way. 

 

Fun ended when my L St Croix Premier inexplicably snapped a third of the way down. Only two rods I've ever broken fishing were both St Croixs (L now and a MH). Lost a Fenwick to the truck door:)

That would be tomorrow - I'm going to throw the Flux Gilly for the first time.

I this year I am into BFS and Megabass Karashi was a lure that just works from the 1st cast. Way back in 1971 when I watched my new Viper head stand up jig tied with 3 color bucktail  hair I knew it was a winner.

Tom

I’ve always struggled to some degree tossing jigs into snaggy wood laydowns. No jig would consistently stay snag-free AND catch fish.  Until the 3/8 oz Sieberts Dredge Brush jig. 
 

First flip, I held my breath on a particularly nasty stretch of branches but it came back clean. The second cast, I connected on a solid 19 incher and knew I had a winner. Confidence builds from there…

First time throwing a Deps 250.  If you ever played the old Nintendo Black Bass game you'll remember the shadows stalking your bait.  First toss and half a dozen fish just started stalking it for about 10ft.  Then a pounder came flying in screaming "Leroy Jenkins!!!" and ate it before the bigs could.  Brought back the excitement of being a kid for a little bit.

10 hours ago, Logan S said:

I'm a spinnerbait guy... When I try a new spinnerbait I can usually tell in the first few casts whether it's a winner or a dud.  Way more duds out there than winners 😂.

What are your top 3?

A few years ago I saw the Dark Sleeper.  Bingo.

June 1977 Bill Lewis Rattle Trap.  

Several different baits that have been game changers right out of the box in the past two years for me....

 

Bassday Mononofu 50S - An ordinary trout bait but in brings in fish like no other

Evergreen PC-5 - In the small crankbait game this one is king

Bass Puzzle Grasspiece - I fish it more than a bladed jig or a spinnerbait

6th Sense Whale - It's like a mini Magdraft

Deps Sakamata Shad 5in - I don't get why it works so well but it does

6th Sense Congo Craw - One the best jig trailers I have used. Its tails are fragile though

Megabass 3in Spark Shad on a Keitech Ball Head -  In spring it's a fish catching magnet

Megabass Baby Pop-X - Another I can't figure out but it catches more fish than any popper I have

OSP Blitz EX DR- Changed my deep diving crank routine

OSP Dolive Stick -  Very versatile stick soft plastic. I can present it in several different ways

OSP Dolive Beaver - Always catches something on a free rig. Also a good trailer

OSP Dice dropshot -  I use it when I want to show my friends that bass will bite anything (when they are getting skunked).  

CA Reservoir Jigs - They made me a custom one that changed how I fish jigs

 

 

There are more but these go in and out of my rotation throughout the year. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The middle of August I finally found a micro bladed jig that works the way I want.  It's available in 1/16 and 1/8 and both sizes start thumping near instantly. The first day I tied it on I caught 3 back to back in a super pressured pond - two LMB and a Rainbow.  Trout is where this lure really shines.  

I guess for me it was this last summer when I started fishing Rat-L-Traps.

 

Before that it was this spring with I really started fishing Flukes. It all started when I was at the local reservoir. I found a fluke laying there. So I took my worm off and put the fluke on. I proceeded to catch a couple right off the bat. Man.. I was hooked. It's been a solid producer ever since for me.

The YoZuri Knuckle…………..not!

Zoom ZCraw Jr. color 420 California, on an unnamed 1/4 oz. dark red football jighead w/ a #1/0 sickle hook.  Caught LM, SM, Spots, and Walleye, first time out.

I have had a lot of those moments over the years.  Funny that I have cooled at least somewhat to every single one.  It always takes me way too long to fully understand the right variables, limitations and situations for a new lure.  

   The opposite is every bit as true.  I have plenty of perfectly fine lures in the shed that I may never use again because they didn't get bit on the first few casts.

 

  As to the question above, I'd say the Rap Mayor fits the bill.  Got bit early and often.  But just as important is the 'fishability': ease of rigging, castability, depth control, even durability to some extent.  

Mine is a simple one… when I learned how to Texas rig a zoom 4 1/2 finesse worm….. green pumpkin.  It was game on from there.

Green pumpkin NED rig. Tiny, do nothing...cast and retrieve...maybe let it fall a little...BANG, fish after fish after fish! 

The first time I fished with a swim jig I put a replacement skirt on a pointed jig head, and added a grub for a trailer just to see how it would work.  The next day I went out and bought four or five of them.

The first time I threw a caffeine shad. It just felt "right" on the line in a way no other fluke had and pretty quickly started producing good sized bass. It's also pretty snagless and I fish snaggy places. 

 

It's become my confidence bait that I pick up whenever I'm getting skunked.