They absolutely will prefer one thing over another for reasons that don’t make any sense to me and all I can figure is conditioning and fishing pressure alter what fish will bite and you have to kind of alter with them or you will be fishless around here.

 

I learned being a jerkbait/jig/lipless/frog fisherman that profile and action and color and retrieve are all very important a lot of the time.

 

I really wish - in my quest for simplicity - that one bait in each general category would suffice but it just ain’t so around here AND you better believe if you wreck them in 2025 on a bait - in 2026 - it will work less good for you on the same water (around here)

 

I kinda like to “know what I like” and when I see something that’s what I like but a little different from what I’ve shown the fish - I’m very intrigued and tempted to try it.

 

Case in point - 1/2 oz red eye shad is very good - so it makes sense that I’d try the 1/4 oz model in places my 1/2 oz isn’t working as well anymore and suddenly start catching them well for a spell.  Little changes in bait action or profile can wildly shift success rates any given day around here.

@Pat Brown- Jason christie did a video (maybe this past year) where he demonstrated that principle.  He's a spinnerbait guy of course and he was fishing a creek arm and up into the creek with one, catching fish.  It got slow though and he had two other variation tied up on the deck.  As he went up the creek he just swapped across the set.  One was a more finesse size, the other was a little heavier and a slightly different blade config.  He explained as he went why he was changing them and what triggers he was seeting- in one case the bass was just nipping it so he went to the finesse; in another he started to see his lure (water was getting clearer) so he went a little heavier to drop it down 6-12" in the water column.  It was a great example of what you're saying about the RES.  I might just take all of the lipped crankbaits out of my boat for next year since they aren't "what I like" kinda baits.  A RES or original trap would cover most of the instances where I also throw a lipped crankbait anyway.

Bass can get very specific even with live bait.  A nightcrawler is the best overlap bait ever, but there are days when a live crawdad will work far better.  Try fishing a live crawdad, when the bass are busting shad on the surface and see how many bass hit the crawdad.  If bass can get picky when it comes to the real thing, than thinking they will hit any general artificial category is wishful thinking.  This ad was Bait Monkey approved and is intended to sell fishing tackle, to those that already have more tackle than needed. 

 

Yes 99% of the time there are dozens of baits that will overlap, but for those other times when nothing but a certain lure will work, I want to have at least 10 available to throw.  If I were wise, I would simply throw a few all around producing lures, in a variety of depths, and cover.  If I fail to get bit, I should  go home early and spend some extra time with my wife.  Why would I want wisdom, when I can buy tackle?

 

I hope to someday own the one lure that will work better than all others on every water, every day.  I thought it was going to be the Banjo Minnow, but I'm glad I didn't sell off all of my tackle after I received my special order from the TV add.  I'm still looking and am still in debt. 

I’m having a conversation in PM with @Joedodge about this topic and I’m gonna borrow something I wrote there for this thread because I think it clarifies my POV:

 

My experience is that if they really like a lure like a LOT LOT - *usually* all you need to do is change the profile or action or fall rate or color or size (etc) a little bit this way or that way to either be more bold/ wild/natural/etc and you can usually catch them for a few years on a bait, but eventually you might run into a situation where a population of fish that you’re constantly hammering on has learned that skirts are bad and doesn’t bite things with skirts anymore, which can be very confusing if you fish a lot of baits with skirts, etc.

 

Sometimes I feel like a switch from silicon to living rubber frog skirt or switching from full length legs to very trimmed legs or switching to a giant frog or a tiny frog or changing retrieve cadence (or often some combination of the above!) can immediately shift from “where are the fish” to “they’re hitting the frog but not committing” to “they’re on a wild frog bite today”.  You ALWAYS gotta listen to the fish when playing this game of elimination of unproductive patterns.

 

But there are times when they just know something twitching from side to side is gonna get them and they are completely conditioned to that action and you’ve got to do something else, etc.

 

I find it kind of amusing that people say that the whopper popper and the buzz bait are interchangeable because to me they’re completely different actions and profiles and target different parts of the water column (people forget a buzzbait is sub surface!) and even different sound profiles, so they really are different in a lot of ways except for the fact that they churn up the water on the surface to our eyes.

 

I think sometimes you can wear them out on a buzzbait and turn around and catch more on a buzzbait when they stop eating it or vice versa - they’re pretty doggone different to a fish from what I can tell around here.

 

BUT if I know they like a buzz bait and a whopper popper, but won’t eat EITHER anymore that’s when I start to get weird 😎👍 and fish things like a square bill just under the surface real slow and twitchy or a swim jig under the surface or a floating worm or something that presents a bait SIMILARLY but completely differently if that makes sense.

 

What you really have to learn to ask yourself is “what part of the water column are they eating my bait?” To ME - that’s kind of where you get these overlapping things happening sometimes more than anything.

 

You need enough alternatives in every category to show them something different that you’re good at fishing.

 

Sometimes it’s better to be creative than versatile. It’s ALWAYS better to be a little different from things that have caught them many times but target the same general part of the water column at roughly the same speed.

 

You know they want a buzz bait, you know they want a whopper plopper, you know they want a buzz toad, but they won’t eat any of those things anymore because of a tournament last week or because of you last year and you don’t have any more lures in your tacklebox so you start buzzing a mag speed worm and catch a seven pounder, etc.

 

Thinking outside the box with stuff, you already have is guaranteed to show them something different rather than trying to buy the latest lure and hoping they haven’t seen it!

 

Hope that better explains the methods to my madness!  🤣🤣🤣👍👍👍

22 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I'm going to come at this from the opposite direction

and say there are No overlapping lures.

Allow me to expand on this.

I am basing this deal on two different but basic trains of thought.

 

1. Each bass is an individual with individual likes, preferences & tendencies.

 Just like our own experiences drive who we are, how we act, what we like & dislike, 

I believe the same applies to a bass. And yes I get that the fish are driven by instinct, but there has to be some variation or wiggle room in there when it comes to what they prefer to chase, how they attack, and what they like to eat. If this didn't have at least some validity, the bait monkey would have  been extinct a long time ago.  It's why I have the arsenal I do and why I will always offer at least a few different 'variations' of a similar bait in area I have already caught a few before departing.

 

 2. Not all baits are the same.  Take any hard bait as an example.

I cannot count how many times this happens.  I have, say, 5 perch-colored baits. All the same make and model, same hooks & hardware.  But only one has no paint left on it because it's The One They Eat. Doesn't mean the other 4 don't catch, just that this one has something I cannot detect but sets it apart as more appealing. Can't explain it, but the bass certainly display an overwhelming preference for this particular bait.

Finally, if there were such a thing as an overlap, I'd have to say it would be something soft plastic.

YMMV.

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

"Used" flies, catch more fish... It's the same principle as a well used bait...

 

Typically used means, less consistent flash and colors, more importantly, wear that allows said bait to blend in to it's surroundings more, especially around the edges of a bait...

 

A bait that you cannot see defined edges on when placed in the water you are fishing, will typically vastly outfish a bait that the entire bait sticks out like a sore thumb... 

 

Harder for a fish to define whether it is real or not, aids in getting that impulse bite, etc... 

 

That's my theory anyway after thousands and thousands of days spent on the water, 99.9% of the time if you take a well worn fly like a baitfish imitating streamer, it will outfish a new one and as that new one gets more well worn, it will get better and better at catching fish....

 

Most of my Muskie flies for example, I will intentionally catch a few small Pike on them right after I tie them, their teeth will thin the fly out around the edges and just make it more sparse in a manner that only a fish can really accomplish. These flies will always move more fish of all species than flies I didn't do this with, even flies that are exactly the same...

 

I worked many years on Lake Michigan as a kid on a charter boat, 1000% of the time, the most chewed up "trolling flies" that you run behind rotators were the most consistent fish catchers, often times the ones that were largely just beads and a handful of strands of flash left from wear and tear, were by far the best fish catchers... It was so obvious, we would intentionally half destroy new trolling flies when we put them into rotation as it made a huge difference in catch rates...

 

When it comes to a hard body bait, something as simple as a scratch in the finish will reflect light differently, that different reflection appears to the fish as "movement", it enables you to give off much more erratic flashes of light, etc... It increases the amount of fishiness, without forcing you to move the bait more erratically. I call this "movement without motion"...

 

Thoughts from the obsessed LOL

8 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

I really wish - in my quest for simplicity - that one bait in each general category would suffice but it just ain’t so around here AND you better believe if you wreck them in 2025 on a bait - in 2026 - it will work less good for you on the same water (around here)

 

Pat, I keep thinking that my underspins will stop working because I've caught so many bass with them, but they keep catching, so I keep casting them. It might help that I keep changing the trailers, both the brands (Zako, Mayor, and Keitech) and colors. 

 

It's just that a body of water holds so many bass. I read that an acre of water, on average, supports 100 pounds of bass. Well, my pond is 170 acres and my pal's pond is more than twice that. An average bass is 2.5 pounds. So, that's 40 2.5-pounders times 170 for my pond for 6,800 bass and more than double that for my pal's pond. I catch a lot of bass, but I sure haven't caught all those bass. So, a lot of them have never hit one of my underspins.

 

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

I find it kind of amusing that people say that the whopper popper and the buzz bait are interchangeable

 

"People?" I think it's mostly just me asserting this.  

 

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

What you really have to learn to ask yourself is “what part of the water column are they eating my bait?” To ME - that’s kind of where you get these overlapping things happening sometimes more than anything.

 

We utterly agree here. I am water column-focused when I fish. One reason I troll when paddling from one casting spot to another is that trolling probes the middle of the column. 

 

Pat, there have been times when a slight change made all the difference in catching bass. The bass in my favorite lake in northwestern Ontario loved fluorescent red F13 Rapalas until they didn't. One morning, they might ignore them for silver and blue or black and gold. The following morning, they might be back to preferring fluorescent red. So, I know how bass preferences can shift. It happens to me still, when my underspins will stop working for a week or two and I have to shift. 

 

Pat, you know I watched your beautiful video of you fishing that city pond, the one with the drone shots, and that pond is tiny compared to my pond. So your environment is sharply different because it holds far fewer bass and you'd have to change your lures much more than me. As Jimmy B. said, changes in latitude, changes in attitude. I think if I fished your city pond, I'd fish like you, throwing the tacklebox at them. If you fished my pond, you'd fish like me, throwing an underspin at them because it's one lure that cannot explore the entire water column. 

 

As @Columbia Craw noted, I'm in a unique situation where I lug (even at my pond) my gear through the dark woods, which prevents me from bringing hundreds of lures, so my environment shapes my fishing. My fishing has evolved to succeed where I fish. In northwestern Ontario, the environment was even more restricting, as a portage might be a mile and trimming ounces is necessary.

 

Quote

I honestly believe that you could give Katie one rod, one lure, and a mud puddle to fish in, and when she would catch tons of good fish.

 

You're so generous and funny, @Kirtley Howe, but success breeds success. I've caught a lot of bass in my life and so when I launch, I launch with all those memories of where bass tend to be and what they tend to want. And I've written more than once about how lightly some bass hit and how easy it is to miss hits if you haven't had hundreds/thousands of similar hits.

 

53 minutes ago, Goby said:

A bait that you cannot see defined edges on when placed in the water you are fishing, will typically vastly outfish a bait that the entire bait sticks out like a sore thumb... 

 

I think you're right. I have some lures that have half their paint and are so scuffed and I keep casting them and they keep catching bass.

 

59 minutes ago, Goby said:

I worked many years on Lake Michigan as a kid on a charter boat, 1000% of the time, the most chewed up "trolling flies" that you run behind rotators were the most consistent fish catchers, often times the ones that were largely just beads and a handful of strands of flash left from wear and tear, were by far the best fish catchers... It was so obvious, we would intentionally half destroy new trolling flies when we put them into rotation as it made a huge difference in catch rates...

 

Cool story.

 

 

 

 

As if this topic isn’t complicated enough, let me throw another  factor in that applies TO ALL baits/lures.  I was working a show with Gary Klein one time and I asked him how he chose his lures.  He gave me 2 answers.

1. If I can find fish there are no less than 5 lures I can catch them on.  Anywhere, any season, any conditions.  

2. I don’t know if confidence in a lure catches more fish but I know if you don’t have confidence in the lure you are throwing, you will be guaranteed not to catch any fish.   
 

I’ve never forgotten those 2 nuggets of wisdom.  😂

On 12/7/2025 at 8:13 AM, Swamp Girl said:

When it comes to surface lures, I think a Whopper Plopper, buzzbait, and popper are basically the same lure too. I might include the walking baits too and the ones with spinners front and aft. 

 

Very different in my opinion.

 

If you stop a buzzbait, it sinks.

 

A Whopper Plopper you can retrieve it like a buzzbait but stop it periodically if you choose.

 

A popper you can cast near cover and just give it small twitches. Can work an area much slower if you want. Speed it up and can walk it dang near like a spook.

 

Love me my popper. 

20 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

I don’t know if confidence in a lure catches more fish but I know if you don’t have confidence in the lure you are throwing, you will be guaranteed not to catch any fish.   

 

To complicate the topic even more, I think confidence is mostly really knowing the nuances of a particular lure. I have caught so many bass with underspins that I know every possible way they'll hit it. And I've cast so many underspins that I have the confidence to cast it into the gnarliest opening. There have been times when I cast it under a bush and seemingly into the open maw of a bass. It hit the water and was fish on.

For decades I bought 6 ea if any crank/jerk bait and fish all of them and 1 or 2 would stand out as bass catchers. Sell off the lures that didn’t do as well.

When you see a peg in the tackle shop empty that gives you a hint what’s a hot lure.

Being a jig fisherman I have my Viper head jig with at least 5 different color hair ties, another dozen tied with silicone skirts and Pull ball skirts…same jig!

Soft plastics the same thing about 4 to 6 different color worms of the same type and about a dozen different types, adds up fast.

Sometimes the bass aren’t choosey and eat the 1st lure presented to them, others they are very selective and only strike very specific lures and color.

You can be stubborn and use a pet lure the bass don’t want at that time or be versatile and try over lapping colors until the puzzle is solved.

Choices we all have to make, catch bass a or practice casting.

Tom

2 minutes ago, WRB-2.0 said:

Sometimes the bass aren’t choosey and eat the 1st lure presented to them, others they are very selective and only strike very specific lures and color.

You can be stubborn and use a pet lure the bass don’t want at that time or be versatile and try over lapping colors until the puzzle is solved.

 

And this is why he's caught 17, 18, and 19-pounders.*

 

 

 

*I get giddy when I list Tom's achievements. They're unfathomable to me. The rest of us are thrilled with an 11-pounder, whether caught or imagined. 

On 12/8/2025 at 12:06 PM, Swamp Girl said:

 

And this is why he's caught 17, 18, and 19-pounders.*

 

 

 

*I get giddy when I list Tom's achievements. They're unfathomable to me. The rest of us are thrilled with an 11-pounder, whether caught or imagined. 

Well you certainty need the appropriate fishery, that's for sure!

 

I'd be giddy to have a fishery that would support monsters like that! 

 

But I don't. And as a result, our Smallmouth are bigger than our Largemouth here...😢 No matter who's doing the fishing...

1 hour ago, RRocket said:

Well you certainty need the appropriate fishery, that's for sure!

 

I'd be giddy to have a fishery that would support monsters like that! 

 

There were thousands of anglers trying to catch 17, 18, and 19-pound bass and to hook a 20-pound-plus bass. I'm guessing you could count the anglers who did with one hand.

37 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

There were thousands of anglers trying to catch 17, 18, and 19-pound bass and to hook a 20-pound-plus bass. I'm guessing you could count the anglers who did with one hand.

Me, personally? I know zero. Because our fishery doesn't support that.

 

And that's my point....I'd be over the moon just KNOWING my fishery could hold such fish because it means at least I'd have a chance! Just knowing "it's possible".

 

But as it is...I'll never have that chance. Ever.

 

Over the years, I've run into many Largemouth Bass anglers from down south who came here for other species (our fishery is world class for SMB, Walleye, Perch, Muskie). And they said they quit fishing for LMB if this is how hard it was back home! LOL 😆 

 

 

When you dedicate your time on the water to catching the biggest bass that lives there you miss out on catching numbers of bass. The biggest bass don’t often make mistakes by striking lures. The vast majority of big bass are caught by live bait fisherman and that also takes skill and patients.

Sitting on a spot for hours in bad weather for a chance at a big bass when using jigs takes its toll. You keep telling yourself your in the right place and time, buy a negging thought is always there….am I at the right spot. Looking around at the lake running serval other spots creeps into mind, hold them or fold them. Moving usually wins out and sometimes you win most of the time you loose. Trophy fishing isn’t for everyone, in very few do it.

Tom
 

 

1 hour ago, WRB-2.0 said:

When you dedicate your time on the water to catching the biggest bass that lives there you miss out on catching numbers of bass. 

 

 

Yea, theres no point in doing that here..that's for sure! Because the "biggest" here wouldn't even elicit a bored yawn anywhere else. LOL 😆

 

So it's definitely a "let's just fish! " attitude here. So it's numbers for LMB.

 

But because of the fantastic fishery here, some of the non LMB catches while LMB fishing are spectacular...which isn't a "thing" everywhere.

 

So as far as multi species is concerned while LMB fishing, I'm very lucky indeed.

 

I just wish I had a chance to catch a "huge" LMB here...even if by chance.

9 hours ago, WRB-2.0 said:

When you dedicate your time on the water to catching the biggest bass that lives there you miss out on catching numbers of bass.

 

This reminds me of musky fishing, when you can fish all week and not catch a single fish. It's not for me, but I'm glad I tried it. I'm happiest in a busy boat.

 

7 hours ago, RRocket said:

But because of the fantastic fishery here, some of the non LMB catches while LMB fishing are spectacular...which isn't a "thing" everywhere.

 

Oh, I know. It's a thrill to catch a 43" pike on six-pound line while fishing for bass in northwestern Ontario. 

I’ve never cared to catch the biggest or even the most fish. That’s why I don’t know exactly how big a lot of my largest fish are; I’m curious, but ultimately…I don’t care that much. I fish for challenge and the thrill I create in my mind, body and soul that day.
 

We all fish for whatever we want, why we want. I respect huge fish people have caught, and it’s cool, but again…I don’t really care. I’d have to know the angler to have a real opinion on them; not a particular catch they’ve made. Just me and how I personally am. I’ve landed a 37.5” 27lb 13oz brown trout on 5lb leader. While a cool fish and fun catch…it didn’t immediately prove I was a good angler. 
 

21 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

This reminds me of musky fishing, when you can fish all week and not catch a single fish. It's not for me, but I'm glad I tried it. I'm happiest in a busy boat.

 

 

Oh, I know. It's a thrill to catch a 43" pike on six-pound line while fishing for bass in northwestern Ontario. 

Oh yes! But toothy critters can be a PITA. I've lost a bunch of bladed jigs to pike! LOL 😆 

 

Large Bowfin are a great fight! 

 

Some of the best fights we've had are with massive fresh water drum. They have the ability to spool you on light tackle.

 

Here a nice one a buddy caught this year while we were bass fishing.

On 12/7/2025 at 9:10 AM, A-Jay said:

I'm going to come at this from the opposite direction

and say there are No overlapping lures.

Allow me to expand on this.

I am basing this deal on two different but basic trains of thought.

 

1. Each bass is an individual with individual likes, preferences & tendencies.

 Just like our own experiences drive who we are, how we act, what we like & dislike, 

I believe the same applies to a bass. And yes I get that the fish are driven by instinct, but there has to be some variation or wiggle room in there when it comes to what they prefer to chase, how they attack, and what they like to eat. If this didn't have at least some validity, the bait monkey would have  been extinct a long time ago.  It's why I have the arsenal I do and why I will always offer at least a few different 'variations' of a similar bait in area I have already caught a few before departing.

 

 2. Not all baits are the same.  Take any hard bait as an example.

I cannot count how many times this happens.  I have, say, 5 perch-colored baits. All the same make and model, same hooks & hardware.  But only one has no paint left on it because it's The One They Eat. Doesn't mean the other 4 don't catch, just that this one has something I cannot detect but sets it apart as more appealing. Can't explain it, but the bass certainly display an overwhelming preference for this particular bait.

Finally, if there were such a thing as an overlap, I'd have to say it would be something soft plastic.

YMMV.

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

Ahh, the "magic" plug. Love it when you find that "one" that just slays. Love the way a good chewed up lure looks.

12 hours ago, RRocket said:

Oh yes! But toothy critters can be a PITA. I've lost a bunch of bladed jigs to pike! LOL 😆 

 

Large Bowfin are a great fight! 

 

Some of the best fights we've had are with massive fresh water drum. They have the ability to spool you on light tackle.

 

Here a nice one a buddy caught this year while we were bass fishing.

Fun to catch, major pain to remove trebles from.

2 hours ago, Tackleholic said:

Fun to catch, major pain to remove trebles from.

Fortunately, we don't use trebles!