I say basically "yes," but then there was the Scatter Rap. But I never caught many fish on it, so... my answer is still yes?

Can’t say that I fish any lures that I worry run straight. If a trap or buzzbait runs to the side ehh I don’t mind at all. But I don’t fish any crank baits or something I want to actualy run straight. And jigs and Texas rigs don’t matter lol

For some bait categories - running straight seems to be a precursor to getting bit at all - for others not so much. Timing and preference of the bass population seem to factor pretty significantly. There are times when a gentle pull that gets a jerkbait wiggling in a straight line is just the ticket - times when vibrating a jerkbait in place is the deal - times when it needs to slice and dice side to side erratically etc.

It’s good to be aware if your baits capabilities and its limitations and it’s good to impart some of the variations each bait is capable of to figure out the mood of fish!

I tune but I'm not a freak about it. One thing I haven't seen mention is that a properly tuned square bill comes through cover much better.

I checked yes, I do understand the option of de-tuning a crank bait to hit a wall or go under cover/dock. With a out of tune crank bait it doesn't travel the direction you want it to, it doesn't dive as deep. Spinner baits gotta run straight.

I am going to talk about blowing out because of speed. I am talking just flat not tracking straight. A hunting bait still follows a fairly straight line, it just may veer to the right or the left for a short period and that is mighty fine too.

Best,

FM

I had to throw in with a "yes" because "yes & no" wasn't an option.

Bass fishing

When it comes to crankbaits, most of the time yes, it has to run dead straight and get down to where it needs to be and cause either contact with or deflection off of structure. There are times when paralleling steep bluff or drop off's that it really pays to throw a little bend in the tuning to get it to run into the structure. Same goes for a buzzbait, add a slight bend to one side or the other to get it to run towards an edge, or if you build your own and want to get tricky, clockwise and counter clockwise rotation blades help you to really make them go places.

Jerkbaits, If they don't pull straight, I don't want them.

Spinnerbaits that won't run upright at reasonable retrieve speeds drive me absolutely insane.

Salmon/trout/steelhead

If a plug will not run down dead straight and cannot be tuned to do so, it is nothing more than a Christmas tree ornament

For my plastic worms, I always want them rigged straight. Some baits seem to do better running crooked or " hunting". The old Storm Wiggle Wart is an example. It never ran straight or true, but caught lots of bass. That was the whole attraction of this lure.

12 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

For my plastic worms, I always want them rigged straight. Some baits seem to do better running crooked or " hunting". The old Storm Wiggle Wart is an example. It never ran straight or true, but caught lots of bass. That was the whole attraction of this lure.

I'd bet Doug Hannon would agree.

In this ongoing back and forth between straight running and erratic lures, I don't think there is another person who was on this planet who caught more double digit bass than Doug Hannon. It is said in his lifetime he caught more than 800 bass over 10 pounds. That success rate tells us something. How did he do it?

If you watch his videos, one of his favorite lures was the devil's horse. And if you watch how he used it, erratic and all over the place was his method. Up, down, left, right, Doug Hannon worked it into erratic movements.

He did the same for his worm "trick." I tried finding the video where Doug Hannon himself shows how to do it, and underwater video of how it moves. But the point is he did not rig rubber worms straight. He rigged them to spin and generate an erratic movement and there are no hard facts on precisely what lures he caught those some 800+ double digit bass on, but according to Doug Hannon himself, his top lures were the Devil's horse and his unique rubber worm method.

So far the polling results support erratic over straight running lures. Doug Hannon also seemed to be this same erratic camp and would probably say if still alive that his choice of erratic movements were in fact behind his incredible double digit catches.

I did find one video of a "favorite" bass pro who knew Doug Hannon personally who learned it directly from him. And he did his own video on the erratic Doug Hannon method of rubber worm rigging that is claimed to be one of Doug Hannon's top methods for catching double digit bass.

(I cannot confirm nor deny any of it, just passing it along for what it is worth.)

I have researched Doug's methods and patents over the years, but I have also researched Doug himself and his water choices which is an interesting subject by itself because that is the source of his double digit fish that is often ignored and overlooked. To this day what Doug Hannon looked for in Florida and the reason he moved here are now the same things I also look for all across Florida. Water is the key. Not just any water. But very specific waters which are on full display in his videos even if he is not discussing the water. It was his techniques combined with water specifics that was behind catching more than 800 double digit bass.

I'm curious if Doug were alive today and asked Doug, do you catch more large fish with straight running lures or erratic? I'd bet you he would clearly be in the erratic movement camp. Just my opinion.

21 hours ago, Mike Thomas said:

I had to throw in with a "yes" because "yes & no" wasn't an option.

Bass fishing

When it comes to crankbaits, most of the time yes, it has to run dead straight and get down to where it needs to be and cause either contact with or deflection off of structure. There are times when paralleling steep bluff or drop off's that it really pays to throw a little bend in the tuning to get it to run into the structure. Same goes for a buzzbait, add a slight bend to one side or the other to get it to run towards an edge, or if you build your own and want to get tricky, clockwise and counter clockwise rotation blades help you to really make them go places.

Jerkbaits, If they don't pull straight, I don't want them.

Spinnerbaits that won't run upright at reasonable retrieve speeds drive me absolutely insane.

Salmon/trout/steelhead

If a plug will not run down dead straight and cannot be tuned to do so, it is nothing more than a Christmas tree ornament

Yes. Guy who won the Federation Nation tournament several years ago did so by running a jointed Rapala into bridge pilings. He said he tuned the bait to run left...

I love that I'm one of the few that picked not sure. Also I read this and immediately thought it was for crankbaits and not all lures. Based on that generally yet but for crankbaits I'm not entirely sold anymore. Aren't they supposed to do best when they bang of the bottom (or other stuff)? And if so and if that's when all the bass are going to bite it and it would most likely not be running straight at that point is that really a requirement?

I suppose my answer is mostly yes but you should probably worry about where they are and if you are putting a lure in front of them that they would be interested in before you go worrying about how straight your lure is running...