Fish-Hawk.Net

Simmer wrote:By far my worst baits this year were jigs, crankbaits,spinner baits, spoons, plastics, or spinners ... I guess anyhting with a hook on it, attached to a line with me an the other end ... so, i guess i was my worst bait ....

(Have to agree with FH about the watermelon color. It's never, ever done well for me. But pumpkinseed rocks.)

Already seeing a lot of what-works-for-me-bites-for-someone-else thing going on here.

W.

Sorry MT...but spinner baits of all colours my father hates! He has been fishin' for around 50+ years and he tells me every season as I reel in lunkers on my spinner baits that he has never, never caught a single fish on any spinnerbait.

Everything plastic in my box is my dud of the year.

Tried a suick for the first time ever this year, must have thrown it out 25% of the time I fished this year and got zero but I'm not convinced it's a dud, just yet anyways.

Best bait of the year, it's a tie between the Mr.J. specials and spinnerbiats and hey I even got two pike on a white spinnerbiat that I wasn't even fishing with.

Biggest dub in the box this summer - Rapala X-Rap.

Had high hopes at the start of the year with it, but I couldnt even get the snot rockets to chew on it.

Second place goes to the Johnson Silver Minnow. I tried this as an alternative to the std spinnerbait when searching for active fish, but even the active ones wanted nothing to do with it.

Fox

I was introduced to senko/stickbait family of plastics this year and they were just phenominal, I used them plenty and tried out a number of different varieties to try to find out if I could get away with paying less for the things because I'd go through 'em so fast. The problem is that there is a very slight weight difference between them as much as 1/16 of an ounce between some models and the original Yamasenko. This unfortunately drastically impacts the fall rate of the unweighted plastic wich significantly impacts the number of strikes. I found the Yamasenko/Kinami and Yumdinger outproduced the same coloured Venom or Stik-O.

Also, has anyone had any success on Storm Swimbaits? InFisherman said they were the ticket for big summer pike, they just seem to be snag-magnets.

FireFox wrote:Biggest dub in the box this summer - Rapala X-Rap.

Had high hopes at the start of the year with it, but I couldnt even get the snot rockets to chew on it.

Second place goes to the Johnson Silver Minnow. I tried this as an alternative to the std spinnerbait when searching for active fish, but even the active ones wanted nothing to do with it.

Fox

The X-Rap was my dud. I always threw it out there, tried different retrieves, nothing!

Wacky Rigged was the Go To for me! Burrits Rapids didn't see it coming! Had good success with red.

BrettM

X-rap...also my dud

Canadian Bacon wrote:X-rap...also my dud

Did anyone like the X-Rap?

The X Rap was by far the BEST new lure I used this year for bass & pike.

I just have one dud in my tackle box for this year.. the Rat L Trap! I had one day with it last year where I caught probably 20 bass, i'm talking one EVERY cast off a rock pile.. after that and before that, never caught a fish on the darn things! And it's continuing that trend! Weird because everyone talks about how great they are.

All of our duds are probably someone else's go to bait. If a bait never produces then we are probably using it wrong or its out of tune.

I'm not a real big fan of the X-Rap, however I just attended a Bass seminar where Pro Terry Baksay swore by the X-Rap. He said don't be afraid to use this lure for suspending Smallies even in 20-30 feet of water.

I find jerkbaits work best early in the season or again in the fall. I prefer the Husky Jerk or a Megabass 80, 95 or 110's over the X-Raps. The X-Raps tend to be lighter and produce a more eratic action. Taking off the feathered trebble will get the bait down another foot or so.

Line is also very important when jerkbaiting. 8-10lb test with a M or MH rod is ideal. Heavier line will tend to keep the bait up and rob the action. Try longer pauses when water temps are low.

A trick the Linders put together is to have someone in the front of the boat work a jerkbait while the angler in the back uses a jighead and worm. The twitchin in the front gets the fish going so the angler in the back catches 3-1 compared to the jerkbaiter.

My 2005 Dud Bait

Deps Basirisky Frog


It took me awhile to get my hands on one of these. Its like a rat, but its wings produce a "walking the dog" action across grass mats. The bait goes for about $15 and is well made. I had a few blow-ups but no connects.

G

BrettM wrote:

Canadian Bacon wrote:X-rap...also my dud

Did anyone like the X-Rap?

Yes, actually! My husband bought an XRap this year and did pretty well with it (bass).

In defense of spinnerbaits (& M.T. Livewell): they became one of my favorite lures this year.

Mr. J. - I tried a Suick for the 1st time this year, too, and so far, no luck. But it was only during one outing, on a miserable cold-front entrenched rainy day in the 40's. So who knows? I'll give it a go next year.

W.

GetTheNet!!! wrote: Also, has anyone had any success on Storm Swimbaits? InFisherman said they were the ticket for big summer pike, they just seem to be snag-magnets.

Hey, "GetTheNet"...

After reading a meaty article on big pike and swimbaits, I picked up a couple of packets of this very tempting looking lure. I got one walleye on one -- that's it. This is another case (I think) of just having to perfect the presentation, perhaps, and maybe use them at an appropriate time/setting. I need some fine honing in that department, I think! I have a feeling these swimbaits can be very effective. So let's shoot for next year.

W.

I just have one dud in my tackle box for this year.. the Rat L Trap! I had one day with it last year where I caught probably 20 bass, i'm talking one EVERY cast off a rock pile.

BBR,
Give the Rat L Trap another shot this year on braided or Fire line over a deeper weed flat. When the bait hangs in the grass, give it a quick rip, and continue working the bait. Its seems that grass deflection really triggers the bass to strike and the braid or Fire line helps free the bait while cutting through the grass.

GL,
G

Biggest dub in the box this summer - Rapala X-Rap.

Had high hopes at the start of the year with it, but I couldnt even get the snot rockets to chew on it.

Second place goes to the Johnson Silver Minnow. I tried this as an alternative to the std spinnerbait when searching for active fish, but even the active ones wanted nothing to do with it.

Fox

Fox, your two duds are my two best for the year. The X-rap killed for pike when they were not biting and so did the Silver Minnow. Both with super slow presentations. And, then at Quinte off the docks, just for fun I chucked a clown X-rap and on my 5th cast got this Walleye, a personal best. Bad pic but wicked fish...




Strange eh, I have even had luck with the water melon senkos. Little ones but still got a few...

Funny how things go...
Fishface

See...? Someone's trash is another's treasure!

Nice walleye!

W.