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Posts: 73
| Some guys believe you should put on a lure and stick with it ‘til h*ll freezes over or a fish hits it, while others spend more time changing lures than throwing them.
I guess I’m somewhere in the middle. I usually start with a search lure for while, and then switch to something slower later IF they don’t seem aggressive. While I don’t change a lure a minute, I’m willing to experiment. Usually I’ll have 3-4 lures that have been getting wet off and on throughout the day.
How often do some of you guys find yourself switching lures during the course of a day on the water?
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Posts: 717
Location: Grand Rapids, MI | I guess it depends... I may try 3 different shallow lures first. If nothing shows, I'll try 3 different mid-depth lures. If they are deep, I'll try a handful of deep lures until I find the presentation that they want. If I land a ski in the first few casts of the day, I'll most likely keep that lure on for awhile. But if there are changing light conditions, you may have to change your lure size, depth, color. So I guess my final answer is.... I always fish at least 2 different lures, but never more than 20.  |
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| Never more than 20---OMG!! That’s funny. So, you’re the kind of guy who needs half of the boat just for your own tackle boxes ?? |
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Posts: 135
Location: Irvine, KY | Sadly enough im sure Ive broken the 20 in day barrier a time or ten lol... those are always the worst days. Ill throw a searching bait every time I pull into a different spot then switch when im satisfied its not working(could be a few minutes or a few hours) unless I got an interested customer earlier on something else, then i'll likely keep with that or something similar as long as I can stand it, unless conditions change. Now, if I just got a shiney new bait on the way to the lake, Ill thow that till im sick of it lol... terrible habit I know but, dont we all do that?
I had one day where I never changed lures. I probably throw about 10 on average though but I dont spend much time switching because of multiple rods. |
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Posts: 253
Location: On the water | I usually bring three rods, each with a different bait, topwater, bucktail, crankbait, then I change rods as needed. During the course of the day if the fish start biting, one of those baits will connect. If they are not biting then it won't matter.
Good Luck, Tom |
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Posts: 897
| What I'm throwing really just depends on the structure I'm fishing, water temps, recent and current weather patterns, and the mood of the fish if I'm fortunate enough to see a few. I read "The Complete Guide to Musky Fishing - Second Edition" last winter and it really changed how I fished last year. Lure progressions put a lot of fish in the boat for me in 2008.
That said, 90% of the time last year I threw a glider, spinnerbait, cowgirls, depth raider, doc, and a top-raider. So, I really only used a few lures per day but will switch every spot if I feel the conditions/structure dictate a change. If I go a couple outings without having at least a follow on one of these lures I start digging and try to get weird on the fish. |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | bucktails, raiders and dawgs ... not many hot fish will pass them up.
if it's a dog day there are a couple reasons 1. location and boat position (very often overlooked) and 2. fish are neutral or negative. i'll tend to adjust to number (1) first with the same tools and then finally adjust to number (2) by working a steady slowish retreive of a jointed crankbait or glider ... if you are considering vertical jigging then you have crossed the line into being stubborn and crazy ... get off the lake and go have a beer.
if fishing is really tough i'll tend more toward the "when" decision and just go out on the moon and last light and go play golf or cut the grass during the day until things improve. |
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Location: Twin Cities | I keep a few rods rigged with different style's, but i'm a bait changer. I probably have 10-20 that I rotate through continuously depending on how i feel about a spot or the weather/color etc. Definitely need to think less and fish more.... |
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Posts: 8834
| jonnysled - 3/5/2009 11:10 AM
[ ...] if you are considering vertical jigging then you have crossed the line into being stubborn and crazy ... get off the lake and go have a beer.
[...]
"dude, if you're jiggin %&^$* a fuzzy duzzit back there we're going HOME!"
"uhhh... Nope, not me, never. I was just uhhhh... gonna set my rod down a second and I changed my mind. a couple times. in a row."
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Posts: 292
Location: SW MI | I'm still new to this so I haven't gotten a system down yet like Jim has in his post. I have my confidence baits- jointed Depthraiders, Suicks which is what I spend most of my time using. I do try to make a good effort to throw my other baits just because there's no point in having them if I'm not gonna throw 'em. |
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| every day on the water is different..some days you can start and finish w/ one and that is what the fish want..some days, maybe you go thru a few, with the fish starting out wanting one thing, then changing their mood to wanting something else and by the end of the day something different...changing lures isn't bad...
I usually have 4-6 rods rigged up when I put my boat in with the lures I think are working or have been working and adjust from there..sometimes just a color change is needed w one of them ..sometimes those 6 get scrapped for new ones and on from there...
being versatile is the key to putting more fish in the boat...never get stuck in a rut where you think only 1 lure or type of lure will work..that is just plain closed minded and will cost you fish...fish are eating every day....you just have to figure out what they want that day. |
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Posts: 8834
| It depends on so many things...
What time of year? What water temp? Bright and sunny? Clear water?
Generically speaking, I start with something I can cover a lot of water with quickly - bucktail or spinnerbait, something on top maybe.
If fish are responding to that, but lets say they're coming in low and slow? I'll run a heavier one, get down a little deeper. Say that doesn't work. I'll try a crankbait, something I can crank down and twitch, throw in a few pauses. Still nothing? Dawgs. Love/hate thing for me and the dawg. Some days its easy, some days you're in a place where you know they've been going on tails or topwater. Two guys in the boat makes it even easier - you can throw contrasting colors and contrasting presentations until you get something going.
I guess a "typical day" for me would probably be 5-6 lures. Some days its as few as one, but that's rare. I've had days though, we all have I suppose, when there's nothing we can do to even raise a fish. Those days there might be a pile of a dozen baits on the deck. It takes a lot of time to develop your set of confidence lures. I'm going on 6 years now, and I am just starting to figure it out. |
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Posts: 1296
Location: WI | I think I rotate through about 1-5 baits in an outing. I always try topwater so it just depends on how windy for which one. I'm pretty much the same for bucktails and jerkbaits. I sort my colors pre trip for the waters I'm fishing (dark vs. clear) Last season I bought the small lakewood box so I only bring about 15-20 baits with.
Edited by JKahler 3/6/2009 2:54 AM
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Posts: 433
Location: Cedarburg, Wisconsin | What day in the trip are you talking about? First day may see me throw/troll up to 30 different lures on every different type of spot make up you can think of trying to get a feel for what the fish may want. After the first day if we got nothing, I'll do it all over till I see some type of pattern starting to form. Then the number goes down significantly. By the last day of a weeklong trip I'll have it down to one lure of each type I have rigged and probably never switch. For the life of me I'll never understand how someone can throw one lure all day when they don't have a pattern that calls for that lure established.
On a one day outing to a local lake I'd hope you would have enough info before you start so you would have a good game plan to follow, so switching lures then wouldn't be a high priority, maybe change colors a couple times during the day and that's about it. |
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Posts: 8834
| Almost-B-Good - 3/6/2009 6:25 AM
[...] For the life of me I'll never understand how someone can throw one lure all day when they don't have a pattern that calls for that lure established. [...]
I used to think that too, but then I realized that not having a pattern established doesn't mean that the lure you are throwing isn't the one you should be throwing. |
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Posts: 717
Location: Grand Rapids, MI | Hawkeye - 3/4/2009 8:35 PM
Never more than 20---OMG!! That’s funny. So, you’re the kind of guy who needs half of the boat just for your own tackle boxes ?? : )
HAHAHA!!! As a matter of fact... I have an 18' bass boat, and I had to take out the passenger seat to comfortably fit all my stuff! So yes! Half the boat is tackle boxes! Instead of walking on the floor, you're walking on top of my boxes! |
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