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The old standby - what do you reach for?

4K views 25 replies 19 participants last post by  nicoleB 
#1 ·
I was thinking about this after some recent conversations and threads. I am one of those guys who tends to stick with certain lures, maybe sometimes too long, but I generally do okay. It got drilled in to me a long time ago by one of my salty old uncles who would tell me "there are no fish in the tackle box" when I got too antsy. Anyway, I thought I would list some of mine and encourage others who fish this way to do the same. I am only listing the most common targets that I have fished for successfully enough times to have a definite pattern.

As an aside, I do switch if something absolutely isn't working and I see other things working, but I give it a legitimate try first.

This is excluding bait, but list your favorite baits if that is your SOP...

Black Bass - As an adult, I would guess about 75% of the good sized bass I have caught were on T-rigged plastic worms in red to purple. As a child, over 80% were caught on a Abu in line spinner, white body with black dots.

Freshwater trout - When spin fishing, over half were caught on a small Panther Martin spinner, black body with yellow dots. When fly fishing, probably 90% or more were caught on a GRHE. I lived in CO for 8 years and that is mostly where I fished those, but I have caught trout in NC with the same stuff.

Crappie - Probably 80% on white twisty tail grubs behind a small black lead head. One note about this is that I am excluding "by catch" bass from my earlier bass count; I have caught a lot of peanut bass and a few large ones on the grub while fishing for panfish. Another note is that I consider a small white tube bait a generic substitution. Another note - I like the red reads with black eyes also and they are pretty interchangeable, IMO.

Saltwater trout (specks) - Nearly every single one on a glittery translucent plastic grub behind a read lead head.

Blues - About 90% on a Hopkins or similar spoon.

Flounder - Here's where I may be off the deep end. Several years ago I tied a bunch of streamers using strands from a rainbow colored poly duster (the kind you dust things around the house with) because I was going to the beach and wanted to try my fly gear. I caught some flounder on those. Since then, I have used them C-rigged on spin gear, sometimes with a strip of cut bait, also with success.

Loyalty to lures is a double edged sword; I have been out fished on many occasions. I am not so stubborn that I won't switch, but I think that finding favorites has been key for me. When I go fishing, I spend the vast majority of the time actually fishing and very little time digging through the box. Somewhere, Uncle Grier is smiling. :)
 
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#2 ·
Most of the stuff I'd call the old standby is more sentimental than productive... Goes like "Self, yer 'bout to drag that skunk home again... Hmmm..." then I remember 20 years ago I caught a few on such'n'such so I throw it on. Then I drag the skunk home. But here goes nothing...

Mepps Spinners - Only reason I can't stand to throw them day-to-day is just a bad mental association; My old man dragged me out a few times when I was 8 or 9 in sub-freezing temps and that's what we used. We caught fish but I was utterly miserable so instead of laying on the old man, I blamed it squarely on that silly little bait. I'll still throw one in a pinch but ONLY in a pinch.

Maribou Jigs - I'm re-discovering these and new ways to fish them. I've seen too many guys shake the skunk with little more than a jig and a bobber, a technique I'd completely forgotten. I occasionally need to remind myself that old school dosn't mean old fool.

And my favorite Old Standby...

Beetlespins. Back in the day, beetlespins saved many miserable trips to the pond. They didn't always work as a day-long bait but for some reason (luck?), they'd work when nothing else did. Now I feel a little naked without a card full in the box and even had a casting rod built specifically to throw them. They'll still save the day from time to time and as a last ditch to shake the skunk, I'll usually throw one just to say I did.
 
#4 ·
Most of the stuff I'd call the old standby is more sentimental than productive...
My sentimental favorite is in my earlier list - the Abu spinner. My dad worked in the poultry industry and had access to a lot of private water. It was a very rude awakening to start fishing public waters when I got older. Probably almost anything would have worked well in most of the ponds I fished growing up, but he bought me a card of the Abus on one of our early trips and that just became my lure after that. I still have a few and they do get the occasional cast and they do catch fish. But the silly things are "worth" (bought and sold at these prices, anyway) over $30 each now so I am reluctant to cast them in any situation where losing one is more than a remote possibility.
 
#3 ·
Depending on the season and what I am targeting for the day will tell me what lures to tie on. Now you have to understand that I usually have 4 or 5 rods, maybe more, with me plus a flyrod or 2...:) Normally its bass or bream.

I tie on a topwater for early morning, buzzbait or frog. Plastics of some sort, worm/senko/centipede, will be on another and rigged depending on the depth of water I'm fishing and what I want it to do. Smithwick Rattlin' Rogue will almost always be on one rod, always. Thats a great bait and have pulled in loads of bass and a couple of catfish. Spinnerbaits or what ever is in season and the pond/lake/river that I'm headed to. Crankbaits again time of year will tell me which I want for the day. A Rattle Trap or simular in hot orange for spring..:)

When in doubt and having problems connecting I always have my "go to bait" which is usally a black worm with blue tail. I'll rig it Texas style and just slow down and disect the structure I'm fishing and try to get the bite on.

Fish what you have confidence in and you will keep the bait in the water longer. Rattling and digging thru the tackle box looking for the majic lure for the day is usually a waste of time. But occasionally a blind hog will find an acorn...:)

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#7 ·
For Bass:
plastic worms and lizards, T and C rigged.
#5 shad rap, shad color.
Jig and pig.
Then spinnerbaits, Johnson spoons

Favorite nostalgia bass bait - Arbogast Jitterbug - don't ever throw a black one after dark (wink,wink)

For Bream:
Beetle Spins
1/32 marabou jigs, esp. black/black
Of course I love poppers and nymphs

For Crappie:
tube jigs
marabou jigs
curlytails
beetle spins
road runners
 
#8 ·
For Bream:
Beetle Spins
1/32 marabou jigs, esp. black/black
Of course I love poppers and nymphs
I didn't put them on my list because I have used so many different things, but the option you listed last has proved deadly for me - nymphs. I grew up in the deep South, moved to CO for much of my 20s and then moved here. So I had (and still have) a lot of trout fishing gear. On my list, I had the GRHE as my #1 trout fly, so I had a bunch of them when I moved here. For the sake of those that haven't fished nymphs in moving water, you go through them like bait to fish them most effectively (dead drift, bouncing off everything, except when they don't and then you lose one). But I easily doubled my average catch rate when I made the switch, so i was willing to put up with that. But how well they do on trout pales in comparison to how bream attack them. In the Neuse below Falls dam at low water, I have hooked bream on lazy backcasts that kissed the water. I have had hook ups on every cast until I got tired of it. The main reason I would tire of it is size - nymphs are small and while fish of all sizes eat them, I mostly caught really small panfish.
 
#10 ·
I dont really bass fish since Im more of a saltwater guy and since you said no bait Ill have to think for a minute lol. I like the orange and white gotcha plug for blues and spanish. Red and white Mirrolures for trout, chartreuse jighead with anything white to go on it for trout also. Im not really big into lures cause there expensive and nothing irratates me more than losing a 7-10$ lure on the first cast so I stick with bait. Brad
 
#14 ·
Spec Trout.... 2 to 3 inch streamers, Reds ...divers, poppers .woolheads. Gills.... nymphs and wet flies get the biggest ones ,size 8 and 6 foam poppers are the most fun! LM Bass...divers and poppers . Bowfin (one of the best "game fish" ) I tie yarn worms 6 to 8 inches long , most fun. topwater!!
 
#15 ·
Largemouth- white spinnerbaits, buzzers, pop r or chug bug, rat trap in early spring

Smallies- Chartreuse spinnerbait, chartresue spinnerbait, chartresue spinnerbait, did i say chartresue spinnerbait?.

Roanoke Bass- Mepps minnow

Bream- beetlespin

Crappie- chartresue grub, small tubes, roadrunners

White Bass- chartruse grub, charttreuse pop r, blue fox spinner

trout- #0 or #1 roostertail in grasshopper color for small trout or stockers
for big trout- big rapala

Bowfin- chartruse snagless sally

Jack- spinnerbait, red and white roostertail, gold little cleo spoon

Stripers- 4 inch sassy shad, redfin or similar
Mack
 
#16 ·
I use Blue Fox Golden Shinners #3 or #4 blade cut down to single hook for trout. They never fail to catch them here in the mountains. The trick is to use the #3 or #4 and not use the smaller sizes that most people think for mountain trout. For everything else Strike King Bitsy Minnow Chartreuse White. I catch big fish and little fish. I always catch fish with the Bitsy! Bass large and small mouth, crappie and blue gill.
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#17 ·
I fish primarily for mountain trout, and my go to lures are:

1. 2-3" soft plastic minnow imitations on 1/16th oz darter heads. Where legal, I prefer Gulp! minnows, as much or more for the slim profile as for the scent. I like these because they catch both large and small trout pretty much impartially.

2. Floating Rapalas in gold or perch patterns sizes F or J5 through F/J9 and floating Yozuri Pins Minnows in rainbow and brown trout patterns. You don't catch a lot of fish with these, but the fish you do catch are invariably big. Plus, the fish you get just crush 'em when they hit, so extra points for the excitement.

3. Mini tube jigs and small maribou jigs (1/16th or 1/32nd oz) in 'natural' colors. These are my typical DH water lures, and my go to lures when I think most of the fish I'm likely to encounter are 'bows rather than browns. I also like to fish them under floats for tight lipped trout in stocked ponds and small lakes.

4. Single hook Panther Martins, undressed in gold, 1/16 or 1/8 oz. I like these for 'prospecting' and covering water as quickly as possible. They're my standard lure for headwaters streams and small blue lines, and my favorite lure for brookies.

5. Daredevil spoons in red-and-white in various sizes. These are the first thing I throw to trout in stocked ponds, and a favorite for casting to surfacing winter/early spring trout on Jocassee. I also like to keep 1/4 and 1/2 oz models for working deep undercuts on streams. I skip them off the water surface to get them all the way back into cuts.
 
#19 ·
The 1st artificial hard lure ever caught anything on was a Jerk Jigger, off an ocean pier that I was using to catch a spanish mackerel. The only rod I had back then was a surf rod. 1st cast, spanish mackerel. Next 100 casts, no spanish. 1st artificial I caught a LMB on was a 5 1/4 inch Bang O Lure that a friend of mine had been using. 1st spotted sea trout was probably caught on a mann's Sting Ray grub (white)

Fast forward 40 years to today:

Spotted sea trout: Top water B Donks, Spook jrs , both in whate or bone, but use other colors also. suspending, Yo Zuri 3D minnows 70 series ( orange, green/white, and other colors ) Mirro Lures MR 14s, and 17s ( 808, EL, and other colors ) I need to use plastics more often, but I love catching specs on the hard lures. Last year, I caught a lot of specs on the orange Yo Zuri. This year, I've caught a few, but not many. I've caught a lot more on green colors this year, but I fish in the Bay River area most of the time. My favorite way to catch specs is on top water. Can't wait for them to start hitting better later on.
On the fly, I like a Lefty's Deceiver ( charteuse/white ) Still trying to catch my 1st spec on a top water fly. had one on this year, but lost it.

LMBs: up in the air on this one.. Have caught them on white, white/chartreuse spinner baits, worms, and black/gold Bang O lures. On the fly rod, I like the AP Divers

Fresh water pan fish. One of my all time faorite lure for these fish, and most other fresh water fish is the Strike King Mini King spinner bait. I have caught more fresh water fish on this lure than any other, and most of them were the lrger ones excpet for the LMBs, and once in a while a large one would hit it too. I caught my PB crappie on this lure. I am thinking seriously about using it for smallies.
crappie: Haven't fished a lot for these fish. Got into it a little while camping at Kerr Lake. My BIl and I had been using minnows under a cork for them, and were catching a lot. When we went to buiy our minnows, I ask the store owen of a good lure to catch crappie on. He told me he liked the Betts 1/32 oz crappier jig in white/red. When the minnows started to get low, I told my BIL I'd give the jigs a try. I started catching more crappie than he. I've used that same jig at different times there, and would still catch crappie.
On the fly is my very favorite way to catch panfish. My favorite fly is one I tie myself, which is just a simple foam floating bug (green/yellow) I have caught numerous pan fish on this fly, as well as several bass, one of which would have weighed around 3 1/2 lbs. Last year, in a small private lake I fish, I started catching lots of panfish on what I call my black/roange rooster fly. Basically, it is just a small clouser with my added touch of red peacock herl, tied on from in front of the bead chain eyes, so it will lay up a bit, but will lay across the back.
 
#22 ·
You can probably guess my sentimental favorite by my name. Nuff said. But I think I have a new lure that I really really like. I found a 2 pack of Tsunami Micro Crankbaits at Sportsmans Toy Store for $2.59 and you can tell they work just by looking them. Tried them out yesterday and caught a Big bluegill and a little bass on it when the fishing was really tough. They are tiny and only have one little treble. Another thing you can't go hardly go wrong with it a bobber, split shot, hook and red wiggler worms. Don't think theres many fish that one bite that.. But yesterday the micro crank was working better..
 
#25 ·
Fly Fishing: Olive Wolly Bugger. I also love it's versatility, Bass, Bream, trout, even crappie go for it. Easy to tie and sentimental. First of my hand tied flys I ever caight a fish with.

Spinning: beetlespin. I've fished with it since I was 4 years old and I'm yet to get completely skunked when fishing with one.
 
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