Cranking. Flipping. Spinnerbaits. Dropshots. Wacky rigs. Texas rigs. Carolina rigs. Jigs. Swim jigs. Pitching. Bed fishing. Ledge fishing. Vertical jigging. Tubes. Swimbaits. There are about a million different ways to catch a bass, but that doesn’t mean I want to employ them all.
Hand me a rod with a crankbait tied on the end and I’m happy. I don’t care if it’s a shallow crank, a medium crank, a deep crank, a boiled crank, a fried crank or a crank on a stick—I’ll fish it until my arms fall off and be content. Same goes for frogs, football jigs and heavy Texas rigs I can flip or punch. These are a few of my favorite things.
But for every bait or technique I’ve grown to love, I’ve got another I loathe. It’s okay. You can dis me for my ‘lack of versatility’ or whatever you want to call it. I will fish whatever the conditions demand, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to have fun doing it. I’ll scour a lake trying to find fish I can catch doing something I like. The pros call that “fishing your strengths”. I like that phrase better than “refusing to fish a pansy spinning rig with 6-pound line on it”. Yeah… I fish my strengths.
In no particular order, here are the baits and/or techniques I hate. I would rather have a p***ed off alligator gar in my pants than fish with this garbage.
The Dropshot
As far as I’m concerned, Mr. Dropshot can pack his bags and high-tail it back to Japan. I’ve caught my fair share of fish on a dropshot, but I didn’t enjoy it. I also don’t enjoy tying dropshots or buying all that stupid little hardware you’re supposed to have to make it work. Dropshot hooks. Dropshot weights. Dropshot worms. Lame.
The dropshot ‘hookset’ [if you can call it that] sucks. When I get a bite I don’t want to start reeling and lift my rod tip, I wanna’ lay the freakin’ wood, man!
When you type 'dropshot' into a Google image search a picture of this guy comes up. 'Nuff said.
The Spinnerbait
When I was a kid I would come home from school, pop a corn dog in the microwave and watch Saved By The Bell [don’t judge me] EVERY SINGLE DAY. I bet I did that for at least three years of my life—corn dog and Kelly Kapowski—day, after day, after day. Can you guess what food I won’t eat now? Yep. FREAKING CORN DOGS! I exceeded my lifetime quota of breaded mystery meat in the 7th grade, and I don’t intend to ever consume another one of those God-forsaken things.
What do corn dogs have in common with spinnerbaits? Well… nothing for most normal people. But I associate the two because I burned myself out on blades the same way. When I was a kid fishing farm ponds or backlashing from the back deck of my dad’s boat, a spinnerbait was just the easy choice. Throw it out. Reel it in. Catch fish. I’d get $20 for my birthday, head to the tackle store and buy $20 worth of spinnerbaits: white ones, black ones, willows, Colorados, 1/4-ouncers, .38 Specials—you name it! You couldn’t even really call my tackle box a tackle box, because tackle implies an assortment of gear used for angling. I had a spinnerbait box and that was it.
Spinnerbaits catch fish. I know that. But these days I’d rather throw a swim jig, a Chatterbait or a small swimbait, instead. Maybe one day I’ll come back around and spinnerbaits will whet my palate again, but for now…
I can’t stand corn dogs!
Hard-Body Swimbaits
Give me a soft-plastic Talon or Hollow Belly and I’ll go to work, but those hard, jointed, treble-hook laden bricks that look like a rainbow trout aren’t my deal. I can’t explain it. I love fishing big baits. I love fishing swimbaits. But I have zero confidence in the hard-plastic ones. I know the Cali guys wreck giant bass on ’em all the time. Don’t care. Not for me.
No.
Two joints, three joints, five joints… make the thing writhe like a snake for all I care. I’m not fishing it [unless you’re a company that makes hard-bodied swimbaits and wants to sponsor Bass Parade, in which case I will demonstrate to people how NOT to fish your products].
I’d have to buy a separate tackle box just to carry a decent selection of colors around with me. And the best part is when you rare black to fling one and you get a backlash and your $50 tilapia imitation goes sailing into the wild blue yonder, slams into the lake with the subtlety of a meteor and sinks into the abyss [don’t act like this hasn’t happened to you].
Yes!
Dis-Honorable Mentions
Tubes. Finesse worms. Shakey heads. Hate ’em.
Alright, fess up. You don’t have to pretend like you’re the master of every bait and technique out there. Let your bait hate boil over in the comments.
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21 Comments
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Scott
February 24, 2011 at 10:26 am
Guess what I’ll be throwing when we’re on the boat together this Sunday….lol
Ryan Alford
February 24, 2011 at 10:27 am
I would rather flip a beaver all day or throw an inchi wacky and not catch a thing than throw a spinnerbait or a rattletrap. If either of those two are tied on I have that “white flag” flying on the end of my rod!
Jason
February 24, 2011 at 12:34 pm
No love for the ‘trap? C’mon man!
If you can’t have fun ripping traps out of the grass you need to check your pulse.
Ryan Alford
February 24, 2011 at 1:46 pm
No grass on falcon haha Give me a crankbait!
Slicks N Tricks
February 24, 2011 at 10:31 am
It is a point off on your man score every time you use a sissy stick but it can put money in your pocket come weigh in. Choice is yours…
Chad Keogh
February 24, 2011 at 10:34 am
I guess I’m abnormal, because I’ll throw whatever the bass want that day, and if they’ll bite it, I enjoy fishing it. When I fish in a competition where I don’t really have the bass dialed in, I’ll have everything on my front deck.
Drop-shot, shakey head, tube jig, spinnerbait, C-rig, swim jig, crankbait, etc. I don’t dislike any of them because I just see them as tools to get the job done. It would be like hating ViseGrips. You have them in your toolbox, and when you need ’em, you love ’em.
Jason
February 24, 2011 at 10:42 am
I’ll do the same. If the fish want something presented a certain way I’ll give it to them, but you wouldn’t rather catch them on a topwater as opposed to a shakey head?
If you went to bass fishing Heaven, what would the bass be biting on?
Scott
February 24, 2011 at 11:22 am
In fishing heaven everything blasts a topwater.
Chad Keogh
February 24, 2011 at 2:34 pm
In my heaven the bass will bite no matter what I tie on, and they are always pre-spawn.
Chad Keogh
February 24, 2011 at 10:36 am
As for the blonde drop-shotter in the above pic… when did the Greatest American Hero (the TV show from the ’80s) get Rapala Pro Staff?
Jody White
February 24, 2011 at 10:48 am
I hate tubes and shakey heads. I love drop-shotting though.
Dick Durbin
February 24, 2011 at 11:06 am
I would rather fish just about anything other than a Carolina rig. I know that sometimes it’s about the only thing you are going to use to catch fish off the deep ledges, but it is still the old ball and chain.
Jason
February 24, 2011 at 11:15 am
I used to feel that way, too. But fishing it on Falcon has given me a newfound appreciation for the quitter rig. It’s still one of those deals I only fish when I have to, though.
admin (mostly Jay)
March 1, 2011 at 11:24 pm
I love the C-rig, even in 10-ish feet when it’s hot. Don’t know why it works, just feel like it will.
Jacob Robinson
February 24, 2011 at 11:43 am
I can give the bass whatever they want but id rather be throwing crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and topwaters.
BryanT
February 24, 2011 at 2:29 pm
Must be from Texas. Up here in WI we love drop shots, tubes, and jerkbaits. Did I mention 7lb smallies too.
Jeremy Adair
February 25, 2011 at 6:37 am
Hey. I didn’t know Sammy Hagar knew how to dop shot…
Every time I’ve tried dropshotting I’ve wanted to chuck the whole rig in the water. Otherwise I’ve come to terms with the sissy stick.
admin (mostly Jay)
March 1, 2011 at 11:25 pm
Cabo Wabo man!
MSPbass
February 25, 2011 at 3:32 pm
Ha! I thought the exact same thing Jeremy. Sammy “I Can’t Dropshot 55” Hagar.
And I don’t fish spinnerbaits. Never have. Not sure that will ever change.
Scott
February 28, 2011 at 1:25 pm
So Jason, how o you feel about large obnoxious buzzbaits these days?
Jason
February 28, 2011 at 1:36 pm
I’ve always been a fan of large and obnoxious baits of any kind. They soothe my ADD.