The relationship/correlation between your favorite and most productive lure(s)…

[islandbass]

As one who is guilty of thinking too much, I would like to pose some questions.

Are your favorite lures, say your top three lures you like to use more than the others also the most productive?

This has always been something I have been thinking about since I started fishing about five seasons ago and I think I have enough data to make a fair assessment of it.

In my case, it seems that for the most part, my favorite baits, the ones I like to use the most appear to account for fewer bass.

My top three favorite baits to “work”, i.e., impart life to are:

1) Hard Jerk Baits (e.g., Husky Jerk, X-rap): – I love working these lures; jerk-pause, jerk-jerk-pause – Gosh, they’re a lot of fun to work. However, with this lure type, I can only think of one fish I have hooked up. It was a pig however.

2) Poppers (e.g., Skitter pop, homemade poppers): – Man, oh man, do I have to work these topwater baits. While I have caught some, I have come to learn that certain times have given me higher percentages of catching bass. Also, many of the bass caught were greater than 3 lbs., which is decent in my neck of the woods. Many of the biggest ones caught were with poppers. On the other side of the coin, after learning that there are better times than others on my waters, in its defense, I pull it out when I think its chances are best.

3) Walk-The-Dog Lures (e.g., spooks, skitter walks, sammies): – Now who doesn’t like to zig-zag these bad boys? I can work them all day and just enjoy them. To date, unfortunately, only two bass in my entire bass fishing history was caught on one.

What is the relationship/correlation between your three favorite lures to “work” and their productivity for you?

Also, state what region of the country you are from and general water clarity of the typical lakes you fish or your “home” lake.

The lakes I usually fish have are green in color with a usual clarity of about 5-10’ in the Pacific Northwest.

I think this is good information to share here that could possibly lead to see if there might be trends in what some bass in different areas of the country prefer to munch on.

-ib

[WTL]

Asking me now what my top 3 favorite to use are; OK, I'd say a propbait, a spinnerbait and a fluke.

Most productive by the numbers? Probably a spinnerbait, a fluke then I guess a jerkbait, but its close on #3.

Is there a correlation? No doubt I enjoy lures that produce and that factors into my appreciation for throwing spinnerbaits, but I also like the primitive stupidty of throwing a blade: I can do it with less calculation than other lures. I also like to throw flukes mostly cause they are effective, they arent great fun to fish but they are one of the better options around grass and I tend to throw them around that because I normally dont get snagged. Makes it easier. Propbaits really don't account for a ton of bass in my creel, but I just feel at home throwing them.

Location is well known to be the deep south, water clarity 1-4'

[Jim80]

well the spinner i throw because of comfort and production , and then topwater even though the frog is usualy more productive i find myself throwing a hula popper more often and probally because of the determination to get results from it , then my favorite to throw has nothing to do with what i have caught on it but the fun of playing with it is the berkley blade dancer just a 2.5" minnow but i love to throw it for some reason . i have found myself throwing it every place i fish even at trout parks that have no bass population just for practice .

location CT upper east coast , water clarity 3-6'

[bamabassman]

my top 3. ok first the ol rooster tail...i know, i know, but i try to use it to find the fish. usually bream and baitfish. then i'll throw a spinnerbait. or a lizard/worm. oh... i should have started in the morning i guess, in that case i start with a buzz, or pop-r, or zara spook. the the other 3.

[JRL]

Im with you on the X-Crap. They look really good. Ive thrown several of them at least a hundred times. Cant think of more than one fish that Ive caught on them. I do much better with Bandits.

I always use the same 4 lures, but none of them are what has been proven to produce the most.... A 10" gambler worm, T rigged.

[BassMoJo]

1. Spinnerbait worked in windblown water is by far my most productive bait. 2. Any kind of creaturebait fliped around cover. 3. Jig n pig

[Bass'n'cast]

bamabassman my top 3. ok first the ol rooster tail.

love that thing 1/4oz best with chartruese and gold spinner (ny no1)
senko#2 because its always given me a fish
crankbait#3 i really am not to good as far as actually using them i just like to throw em and reel them in i dont spend enough time with them

[Jigger]

My favorites are jig n' pig and soft plastics like flippin tubes, lizards and creature baits AND they are also the most productive for me day in and day out although I won a tournament last year on a spinnerbait and one on a Pop R. I try to give the fish what they want but my preference is pitching jigs and plastics to targets. It's very relaxing and interesting to me plus I love a jig or worm bite. I'd rather see a bass move off with my jig or just thump the heck out of it than see a bass blow up on a topwater which I know is contrary to most people.

[weaverml34]

Let's see if I can get this to make sense.

My favorite way to fish is top water. But the window of productivity for topwater fishing is limited so the lures for fishing topwater don't fall into my top 3 or 4. Buzzbait being my favorite lure for this.

My favorite lure is my most productive and that's a PNJ followed by a T-rigged Paca Craw or creature bait. These lures are so productive for me that it sometimes paralyzes me from trying something else.

I'm starting to have more success with crankbaits so they are starting to move up the list.

I need to work on my spinnerbait techniques. If the bass aren't hitting it on a straight retrieve I tend to lose faith and start chucking a PNJ.

[Lilmoosecountry]

Well my favorite is a Bass Pro Tornado. Never really caught on that much. But no spin bait or buzz bait does a better job. Looking like a dying shad. Plus itz just fun to use,

[bassnman30]

Shakey Head here in NC. Next comes the Sweet Beaver (the origional) not a copy which alot of manufactors are making these days. Then comes a spinnerbait in choppy water, especially along a wind blown bank.
Granted, a crankbait, a shallow twitch bait, as well as a topwater bait etc.. have there places as well.

[bothomas]

I only have one favorite lure.........whichever has a fish on the line! I'll happily throw whatever I need to feel that bite!!

[WTL]

I guess I feel the need to remind yall the original question of this thread - it wasnt what are your 3 favorite baits, but....

Are your favorite lures, say your top three lures you like to use more than the others also the most productive?