Do you remember when you first started fishing? No matter how long ago that was you probably remember a specific lure that was your go to bait that you threw all the time, everywhere, and it never left your hand. Now as you have broadened your skills with multiple lures youve probably forgotten it as you follow along with the norm of fishing the latest and best new thing. I was recently fishing with my buddy Brian out at Shearon Harris when I rediscovered one of these forgotten lures from my early days of fishing.
Its end of March beginning of April and we went out looking for spawning fish. Water temps are high in the 60s and the air temp has been in the 80s so we felt we had a good chance. As we were fishing muddy water and wind started to hurt our quest for finding spawning fish. I started throwing a swim jig and a speed trap hoping to spot fish chase it or swirl on it to help me find some beds. After an hour or two of this not working something hit me. For years I couldnt put a spinnerbait down in the spring, especially on windy days. I hadnt thrown one in forever though and couldnt tell you how long it had been since I caught a fish with one. So, I tied on a sexy shad KVD Finesse spinnerbait by Strike King with a white Zoom Z-Craw for a trailer. Five minutes after tying one on I catch a two pounder. Next cut up I get slammed by a fish, and 5 minutes after that I catch another fish.
Never would I have thought that when I went out to the lake that day that I would have caught a fish on a spinnerbait. After spending 3 years at school fishing primarily the deep highlands reservoir of Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia, I had lost confidence in my trusty spinnerbait. I felt so uncomfortable fishing it in such deep water, and never caught a fish on a spinnerbait on Smith Mountain. Its almost as if I thought it didn’t work anymore.
Just because a bait isn’t working during a time of year, or at a different lake with different conditions doesnt mean it doesnt work anymore. Sometimes we need to dig down deep in our tackle boxes and find these forgotten lures. I think fishing these forgotten lures does two things. First, it gets us back to our roots and forces us to just fish. Sometimes we try too hard to catch fish and try to force things that arent there. The second thing it does is that it opens up opportunities to show the fish baits that they probably arent seeing too often. You have to think that if youre throwing the newest and greatest thing, all the other guys are too. This means that those baits youve forgotten about are going to be something the fish havent seen in a while, which could help you get a couple of more bites. Heres a list of 5 lures Im going to be digging out of my tackle box to rediscover this season:
- Spinnerbait
- Squarebill
- Weightless Fluke
- Spook
- Buzzbait
So hopefully this article encourages you to get back to your roots and rediscover baits that used to be your confidence baits and have since faded away. Whether it be a specific bait or a technique, I hope that you take some time this year to dig into your tackle box, find that forgotten lure, and take it with you the next time you get out fishing.
