Old school...

[uljersey]

First a little background. A few years back I went on a tackle spree. Some baits were new to me and I was successful with them - tubes for example. Then there were others that were the 'hot must have' ones and for whatever reason I didn't do well with them. I'm not naming them as it's irrelevant to this thread.

Last year was one of my worst fishing years in memory and I've been fishing for well over 30 years. The ridiculous heat we had in my area played a part, but I got caught up in the trap of tying on new baits every 10 minutes. I lost my focus and wasn't thinking things through. So this winter I cleared out all of my tacklebags and went back to square one. I fish from a kayak and I prefer to pack light. 3 combos at the most and two small tacklebags, each the size of a 'six pack' size lunch cooler. I picked up some Culprit 7" worms, some Charlie Brewer 3" bass grubs, some Mr. Twister curly tail grubs in white and some small crankbaits, the largest being 2.5" long. There's others, but these are a few. They are all capable of catching larger fish.

So here we are this season and it's not even summer yet and I've exceeded my decent fish (over 3 lb) count over last year, most of them caught on the old school baits.

What are some of your favorites from the past ? If they still make them, there's a reason - they work.

[NJ Jigman]

i fish in jersey and the fish see everything possible. i have had good success pulling out my old culprit 7 in curl tails, old jersey rigs, power baits power hog(not sure on the name). with all the new tackle thats come out in the past 5 years, who throws the older stuff anymore. the culprit curl tail in motor oil flake was my third best producer of the year and i think its because the fish haven't seen many of these baits in quite a long time. i bet in 10 years the senko will be as good as it was 5 yrs ago, deadly. just my humble thoughts on the subject

[Gone Phishin]

I still have more confidence in the 7' Power Worm, then just about any other plastic out there.

Ah, Mr. Twister...that brings me back. Thanks for the smile.

[raul]

Modern must have´s : senkos .........I´ve got hundreds ----> hardly ever touch them ( no wonder why it may take me a good couple of years before I burn a pack ).

Baits I fish with most of the time:

Mann´s Jelly Waggler
Mann´s Augertail
Mann´s Jelly Worm
Mann´s Stingray grub ( man, it can´t get older school than that )
Culprit 7.5 inch ribbontail worm
Heddon Torpedo
Arbogast Jitterbug
Heddon Sonic & Super sonic
Heddon Zara Spook
Rat L-trap
Heddon Bayou Boogie
Rapala Original Minnow
Rapala Shad Rap
Rapala Fat Rap
Heddon Tadpoly
In-line spinners ( yeah, "begginner" stuff )

My everyday tackle box looks like something that should be in a museum.

[darrin]

Some of my old favorites are Reapers from Don Iovino (in S20) and robo zipper worms. Caught some of my first bass on these lures.

[Smalleyez]

Took a coworker fishing a couple weeks ago and he caught a 20" smallmouth at our first spot on a Mepps spinner. He caught more and better fish than I did that night on his Mepps.

I realized that night that they still work well.

[MaxZmus]

I'm still using the Mann's Manipulator.

[PancakeFace22]

Any standard U-tail/curly tail worm on a T-rig is still one of the most effective baits out there. No matter what fancy new stuff I try, a Zoom Ol' Monster on a 5/0 Gamakatsu worm hook with a 1/4oz bullet weight consistently produces the most good sized fish of anything I've used.

[cst]

I've never caught a fish on a curly tail.

[zodiak311]

Anything soft plastic by Dan Iovino, Heddon Spooks, and good old Culprit curly tail worms.

My wife's uncle catches tons of Bass on Beetle Spins... go figure...

[JWR075]

Chrome and blue Rattle Trap
Purple worm with white tail (My favorite since I started fishing 20 years ago)
Rebel Wee R in Crawfish color
Shad Rap in Perch color
Blue and black Jig with some kind of chunk on it

[lmartinez]

i still use my favorite 5 inch bass pro tripple ripple grub in black and hula popper and also my favorite spinnerbait roland martin big bass spinnerbait i have one left its pretty beat up but still catches for me len