Great Lures That Caught You Squat Last Season?

[CLofchik]

We've all had that feeling, browsing the aisles of the local tackle shop when that one shiny thingamajig catches your eye through the bubble packaging. The luminescent, holographic, flourescent, triple grip forged hook, patented salty feeding stimulant scent....you just KNOW that it will just slay the fish if only given a chance.

 

Then you take your new prize home, lovingly release it from the three layers of packaging, a major reorganization of your tackle storage is attempted just to find a suitable compartment befitting it's future status as the unquestioned slayer of all fish. Tackle reorganization is aborted twice after girlfriends puggle takes off with a bag of PowerBait, but eventually accomplished when the beast is finally pacified.

 

And it catches squat, gets banished to the forgotten corners of your box and is ignored except for the occasions when it becomes entangled with other, producing, lures. Since it's restocking, daydreaming time and we're all looking at picking up a few things before the sun comes out again, which lures did diddly squat for you last season?

 

Here's my three that I had high hopes for, but had my bubble burst by the cold wet slobbering fishlips of reality...or lack thereof.

 

Rapala X-Rap, some people manage to catch fish with them but I never had much luck with them. I did okay with them, but my main gripe is with their longevity, these have to be flimsiest piece of crap I've ever cast with. Even drum were stripping paint, flexing the hollow body enough to leak and generally thrashing baits rather quickly for their price point. I even went so far to do autopsies trying to figure out how to extend their life. The internal rattles...they're made out of mild steel, so as soon as you have a leak it's only a short period of time before they rust together into a solid lump of crud. Wasn't impressed for a $10 overpriced bait.

 

 

 

BPS Nitro Suspending Minnow, I liked the last version as a suspending jerkbait and medium running crank, and basically as a replacement for the crap X-Rap suspending jerkbait niche. Caught a pile of fish from early spring pike to staging Chinooks and everything in between, they were great baits. So naturally as something that's become a bit of a theme lately they had to be "updated" and totally ruined them. They run alot shallower than they used to, the lip is too small to provide much action using it as a straight crankbait and they don't suspend level at all. The paintjobs are tough & purty but other than some dink bass I never caught much on them.

 

 

Storm WildEye Swim Shad, these just ooze fishiness. When I first picked a pouch up I just knew they were going to be deadly, they look really really great AND they were cheap. Never caught a darn thing on them. And they smell. I've got six pouches of 4" & 6" if anybody wants them.

 

[mbosh1980]

chatterbaits. period.

[EC1]

the storm swimshad produced nothing for me last year too! Lol.

 

Also, one of my cotton cordell wally divers didn't seem to catch me any fish either. It's a jointed one in a (Firetiger)? pattern.

 

I don't know why,it has yet to have produced me a fish! I've had another wally diver (Orange/Gold) that seemed to continue to produce though.

[Dara]

For me last year just doesn't count.

I was in an entirely new scheme and it was a poor year for the guys that knew the place/system.

I spent a pile with not many results.

 

this year will be better

[beertech]

without a doubt I was most disapointed in the reaction strike xrm 100 baits. http://reactionstrike.com/revolution-crankbait.html

 

They have paint and looks similar to lucky craft. They say they suspend which is a joke. ON pause they come to the surface so fast they almost leap out of the water.

 

Oh and allot of spin docter colours were useless too

[vance]

I bought a jointed rapala years ago and this lure catches alot of fish so I bought some spares in case I lost it.They look IDENTICAL BUT OLD NUMBER 1 catches fish the rest but the rest don't..It has to be something in the action but I haven't figured out how to fine tune the rest. And like all fisher folk I got a tackle box full of stuff that the only thing that they caught was me...

 

vance

[BUSTER]

Live target perch pattern...tried lots and squat, I just rather toss a jumla

[xeon]

x2 on the new xraps! I've had a few americans last year who broke out their new xcraps, and at the end of the day held them up to the light and saw a puddle of water in them. In the garbage they went. I'll stick with the tried and true husky jerk. Also agree with the paint, seems they only put one coat on.

 

I'll take the wildeyes from ya! You have NO idea how many huge pike and muskies were caught on the 4'' green ones early season! But I must agree with you, two weeks after ice out, they couldn't catch squat.

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

xraps are the most productive lure for me in the st. mary's river for 'eyes but i've had very little success outside that system with them.

in the river however, they can't be touched.

[Radnine]

Swim Baits. (YUM Money Minnows, etc)

Those rubber flat tailed things that look absolutely like dynamite as you reeled them back in.

Never caught poop on any of them.

Jim

[irishfield]

Sorry.. .I don't have time to take pictures of 700 or so spoons!

[Greencoachdog]

For me last year just doesn't count.

I was in an entirely new scheme and it was a poor year for the guys that knew the place/system.

I spent a pile with not many results.

 

this year will be better

 

 

Yeah, I figured the "outfishing the other guys 4-1" was a crock last year!

[MuskyGreenHorn]

X-raps really are just mass produced crap... You pay for the marketing really. I broke lips off, cracked them, wore the paint off and destroyed them everyway possible. But I had to keep buying more because I couldn't keep the fish off em'. tehy caught everything for me, huge pike and musky, to bass and walleye. I read on here sometime ago that if you send them back to rapala, they will send you new ones. So I sent in half a dozen and got new ones back. It cost the shipping, but it was better than a kick in the butt.

[scuro2]

Sorry.. .I don't have time to take pictures of 700 or so spoons!

I've had a long love affair with spoons. Make me an offer for the lot that I can't refuse!!

 

On the other hand I've had these hard swim baits that are cut into about 10 sections and joined together, that have never caught a damn thing.

Edited January 30, 2010 by scuro2

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

Sorry.. .I don't have time to take pictures of 700 or so spoons!

 

 

Ain't that the truth!

[backbay]

Live target perch pattern...tried lots and squat, I just rather toss a jumla

Same here! I just didn't know what to think, but It didn't produce for me at all last year.I'm bound and determined to fish the thing 'till it works this year, though.

The Wildeye shads did nothing for me, but the Kickin' Minnows were great. Go figure.

[Dara]

Yeah, I figured the "outfishing the other guys 4-1" was a crock last year!

 

 

I been off of fishing for a few years. I did tons from when I was 18 to 40 but lost my fishing partners and got away from it. It was all backwoods fishing then. I have been doing a bit more the last couple years and last year decided I was hitting it with a passion again. There is a lot of new crap out there now...the braided line and stuff..fancy smell baits and stuff..I never needed them before. We will see what this year brings. i'm in a whole new arena now as I said. A lot of stuff to learn......

[irishfield]

Live target perch pattern...tried lots and squat, I just rather toss a jumla

 

Is that the original Jumla in Egyptian Princess... or the newer Jumla spinner Brad??

[MuskyGreenHorn]

I just remembered, Esox Edge Bucktail from Crappy Tire in Kenora. That thing blew apart on a solid backlash last summer. I am glad it happened then and not with a lunge on teh end of. Come to thing of it, it got a lot o follows and bites but the fish never seemed to hook up. Conclusion: total piece o' crap.

[pike slayer]

ive caught sooo many fish on the x-rap, its unbelievable, that lure alone turned my fishing from good to AMAZING! i've caught countless, walleye, bass, and of course pike. ive gone days where ive caught 40-50 pike in a day and not all snot rockets some up to 10-12lbs and i used the same x-rap all day. by the end of the day i've probably changed the hooks twice and not much left of the paint but it still catches fish. you look in my "x-rap bin" in my tackle box and you'll see the beating these have taken from fish. the only time ive ever seen x-raps get mangled like i see in your pictures is when you slap it on the water when you get cabbage on it or you do a lunatic cast onto some rocks really hard. doesnt seen used but abused. you guys must be doing it wrong or something...even though you still catch lots trolling them. they hold up the same as any other crankbait brand ive ever used.

what i cant seem to catch fish with those "rubber baits" haha! i cant catch a fish for the life of me on a mr.twister or anything like it. although i do well with gulp and white tubes wierrrd

Edited January 30, 2010 by worm dangler

[bigugli]

X rap caught lots of pike, but totally worthless after a day of fishing. Too cheaply made compared to my jointed suspending rapala or jointed rebel minnow. Both circa 1980 and still catching fish ( I'm on my 4th or 5th set of hooks, I think)

 

As for totally stinker/ loser baits, it would be any Booyah spinner bait. I won a batch 2 years back, and they have caught squit. I spend a lot of time beating shoreline tossing spinnerbaits and I'll bet nothing on a Booyah, but put another make in similar pattern and it is fish on.

Edited January 30, 2010 by bigugli

[azebra]

I have that X-Rap in the first picture, It hasn't caught me anything but snags for over a year now..but I saw Dave M fishing and landing some bass with it on a show.. but, cameras can lie...

[trevy727]

I've been using x-raps also with great success. i couldn't believe my eyes when my wife pulled out walleye after walleye on the ugliest orange one i'd ever seen. i've had no problems with the quality of them either. maybe i got a good batch?

[Weeds]

Super Shad Rap. I've been throwing the same one for about 3 years now and had lots of follows but never a fish. It never leaked or anything, action seemed good, perch pattern was still nice. Quality was good, just never worked for me. I think I lost it at the end of the season.

[solopaddler]

CLofchik remember the thread early last June where you raved about the Spro Crank25 Shad? I subsequently bought 6 of them and have yet to catch a fish on one of 'em.

Not giving up on them yet though.

Agree with the Storm shads. I've tried them numerous times and caught nothing.

 

 

Swim Baits. (YUM Money Minnows, etc)

Those rubber flat tailed things that look absolutely like dynamite as you reeled them back in.

Never caught poop on any of them.

Jim

 

Now that's surprising.

Are you rigging them properly? You need a swimbait hook with lead on the shank so they run true..