Someone walking into Berry’s Sporting Goods who does not bass fish will be amazed at the vast array of lures on display. There are soft plastics, crankbaits and wire contraptions in every color of the rainbow, and many other colors never seen anywhere else other than maybe an artist’s dreams.
Everything comes in an amazing number of shapes and sizes, and many things look like something from a science fiction movie. All of them have a purpose – to catch fishermen’s dollars! But they will probably all catch fish, too.
That being said, my “tackle box” is a 20-foot-long bass boat with four compartments filled with all kinds of lures. I could get in and hide in a couple of those compartments they are so big. And the walls of my garage are lined with big boxes of lures and sacks of plastic worms that I no longer use but won’t throw away. I use many of them as prizes in our kid’s tournaments.
They will all catch fish, but I have settled on a couple of colors of plastic worms I always use, and a few crankbait in favorite colors. I carry some other colors in my boat just in case, but there are not enough hours in a day to try them all. I have confidence in certain baits, so I tend to fish them all day.
Some people constantly change baits and colors trying to find the magic one for that day and conditions. And it probably works, for them, but I am confident in one or two colors based on water color and time of year. That simplifies things and makes it easier but may not be the best thing every trip.
On the deck of my boat I usually have 14 rods up front, seven on each side. And if fishing alone there are usually six or seven more at the back deck. I say one side is the rods I plan to use, the other side is just in case I want to try something different, and the ones in back are my desperation rods.
There is another dozen in my rod locker. Most fishermen put their rods up after fishing but there is no room in my locker for all of mine, so they just stay strapped down on the deck all the time.
There is a good reason for having so many rods. I not have to stop and tie on a new bait to try if I want to, I simply pick up a different rod and start casting. And rods come in a wide variety of lengths, actions and taper. Some are better for certain baits.
For example, a stiff rod with a light tip, or fast action, is best for baits like a Texas rigged worm or jig and pig. But for a crankbait those rods are too stiff, you need a longer rod with medium action. A stiff rod will often pull the hooks out of the fish while fighting it on a crankbait.
One small compartment is filled with spools of line. I have everything from six to 20-pound test line in monofilament and fluorocarbon, and there are also a couple of spools of braided line for special conditions.
Worms and jigs call for heavy line, and I like fluorocarbon since it is almost invisible in the water. Crankbaits are better on lighter line since it allows them to run deeper. And topwater needs monofilament since fluorocarbon sinks and hurts the action of the bait.
Braid is used when fishing around grass. It will cut through it when fighting a fish and has no stretch, so you can pull fish from cover quickly. But it is very visible in the water and I think it spooks fish when fishing clear water, so it is not good under all conditions.
Electronics are a whole nother story! When I got a new boat two years ago, it came with for big Humminbird depthfinders. The are capable of showing a sonar image, a down and side scan image and include a GPS map. The sonar shows a quick glance at anything under the boat. The down scan shows a detailed image of anything under the boat, to the point of showing every limb on a brush pile and even fish holding in it.
The side scan can be set to show things out to either side of the boat. You can ride slowly by a dock and see the post on it and fish holding under it. And going around a point looking for cover, you can find rocks, brush, drop offs and fish without going right over them. I keep mine set to show 60 feet out on either side of the boat, so I cover a 120-foot-wide strip on every pass.
One thing that came on my new/used boat is the 360 scan. I had never had one but will never be without one in the future. On the screen it shows what looks like a radar with rotating dial. Anything anywhere around the boat shows up. You don’t have to go right over something to fish it.
I have been amazed how many times I would be fishing around a point I have fished for 40 years, casting toward the bank. I would see a rock or brush pile or drop off out from the boat, cast to it and catch a fish. I never knew that cover was there and would never have found it unless idling around looking at down and side scan.
All these things may seem to give me an unfair advantage over the bass, and they help, but it is amazing how often bass with a brain the size of a marble outsmart me and all my equipment!