What do you do that is unique/unconventional? I've slayed em with a deep diving crankbait I used trolling for king salmon in Alaska. The thing is huge. I downsized the hooks a little and tossed it shallow. It dug in the mud and I was catching them.

Here is a unconventional concept that has also worked for me. I was ask by one of my older friend 35 years ago if I had noticed how many bass I caught on the first cast then wore the paint of of that bait and never get another bite. If you think about it, this has happened many times especially in colder water. I had caught many Bass on my spinner bait on the first cast then never get another bite and changing baits seemed to work really well. I usually kept at least 5 spinner baits tied on back in those days; laying on the deck ready to go in different blades and skirt colors.

His reasoning was that your bait was hot laying in the sun on the deck and the Bass is cold blooded there for uses that 4th sense to seek pray with a different body temperature than their own. It represents a critter in a bush, sunning on a rock or even bait fish sunning in the shallows and all becoming hotter than the water temperature at a deeper depth. When they start the move back to deep water they are ambushed and eaten.

My first experience of really doing well and dealing with this concept was in 1983 on Twin Butts in San Angelo. I built a hot box out of a 6 cell flash light with 12 notches cut in it to hang a doz. spinner baits with the blades inside. The blades would get hot enough to be really noticeable to the touch. I used the tail light of a car and turned it upside down to shine inside the flash light, lined the light with cork and aluminium foil for reflection and insulation; then plugged it into a cigarette lighter plug on the boat.

This was in Feb. but a very sunny day with water temp. at about 55 degrees. I had all 12 spinner baits already died own and in the HOT BOX. I would unscrew the lins cover and take one out, quickly but the cover back on then make the cast through the shallow bushes. The results was 12 Bass on 12 cast with 12 different spinner baits. To let you know how great this experience was; there was 40 boats in this tournament and one other bass was caught that was over 5 lbs. which took big bass.

I was only able to reproduce that kind of action one more time during that year. It became a real chore to open, close, hold the boat in the wind and deal with this contraption; so I have developed a hot capsule to take its place. I can run two of them on most any bait with a skirt. The capsule gets hot to 120 degrees for 10 minutes depending on the depth you are fishing. The deeper the shorter the time of heat. The capsules can be changed out in seconds.

I use 4 and 6 pound line on spinning reels all the time with 4'' straight tail worms and 3'' grubs, roboworm rebarb hooks, mojo sinkers. Not that unconventional, but not many people do it in Texas fearing that big fish will break them off. My finesse fishing style translated fairly well to my new midwestern fishing environment.

I also add little appendages to my lures with bait needles and threading tools:
custom speed craw

tails to add a little flourish to the senko. I do both ends sometimes and wacky rig it.

On the heat thing, we used to use a plastic worm that had pig fat impregnated in the plastic for salt and naturalness.

In the summer we would have two rigged up each and some metal pans out of the kitchen to lay the baits on.

You would see the fat starting to come out of the worm, and they got hot. Make a few casts and switch . A few times it made a tremendous difference when the bite was real slow. But it is a pain to do all the time.

I need to dig some out and try it again some time...

My 3 hot capsule applications for Spinner baits, jigs and most any t-rig or c-rig.

Took these appendage baits to Mexico and they were all gone in a couple of hours.
Most are rigged wacky style.

Ned rig is getting traction now so not so unconventional but I fish some really tiny baits right in the nasty cover on pressured lakes or during a slow bite. I like a 2" swimbait on a 3/16 jig in the warmer months once the shad are spawning brand jig and bait are my secret though it aint your standard crappie/whitebass stuff. 10-12 pound line on a baitcaster the extra speed and power over a spinning rig helps get them out.

Big fish will eat it too

I take a DT16-18 and poke holes in it with a big needle. The only problem this causes is it makes the wood split and ruin quicker, but this makes the bait fill up with water. The water is enough to make the bait sink and I can get a crankbait a lot deeper than a lot of people.