I think marketing has a lot to do with most of the bait nowadays. Thats why fishing tackle and fishing related companies spend so much on advertising and sponsership. I think the same is true with some rods and reels too.

Take Zoom for instance. They are one of the least marketed brands out there but they have the largest market share besides Pure Fishing. I think performance and price mean a lot besides just hype.

If shelf space = marketing dollars ZOOM is doing there part!

I know when you look at Coca Cola, cereal brands, ect, they all pay for the shelf space and product placement.

I wonder if Zoom does the same? They are sold in every big chain store around.

I know I'm more apt to buy a pack of Zoom when I walk in and 75% of the soft plastic offered is one brand.

It is HARD to beat a ZOOM Finesse or TRICK worm. At the same time I can say the same about the Raction Innovations worms that are comparable.


I keep colors simple, 3-4 colors TOPS.

+1

Interesting thread from my point of view.

As an angler prior to manufacturer a few observation and reasoning.

Like most have already posted, if it's the confidence bait brand loyalty is born. We are all creatures of habit who pattern our fishin around our strenghts and adhere to the if it ain't broke don't fix it rule.

We also know that there is no bait that is 100% guaranteed to catch fish every time we use it, so we all have plan B,C,D....

It all boils down to personal preference based on personal success.

Funny part about it, when I was just fishing, I didn't pay as much attention to detail as I do now. I wouldn't take the time to open a 10 count bag and lay them all out to check for flaws in quality control. I do now because that's what's expected of me.

I always use zoom if available because they tend to be cheaper. I have used some big bite senkos out of the 1.88 bend at academy and saw no issues. It is kind of hard to compare. Are you doing the same thing, mindset of an individual fish. ETC. i personally like certain companies baits better. I prefer the tornado f5 to the rattlesnake. Visually they are very similar, F5 seems to be a little softer and move a little more. I can't say that it matters that much because I have never put both in front of a fish at the same time to see which one he bites. I doubt many others have either. Next trip out I will ask (the fish). That ought to clear it up.

I would respectfully disagree. As noted above, the aisles of the big box stores are covered with Zoom billboards in the form of massive shelf space. That's not by accident.

Take it out and the bait will float

hey got there cause they work. How many Zoom ad campaigns have you seen in fishing magazines? How many fishing shows do they sponsor? How many Zoom boat wraps you see around? Better yet name me 5 professional anglers that Zoom sponsors. I'm talking tour level. Theu do very little marketing.

Oh, I agree that Zoom is a great worm and hard to beat. They are a great company. I just think there are many good ways to market, and they do it in a subtle way.

Peter T.
M. Stone
K. Short
G. Swindle
G. Dobyns

Another one is Terry Bolton.