I used to just throw my favorite lures and not pay any attention to lake surveys. And I would usually catch a few fish and I caught larger fish than I seem to currently.

Now, I look at survey reports and similar intel to determine what the predominant forage species are, and I try to match what I find. I've all but turned up my nose at some of my former go-to worms that resemble no forage in any lake.

Guess my question is, is it always a good idea to match the forage? Should I start throwing some of the old standby's in lakes I know are predominantly based on an unrelated forage base? Is there still a good place for black worms with red/chartreuse twister tails in my arsenal?

For those who regularly throw non-forage based lures, why do you continue doing so?

Thanks!

Just throw what you have confidence in

Go with what you have caught them on before, as you clearly have confidence in those baits.

Well one of my favorite non-forage based baits is a buzzbait...I have never seen one in the wild, let alone a school of them...but they will flat out bust �em ! Had an old timer once say � do you know why bass eat buzzbaits ?...�....�they think they are baby bass boats and they want to kill them before they get bigger !...�...LOL...like already said it�s a confidence thing...if I was you I would stick to trying to match the hatch and you can mail me all you non-forage looking baits so you don�t have to think about throwing them anymore

^hahaha that's an amazing fishing joke... I'd be buying that old man some beer to hear more like it!

...and to answer the OP question.... what makes you think only forage baits catch fish? Forage baits aren't appealing to all of the senses that make a bass feed, first of all, and second of all, a large number of bass aren't caught based on feeding instincts... I doubt very seriously a bass sees my arbogast buss plug burning the top water and goes "hey a yummy airplane propeller!" ...now if I'm catching on the pause, perhaps but still... reactionary baits are as important if not more so than forage baits in many conditions...coz even if you find the fish, if they aren't hungry, you won't entice them to eat, so you better be ready to piss them off.

Yes throw what you are confident in and revisit the forage thing if you haven't tried matching the forage in size as well. I do this on Fork with a chrome blue rattl-trap. On days when they are chasing shad I found that if I throw a 1/2 ounce trap I never even get a look, I can switch over to the 1/4 ounce size which more closely matches the forage in size and wear them out......

I always gut and clean the first fish of the day and take and open up the stomach, then I know what to throw.

You Are Kidding,aren't you? A rather drastic measure, but then thats what some SaltWater
guys do.

Throw what you have confidence in.

Mr. Mulholland has hit the nail right on the head.

It is about 50-50 for me. I use reaction baits and catch lots of fish then when the going gets tough and they are not chasing you better have baits that work on all the other senses of the bass to get them to bite.

I want every bait I throw to prompt these senses so they think it is the real deal.
-right scent
-right blade
-big eyes
-right vibration
-right color
-right sound
-right trailer
-living rubber skirts
-right presentation like my Spook Techniques.
-and presented with a different temperature than the bass's body temperature.

If it's legal why would he have to be kidding? Don't judge

Pretty smart idea if your into keeping fish... I'm not personally but to each his own

To the OP throw what works for you bro! Who cares what forage reports say if your catching

Can't count how many times I plum catch the heck out of bass on a citrus shad crankbait that puke up or have crawfish in their throats. Forage is something to consider but it's no hard and fast rule.

Eating fish is drastic? Mkay. . .

It's all in what you have confidence in!

Thanks for all the feedback! I probably just needed a little pep talk to start throwing purple worms with red curly tails, again. I've gotten to where about all I throw is realistic looking baits and when those don't work, which is most of the time for me, I quickly switch over to Dingers/Senko type baits and start catching fish, albeit small ones.

Part of my problem as well probably has something to do with years spent pursuing trout where matching the hatch was critical to catch phD trout. Can be fun but can also scar one for life.