Best & worst lure purchases ever?

Cleaned up my garage and ran across a lot of old lures. Some blasts from the past and some flat out wastes of money.

You can't buy your way to big fish & tourney wins, but Lord knows I tried lol!

I did a little show and tell during a stroll down memory lane with my son...

Maybe it was me, but I could never get the Mann's Three for All to run well.

Reminds me of the old AC Plug! I threw that a little on Fork back in the late 80's. Think my shoulder is still a little sore now from it!

GREAT FUN POST TOM!!

Used to smoke em all around the bridge on Big Mustang in the early winter on AC Plugs. 3 - 15 pound bass clobbering 1 - 2 pound gizzard shad! What a blast. Saw Brian Duplechain catch his 14 pounder on one. Still have 2 of em!

My favorite was the Castaic Shad. First hard body head with a soft tail I ever saw. Caught tons of fish on them. Still have a couple of those as well.

The worst is now I go online and buy stuff just to check it out. It arrives, I think meh or forget about it, never even throw it. Keeps the economy running though lol!

Did anyone outside of Bill Dance ever catch a fish on a Dancin' Eel

Enjoyed seeing all of them. Thanks for sharing the fun stuff.

Anyone buy the original Helicopter lure?

I caught my first 8 pound bass on a Dancin eel BrandoA at Lake Fork around 1988 or so. Took it up to Rainswood to have ol crotchety Bill take a picture of it! Went back to let her go and the next cast had a 12 pounder... Grinnel! LOL! Thought I had a giant bass on!

I have 4 or 5 AC plugs that have never been used hanging on a shadow box in my office.
I also was given a box of Helicopter lures with hooks and swivels by a friend many years ago - these are still in my closet sitting beside a Color Collector..

Best = Megabass Vision 110

Worst = Helicopter Lure...damn things only caught pike and line twists

WOW,....the first time we fished with you on Fork we talked about you and your expecting wife,...good looking boy.
My grandpaw told me that lures were meant to catch the fisherman,...Great video..
Jim and Debbie.

PS: I have a Purple rat with a lavender tail somewhere in my boat,...

Best purchase was Mann's Black Grape 6" jelly worms.
Worst purchase was every thing else I have bought!

They are all bad. Never caught anything on any I have bought. Someone told me I was doing it wrong. I needed a $500 rod and $300 reel. I'm starting to think they were not being honest. I'll let you know when I find a good one.

That dang Dancin Eel has some incredible action and I have never had one bite on it. Weird.

+1 on the line twists...

Can’t believe the banjo minnow hasn’t been brought up. Those things must work.
Best lure I ever bought was Hildebrandt spinnerbaits. Love those things.
Worst was Livingston crankbait that made noise when it was in water. Not that it was a bad lure but just a lot of money for something that I had no luck with.

I never got a bite either!!! And man with that action I thought it would be killer!!

I wasn't a chaser of the Banjo Minnow, Dances Eel, Helicopter Lure or Randy White Spinnerbait but I know I chased some turkeys and likely have a hundred pounds of plastics that I will never throw. My worst addiction has been buying plastics and having success and then thinking that I needed three sizes and and twelve colors of those baits "just in case".

Stiff soft plastic, no action, nothing looking fish catching dude - Mann's Stingray on a ballhead jig.

Cigar shaped, thick lump of throw it out and let the mamma bass eat - Phish Stik

100 Count bags of Berkley Power Worms when Ray Roberts first opened, bought at the Bass House (Plano or Lake Dallas location with club pricing) and so many fish you wish you had more baits with you. Oh and maybe one or two of those bass caught that were actually bigger than a pound.

I remember those Mustang mornings on the Forkster, toilet bowl flushing, monster bass swirls and the magic of the two pieces of broom handle called the AC Plug.

I never solved the mystery of the sluggo, I wasn't patient then and I really have to work at it now.

The Reel Deal - the Shimano Calcutta with the offset handle - ridiculously expensive but the smoothest reel made at the time.

A difference maker - crazy price and crazy sensitive - Kistler Helium LTA "Lighter Than Air" - A few extra bites felt meant that at the end of the tournament year I had a few extra pounds at each weigh-in and placed just a little higher - Priceless!

Worst= Walking worm and the battery powered jig that clicked when it got wet?
Best= Origional Baby Chug Bug, won 2 tournaments on it.

Lucky tackle box. Everything in it was a JOKE!

Best ever, Senko in green pumpkin w/ black flake. It catches everything from 6”-23-1/2”.

Ha, +1 on the subscription boxes. It was Mystery Tackle Box for me. Yeah you'd occasionally get something of good quality but most of it was junk IMO. Rather put the $15 / month or whatever is was towards 2 or 3 quality items that I specifically choose as opposed 5 or 6 "meh" random items.

Agree with the senko as best as well. I know it's a "boring" answer but if I could only have one lure to catch 'em, give me some senkos. My PB also came on a weightless, texas-rigged 5" senko (pic below). Was a 40-degree December night at a pond, hence the gloves.

+1

Anyone ever use a Tubby Tail?

What was the one that you jerked on it and it pulled a little string and the lure had a motor in it that would make the legs on a frog move? Or you could get the shad one and the tail would move. i dont remember what it was called but i took the hooks off and gave to the kids to play with in the bath tub when they were little. They had a blast with them?!

Bombshell Turtle the worst.... cast it a few times, never fished it.

Found this video of another turtle bait I won't be buying.


Go to 8:45 for review.

I once bought a frog bait that when you popped the line it would activate a battery that would make the legs start kicking for about 6 or 8 seconds. I fooled around with that thing for a few days on Fork until finally had a huge fish smash it and immediately broke me off. I couldn't stop laughing all day thinking about that frog kicking in that fishes mouth. Waited for a while to see if it would come floating up to the surface but never saw it again and never saw another for sale anywhere.

"What was the one that you jerked on it and it pulled a little string and the lure had a motor in it that would make the legs on a frog move? Or you could get the shad one and the tail would move. i dont remember what it was called but i took the hooks off and gave to the kids to play with in the bath tub when they were little. They had a blast with them?!"

The Chuck Woolery lure with the string that made the tail vibrate every time you popped it,my in-laws bought them for me.

Those boxes seem like a way for companies to clear stale/unwanted product. No thanks.

banjo minnow for me

the spastic action didn't work for you? (i actually caught some pond fish with the small ones on an ultra light set up)

Smithwick Blinker. Had battery in belly and red eyes that blinked. Drop into aquarium in tackle shop and bass would come look it over and hit it. Didn’t work well in the lake.

I didn't know you was supposed to fish a sluggo weightless when I started fishing them so I was fishing them Carolina style. I had great luck that way. Went fishing with a buddy and he laughed me and said that's not the way to fish them. After my 3rd one he was Carolina rigging sluggos too. Helicopter lure had to be the worst until I seen the 4 eyed cat and shrimp lure.

Best: ima little stick
Worst: Original helicopter

You're so right. I had Lucky Tackle (Bass) Box for about 1 1/2 years. I never knew there were so many hole-in-the-wall tackle companies in the world. I think out of 18 months, I got 6 decent lures. I actually got an Evolution GrassBurner buzz bait one month. I did get a lot of stickers!

Used to kill em in farm ponds. That and a Mann's hard worm.

Retired grass grower

worst- walking work
best- zoom brush hogs

Ive got a good selection of whopper ploppers. the first one I bought got big by a small fish first cast and I thought wow. so I have all 3 sizes in white, bone, black and silver. I havent caught a fish on any of them but that first firsh. I am going to try to find the right size or color in two weeks when Im at a lake for 4 days. If they dont eat any of them then Im done with that box and not having one tied on anymore.

best lure: jig
worst lure: literally everything else I've ever bought

Ha! Good story Randy!

I wonder about Ol BIll every time I go down there.

Enjoyed the video! It's amazing what we will fall for to get that edge.

Can’t at what the best was... I don’t remember right off....


Worst- Berkeley J Walker 120! Bought from BPS 2 weeks ago, used 3 times caught 2 small bass, it started sinking in the back, I looked at it and it had water in it and a crack along the back approx. 1.5”... Emailed Berkeley, no response, worst $8 I’ve EVER spent on a lure!

My best lure purchase was a Mann's hard bait. I believe it was a Stretch 1 Minus; I'll have to check the package of the ones I still have NIB. Years ago I was fishing a power plant cooling pond only open 4 weekends a year. Those who signed up early enough gained entry by entering a tournament there with proceeds benefiting a charity. It was usually a good outing, but on one day my partner and I struggled. At 10-11 AM, with no fish in the boat, I decided to try one of the new lures straight out of the package. I caught a decent fish on the first cast, and the second, and third, and so on. When it was over, I had caught 11 bass in exactly 11 casts since tying on the lure! All the while, my partner threw other lures to the same area and got no strikes.

looks like we need a chapter of tackleholics anonymous on here.

best: original balsa rapala in black/silver, got 2-3 back in the 60s and caught fish every time out I think. the lure that started my addiction. bass on tenkiller loved them.

my selection of worst is in the boat apparently. I will get an idea on doing something different and end up with 2-3 new lures or bags of plastics to go "try".

Tie between Buck Perry plug and original creme worm with all the exposed hooks, mono, beads and spinners. Never caught a fish on one, but I caught everything else in the lake. Lazy Ike was close behind.

I’d have to go with the original silver 2 hook Rapala and black and yellow H&H spinnerbaits as the best for me. The worst...I have a whole tackle box full of demoted baits. I hate to throw them away, but neither do I see the point at throwing them at bass.

If you take it back with you on your next trip to Bass Pro, I'm sure they'll swap you out for another one. I do like the J Walker, but the Drift Walker is my go to topwater.

Lateral Perch comes to mind. I know some caught a few but I don't remember getting 1 bite on those things. Anybody do any good on this?

Blinko! I worked in a big tackle store for 13 years and when that lure first came out we sold a bunch of them.
I think they are fairly valuable collectors items now.

Worst Whopper Plopper I know they catch fish but I am zero for 2 years on them.

Best speed craw and DD22

I bought a few icast winner Livetarget lures, they all look like multiple shad in one lure, never really had much luck with any of them, I guess they catch more fisherman than fish, and they weren't cheep at the time I bought them. I really thought they would work better than they had.

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/LIV...uarebill_Crankbait/descpage-KPJYRSB.html


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