Lure Colors I Don’t Throw Anymore for No Apparent Reason
One of the problems with having more tackle than I could ever possibly use in five lifetimes is that lots of good gear gets overlooked. I have perfectly good lures that are dusty from sitting on a shelf or in a box, unmolested, for a decade or two. Meanwhile, I believe that over that same time period I’ve become wiser, and therefore less obsessed with specific bait colors. I tend to stick to basics like green pumpkin, watermelon, junebug and black/blue over niche options.
Nevertheless, there are colors that produced really well for me earlier in my fishing life, in shapes that I still use frequently, that got benched. Maybe I found a “better” color, or one that’s easier to purchase, but the following four options got “retired” for no apparent reason.
This used to be one of my go-to options on our local tidal rivers, and in particular I recall some incredible days on the James River with it, but I’m guessing that I haven’t thrown this particular combo in 15 years, maybe 20.
This was my Carolina Rig staple back in the day, and I had huge confidence in it on waters like Buggs Island and Lake Anna – but I also had some banner days pitching it to docks and in the grass on the Potomac.
The first time I ever saw someone dropshot was riding in Gary Klein’s boat at the 2005 Classic. He had just been taught the technique by Aaron Martens, and told me this was the best worm and best color everywhere he’d tried it.
My friend Chad Hallett first told me about this one. He’d done well pitching it into bushes on Buggs, as well as in grass. The chartreuse tip makes it a great bluegill imitator.
One lure that I’m convinced that I used to throw a lot, but cannot find any specific evidence of it (in other words, no half-used bags in the boat or on the garage pegboard)is the 5-inch Gambler Paddle Tail Worm in Tequila Sunrise. I just know that I had a bunch of them, but cannot find any, nor can I find any evidence that Gambler ever made them. They’re not on the company’s website in that shade, just four other options. At the same time, I have some on the pegboard in pumpkin with a chartreuse tail and cannot find any web evidence of them, either.
What Did I Replace Them With?
Writing all of this has jogged my memory, and reminded me that I should probably get these proven winners out of storage. It has also forced me to consider why I stopped using them and what I replaced them with. As best as I can tell, here are the reasons:
Sour Grape Baby Brush Hog – I still fish a Baby Brush Hog a lot as I’m convinced that it’s one of the most distinctive and productive creature baits ever made. When I pitch it around cover, I almost always use a junebug version (particularly on our Mid-Atlantic rivers) and when I Carolina Rig it, it’s almost always some form of green pumpkin or watermelon.
Cotton Candy Chartreuse Zoom Lizard – I simply don’t fish a lizard a fraction of the amount that I used to. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I Texas Rigged one, except for perhaps a bed. I do Carolina Rig one quite a bit in Mexico, but it’s almost always the larger 8” version from Zoom, and almost always either green pumpkin or watermelon with the tail dipped in chartreuse Spike-It.
Hologram Shad Roboworm Straight Tail Worm – For a long time, as I built up my dropshotting chops, I reverted to this worm more often than not. Eventually I got into other styles, like the Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm and the Berkley Flat Worm. Within Roboworm’s lineup, I mixed in colors like Aaron’s Magic and Morning Dawn, thereby reducing Hologram Shad’s playing time.
Corn Dog Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver – I’m really not sure why Corn Dog gets such crappy treatment, other than the fact that I don’t punch as much as I used to, and when I do I seem to reach for Sprayed Grass, Penetration ad Xmas Pumpkin much more.
Tequila Sunrise Gambler Paddle Tail Worm – In a world where the Speed Worm and its ilk seem increasingly popular, the Gambler model seems to get ignored, including by me. Part of that is that I tend to throw the “mag” sizes more often, and part of it is just inexplicable. When I do swim, pitch or cast, the Gambler it’s almost always junebug.
I’m proud of the fact that I’ve simplified my tackle over the years, realizing that finding the fish and making the proper presentations matter more often than slight color variations. At the same time, it pays to keep an open mind and to occasionally cycle back to lures that your local fish have not seen.
