Take a kid fishing "http://www.takemefishing.org/fishing/overview"

Let me put it this way. If you went out and bought a dozen shiners at a tackle shop how much would they cost? Here, they would be about 5.00 for the small ones, and as much as 9.00 for a dozen large ones. In about 4 hours you would have NONE left and go home. What is it worth?? More than 10.00 in my opinion for good baits that last more than one day.

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Never quite looked at it that way.  I wouldn't hesitate to spend $15 -$20 on live bait which you get one days use out of at best.  I still have to go back to loosing the lure though.  I could fish a $2 lure in deep cover every day for a year and never snag it once, I tie on a $20 + lure and I would snag it and break it off in open water on the very first cast.  That's just way my luck runs.  When it comes to fishing, if it can break, leak, tangle up, die, or just plain not start, it's going to happen to me.

I don't have a problem with the $6-10 baits, it's the $20-100 ones I won't buy. Tom
Fishin' fool in NE Illinois

That's why they make lure retrievers, one of the fisherman with his own show bought one on an extendable pole, saved a lot of his own lures and picked up some lost by others.

Generally, the baits that cost 20 to 100 dollars are not fished in areas that they are lost in easily, ie. brush, shoreline cover, etc.. They are generally fished in more open type areas or on top or subsurface, hence when they are lost it is because the fish was so large it broke the line, or you neglected to check it, which would be your fault, not the bait, lol, in any case, that is pretty much the facts of it. Most Jigs and small to medium crankbaits that would get hung up and lost dont cost 20 - 100 dollars.

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True and a lot of the more expensive lures are for pike and musky fishing or designed to catch very large bass (12 lb +).  Where I live those kind of lures would just be a waste.  There's no pike or musky close to where I live, and a trophy bass in this part of the country is anything over 5 or 6 lbs.  Fishing a lure designed to catch a 15 lb bass in a lake that's never produced anything over an 8 pounder doesn't maike much sense.  I've seen some of the $20 - $100 dollar lures, and most of them are bigger than some of the bass I catch at most of the local lakes around here.  I guess I just kinda live in a bad area for fishing, not far enough north to have pike and musky and not far enough south to have monster bass.

If there is one thing I have learned about fishing, it is that working a big bait does not mean you are going to catch a large fish but sure does make sure you don't catch a smaller one! Best day I ever had for walleye I was fishing a 1 3/8" Salmo hornet SDR in hot perch. It was deadly. Tom
Fishin' fool in NE Illinois

That's why they make lure retrievers,

one fisherman to the next, just get as close as you can to the hung up lure with a hand over hand motion lower your rod down to the hang up by the line, if you can touch it with the tip of the pole you can work it out, but only if your not down pasted 15 feet or 15 feet away, i find it not to work.. and yes you will not see you pole and it gets wet..

Generally, the baits that cost 20 to 100 dollars are not fished in areas that they are useful in AKA ocean etc.. that is pretty much the facts of it. Most Jigs and small to medium crank-baits get hung up the most they dont cost 20 - 100 dollars. If there is one thing I have learned about fishing, Best day I ever had for bass I was fishing a 3/8z Wall-Mart 1 dollar buzz bait in hot yellow. It was deadly. fish did not know any different from the 5 dollar buzz bait that did no better that same day!

they are truly not raciest!

I guess it just depends how much, you fish for bass and how much it means to you. Their are certain baits that are cheap that really work ok, some that work great, and 90 work and act like crap! If you depend on fishing for a living, hunt for trophie, or fish in tournaments, then using cheap stuff is not an option at all. It just doesn't make sense. If you fish once or twice a month, catch some small to medium bass at times, then it really doesn't matter. I dont look at it that way so my answers are from an entirely different perspective. Here is a link to the baits and tackle that I personally use all the time.  Baits and Tackle photos.

World Record Bass and Trophy Bass Articles, Videos, Gallery http://delawaretrophybass.com

The question is how many of those high priced lures did you actually buy yourself, and how many of them were provided to you by your sponsors, assuming you are good enough to have sponsors.

I went to www.lurebonanza.com and found some really nice lures at reasonable prices and I didn't even have to pay shipping on one set. Not everything is in that store; but if you have the patience to search--you'll find some good deals. They have the higher priced lures as well for those that want a special item. I do agree with you--the prices you see in some stores is definitely out of hand!

About 80 percent I bought, and the rest were from sponsors at the time. But since 2004 I bought them all myself. i think I do Ok with them myself. Take a look in the Gallery and tell me what you think. Steve

Gallery Of Bass I Caught in the last 5 years

World Record Bass and Trophy Bass Articles, Videos, Gallery http://delawaretrophybass.com

I do pretty good myself with my "el cheapo" lures.  I've caught @ 20 bass in the 4.5 lb + range with the biggest being 8.75 lbs and so many in the 1 lb to 4 lb range they are to numerous to count just this summer, and I've never spent  more than $5 on a lure.  Oh yeah and I only fish from when the weather starts warming up in the spring until mid September.  After that I'm in a treestand every free moment.

That sounds pretty good. 8.75 from what state?? If its California or Somewhere in the south then it is moot.  I consider a 8 lb California or Georgia or Florida bass to be about the same as a 4-5 northern largemouth. I base it on the state record. For example: The state record in Delaware is just over 10 pounds, Maryland- 11 pounds, Virginia, the same. Pa, etc.. all about the same. So when you catch a bass that is 7-8 pounds here in the northeast it is just 2 pounds off the state records in most cases. Although most people way over-estitimate what the bass weighs. Unless you have caught hundreds of bass in that class you generally think it is bigger than it is. I take all those "I Caught A 8 pound bass" stories with a grain of salt. Most of the time, it is really more like 5 or 6 pounds, not 8. When i see the actual measurements and a scale with the bass on it, then that is different.

Heres an album with some 7-9 pound bass in it from the northeast.

Big Bass From The Northeast




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As a reminder. if you order from this site and mention that you are an NAFC member, you receive 10% off and orders $50 or more is free shipping.
Jeremy a.k.a. Cletus U.S. Navy-Go Navy, Beat Army!!! NAFC LM, NAHC LM, NRA LM

  Just a thought. You know you are missing out on what is most likely some of the best fishing of the  year by fishing only at those times.

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But if I was out fishing I'd be missing some of the best hunting of the year.  I just can't seem to get in the fishing mood in cold weather.  When the days get shorter and the temperature starts falling the bucks start moving.

I thought I'd add my 2 cents worth. I read in my BassMasters magazine that you can doctor up cheapo lures to work as well as some of the higher priced lures. Besides my own tackle box I had 4 other tackle boxes to stock, i.e., my former wife and my 3 kids tackle boxes. As I had a tight budget back then I'd buy the wife and kids cheapo lures and then I'd change the factory hooks and split rings. On spinner baits I'd drill holes on the blades, bend the shaft to get louder clicking sounds and also bend the blades to kick up more water. The former wife and kids would be tickled pink every time they'd catch a fish with the lures I'd modified for them.

Last year I went to Canada on a fishing trip and took over 200 crank baits, not counting plastics, spoons, spinner and buzz baits. Only 12 lures produced for me. Of the 12 lures 2 were new. The other ten lures were between 20 and 40 years old. Attention to the small details before the trip made all the difference in the world. I used quality hooks like Gamagatsu, Owner and VMC hooks. I used tiny topedos, river runt, tiny crazy crawler, jitterbug , red fin, bomber long A, Rapala shad rap crawdad color, Rapala lipless crank bait, Rapala perch shad rap (New ), Rapala Risto Rap, new, Green Mackeral  Pattern Shallow diver (french made bought in Spain) Original  Rapala Chartreuse and Pearl Silver, (Rare, hard to find,discontinued in 1951) shallow diver and 10" black worm with chartreuse tail. On some of those lures I had never caught a single fish but all of that changed last year in Canada.

I like buying the cheapo lures to use to practice modifying different lures. If I make a mistake there is no big lost but when everything comes together and you land a nice fish it is a great feeling knowing you turned a cheapo lure into a fish catching machine.

Tight lines to all.

gonfishin