Worst Lures

[Gobble Doc]

I got this Rapala 40 years ago.  I've used it over the years and have never caught anything with it.  Too bad I didn't get the perch colored one.    Anyone else have a lure that has never produced?

[buckcanyonlodge]

I would take that lure over ANY perch colored lure. Countdown Raps in that color are GREAT for walleye in Lake Roosevelt. Fish the last hour of daylight and the first two hours of dark.

[kentrek]

Every lure I've used for spring salmon 

[Bullkllr]

40 years Now that I think about it I have some dead ones close to that old too.

Plugs in general are like that. Some just never produce. Most pick up fish here and there. Once in awhile one turns out to be a killer!

[Houndhunter]

Every lure I've used for spring salmon 

Been there!!!! 

[Bigshooter]

I got this Rapala 40 years ago.  I've used it over the years and have never caught anything with it.  Too bad I didn't get the perch colored one.    Anyone else have a lure that has never produced?

That lure in that color is one of my all time favorite lures.

[RadSav]

An old commercial Dory fisherman told me if a plug just will not catch fish - pop one of it's eyes out and that should do the trick.  As far as J-Plugs go I think he was on to something as I never had a dead one after that.


For a 40 year old plug that thing looks pretty dang good.  Maybe it just needs to see more action...or go back in the display case. 

[coachcw]

Super duppers  suck ...triple teaser all the way

[Gobble Doc]

Ok.  I'll give it yet another try.  Dad bought it for me to catch a bass with at Boyer park back in the 70s.  It has kicked around in the tackle box for years.  Maybe I just lost faith in it and gave up on it long ago.  It's a floater. 

[coachcw]

I got a old red plug called a seattle six. It had yellow eyes and a single hook... trolled supper sLow it would flat kill sockeye. .. I cried when she got broke off.

[kisfish]

super duppers catch fish. I will take them all coach. Send them this way.

[coachcw]

Sorry threw them all in the lake !

[RadSav]

Jig with your Super Dupers.  Troll with your Triple Teasers.

[coachcw]

Two pole endorsement , troll a triple teaser and have a rooster tail , to cast at the jumpers deadly combo , goto black with silver 1/8 oz

[RadSav]

goto black with silver 1/8 oz

   Put a good hook on it and it's a great summer steelie lure too!

[Band]

I don't know what you call my worst lure ever but I bought it as a kid from Jim Whittikar himself at REI based on his recommendation.  Great mountain climber and CEO but obviously not a fisherman.  I used that lure off and on for years...YEARS, and it didn't even get a sniff.  I threw it out about 30 years ago and still marvel at the poor concept of that overpriced piece of junk.

[coachcw]

Remember  the red plastic plug with a battery light in it ? Those sucked

[haugenna]

Banjo minnow.

[lokidog]

Ok.  I'll give it yet another try.  Dad bought it for me to catch a bass with at Boyer park back in the 70s.  It has kicked around in the tackle box for years.  Maybe I just lost faith in it and gave up on it long ago.  It's a floater.

I've done quite well on the blue/silver color pattern as well for walleye.  Some plugs don't swim right out of the box.  Drag it as fishing speed and see how it swims, sometimes we would bend the nose eye a little one way or the other to tune it better.

I've never had very good (any) luck with the lipless crankbaits that have the profile of something like a goldfish and are about a quarter of an inch thick over the entire lure.

[RadSav]

I've never had very good (any) luck with the lipless crankbaits that have the profile of something like a goldfish and are about a quarter of an inch thick over the entire lure.

You talking like a Rattle Trap?  I cursed those darn things for years.  Then a friend talked me into fishing Lake Washington for small mouth.  Couldn't find a small mouth that didn't pound those things.  I bet we put 60 fish to the boat in four hours.  That was a good day on the water!

[lokidog]

I guess that was it, though I don't remember them rattling.  Something like this but they seemed more blocky from my memeory....

[Gobble Doc]

I had a couple Mepps that didn't do it for me.  One was black with yellow dots and with a black and yellow bucktail.  The other Mepps was a spinner with a plastic minnow connected.  Both duds.  The red and white Mepps were always good for me as well as rooster tails and a Panther Martin. 

[RadSav]

Anyone remember the old Smolt Spinner.  Believe it was a local company.  Wish I still had some left to copy.  Those were the best dang spinners I've ever fished!  And possibly the single best summer steelhead lure regardless of lure style.  MAN we killed a lot of fish with those!!

[Gobble Doc]

I have not heard of the Smolt Spinner.  I'd like to see one. 

[RadSav]

I have not heard of the Smolt Spinner.  I'd like to see one.

All the ones I had came in a kit that you made up yourself.  The clevis was not folded and blades were lighter than a Mepps.  Took almost zero retrieve speed to get the blade spinning.  Bodies ranged from light to heavy without ever becoming bulky.  Some guys I fished with had bought them in Portland already made up.  But I'm not sure if Smolt Spinner did that or some tackle store.  By the time I found out about them all I could get was the kit.  A year later when I tried to buy more they were out of business and I couldn't find them made up or components only.   Wholly cow I wish I had loaded up to the lifetime gills before they went under!  They really were something special.

[bassquatch]

I got this Rapala 40 years ago.  I've used it over the years and have never caught anything with it.  Too bad I didn't get the perch colored one.    Anyone else have a lure that has never produced?

Taking that exact lure to Storm Lake and twitching it on the surface = skunk off!

A floating version of that lure in that color is one of our "go to" baits when the bite gets really tough! Catches crappie, sunfish and perch as well! 

[Bullkllr]

I have not heard of the Smolt Spinner.  I'd like to see one.

All the ones I had came in a kit that you made up yourself.  The clevis was not folded and blades were lighter than a Mepps.  Took almost zero retrieve speed to get the blade spinning.  Bodies ranged from light to heavy without ever becoming bulky.  Some guys I fished with had bought them in Portland already made up.  But I'm not sure if Smolt Spinner did that or some tackle store.  By the time I found out about them all I could get was the kit.  A year later when I tried to buy more they were out of business and I couldn't find them made up or components only.   Wholly cow I wish I had loaded up to the lifetime gills before they went under!  They really were something special.

I used those a few times. They had a lead body like a sliding bass weight. Can't remember the name of the company, but it was a local NW company IIRC.

[Jonathan_S]

I have a bunch of little Rapalas floating and sinking just like Gobble Doc's OP.  I have worn some of them out on Crappie.

As far as lures that don't work?  Anything for Muskie 

[Ridgeratt]

That lure on a 3 way swivel and a lead dropper from 3/4 to 2 oz. drag around behind a boat. Yee Haa.

But right now I am sort of tied up and sidelined.   

[Gobble Doc]

OK.   I'm convinced.   It's me and not the old lure.  I'm going to catch something with it and then permanently retire it.  Whatever I catch will get a picture and then posted.  Hopefully it won't take another 40 years.

[KopperBuck]

It might need some tuning. I've got crankbaits and jerkbaits in the exact same color size that don't match up when it comes to catching fish. It's a good experiment. When you're catching them, switch out to the exact same bait. You'd be surprised. Change the hooks up, tune the eye, change the line, add splitshot or add lead dots... Those are good baits, been around forever for a reason. But like any fisherman, I'm sold on the latest, greatest, and prettiest.

[nwwanderer]

Check out its action, tune eye and troll it behind a diving plug about two feet.  Browns in the winter should change your luck.

[Mfowl]

I got this Rapala 40 years ago.  I've used it over the years and have never caught anything with it.  Too bad I didn't get the perch colored one.    Anyone else have a lure that has never produced?

Taking that exact lure to Storm Lake and twitching it on the surface = skunk off!

A floating version of that lure in that color is one of our "go to" baits when the bite gets really tough! Catches crappie, sunfish and perch as well! 

Twitching a floating Rapala on the surface is a deadly tactic for sure! I've never liked them for much else.  I do however LOVE Shad Raps! Excellent lures for many species.
Two lures I'm not fond of are "Hotlips" and willow blade spinnerbaits. I've caught plenty of bass on Colorado blades but I just don't catch'em on a willow blade. As for the Hotlips, I've dragged them around trolling for many species and just haven't gotten results.

[Skillet]

That lure on a 3 way swivel and a lead dropper from 3/4 to 2 oz. drag around behind a boat. Yee Haa.

But right now I am sort of tied up and sidelined.   

 
Blue is one of my go-to colors on Banks Lake for summer walleyes.  Rigged as Ridgeratt describes on Banks in the evening and both the wally's and smallmouth will whack that thing. 

[Ridgeratt]

That lure on a 3 way swivel and a lead dropper from 3/4 to 2 oz. drag around behind a boat. Yee Haa.

But right now I am sort of tied up and sidelined.   

 
Blue is one of my go-to colors on Banks Lake for summer walleyes.  Rigged as Ridgeratt describes on Banks in the evening and both the wally's and smallmouth will whack that thing.

I'm not speaking from experience but I have watched the Al Linder fishing shows.

[Pete112288]

I got this Rapala 40 years ago.  I've used it over the years and have never caught anything with it.  Too bad I didn't get the perch colored one.    Anyone else have a lure that has never produced?

If you want to fish a lake within a week or two of the trout being planted in it and just catch those 6-8 inchers all day I would tie that thing up with a loop knot or a snap or split ring (no barrel swivel) and troll it around on some light line. That's what I do when I want to take out a kid or someone who doesent fish and just have some fun. Troll around any of those small rapalas that float and a little superlight rod. Then it is real fun the day one of the big broodstock planted trout grab it.

My worst would be an old perch colored rapala popper. Had one or two bass roll on it in the past 15 years I have had it, not more than that.

[huntnnw]

I got this Rapala 40 years ago.  I've used it over the years and have never caught anything with it.  Too bad I didn't get the perch colored one.    Anyone else have a lure that has never produced?

We caught more giant brown trout on that color than any other

[DoubleJ]

Can't think of a worst lure but my best lure is a beetle spin.  Those things literally catch anything.

[cbond3318]

Remember  the red plastic plug with a battery light in it ? Those sucked

You talkin' the Vortex Blinking plugs? Ive killed the steelhead with those numerous times. the Vortex original had a small round bill on it and you could change out the batteries....Deadly!!

[cbond3318]

I have never caught a dang thing on a spinning buzz bait...... I still throw it from time to time but my confidence is so low with it , I usually throw it 5 or 6 times and take it off 

[Curly]

Ok.  I'll give it yet another try.  Dad bought it for me to catch a bass with at Boyer park back in the 70s.  It has kicked around in the tackle box for years.  Maybe I just lost faith in it and gave up on it long ago.  It's a floater.

Sometimes if you lose confidence in a lure, it is hard to ever catch anything on it.  You may want to just retire that lure........put it up on the wall or whatever and just use other stuff.   

[Antlershed]

Ever seen a bullhead attack a plug? This damn Maglip went 2-2 on bullheads yesterday and 0-0 on Steelhead. If it didn't have a few steelhead under its belt already, I probably would have thrown it away. 

[cbond3318]

I have caught catfish on spinners but never seen that. *censored* little sucker!!!

[Pete112288]

those damn things are always all over my brads wigglers in the fall, I get half a dozen chasing my wigglers in

[widgeonwacher]

Humpy special I've only ever caught one humpy off of them

[X-Force]

Humpy special I've only ever caught one humpy off of them

Ill second that!

[Duckhunter14]

Humpy special I've only ever caught one humpy off of them

Good call they are terrible!

My lure that has never caught a thing; and I even pulled it out and got it wet the other day with no luck, is a perch colored soft plastic, but its rigged like a spinner bait with wire and a small gold spoon above it. I bought it as a kid, cant remember where. To this day I pull it out every once in a while when I'm casting to bass and give it a try and it has never once caught a fish. I have no idea why. It sure looks good, swims good, just never produced. 

[Mark251]

Hey, I have that same lure!  Had it since before I can remember - since before my hair turned grey.  I've never once used it but you've inspired me.  I'm going to drag it around Roosevelt next time out so that I can say it never caught anything for me either. Thanks for the post