One bait or another usually was part of most memories, and that's why I have boxes sitting in my garage to this day filled with old lures that I haven't fished in years...until recently, that is. I got to thinking about some of those old favorites that had served me well and decided to add them back into the mix of baits I now take with me on every trip.
One of those baits...a shallow-running crankbait...already has restored my confidence in its ability to put fish in the boat. It has proven effective not only in catching bass but some of the nicest crappie, too, I have seen in many years...including a few that easily topped more than a pound.
Everyone who has fished a large portion of his or her life has baits like these...because, let's face it, we're all pack rats at heart.
For some reason, and all too often, we get away from these baits. We find something new that promises to be the next big thing, and we put these oldies but goodies away, and before we know it, the manufacturer decides to halt production. Sometimes, the local bait shop just stops carrying the baits, or they otherwise become difficult to find.
Nowadays, however, there's more typically just some kind of mere brain lapse that causes a lure to be relocated to the shelf of relics...out of sight, out of mind, you know. It's hard to find something when you can't remember its name or something telltale about its features. However, there are occasions when all it takes to jog your memory is something as simple as a day spent loafing with your significant other.
For example, I was reading the other day about an angler who was milling around a tackle shop in Mississippi with his missus when he ran across a Terminator spinnerbait. Well aware that this bait isn't an oldie with lots of fishermen today, to this angler, this spinnerbait represented one of his long-lost favorites, and he was excited to stumble upon it.
Said the angler, "This one didn't look exactly like the bait I remembered. The head had a new shine, and there was a new skirt style with an elongated center portion, which was meant to work as a built-in trailer. But I could see the trademark titanium arm that initially set the Terminator apart from all others.
"As a kid," he continued, "I remember taking one of these spinnerbaits out of my dad's tacklebox and inadvertently trying to tear it up, as most young boys often will do with anything they can get their hands on. I would pull the arm all the way down, then move my finger and let the arm snap back into place. I would pull the blades all the way behind the head, and it would rocket back into its initial position again. It wouldn't bend, and I couldn't break it...a rarity at that age."
Upon seeing this resurrection of an old classic, the angler decided he had to have it.
"I tore it from the packaging as we left the store. I couldn't wait to get it back in the water. On its maiden voyage, I took it out to my home lake for a trip down memory lane. With my "old friend" in hand, I started down the bank. The first couple of bites brought back a lot of memories; a couple of 3-to-4 pounders created new ones."
A total of around 20 bites in a short afternoon of fishing rekindled an old relationship this angler thought he'd lost. Thinking back on some of your most memorable moments on the water may help you recall growing up fishing with your dad, catching a few big fish, or maybe just spending a good day on the water. Remembering a lure at the root of it all may just cause you to dust off one that you still have and find out if it still works.
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