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  1. #1
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    Question for those that use JDM soft plastic baits

    Simply put, do those of you that purchase JDM soft baits (specifically creature baits, craw baits, and big worms...stuff you'd throw on a Texas rig) feel that they are worth the extra money? Considering that most seem to be about twice the cost of baits like a D-Bomb, Sweet Beaver, Rage Bug, or Zoom Ole' Monster, I've had a hard time pulling the trigger on actually purchasing some. I don't fish heavily pressured waters around where I live, so I don't feel the need to use something different based on the reasoning that the fish have become conditioned to a particular bait. Do you feel you get more and/or bigger bites on the JDM plastics versus the "traditional" baits most others use?

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    #2
    The simple answer is that if the "usual suspects" are working well for you, I recommend you keep using them and save your hard-earned money for more useful endeavors. JDM fishing tackle in general isn't a panacea for not catcihing fish, it's simply a matter of enjoying the refinement of using fantastic fishing gear that matters most to me.

    Please have a great day!
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  3. Member DrewFlu33's Avatar
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    #3
    I'm a...recovering...soft bait addict. One thing that I've learned over the years (that I still have to constantly remind myself about) is that subtle differences in soft plastics really don't matter in the vast, vast, vast majority of situations. What's really driven that home for me is working on removing a bunch of the tackle I carry in my boat. Essentially what I did was to continue carrying all the junk I normally carried, but to set aside one bag. In that bag was either 1)the couple shapes that I thought would be hot that day, or 2)my favorite bait in my favorite color from a given category...and 1 and 2 were usually the same thing once I got to putting baits into categories. The other stuff was still there to soothe my OCD, but my goal was to try to operate out of the one bag. I found that for the entire year, with the exception of one tourney where I had to dig for something in white where my "go" bag had only green pumpkin, I never touched the other stuff. I also found that things were a lot smoother all around, whether that was because I was more efficient not having to dig to find stuff or because I wasn't wasting time wondering if a Z-Man Palmetto Bug might be better than my D-Bomb. Anyhow, I digress...

    Unless you're getting something that's truly unique, whether that be in action, shape, sink rate, etc., I don't think it's worth it at all unless you just want to try new stuff. And with the way the US fishing market is operating these days--lots of US anglers plugged into the JDM market, thousands of custom bait makers working with hundreds of custom mold makers, major manufacturers knocking off anything that gets even a marginal amount of interest and doing so very quickly, and so on--I think the number of truly unique baits you can find in the JDM market is as small as it's ever been.

    I think this is pretty closely related to the role of confidence in fishing: If you think something will work, chances are it will. Would that JDM bait give you more confidence that a fish will bite it? If so, chances are, it's going to be better. Maybe it's the flip side, that it's something different than the stuff you know the fish will bite, so you really doubt whether it's going to get bit. In that case, I think you've got a double whammy in that you've paid twice as much for something and, chances are, it's not going to work as well as the cheaper stuff you're used to buying.
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    #4
    I picked up a few OSP Dolive Beaver last year and it was great using them on Free rig when bass season opened here after spawn...until soon I realized the durability on these baits were terrible. so I switched back to sweet beaver and moved on.
    From my experience a lot of JDM soft plastics are well designed and not built for lasting, compared to things from this side of pond. I love to try them and will continue to play with a few new toys every now and then but I would not use them as my go to baits, with the exception of Megabass and Keitech, which are not really JDM these days.

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    #5
    I really appreciate the input so far guys! I tend to be one of those guys that the lure catches me more than it catches the fish. There are some JDM baits that are very unique and a lot of others that are very similar to existing baits that I use. Drew, I think you are right in that minor differences in a bait very rarely equate to more fish. I think I'll probably just stick with using what I've got and maybe occasionally purchase a pack of something JDM just to try. I did pick up a single pack of Dolive Beavers last year, along with a few free rig weights, but never wound up trying them. Too often I get stuck in using baits and techniques that have worked for me in the past and completely forget to try something different or new. That's something I'm hoping to work on this upcoming season. Thanks again fellas!

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    #6
    Green Pumpkin and Junebug will work 99% of the time.
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  7. Member
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    #7
    I use JDM stuff and they are worth the extra money. I fish extra clear water and a softer, more flexible bait with subtle colors makes a big difference most of the time. There are USA made baits that are still like that but a lot of time, these companies change the formula because people want more durability. When I fish dirty water, it doesn't seem to make much difference.

  8. Member basscat21's Avatar
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    #8
    We as fishermen are always putting human thought into to our prey. Anthropomorphic thought. If we believe that the fish are discerning predators, we will look for that never-ending ending pusuit of the special bait. What the JDM world offers, refinement, elusive availability, and a higher cost. That cost factor is interesting, we associate cost with better. All of this works on confidence, if you fish with belief that your lure has tha magic power, you will present that lure with greater degree of attention in the cast, the movement, and attention to the cues that fish has bit.

    Reality fish are very basic, if they have the need to feed, they will. If they are aggressive, they will react.
    How good the finish is on a crankbait really does not matter......go in a pool and watch, you can't see the finish on a wobbling lure. David Fritts won a ton on Poes, they look like a 2nd grade art project. What in the water looks like a spinnerbait? Have you seen anything that really moves like a senko? We as consumers are susceptible to false realities of the powers of products.

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    #9
    There’s a reason Zoom still makes Trick worms and lizards.

    There’s a reason Manns still makes Jelly worms.

    Same with other manufacturers who’ve marketed the same soft plastic for years or decades…they work.

    I was one of those guys in the past who constantly changed to the “hot” color, just to change again six months later. Nowadays I limit myself to a couple of different colors, and catch them just fine. But I know deep inside I could dig into the archives of my tackle, pick up a Fire and Ice, Motor Oil Red or Gold flake, or Red Shad and probably catch them just as well.

    It’s all about confidence. If you’re not confident in what you’re throwing, doesn’t matter what it is. Guy posted above mentioned Poes crankbaits. I haven’t thrown one in many years, but if I pulled out one of my boxes full and tied on a 300 or 400 it’d catch fish.

    Bottom line, throw what you want. But truthfully, there’s nothing wrong with the bulk soft plastic you can get from Bitter’s or LurePartsOnline. You can just buy more of them.

  10. Member
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    #10
    There is nothing wrong with any lure. I use Trick worms and caught my biggest largemouth on a Mann's. What I am looking for is something right with them. Like you said they have withstood the test of time because something is right with them.
    Depending on where you fish, some colors are better than others and I think you won't get the same results, you won't catch them as well. You'll catch some but that is not the goal here. We want to catch as many as we can.
    I also used Poe's and they were different. They were made of cedar and their surface was uneven because of the wood and the ''crude'' paint job. They had something special.

    What I'm looking for in a lure is that something special that will let me catch more bass, not necessarely when they're real agressive or real hungry or inactive, but between those two situations which is most of the time.

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    #11
    So many superb replies and very well written at that! Something many fishing forums lack.
    When it comes to lures, I could put a down payment on a house with all the lures I've bought in decades past. I believed quite a lot of what was written in BassMaster Magazine and from fishing shows, never realizing it targets the uniformed or inexperienced with subtle advertising. Now I make many of my own lures as well as come up with new hybrid plastic/ modifications just for ha ha's to see what works most of the time depending on presentation and areas fished.

    (I'm call BassMaster today and telling them not to send any more magazines under my life membership. I can't see wasting the paper and postage for no good reason.)