Sorry if there is another thread on this...I searched.

Anybody tried these and had any success for bass fishing? When they went on sale a month ago they were all the rage and sold out everywhere instantly. People were buying them just to turn around and sell them for 4X retail on ebay.

I've since stumbled upon a few at Academy in CS and apparently they fly off the shelves there as well.

$15 for a plastic seems pricey to me but I don't care as long as I can catch a few nice bass off of one. Seen plenty of instagram and YouTube videos of anglers saying bass can't resist them.

I went out a couple weeks ago during a full moon at midnight and caught an unexpected catfish with one on my second cast. A small one that swallowed it whole. Needless to say both were goners.

I've been trying ever since in a heavily bass populated lake that eat up senko plastics all the time and I have yet to have gotten a single bite on one of these.

Are these things legit and I just suck at fishing?

docb said:

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Disclaimer as I have not used it but I would say do not waste your money. Easy enough to catch bass on a lot of soft plastics cheaper than that.

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I've got more colors of plastics than I know what to do with. But after watching videos it seemed fun to try something new that "bass have never seen before and can't resist".

I've tried fishing them semi wacky rig style with weighted nail through the center but to no avail.

It has been oddly slow out here recently but I'm still disappointed in the lack of results so far. Could be a combination of great marketing and/or pro anglers being paid to promote them but I was thinking surely they work.

I've still been catching pretty regularly on senko Texas rigged and on smaller swimbaits on jighead. But the bass don't want to touch these moebas I'm serving up for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Most every angler in last week's elite series were using them and catching bags! Lots of 6-8 lbers.

I just saw this style of bait and I think it's main use is it is easy to see on live scope - so if you don't have live scope, it is is just one of many soft baits available.

That is not really accurate information given to you. It wasn't the lures...as is common now...its just livescoping.
The guys saying it works are almost 100% sponsored by Berkley.

Gunny456 said:

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That is not really accurate information given to you. It wasn't the lures...as is common now...its just livescoping.
The guys saying it works are almost 100% sponsored by Berkley.

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I always kind of got a laugh out of watching some of those guys fishing BPS or Cabela's brand rod and reels and having to promote them because they were sponsored by them. I just think that would be great to fish all the time but absolutely suck to have to use such crappy equipment!

I definitely have a hard time watching fishing shows these days. There are a few I still like to watch but I really have a hard time watching the tournament fishing.

Biggest bass I've ever seen struck a broken golf tee. I teed off from a peninsula tee box, the tee was broken so it was V shaped. I tossed it in the water and BOOOMMM!!! A huge bass nailed it. I tossed a second tee that was laying on the tee box into the water and the same thing happened.

I'm not an expert fisherman, but in my limited adventures chasing bass, they don't see all that picky.

Gunny456 said:

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Most of the miracle lures and artificial baits are designed to catch fisherman more than the fish!

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All in the advertising. Im always reminded of the banjo minnow and Saturday morning fishing shows. "The fish are genetically programed to bite". Put another way, they have to eat to live.

But the advertising power of social media blows away the old fishing shows. NLBN has been a great example. All theyre selling is soft plastic paddle tails. The same thing that's been on the market for 50 years. But carpet bomb social media, relentlessly forcing it into the face of your customer base, charge $5 for a jig head and $3 per soft plastic, and rake in the money. I was on a pier in Florida a few weeks back and every single 15-25 year old walking the pier, with a dream of catching a big cobia, had one tied on. It was almost scary it was so consistent. Like someone had hijacked their brains and had complete control of their purchasing. Even though no one was catching anything on them, it didnt matter because social media had told them it would happen.

Gunny456 said:

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That is not really accurate information given to you. It wasn't the lures...as is common now...its just livescoping.
The guys saying it works are almost 100% sponsored by Berkley.

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Livescope or not. That's what they were using and catching large bags. Could they achieve the same results with a different plastic or technique? Probably. Zaldan was using a soft plastic swimbait with success, but he was targeting areas with a strong current.

I'm just saying they do work, and probably shine in certain situations. I also believe that novelty works well in high pressured areas. Fish are just as curious as humans. That's what gets them in trouble! Ha.

Just saying I had some colleagues working the event and said the guys they talked with said lots of baits were doing well....not just that one....but just about 90% were livescope specific baits. In fact they said there was a lot of ribbing and joking going on about the bait and some guys being joked about it. It makes for good marketing and conversation anyway. The tackle/lure business is really taking a hit due to livescope use. Our largest dealer also owns a large tackle store and his business is in the tank because of just livescope specific baits being the only baits selling.
The manufacturer's could use a "super bait" to pick up some lost revenue for sure.

Gunny456 said:

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Most of the miracle lures and artificial baits are designed to catch fisherman more than the fish!

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Kind of like the newest and greatest camo patterns... designed to catch/fool hunters.

Gunny456 said:

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Just saying I had some colleagues working the event and said the guys they talked with said lots of baits were doing well....not just that one....but just about 90% were livescope specific baits. In fact they said there was a lot of ribbing and joking going on about the bait and some guys being joked about it. It makes for good marketing and conversation anyway. The tackle/lure business is really taking a hit due to livescope use. Our largest dealer also owns a large tackle store and his business is in the tank because of just livescope specific baits being the only baits selling.
The manufacturer's could use a "super bait" to pick up some lost revenue for sure.

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Appreciate the information. Very interesting and funny.

You're right, when the fish are biting. It doesn't matter what you throw. I kind of figured that's what was going on.

The saltwater market seems to be more immune to live scope. There are probably 10 new bait brands a year exposed on the Texas coast. As a tackle hoe, even I have had to limit my consumption recently to only what I am presently fishing.

Gunny456 said:

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Most of the miracle lures and artificial baits are designed to catch fisherman more than the fish!

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When I was researching colors when making my own plastics, I was shocked to see that many colors all look the same to bass. I think you're 100% correct. Marketing is a huge thing and the fish aren't doing the shopping!

I also think that bait success is highly dependent on where and what youre fishing. I fish my live spring fed creek and Senko rarely catches much. A Rage Tails and Googan Krackin Kraw will outperform the Senko 7:1.

At certain times of the year, my bass will slam anything you drop in the water.

I'd never heard of livescope fishing until right now and looking at that, so if you don't need any skill or knowledge of fish and you're just throwing food straight to them, I imagine marketing plays a huge role in catching anglers.

So, there's a new really expensive fishing lure that may, or may not catch more fish? Allow me to go grab my wallet and tell me more!

Yes sir! You hit the nail on the head.

It's heading your way. Garmin has a new unit called the Livescope XR. It has the technology for deep saltwater use and they are developing the new 360 degree livescope (Not to be confused with the current downscan 360's like Humminbird has built for awhile)...this new unit will allow saltwater and freshwater anglers to see real time sonar images totally around the boat to target fish. Prototypes of this technology have already recently been used in high pay out bill fish tournaments.
Allegedly the boat that had this new "OMNI" unit tagged 18 bill fish compared to boats without that tagged one.

I had a good friend that went out bill fishing in Hawaii on a boat with one of the 360 sonars (don't know what type) and he said it was a game changer. He has his own offshore boat in Texas. I always thought it would be very productive to use a LiveScope type sonar at the jetties. Most Texas bay fishing is just too shallow for any practical benefit.

The Rise of Omnidirectional Sonars in Sport Fishing | Marlin

Good article on how the new omnidirectional sonars are changing billfishing. I have a friend that installs these on big sport fishers, he's doing really well for himself.