How many have found a lure and fished it???

[Stingray]

How many have found baits along the bank in trees in the weeds or wherever when fishing and went on to fish them???
I mostly fish Hodges and it has more fishing line,hooks,baits,hard and soft,trash and used fishing gear than any lake I've been to!!!!
I'm always pulling braid and mono line out of my prop by the end of the day the back of my boat has a pile of line and trash from the days journey!! This year I've collected quite a few baits I've found along the way from swimbaits,crankbaits,jerkbaits ect!!
5 of the baits I cleaned up and put new hooks on and they are now ready to put in play!!
2 jerkbaits
3 crankbaits
Of these 5 one has entrigued me the most!
It's an older Bill Dance fat free shad! It's a big crankbait 3" long minus the bill and #2 hooks!!
I found this bait back in February and now that there is a pretty good crankbait bite I decided to tie it on and just fish it hard and see what I could get on it!!
I decided to head down to the Dam and since it's a deep diver went to some places with rock piles and Bring it across them!
First stop I got bumped on the next cast the fish was on!
Because this crankbait is pretty big wasn't used to the feel as it feels like a small fish is on but there was a fish on about 2lbs but it came off I should of just towed it in as it wasn't a fighter but got some slack in the line!
Oh well got the feel and kept on heading down to the dam!!
I went to a spot I missed a fish two months earlier a heartbreak that was also on a crankbait huge fish comes up big mouth shakes the bait and gone!!
So this time I was ready!! Rod reel drag sharp hooks ect.!!! I made a cast at the same angle I missed that fish 2 months earlier with the new old Bill Dance fat free shad crankbait!! First cast hammered I can't believe it!!!
The fish comes straight up jumps and it's a big one!! and it stays on!! now I have to land it it tows me around for awhile and I pray it stays on!!
As it gets close to the boat I'm looking at how it's hooked trying to grab it with those big #2 trebles as I don't use a net! It shakes once and I miss the grab but it's really hooked well second attempt and it's in the boat put it on the scale it's 8.95 lbs.
My second biggest bass of the year!!
I always get the shakes after landing a big fish no matter what the water other than the enjoyment of fishing getting a big fish is what we all are after!!
For most and myself this would have been an excellent day fishing and you could go home happy but it was early and I wasn't done yet!!
I decided to throw some different stuff because now I know the fat free shad crankbait is now in the rotation!!
I'm still kind of shaking or just exited from the last fish and BAM!!!! it's on again!!
I know it's a big fish and it comes up twice just under the surface big boils but can't see it! I'm standing up on the kayak and it's towing me and then it comes up an absolute monster I'm guessing 10lbs easy now I'm kinda shaking again it tows me around for what seems like a few minutes and I play it slowly to the boat because it's on lighter tackle!!
OK alot of things are going through my mind of what went wrong after the fact but I had one grab at the fish that now looks closer to the biggest bass I've ever seen or caught!!
I miss the grab on the second attempt and it breaks off!!!! noooooooooo!!!!
A few cuss words then the heartbreak sets in of losing the biggest bass of my life which is ironic because just a few weeks earlier I caught the biggest bass of my life a 9.79!!
Extreme frustration sets in and maybe I should have played the fish a little longer who knows that's fishing!!
Some people would say why don't you have a net??
I don't know if it would have fit in a net
As for my new old CB well I fished it yesterday and caught 2 more fish on it then lodged it in some deep rocks never to be seen again
Until maybe someday it floats back up and someone can fish it again!!!
So if you find a craw colored Bill Dance fat free shad crankbait tie it on and fish it that thing is MAGIC!!!!!

[galen]

A couple of real nice ones there. I agree with the amount of refuse at Hodges. Many years ago I was near the bridge with my mom just walking the shoreline. We saw a grebe about 40yds out acting real funny. I realized he was hung up on some line that was wrapped on some submerged structure. I stripped down to my boxers, swam out and got him free. Oh yeah, I also found a crankbait and a jointed swimbait on the same walk, although I don’t think I ever got around to casting them back in.

[Dannicus]

Awesome story and report! Yes I have found them, cleaned them up and fished them, just as I hope someone finds lures I've lost and put them to use!

[JWall]

Great job and found lures always catch fish!!

[Fisheromen]

You need to find and use a net!

[Stingray]

You need to find and use a net!

I've been around long enough that when people have told me I need to do something!!
It's usually something I don't need!
To each their own!!

[Neuroshima]

Congrats on the fish, what a fattie. I've been watching videos on YT of divers cleaning up rivers and restoring lures. This guy got 220 in 45 minutes!
Imagine what it would be like diving in our reservoirs.

[Stingray]

Congrats on the fish, what a fattie. I've been watching videos on YT of divers cleaning up rivers and restoring lures. This guy got 220 in 45 minutes!
Imagine what it would be like diving in our reservoirs.

I bet Hodges has thousands!
I was fishing on the Hernandez Hideaway side in the spring and there was an older couple on small kayaks they were right up in the bushes and trees I thought they were bird watching!!
They were actually cleaning up the bank going along rolling up fishing line wrapped up on the shoreline!!

[KillinTime]

Nice fish. I too lost my biggest hooked bass on a crank. The lower lip of the bass was too big by far to allow the hook on my Norman Big Little N to pernitrate the fishes mouth. It was just skin hooked in the lower boney part of her jaw. Her jaw bone was bigger around than my thumb. Got her to the boat and she shook her head and was gone. I fell to the boat floor and just laid there. This was at Morena.
I feel your pain.

Love finding good baits=)
Thank you for the report!

[Stingray]

Nice fish. I too lost my biggest hooked bass on a crank. The lower lip of the bass was too big by far to allow the hook on my Norman Big Little N to pernitrate the fishes mouth. It was just skin hooked in the lower boney part of her jaw. Her jaw bone was bigger around than my thumb. Got her to the boat and she shook her head and was gone. I fell to the boat floor and just laid there. This was at Morena.
I feel your pain.

Love finding good baits=)
Thank you for the report!

One thing we all have in common is that your going to lose fish every now and then!
Sometimes more than others!!
Regardless of how you bring them in!
I have seen plenty of botched netting attempts one time by my partner missed my fish during a tournament that may have cost us to place!
It happens!!

[crawdadguy]

nice fish ! I once caught a rod and reel at perris...looked really fresh. Later in the day, I put a hook on it and caught a bass..we laughed !

[Just_Bass]

Congrats on super nice fish.
I found lures many times but mostly the thing I don’t use or swollen plastic. One time I found chatterbait in pretty good condition, I use that with same trailer and caught a few fish.
I used to kid with one of my friend that he found setup all the times until I caught one myself. Not quite old but decent enough I spent 20-30 dollars on new parts and still use the reel until this day.

[Stingray]

nice fish ! I once caught a rod and reel at perris...looked really fresh. Later in the day, I put a hook on it and caught a bass..we laughed !

Awsome
That's even better! Than a lure

[Stingray]

Congrats on super nice fish.
I found lures many times but mostly the thing I don’t use or swollen plastic. One time I found chatterbait in pretty good condition, I use that with same trailer and caught a few fish.
I used to kid with one of my friend that he found setup all the times until I caught one myself. Not quite old but decent enough I spent 20-30 dollars on new parts and still use the reel until this day.

Free rod and reel is always a bonus!!

[La Mesan]

#strugglegear

[TaBASSco]

have found plenty of lures. I have even snagged a couple while fishing my own lure. I have also snagged 2 fishing nets and a couple of rods and reels over the years.

[twin22s]

I've never found or caught any lures i thought were worth fishing, but I did snag a pole with a Curado bantam CU-200 off of the pier, cleaned all the sand out of it and replaced 2 of the 5 bearings, fished that reel for years after. and yes caught many fish.

[DarkShadow]

The lures I've found I can count on one hand. Apparently I do the donating, and not the finding. Although one time I had a crackhead try to sell me a Kastmaster for 10 bucks. He tried to claim it was silver. After I said no, he just gave it to me and skittered off.

The coolest thing I've found was an old Kershaw knife on the shoreline. It cleaned up nicely.

Curado bantam CU-200...

Were those the old green tanks? A nuclear war could break out and the only 2 things that would be left standing would be roaches, and those green Curados.

I had one of those, but for some reason, it was red and not green.

[twin22s]

Were those the old green tanks? A nuclear war could break out and the only 2 things that would be left standing would be roaches, and those green Curados.

I had one of those, but for some reason, it was red and not green.

yup, still have a cu-200, cu-200BSF and CA-200 (Castaic, has a sweet flipping bar)
the red ones were JDM reels I believe, marketed as Scorpion 1000 or something.

I debate selling them all the time but they are only worth $50-60 so i'll probably just keep them on a self and use them every now and then when I feel sentimental.

[StinkyPinky23]

Found a ton, nothing spectacular caught on most. I have a couple lost lure stories. Throwing a buzzjet jr at morena, fish eats it, runs and snaps 65lb power pro on a rock. Less than 30 minutes later, we hear a two good sized splashes. We see something, motor over, and there’s my buzzjet floating with about ten yards of braid attached. Re-opener at San V. I threw a 10xd 95% of the day. I had a fish rip drag on the strike, and snap me off on 16lb sniper. With an 8’ phenix x15 HC composite rod. Later that day my buddy pulled up to see how we were doing. When I told him what happened, he asked me what color it was. He found it floating near the shore about half mile away. The stock hooks are not weak and a couple were folded out