I Used to Tear Them Up

[FlatsNBay]

When I was a kid and even a young adult, one of my favorite baits and techniques  was to cast a Rapala 11G floating minnow. Let the rings settle then twitch, let the rings settle, twitch. Kaboom! I would get explosive hits! I've probably caught over a thousand bass over the years this way.

For whatever reason, I haven't used this technique in many years. I'm going to resurrect my old Rapalas and try them again when I go pond hopping. I bet it still works just as good.

Who's with me? Do you have an old bait or technique that you don't use anymore?

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[D.W. Verts]

All of them... I've done that with the Rapala in the last year. Still works. Of course.

Dale

[bigjim5589]

I rarely will fish a Jitterbug or Hula Popper now, but they will still produce some fish. I still have a few Sputterbugs too that I haven't used in many years.

The Rebel Minnows had been mentioned in the post about jerkbaits and they & other older lures like the Cordell Redfin have been some I continued to use over the years because we chased Striped Bass with them. It's been a good while since I had caught a bass on any of them.

I'll have to give the old Arbogast lures a try again!  They're always fun to use even if I don't catch anything on them. 

[big g]

Did it for many years.  I was a Rapala, Devil Horse guy before I got hung on plastics.  Nothing like that top water explosion.  I bet they still work as well as ever.  Just don't overwork them.

[Capt. BassinLou]

I used to fish Rapala's for years. Threw the F7 a lot!! The Oscar and mayan cichlids populations exploded and stopped throwing them.

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[Smallie_Stalker]

I still use the floating Rapalas regularly on the little ponds I fish. The jointed Cordell Redfins too but for those it's mostly as a slowly and steady retrieved wake bait.

To answer the second part of your question there are a couple of things I don't throw anymore and I'm not sure why. The two biggest ones are prop baits and the old reaper style plastics. I need to add both of these back to my lure rotation!

Great topic!

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[Wizard]

I used many of the old lures at LOZ. My favorite was the Lazy Ike. A 1960's lure still caught bass as of 2010.

Wizard

[Smallie_Stalker]

I used many of the old lures at LOZ. My favorite was the Lazy Ike. A 1960's lure still caught bass as of 2010.

Wizard

Over the years I've talked with some younger anglers who had never seen a  Lazy Ike or a Helin Flatfish. A couple said they don't look like a bass lure but couldn't tell me what they meant by that or what fish they would throw it for, although one did say he would maybe use it as a trolling lure for walleye.

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[Hobious]

I have a few very old rapalas.  Just letting them float and twitching them sometimes seems like the only option.  Even as a kid I noted the didn't swim very consistently.  Some would veer right, others left.