Disappointing Tackle

There have been many posts asking for what tackle works best for this and that. Does anybody have any examples of tackle that was a disappointment or just didn’t work?

Thanks,
Mike

Couch fishing. and Arm chair fishing.

Clam Psycho Shad = PURE GARBAGE

The infamous PakShak. Need I say more?

Flying lure

Slab Hunter, you’re an SOB!

Gotcha!
The rest of the FES should chime in too.

I would add that any cheap “too good to be true” knockoffs are always a disappointment,

I’ve had zero luck with slender spoons. Crazy talk I know, but just havent worked for myself.

Thill night bite bobbers. The hole in the ferrel is to small and the line won’t go thru it without getting caught up in it.

slab-hunter wrote:

I would add that any cheap “too good to be true” knockoffs are always a disappointment,

X2

Lindy Darters. I’ve had some decent success with Salmo Chubby Darters, but the Lindy Darters have only produced a couple of fish ever. Not sure if it’s the rattles or the faster fall that make the Lindys so much worse than the Chubbies.

Also jointed Rapalas. I know that lots of people like them, but I can’t say that I’ve ever personally seen a fish caught on one.

Caught my record shortnose gar on a jointed rap

I have more than one musky baits that I can’t get a dam thing to look at but they caught my eye. Who knows, with the right salutation they could be dynamite. For example, I was out fishing (not muskies) with a couple of buddies and nothing was working. I went through my high confidence baits and still nothing. I finally garb this bait that I could never get anything on and thought it was junk. The next 10 cast I picked up 3 fish and more throughout the day with everyone else skunked. So far that has been the only day I have caught fish on that bait.:???:

It’s hard to catch something on a top water lure when you are standing on hard water. ____ _ ______

I’m going to strongly disagree with jointed rapalas being on this list. Caught big pike casting their biggest size, and tons of coho’s, browns, and steelhead trolling them (bright colors) on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior.

I haven’t had any success with slender spoons or chubby darters. Always try them when ice fishing… I don’t know why

Rapala DT crankbaits. Bought several of them, and they all exploded on impact with the water. No, I wasn’t slapping the weeds off at the side of the boat. Just casting was enough to destroy them.

SR

tgruenke wrote:

I haven’t had any success with slender spoons or chubby darters. Always try them when ice fishing… I don’t know why

buy several more of these in various colors and sizes. Keep trying them, you probably just got a lemon. Send me any of them that don’t work.

I bought a Lew’s spinning real last year, the white and green model, and I must say, it’s the biggest pile o’poo I’ve ever fished with. Something about the design almost sucks the line in under the spool and into the interior gearing itself. I’m not talking about how line can get under the spool, but the design elements allow for it to be sucked into the mechanism inside. The only solution is to cut the line and start over. It happens very frequently. I use a lot of spinning reels and don’t have the problem and when others have used that reel, they get the same thing. For a nearly $100 reel, you’d think they’d do a better job. I tossed it in the trash rather than use it.

Also, the KVD spinning reel. The bail fell out of the socket after two weeks and there is no anti reverse lever. You cannot backreel. Again, an $80 reel.

But I’m not bitter. Nooooo. Not me.

Somewhat related, even if not actually a “tackle” story. For years I always wanted one of those snazzy portable grills you see guys use that go in the seat pedestal bases, or mount on the side of the boat. I finally decided to buy one ($150). The poles it came with only brought it up to just above my knees, and were so chinsy that I couldn’t have it up in anything other than a glass calm day, or it would rock back and forth like it was going to fall apart. So I took it down and used the included folding legs (like most portable grills have). While setting it up on those, the bracket holding the leg in place snapped, tipping over the grill, brats, and grease all over my boat. This was all during the first time I tried to use it.

When I was a kid, some guy with a booth at one of the sports shows sold me this lure that darts around like a massive Jigging Rap, said it would work great in the ice house. First time I tried it up on Mille Lacs, I snagged four other lines in one pass.

I would agree with Lindy darters, just not the same and never produces the fish like Salmo Chubby Darters do for me.

Lindy 360 jig. I bought a handful of them a couple years ago and have yet to catch consistent fish on them. Caught one or two on Mille Lacs last year, but they would eat about anything that weekend…

Northland buckshot glider spoon. I know, its very similar to the regular buckshot spoon, but it has never worked well for me.

Rippin Raps on open water have been a struggle of mine. I use all sorts of them in the winter with great success. I guess I can work a blade bait in the summer better than a Rippin Rap…I know they work wonders, just not for me.

I also struggle with any ice panfish jig other than Marmooskas and Teardrop tungstens…I know they work, just not for me. Special nod goes to the ice worm style jigs, I don’t think I’ve ever caught a fish on one. I could probably file this one under low confidence.

I’ve had no luck with the Lindy 360 jig.

404 ERROR wrote:

Rippin Raps on open water have been a struggle of mine. I use all sorts of them in the winter with great success. I guess I can work a blade bait in the summer better than a Rippin Rap…I know they work wonders, just not for me.

Same here!

Eelpoutguy wrote:

Thill night bite bobbers. The hole in the ferrel is to small and the line won’t go thru it without getting caught up in it.

Same goes for the Thill wobble bobber. I have yet to successfully thread a line through one. Shouldn’t have bought 10 of them before finding this out I guess.
Also, this quick attach bobber with plastic bobber stops that you crimp on your line. They are on a little dial like thing. JUNK. I wasted half of the bobber stops before I even got one to stay on and then it slid up and down the line. The bobber itself is nice because you can remove it without cutting the line, but the bobber stop sucks to put it lightly. Bought it at a sports show. I think they are made in ND.

I love the larger sizes of the VMC Chandelier jig but the smallest one (1/16 oz) always hooks itself and fails.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Same goes for the Thill wobble bobber. I have yet to successfully thread a line through one.

To get the line through I thread it in and have to suck it through with my mouth on the other end.
If you don’t want your Thill Wobble Bobbers I can give them a good home.

So far, Vikings tackle Reilly Reif has been a disappointment in the pre-season.

Tuma, VMC made a change to the hook size for the 1/16 oz Tungsten Chandelier. The 1/16 oz now comes with a #14 treble instead of the original #12. No more hang up issues as you described.

slab-hunter wrote:

I would add that any cheap “too good to be true” knockoffs are always a disappointment,

Examples? Some would say Flicker
Shads are cheap knockoffs of Shad Raps but they’ve worked well for many of us and you can buy a 3-pack for not much more than a single comparable rapala. Cheap? Yep! But definitely not a disappointment.