I used to use in-line spinners often many years ago when I first started fishing.  They catch fish for sure.  Most of the time, a little snap of the rod tip will get them spinning, but that can be a pain.  I also got tired of snagging and losing them, or the hooks rusted and I just didn't bother to replace them.  

I think that my use of them declined more to changes in my home waters over the years, specifically drastic increases is SAVs (native and invasive).  Having to clean weeds off my lures all the time is a pain, but with in-line spinners, when algae or stringy weeds get caught in the clevis, they don't work, and when that happens almost every cast no matter what you do, time to clip that lure off.  But, that can be said of in-line spinners in general with regard to my lack of use of them any more, with an exception on my part when targeting musky, pike, or any of the salmonids of the Great Lakes.  Safety pin style spinners are a different story, and my use of them is to target larger species, especially bass.

Betta, just to understand your goal, this box/kit is mainly something you'd like to have with you for any occasion, not just a planned fishing trip, right?  Good call keeping it simple.  If you live in a warm climate, be careful about storing your box in a car or something though.  Vehicles get very hot.  And some lures, like hard plastic minnow baits (like Rebel minnows or crawfish), will expand and split right down the back, and they never seem to work right after that.  

Another suggestion, if you are out in the field and drop the box in the water, or it rains, or you wade into deep water, and water gets inside your box, then when you get home, you should dry it out and all of the lures, hooks, etc. that may rust.  In addition to rusty hooks and blades, the rust will get all over your box and it's a pain to clean.  Another solution is that they sell water tight vest tackle boxes now, something to think about down the road.

I used to use in-line spinners often many years ago when I first started fishing.  They catch fish for sure.  Most of the time, a little snap of the rod tip will get them spinning, but that can be a pain.  I also got tired of snagging and losing them, or the hooks rusted and I just didn't bother to replace them.  

 

I think that my use of them declined more to changes in my home waters over the years, specifically drastic increases is SAVs (native and invasive).  Having to clean weeds off my lures all the time is a pain, but with in-line spinners, when algae or stringy weeds get caught in the clevis, they don't work, and when that happens almost every cast no matter what you do, time to clip that lure off.  But, that can be said of in-line spinners in general with regard to my lack of use of them any more, with an exception on my part when targeting musky, pike, or any of the salmonids of the Great Lakes.  Safety pin style spinners are a different story, and my use of them is to target larger species, especially bass.

 

Betta, just to understand your goal, this box/kit is mainly something you'd like to have with you for any occasion, not just a planned fishing trip, right?  Good call keeping it simple.  If you live in a warm climate, be careful about storing your box in a car or something though.  Vehicles get very hot.  And some lures, like hard plastic minnow baits (like Rebel minnows or crawfish), will expand and split right down the back, and they never seem to work right after that.  

 

Another suggestion, if you are out in the field and drop the box in the water, or it rains, or you wade into deep water, and water gets inside your box, then when you get home, you should dry it out and all of the lures, hooks, etc. that may rust.  In addition to rusty hooks and blades, the rust will get all over your box and it's a pain to clean.  Another solution is that they sell water tight vest tackle boxes now, something to think about down the road.

soft plastic  like worms and jigs will actually melt. 

soft plastic  like worms and jigs will actually melt. 

This is usually a material incompatibility problem. Some plastics, mainly in cheaper tackle boxes, do not like the materials that worms and twisters are made of.

Oh, I know soft things melt. I pick up any baits I find along the sides of rivers, and I once had a rubber crawdad melt in my backpack pocket. Only found out when I stuck my hand in there. Freaked me out a bit when I reached for a solid bait and got this nasty mess of slimy warm stuff. 

Now I put soft baits inside the backpack and away from the sun's heat. I have a small collection, mostly large worms and stuff that I think people threw away after not catching anything on them. 

Given the size of this thing, I won't bother keeping it in the car, I'll just pocket it. 

I've added a sharp pocketknife with a 1.5" blade, another grubtail, a couple of hooks with bits of rubber on them to look like shrimp, and two 1.5" Panfish Assassin baits. The baits are purple on top and white underneath, and they're full of sparkly bits. I tested them by dangling them in my fish tanks, and I got a very positive response. Most of my fish at least showed interest in the sparkly bits, and most of my sunfish tried to eat them. Couldn't manage it, too small, but they tried. 

I tested a few of the lures on some young bass yesterday. A lot of them darted over to see what had just plopped in, but none of them actually bit, aside from a couple who very carefully tasted the edges and then swam away. Any tips on getting them to go from staring to biting? I tried wiggling the bait and making it 'jump' like a frightened shrimp, but it didn't really work. 

I think I've figured out why bass are trickier. Sunfish and shiners eat things they think they might be able to eat, like little white bits of bacon fat. They'll bite something just to test it. Bass only eat things they know they can eat, like bugs and minnows. They stare at things instead of impulsively biting them, and if they aren't impressed, they don't eat it.

when i was in ny, i used to get these tiny white scented plastic bait made for trout , i could cut small pieces and thread on tiny hooks for sunnies, or use whole for smallmouth bass , trout, don't remember their name and have not seen them in fl , but they were very effective and versatile.

They stare at things instead of impulsively biting them, and if they aren't impressed, they don't eat it.

Actually, there are tons of various bass lures that trigger strikes.  I doubt that bass think about things much, rather, certain activities cause them to bite, and bass use some or all of their senses to find and attack their prey.  Topwater lures and spinners don't really resemble anything that they eat visually, yet the disturbances that they create on or in the the water cause "reaction" strikes.  If the water is muddy, they can hone in from long distances where the lure is as it chugs along (using a buzzbait as an example) right up to the point of attack.  They usually hit their target on the attack, but sometimes miss.  In clearer water, their lateral line detects the surface activity and they use their eyesight to more accurately hone in the strike.  There is no thinking about it...these types of strikes are predatory and explosive.  There are many lures and/or techniques that can cause this, including plastics.

If you even take a plastic worm and drop it in front of a bass, it will come up and stare at it if it doesn't bite the lure on the fall.  But, if you twitch that lure just a little bit, or hop it away from the bass, the bass will gain interest.  Twitch it again, and perhaps again, and sooner or later the bass will either lose interest or jump all over it.  Point being, even with your lure, don't give up if it doesn't seem interested right away.  Tempt it to bite.

As far as soft plastics and heat go, although I don't live in the South, my state sees plenty of 100 degree days in the summer, and I've never had heat alone melt quality soft plastic lures while in my car.  I will admit that they may soften a bit, but never have melted.  They will melt when combined with certain plastics, as Matt has said, and also certain types of rubber (like rubber skirted jigs).

But, there are exceptions.   A couple years ago I purchased some soft plastics that had scent or some sort of attractant, made by Strike King, I believe, KVD series, that I used for jig trailers, and they melted and made a big gooey mess all over my tackle box.  It wasn't due to combining with other materials, nor was it heat (they were in my air conditioned house)...and although I'm not 100 percent positive, I think it was sunlight that caused it.  This particular box was sitting in direct sunlight, through a window in my basement.

I'm not saying that heat never melts soft plastic lures.  In a car, temperatures can really get up there, so maybe it can, but it hasn't yet happened to me (and I've done a ton of fishing over the years, and accidentally left tackle in my vehicle or boat for long periods of time during the summer).  Bottom line, it is probably best to not store your box in a car anyway, because it isn't worth the chance of having your investment ruined, and with that I agree.  UV rays could be the worst culprit.

Let me add that with bass fishing, it's not so cut and dry...there are times when bass get finicky and won't bite lures, and sometimes not even live bait.  If the reaction bite was such a sure thing, then bass fishing would be too easy, and you'd never see tournaments.  There are great fishing days, and there are tough ones.  There are days when soft plastics fished with a finesse type of style will out fish anything else, and there are days when you can't possibly keep up with the reaction bite of certain types of lures, like spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, lipped or lipless crankbaits, topwater lures, or chatterbaits.  And I've only touched the surface.  Check out the on-line stores that sell bass tackle and look at the variety.  It's overwhelming, but there is a time and a place for many of those lures.
 

There are lures that catch fish, and there are lures that catch fisherman.  Figure out the ones that catch fish best for you, and your location, match your tackle, and stick with them.  I learned the hard way...I own tons of tackle that works, but I keep going back to the stuff that produces day in and day out.

But then again, that's half the fun, figuring that all out.  And just when you think you have it all figured out, you learn something else.

Betta, here's a tip that might help with the soft plastics that you find.  Often, you'll find them torn up from being used.  But you can trim them back and use them as shorter versions of those lures, or even cut them into smaller pieces and use them, or melt them down and create your own lures (make a mold)...but maybe even easier than that is to take a soldering iron and use that to repair the damaged portions, using bits and pieces of other ones that can't be repaired as matrix to add to the repair.  You can do this for the ones that become torn that you purchased too.

I actually keep a mini battery powered line cutter that I use as a welder for repairing my soft plastics (If it's my last one of a hot color, LOL) 

Avoid the fumes though...nasty stuff.

Hmm, I do have a torn-up newt lure that would work well for spare rubber. I'll keep that in mind if I find something cool, as the ones I find usually look like they've been torn off the hook and thrown on the bank. 

I've just added a white-feathered rooster tail and a little shiny rubber minnow. At this point, I'm confident that I have a decent chance at catching anything I spot, except maybe giant catfish. 

I caught a bass! Little one, probably about seven inches, on the little minnow. I had a lot more try to bite it, but I could only find little bass, and most of them couldn't get the bait into their mouths. 

I did figure out the right way to get bass interested, though. Just present them with something that looks alive, then jerk it away a few inches when they come over to inspect it. About half the time, that triggered a bite. 

Ooh, good idea. I'll just have to find a bag that holds water and folds up small enough to fit... could be a bit tricky. Any suggestions?

The zip part doesn't fold up small enough unless it's a really small ziploc. I may have to just pocket a couple of bags whenever I take the kit somewhere.

Edited by Cu455, 24 April 2015 - 10:58 AM.

Today we went to a park that has a lake. I'd been there before, so I knew about the lake, and I brought my pocket kit in case there was something interesting.

There was. 

Swarms of baby fish that I was fairly sure were bass. Couldn't ID them for certain, though, so I got my smallest hook out and baited it with a tiny piece of white lure rubber. 

Tada!

Largemouth bass, I believe.