Old School or Smarter Fish?

[Island Runner]

That's a good question Sparky60, and one I'm interested in hearing the answer to. I kinda fall into the same catagory as you. I grew up with my Great-Grandfather fishing everyday all summer from the late 70's to the late 80's. Erie Dearies and an occasional nugget were all we ever used and can not remember a day we came in without our limit.
When I got my first Erie boat about 5 years ago, the first walleye lures I bought were Erie Dearies, as this is what I remembered. I found a lot of over 200 of them ebay and bought them for $51.00. I pretty much used them exclusively up until last season, when I started to rig the boat for trolling. The reason to rig the boat for trolling was simple. In 4 years of fishing almost every weekend, I have not pulled a limit on my own boat. Hate to admit that publicly like this but its a fact. (thats why I have never posted a report, i can tell you how and where not to fish). Now, my boat and tackle boxes are equipped to troll and will try the setup out for the first time next weekend. I planned on going up yesterday, but I came down with a sore throat and feel like crap. That and the weather report kept me home this weekend.
All this said, I to would like to know why the venerable weight forward spinner has lost favor with the walleye and the walleye fisherman alike.