lure choice consideration

[SenkoSam]

IMO some anglers give bass too much credit by matching the hatch. Fish in general know the real thing when they encounter it - don't ask me how. But when it comes to lures, fish have no idea (if they were ever capable of thought) of what an object is that moves unlike anything in nature.

Some of us make and test lures. We don't really make replicas of living animals to fool fish into biting but rather concentrate on lure characteristics we know fish respond to of which there are hundreds. Take swimbaits for example. Their action is quite different than that of any other lure type sold. First of all, the entire body shimmies & snakes on the retrieve; on the vertical drop, the tail flutters making the vertical drop slower. On certain days and in certain seasons swimbaits work great, at other times not so great. Last week, this one did great:

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Most of us know a bit about fish physiology when it comes to fish detecting and evaluating objects via their senses. A fish's lateral line, unique vision and ears are ultra-sensitive to anything that enters its space - even in total darkness. Lure vibration and pressure waves are detected long before a fish ever sees a lure; add to that the ultra taste and smell senses cat fish use to track animals, dead or alive.

IMO a fish's brain is like a simple switch - on or off - and when a moving object is sensed, either the fish reacts or it doesn't. The angler chooses the lure he thinks will provoke (not convince) a fish into striking due to it's aggressive nature, similar to a bull fighter taunting a bull into charging a moving cape. The usual questions asked are: should I use a wide lip or narrow lip crankbait; should my spinner bait have large or small blades; what soft plastic design might be best for the cover or structure fished or would a skirted jig be better and so on.

We cast a lure we have confidence it because it has a few essential qualities: it's the right size (within a range), can be retrieved at a certain speed (within a speed range), it has the right shape (specific to how a lure looks and acts), it demonstrates a specific action when retrieved a certain way, and it allows a presentation that best complements the lure's action. Colors are usually bright, muted or dark and a few will do in most situations.

None of the above lure qualities need be thought of as simulating a real prey animal but rather that a lure simply pushes a predator fish's buttons and produces the violent attacks fish are known for. On some days different lure types work well, but on other days specific lures work best because they look and act different a certain way. The difference is sometimes subtle within the same class of lures but most assuredly significant.

Do yourself a favor and note a lure's unique qualities that may have provoked many fish into striking (flukes happen for a few fish). If you must believe the lure was attacked primarily as a quick meal, also keep in mind what it is about the lure that generated the strike.
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[SenkoSam]

Here are a few tested creations that caught many fish of different species with the possible reasons they did so well.
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Note the four flat sides of the grub. The reason it has caught so many fish IMO is in part because of the flat sided design that allows a different kind of wiggle with rod tip twitches than that of a full round grub. Add to that the medium soft plastic used to make it. (Salt water plastic though okay, would not have allowed the same action when rigged under a float bobbing on slightly wind blown water.)

Another is what I've named the bullet grub (top lure):[/url][/img]

I have no idea why I even fished this grub last fall or when it was first made, but it turned out to be a versatile lure that's caught hundreds of fish! Why does it work so well?
Possibly the shape - a blunt non-action tail (IE curl or shad tail). What this allows (plus the use of soft plastic), is a waddle on the slowest retrieves. This lure action using a really slow retrieve provokes the strike- from 2 lb bass to the smallest panfish!

Side by side comparison fishing of the above lures with others in the grub category, prove that lure design matters in the numbers of fish caught when using extremely slow presentations. Slow retrieves that keep lures near a fish longer have caught far more fish under tough conditions than those I had to reel faster to get the tail to move.

Matching is fine, but at the end of the day it won't result in number of fish in of itself or this seven pound catfish!!!

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[SenkoSam]

deleted a duplicate.
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[dtayboyz]

Great information, however regardless of what your throwing, you have to find the fish first. Most lures are meant to catch fishermen. Lol
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[SenkoSam]

[quote dtayboyz]Great information, however regardless of what your throwing, you have to find the fish first. Most lures are meant to catch fishermen. Lol[/quote]

That's like asking which came first, the chicken or the egg. LOL Now that I'm getting better at fine tuning lure selection dependent on knowing a water, I figure the ultimate fish finders are our lures.

As long as a lure is up to one's standard by way of comparing it to other lures and their catch rates, we cast the lure more often under different conditions to search water and just maybe find a pattern that lasts days or maybe even weeks. A big part of patterns is lure choice and a lure's standards much of the time must be met along with presentation.

My hand poured swimbait in the post was never high on my list of effective swimbaits until the lure got clobbered last week. I thought maybe manufactured swimbaits were of a better design and had a better action. But comparing the hand poured to the store bought bait demonstrated a significant difference: the hand pour's body shimmied/snaked through the water; the other hollow body waddled. Maybe both lures can catch bass equally, but I have a feeling the hand poured may do better at times because of its action.

Most lures advertised by pro anglers are meant to catch fishermen whether or not the lures work or when they work best. Basements are filled with such lures - mine included.
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