Lure design - KISS ! It's about CONTRASTS ! Think about it.

[Spoonminnow]

I was sitting at my work bench making a few soft plastic lures, thinking about why certain lures catch fish. Is it color, size, action, texture (softness, fine appendages or grain), scent, natural appearence, vibration or a combination of all or any of them? If so, WHY?

Then it occurred to me that of the hundreds of plastics I've bought or made that have worked at one time or other have something that fish notice, become curious about and eventually decide to eat. You can see what I'm talking about on YouTube from the many underwater videos using AquaView.

First of all, artificial baits rarely have to be a detailed copy of the real thing to catch fish. For example Mad Man Craws never out produce a skirted jig and trailer , and they are exact copies of crawfish!

Scent is 50/50 as a factor. I know that after one fish hits a live worm, others soon come around. Is it the bait or something about the turned-on fish that infects other nearby fish to higher aggression levels, regardless of species? A YouTube video demonstrated one perch going after a salted minnow and soon half a dozen others joined in. Some may insist the salt is a factor, but I've disproven that time after time using salted and unsalted plastics.

That leaves the other things - size, action, appearence (color), texture and vibration.
When a company markets a new lure, the hype is usually about how natural the bait is or what it represents to a fish. If fish could speak English, I doubt we could understand it or come away satisfied with why fish hit artificials. Nature is somewhat random and generalities are all we have to go by, therefore, I chose to go with CONTRAST as the most applicable generalization of why all fish bite lures.

Fish feel a lures presence with it's lateral line and can locate prey with it in the dark or in muddy water.A proven FACT! The lateral line indicates size, speed, direction and action of whatever swims within range, similar to SONAR, but more advanced. Sight does not produce 3D images, but one eye and the lateral line do so combined. The closer in proximity a fish is to a lure, the more both work together to feel it and evaluate it as a food source.

Active fish aren't chossy (most of the time), so why would a food-bloated or semi active fish eat a lure? .... LURE CONTRAST and the fish's nature combined.

Look at all the designs on this site that produce big stringers. Crappie Seeker has a 2" shad that will work 99 percent of the time he finds fish. Why? Because of three contrast factors: color, body dimension/shape and most important - the PRONG TAIL.

[Spoonminnow]

con'd

The tail quivers with the slightest movement and it drives fish to pounce like a cat on a mouse. The lure no more resembles a shad than my pinky, but many species will eat it just because the tail action stands out (maybe) indicating a trembling fingerling vulnerability! Bullies abound in nature and so do their victims (except most people don't eat their victims but fish do). Also in this case, size matters and not in a match the hatch kind of way. The dimensions are small by most lure standards and easily swallowed. Fish conserve energy like no hybrid car ever made, so they'll always have reserves to eat, eat more or run! The easier and slower the meal the better.

Is natural motion important? I think it can be far more important than lure appearence at times. For example, I pour my Spoon Minnow usually in one or two colors. I could catch fish all day with green pumpkin with green and black flakes in most water clarities, so color is not that important. It's the incredible minnow-like motion that generations of fish have imprinted in their brains that they recognize and accept as prey minus the details such as scales, color and eyes. A minnow alone stands out (again, contrast) and most fish at least eye-ball the
object with curiousity. That's the first step in the bite sequence, not as important in a reflex strike.

But unnatural motion is also an attractor. Creature baits such a the smallest Zoom Brush Hog exhibit an unnatural profile and tail action. What more can an active fish ask for? Again, contrast is key and the general appearance is buggy if anything. When you think about it, anything that is kind of like another thing, is an abstract of it and abstracts are what fish fall for.

Forty years of fishing has shown me over a thousand situations where contrast matters. Maybe you see what I'm talking about or recognize the idea of CONTRAST's potential for lure design and be skeptical of manufacturer or sponsored pro claims in future purchases. I own over a thousand lures and will probably give away most of them to friends and relatives.
Too many choices make life (and fishing), too complex.

Frank

[JSC]

Just a little add on to this ... "Fish conserve energy like no hybrid car ever made, so they'll always have reserves to eat, eat more or run! The easier and slower the meal the better" ...

If a fish is going to have to use more energy to "catch" its prey than what it will gain .. I think .. that little calculator of theirs tells them to "lay off" .. Fish can live a long time with out feeding .. they live off of their body fat .. thats why they can survive thru some of the other than normal situations more noticeable in streams than lakes ..
Just 2 cents worth ... good thread
JSC

[fishinbub]

Senkosam, do you ever sell some of your hand poured spoon minnows?

[Spoonminnow]

Not usually, but contact me by email and I'll find out your preferences as to size and color and the jigs you use.
I always enjoy when people catch fish with something new, especially if I've designed or made it myself.
I'm really looking forward to the coming season to try it out on different species.

Some soft plastics seem to have a better multispecies/ multiseason repeat success rate than most hard baits I've used, but you never know. I just have a feeling on this one (and the weedless topwater Turtle I designed for bass) that it will do really well. I'm thinking this will replace most curl tail grubs I own, but not small shads (Niffken's), 2" tubes, prong tail grubs (1/2" grub with one or two strands of silicone) or my flash jigs (flash-a-bou tied to 1/16 oz and 1/64 oz jigheads).


[email protected]

Frank

[jusanothajoe]

good read senko

[Spoonminnow]

Thanks

[MO QWACK]

Good thread.... I think you are right. I fish some deep water high pressure crappie and I've seen them hit like they were never going to eat again and then .. bam you couldnt beg one to bite. As soon as you switch to some unheard of color that was in the dark depths of the tackle box, it was back on like Donkey Kong.
Spawning crappie to the same thing. boat after boat hit the bank yet the boat doing something they haavent seen 100 times get the fish.
I like the "shakey head" jigs heads as well the look real when used with a softer plastic. The fads or new craz seems to be more real action. Shakey heads, drop shots, Wackey baits. So I think contrast with natural action is the key

[revtoby]

Great stuff...guys.... I think salt water fish vary greatly in what makes them strike... I find them to be more aggressive. Maybe because they live in greater bodies of water and chase is a huge factor. I love to see Specs fighting for the same bait. I have seen multiple fish following a hooked fish to the boat..,, I believe it's way more about action and movement for salties.... Just my two cents.

[Spoonminnow]

I think salt water fish vary greatly in what makes them strike... I find them to be more aggressive

The first time I saw those giant psychodelic colored squid baits used for Marlin, I nearly fell off my chair! Fish brains and senses are pretty much the same from guppies to sharks and most will hit on the wierdest stuff! How many of you have seen sunnies nip at blue Stren monofilament but ignore your bait?

I believe the the accuracy of any information we take for granted is only as valid as the source. Homer Circle, Doug Hannon and other old time anglers on TV and the hundreds of fishing articles I read over the years were the only sources I had in the past. Now, with all the research done over the last 40 years and from exchanging information with many of you, I wonder how much was opinion, imagination, just plain BS or fact-based-on-real scientific research in the lab and natural environment.

Even if you got your information from your grandfather, uncle, cousin or a pro angler explaining why and when you should use certain baits, you still should question their source of information. No doubt, it is difficult - faith in something for the wrong reasons is hard to dislodge after years and years of hearing the same mantra over and over. I sometimes think our brains have been tatooed with so much misinformation, we automatically assume as true anything based on it. In fact, on some sites, some anlgers are down right insulting and refuse to even consider a theory such as lure contrast! (Maybe doing so might cause their brains to explode!) When we rely on advice or a creed that is too specific regarding baits, regardless the expertise, we limit ourselves. There are just too many variables in the waters we each fish to put so much emphasis on the lure versus fish location! Though at times, some lures do seem magical!

I think everyone here has been in a boat with someone, both of you catching fish on totally different lure types and colors. If so, you've just proven the theory of lure contrast. I'll bet few of you ever give a thought to matching the hatch (specific color and species). Even if you do, I don't think your odds of success go up greatly.

Frank


(Our fourth snow storm of the winter is just beginning and I can't help myself - forgive the rant.)