Lure design/ lure craft - why it makes a difference re: fish strikes

[Spoonminnow]

Over the decades as a lure user to the exclusion live bait, I remember reading so many articles and watching so many show that claim why fish bite certain lures. It pretty much came down to the imitation of a prey animal or someone else's lure design. There are classic trout fly patterns that go back decades as well as soft plastic shapes copied by thousands of lure makers. Most catch fish. But when you take into account the incredible variety of lure designs that catch the same or different species on the same day, it should make one wonder if imitation is all that big a reason fish strike regardless of what is being imitated.

Most of us have witnessed fish striking the most outlandish lure designs and not only by chance. Go back the next day or month and fish still strike the same designs. Some would say fish recognize a lure as some animal/easy prey and that it was feeding time. Some go as far as insist fish were targeting a prey species when they hit a lure. Apart from that classic thought process, I would suggest turning the page and look closely at how lures that catch fish perform in the water.

Many on crappie.com have seen my many hybrid designs - all of which get struck. Do I imitate or modify them? Sure, if they consistently catch fish. But as usual, I tire of casting the same stuff regardless how many fish are caught and try to discover different shapes & actions combined that fish strike because it's in their nature to do so. Simple as that!

Again, there's nothing wrong with imitation and in fact if an angler stuck with only one lure (Crappie Magnet & light jig), he or she could do very well and on one color to boot! But for me, I like playing with fish like I do my dogs, seeing what excites them, chase and then hold on to an object. Granted it's not fair, but animals don't know right from wrong espcially when it comes to bullying as well as what to bull - which includes moving objects almost as large as they are.

Next time you catch fish on a lure, rather than think what were they thinking?!!, try and remember - they didn't and don't. They simply strike as is their nature confirming time and again that simple is as simple does.

Cases in point:
This rather large white sucker attacked this chartreuse Magnet-tail soft plastic hybrid and unpainted 1/16 oz jig:



add to that bite, these species caught in the same lake on the same day:


...along with this nice size chain pickerel: