Likes: 
Thanks: 
HaHa: 
I've been getting alot of questions recently to explain why I'm against "HardBaits" and Micro or Small Baits....
First of all, I'm not against Hardbaits...I have every Lucky Craft and Megabass Lure that I ever purchased except for a couple that I lost....no way am I giving away a 20 dollar bait, or pitching it!I also have my Dahlbergs, Lau Lure Spinner baits, etc...they are all sitting nice, dry, and pretty, in Clear Plastic cases just like any Hoarder would do!
Why Plastics???...IMHO, QUALITY Hardbaits require a large initial outlay of $$$, when I would throw one and it got stuck or lost, that's all I could think of....and it pissed me off! How many plastics could I have bought for that money and I don't say a thing if I lose one or it tears...MEND-IT, even allows more and more uses of the Plastic! Maybe over years hardbaits many be cost effective Vs. Plastics...but I also am a believer that fish have memories and the same bait will lose effectivness over the years.
Hardbaits, also IMHO, are a reaction bait, and some fish do not react to a bait like a Largemouth does, Hardbaits also have less triggers than plastics and mainly have one function or action, directed by a certain technique. I have been out fishing with several people who spend hours trying to decide which of 15 rod and reel combos to use, and then spend hours trying to decide which suitcase of lures to try, and then what color, etc. WHY MAKE FISHING HARDER THAN IT IS???
Basically, like I've said many times, a Predator fish mainly eats other fish! That's as basic as you can put it! So basically, find something that looks like a fish, has "Bite Triggers" like a fish, can be casted and retrieved to make it look and act like a fish, and chances are good, that you will catch a Bigger fish!
So why a "Plastic fish"??
Again, IMHO, when a predator fish grabs ahold of a hardbait, they immediately know and realize, this is not real, doesn't feel right, etc....and they either spit it out or try to dislodge it immediately...how many "Bad Hookups" have you had on hardbaits?
With a Good Plastic, it is soft, maybe oily, smells, swims realistically, and has other fooling triggers, that make the fish want to eat it....so they hold on longer, and often take a second gulp to try and swallow it...this gives you even more time to get a good hook set.
You will also find that MANY TIMES when a fish misses the swimbait, if you stop reeling, it will come back for a second, third, fourth, or more tries at it!
We have been out many times when the fish are hitting the first time to injure the swimbait, then come back to kill it, or eat it after that....a swimbaits motion and action can change by the way you control it.
Listen, there are no wrong ways to fish, but some are just better than others...I was tired of carrying all kinds of stuff...I enjoy hiking to out of the way areas to get away from pressured areas and having to deal with "The Finest"...so I need minimal gear.
I also like to fish with my friends from a boat, and I like quick choices, and again, minimal gear.
Good Plastic swimbaits (artificial fish) can easily be matched for color, size, style...they are easier to change out...you can easily make them weedless....YOU HAVE A MUCH BETTER LANDING PERCENTAGE....the movements are much more realistic....and you can adjust, adapt, or incorporate, different styles or techniques, if conditions, patterns, etc, change...all with the same rod, reel, line, and Plastic!
Why not Micro lures, small plastics, or "movement restricted" plastics???
MOST OF THE TIME, At a lake like CJ, the BIG fish are moving...you do not have ALOT of weeds yet, you have areas of manmade cover, and structure....Moving Predators are searching for food...small fish are looking for small food, big fish prefer bigger food!
I do not vertical jig cover at CJ because most of it is holding smaller fish....larger fish are moving, or off the main cover, or suspending on drops...you have to cover water and place a large bait so it will attract fish...you can do this by swimming it, when they are feeding, or make it look injured or dying, when they are full or resting....they are opportunistic, and will feed under almost all circumstances, if you present it properly....they will not pass up an easy freebie, even if their bellies are full!
If you watch the people at CJ during spring through late fall who use small lures, you will see they catch mainly smaller fish that swallow the lure and get gut hooked...if the small fish are released, they soon die....with a larger bait and hook, it cuts WAY DOWN on the number of gut hooked fish, and the catch rates of larger fish improve.
Some days I do like to catch 200 fish, no matter the size...and alot of times when small ones are feeding heavy they will hit a big swimmer, AND HIT IT HARD...but I have never gut hooked one, and never had to wonder if it was going to live when I released it...99 percent of my hookups are in the top lip or top of the mouth! Sickle hooks, plus braid, and no "power hook-sets", all combined with larger swimbaits, result in this kind of a hookup rate, along with very few lost fish.
IMHO, a plastic swimbait is the most adaptive single lure there is....Purists will not agree that a swimbait can or should be used the way that I use it....but you can't debate the results!
Even better is the brand I like, has 3 body styles for different bites or patterns...and like the craw, can be used as a topwater lure all the way down to a bottom bouncing or craw/worm type lure, along with everything in between!
All it takes is practice...Ask Daniel (DanVan)about fishing yesterday...he was just playing with the swimmer in shallow water, watching the different movements that were happening when he moved it differently....then the lightbulbs went off...this is how you develope the skill to use this tool in many different ways and circumstances, AND STILL CATCH THE SAME AMOUNT OF FISH...Next thing you know, you have a bunch of lures sitting in the basement like mine!
Good Fishing To All!
Originally Posted by Lowellhturner
