Thread: No telling which lures will work until you find the fish to begin with (pic heavy)

Originally Posted by Spoonminnow

You guys are totally awesome ! - and that's coming from a 72 y.o. that loves sharing with guys like you innovation, shots of the catch as it pertains to the narrative and the adventures we share on this forum at one time or another. Besides, isn't this what fishing is all about that we have in common?:
the adventure, the unknown and the inevitable, well-I'll-be surprises? Feel like a kid again wondering what it is every time a fish is fighting to get free. Poor fish....lucky me!

I'll keep 'em com'n!

Note: Skeet is totally correct when it comes to old lures be capable of doing just as well as the new stuff touted as the best thing since the introduction of the barbed hook. It's not just a matter of hoping they'll do well once again; it's more of believing they will do well at the right time/ in the right place.

You just hit the nail on a huge but unquantifiable part of the puzzle. You have to have confidence or at the very least a positive attitude in what you are fishing. I have just about given up on the trout magnet mini craws and my lack of hook ups show it, and yet I know guys have a lot of success with them. On the other side, I have complete confidence in the Trout Magnets and for me they’re killer!
Bob

Would love some big yellow perch! Very fun viewing your lures and reading your adventures. Thank you.

Any time!

have to love a nice mixed bag of fish , congrats sir

But as always the right area usually means fish caught or at least a higher potential for fish being caught. Yesterday was an example of an early success and the day before a late successes at finding fish that could be provoked to strike. Fish on the fish finder beneath the transducer rarely yields fish that bite in water less than 6' so casting all over the place and in different types of places sooner or later finds fish that will cooperate - but only as long as the right lures are used.

The Trout and Crappie Magnet lures do well when fish respond to their specific action: a side-to-side waddle with slight tail tip quiver. But at times larger lures having the same action provoke more fish to strike and from a greater distance due to vibration and visualization. This blunted club-tail grub has proven a far better fish catcher than either Magnet in summer in water less clear than in spring:



Even this thinner cone tail has produced fish more consistently - again same action as the Magnet.


The action may be the same as the Magnet but greater bulk = greater vibration. More and more I'm convinced that the subtle actions of lures and prey are detected easily from as far away as 15' by the lateral line via pressure waves that alert fish regardless of fish activity/sensitivity. This is especially true for fish that feed at night. Keeping this in mind, I strive to go subtle & slow in lure action most of the time but also slightly larger in body/tail bulk for ease of detection and p.o. potential.

The only thing a fish has to show for its lure-encouraged irritability to a newly targeted object, IMO, is its mouth and not the simplified YUM motive many believe is the reason for all strikes. Less subtle actions may work just as well like the curl tail, but curl tail lures must be moved faster - a lure speed that that doesn't always fit the p.o. action needed. (I'm sure most of you know what being p.o'd feels like. )

As I've proven on many posts with picture examples, on any day many lure designs in many colors have the potential for provoking fish to strike - fish minding their own business not in the mood to chase prey. Find a lure or many lures that accomplish this most months and make sure they are at hand every time you fish. Right now I have 15 soft plastic designs I can count on and variations of those designs brings the number to well into the hundreds. It makes lure choice so much easier and captures the essence of this statement by BobC:

You have to have confidence or at the very least a positive attitude in what you are fishing

Food for thought (though not fish food LOL).

I've noticed more than once that I got more strikes with larger lures than with small. So, as deadly as the TM can be, it isn't always the best choice. The variability is what makes fishing fun for me. If I could go out every time and catch them with the same lure/technique/location, I would become bored.