First, I would never claim that any bait is foolproof but instead that some baits work most time under most conditions. Thelaw of thelure must follow a certain formula to be successful:
right time / right place + right retrieve + right lure design = strike provocation
Of greatest importance is having confidence in the lure you're using and the only way to get that confidence is catching fish on it almost every time you fish.Soft plastic lures are my bread & butter for catching any fish species that bite lures and the greatest thing about soft plastic is the huge number of lure designs that fish attack. Some designs far outproduce others and those designs are the ones I keep on hand. But in order for any soft plastic or other material to work, jig head weight and hook size is extremely important. Jig weight determines lure action which is dependent on the type and rate of retrieve an angler uses.
https://i.imgur.com/rHhiLIn.jpg
Note: the wire attached is a bait keeper that prevents the lure from sliding down;
unpainted heads work as well if not better than painted lead;
The shorter the lure, the smaller the hook size for best lure action. Fish aren't capable of knowing the difference between hooks, but sense the differences between lure actions.
Lure action is dependent much of the time on the grub's tail design. Curl tail grubs must be moved at a certain speed in order to flap. Prong tail, thumper tail and flat tail designs quiver at almost a dead stop - an action fish notice and respond to when fish are the least inclined to chase a lure. Here are a few examples:
https://i.imgur.com/OKAuM0U.jpg?1https://i.imgur.com/458nURr.jpg?1https://i.imgur.com/d0n1WfW.jpg
The above lures have all worked for crappie and most other fish species - including bass. None work better than the others when rigged on ball head jigs, but all provide actions fish can't seem to let alone.
Note about colors: All of the above colors work! Fish see what we see - bright, dark or subtle against some background whether it be the water's surface, sideways against weeds or less clear water, or against the bottom. Color never has to be natural but can be. Color outlines shape and enhances the tail action fish respond to. Recently I found the white thumper tail (barbell in shape) to be clobbered by perch, crappie and sunfish in the same area - total fish caught 10 in less than five minutes!
When it comes to line diameter, less is best for light lures. My suggestion would be the use of 10# test braid for the main line and a 4-6# test mono or fluorocarbon leader. The reasons for the small diameter leader is twofold: less line bow on the retrieve for better strike detection and the best allowable lure action. Fish are not line shy IMO but are sensitive to what a lure does on the retrieve - key to getting a response.
Rod action for light lures should always fall into lite and ultralight because:
1. fish should feel the least resistance to a lure once it's in it's mouth
2. fish should not be allowed to yank a hook out of it's mouth against a taut line / rod tip before a proper hook set happens.
Keeping the above in mind, a hook set is no where near that of a larger species using larger hooks which allows a rod tip over the shoulder power set. Instead, once a slight bump is felt at rod or reel handle, the rod tip is pulled to one side until the fish panics thereby allowing a firmer hook set with a rod tip twitch. Small gap hooks don't allow much more than that and hook sharpness must always be checked to begin piercing the skin of the mouth. Rarely do I ever experience a deep throated hook set but 99% of the time the hook is in the lip and is rarely pull out.
As you can see by the many lure designs pictured, even those produced by fusing the parts of two lures together and produce a hybrid lure that catches fish as well as any made. Variety to me is the spice of fish and I would be bored using only one design or color that works. In fact when I go fishing, I take along hybrids I made in my basement using a candle flame to fuse parts together and answer question I have regarding lure shape, action, size and color. The white barbel shaped grub was one I had my doubts would work, but fish insisted on biting it! In fact the largest crappie and perch of the day was caught on it. The other question answered once and for all was weird color combinations such as this bright pink/ green pumpkin flapper tail:
https://i.imgur.com/xc9O2pR.jpg?2https://i.imgur.com/ul88WdA.jpg
Note the fused area between tail and body.
A sunny decided to strike soon after the above:
https://i.imgur.com/Zjp4R97.jpg?1
Lastly is presentation defined as what the lure does based on the type of retrieve one uses. The lures shown will not catch fish if a steady retrieve is used - especially trolling behind a boat even moving slowly. Fish respond to slight changes in lure speed and direction which affect lure action by design - the magic that is so very important when using finesse action lures. Such an action is achieved by a combination of rod tip twitches, reel handle turns and pauses - slow but not too slow.
Even jigging a lure off bottom may required a long pause before the next hop or lure drag. Fish get excited from an inactive state by an object that moves the right way at the right speed. Whether the object represents any animal to a fish, I leave to those with an imagination to decide.
There are other great tips offered by the many experienced anglers on Crappie.com and it always pays to consider them by simply asking the question : do they help? If they do, always keep them in mind when fishing. Adapting to where fish are is key to applying any tip from anyone and the excuse, 'fish just weren't biting', is one excuse I can never accept knowing what I do. The only reason I catch less than 30 fish on an outing is because I fished the wrong areas - wrong depth, wrong bottom, wrong shoreline and less often, the wrong lure size/ presentation.
As with most things one reads regarding fishing, controversy is a part of fishing that prevents agreement seeing as there will always be exceptions to the rule. But in general, the above has helped me catch fish after years of not doing well using the same old lures and tactics. Even my 6 year old grandkids did well the first time they held a fishing rod and that's proof enough!
