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

When I go fishing after a pause due to bad weather (rain, heat), I wonder the change in fish location and the lures needed to catch fish. By lures I mean shape, size and color brightness in waters closer in color to pea soup on the surface than usual for spring and fall. The 12th was a wake up call for the following:
Don't depend on previous patterns whether yearly or daily to find fish. After the incredible rainfall we've had, fish moved from most anywhere I caught them a few weeks ago and relocated to shallower water due to water levels that had come up over 6" in a week of heavy rains.

Never assume things about lure design and color. Panfish, bass and a catfish all struck the lures I chose cast near specific shorelines. Bright white was a color I hadn't used in semi clear water this year, but figured why not try it in murky water. Also, two other lure related unknowns were: would curl tail and thin straight tail grubs work? Sho enough they both did well and for 4 fish species! Even this mudcat hit the flat tail along with other fish:
https://i.imgur.com/OroE98n.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/DLkkGtP.jpg?1https://i.imgur.com/kGcw1e7.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/fRwFh78.jpg?1https://i.imgur.com/8jio5j5.jpg?1




I wasn't confident in casting Da Claw in green pumpkin considering the water color, but as usual it produced:
https://i.imgur.com/LMCm3r6.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/jYsrTXe.jpg?1https://i.imgur.com/tZ5URtd.jpg?1

Even this motor oil tint straight, flat tail caught many of the 60 fish:
https://i.imgur.com/I2ahSJA.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/A0y7Tkc.jpg?1https://i.imgur.com/LMvGlZ5.jpg?1
Note the water color.

Lastly, I hadn't caught fish on the Joker grub since spring and figured why not?
https://i.imgur.com/uN6SWQe.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/cZmstsj.jpg

Removing one of the three tails worked better for some reason of which this 2lb bass agreed:
https://i.imgur.com/qPA3s7S.jpg?1

(Who says big fish don't bite small lures?!!!)

You found a nice mixed bag

Over the years, I have caught more fish(of all types), on a white twister, than any other jig.

Locally the Twister hasn't done as well for panfish. I bet it still catches river smallies though.

Spoon, You’re sure right about not letting the size of the lure stop catching a big fish. A couple of weeks ago in murky dropping stream water I caught my personal best 17+ inch smallmouth on a Sowbug trout magnet under an EZ Float. Huge gut and shoulders - It was a monster on that stream! 2 lb test and a size 8 hook! I had to beach it. Anyway, enjoyed your post and insights - always something to learn.
Bob

Thanks Bob.

Today I fished a different lake and decided to hit the same shoreline I did in the spring plus one I caught fish in the fall of 2020. Sure enough the increase in water level relocated those fish near pad edges and also down a shoreline with overhangs. Most of the same lures that caught fish yesterday caught fish today except for the crappie, sunfish and a y. perch that are massive this lake. Here's one of 5 big-daddy sunfish I caught that was around 10":
https://i.imgur.com/P8ieGHl.jpg

One perch went over 12". The crappie today were less than 8" but more important struck thin straight-tail grubs on a heavier jig - 1/16oz. Average depth fish were caught in, unlike the 3.5' - 4' yesterday in the other lake, was 5'.

10 of the 33 fish were caught on this design except in a different color than yesterday:
https://i.imgur.com/A0y7Tkc.jpg?1

I didn't have much time on the water because of the storm forecast for 2 pm. Would ya know it - the forecast was right on and I got soaked getting back to the launch! But hey, 33 fish - some real nice and on lures I wanted to prove would work and did, was better than sitting home waiting for the rain to start. One thing different was water color and clarity. Much different than they other lake.

Of course I had to deal with a 15 mph wind the whole time which may have helped me catch fish that seemed very turned on: many time I would cast to the same spot 3x and after 2 hits and get the fish on the 3rd cast. They were some p.o'd fish!

Spoon, you had a heck of an outing. I’m reverting to lures from years past, or those similar, as people are all about trying the new one because the others are old and “don’t work” anymore. I like seeing what you come up with. Great things have happened from experiments like you do.

You're killin' it brother! Ya never know unless you throw, that's what I say. Thanks for sharing some of your great catches and lures.

Awesome share, Spoonminnow, especially closeup photos of the arsenals so some newbies like me can pick up a trick or two! Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

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.

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

Any time!

Quote:

---

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

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

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:

https://i.imgur.com/SCcFviQ.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/8tVJi2A.jpg?1https://i.imgur.com/2uHQfii.jpg

Even this thinner cone tail has produced fish more consistently - again same action as the Magnet.
https://i.imgur.com/FfI3m5a.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/jhSCKGu.jpg

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. :bash)

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:

Quote:

---

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.