When You Buy Lures

[GeorgeJ]

I was at the London Boat show on the weekend and was looking at all the lures and power baits etc. I have to admit I was overwhelmed by all the choices so I read the back of some of the hundreds of packages taking into consideration what was the claimed fish the bait would catch, some didn't make any suggestions. This had me thinking how do fisherman make their bait choices, I know experience has a big role here but what else makes you buy a particular bait.

[anders]

gut feeling for me mostly.

 

Plus, i try to think of what the practicality of the lure is, ie. colour, design, size. That along with the application i plan on using or thinking about using goes into choosing.

 

Another, thing, listening to shop owners of what is working best on the water...sometimes its good to follow what others are using!

 

But its never a bad thing to buy them all!!!

[xeon]

Keep in mind that its the fisherman, not the lure that makes the big difference. I think that listing every possible species that will hit the lure is just more of a marketing gimic. Do most of the fish you catch not eat minnows? Well, any minnow shapped lure is going to catch a fish.

 

Colour, Size, Shape, Noise and Action. Those are really the big 5 on my list.

 

I usually buy lures with a spot on a lake in mind where I know there are fish, but what I usually do just isnt working. Ive got it down so I only have about 2 winter lures (green berklys atomic teaser tube and 1/2+1/2 hammerd williams spoon), and 3 summer lures (white spinner with twister tail, perch rattlin rap, and glass huskey jerk) that are my go to guarentee, and usually outfish the people im with who've got every lure known to man.

 

It really is true that they try to lure in the fisherman more than anything. oooo shinnnnyyyy

[Radnine]

I am far from an expert but try to "match the hatch" with your lures. I they are eating small minnows, throw a small minnow. If they are eating something you don't have, throw a fit.

I too am often surprised by the lack of info on how to use certain lures. Rapala is finally moulding some useful info into the lips of their lures (DT 10 for example). But in many cases you are expected to know by the size of the lip how deep it will go etc. But out of the box a Husky Jerk is just a Rapala.

You will just have to get out in your new boat and fish the heck out of all of your lures making careful notes as to what does what.

Jim

[OhioFisherman]

Great question George, lures are sold to catch fishermen, some also work well at catching fish. I try to buy them primarily on need, I am trying to cover this depth of water, with this type of cover, what do I need to do it with the minimum amount of problems. Lure in the water running clean catches more fish than a snagged lure, or one you are constantly cleaning weeds off of.

 

Confidence in a lure, if you know you can stick it in front of a fish and they are likely to eat it, a lot of lures are multi-species.

 

Gauging the fishes feeding or aggression level and choosing the right bait to use. I have made ten casts with a lure and caught 10 bass, 5 casts with 5 different lures and caught 5 bass, obviously aggressively feeding fish, but most days it is not that easy.

 

Caught Walleyes on Erie trolling a crankbait other days an Erie Dearie type lure tipped with a crawler were the way to go. Sonar units have made part of the job easier, locating fish, depth changes where fish should be, bottom types that might hold specific species.

 

Real hard to beat fishing with an experienced angler, you get to see what they are using, and how they are fishing that particular bait under changing conditions.

 

My goal is to be able to strain the water column, top to bottom, fast or slow.

[Garry2Rs]

If you fish for Bass, the undisputed #1 bait is a plastic worm.

I chose colours that match the bottom of the lakes I fish...Tan like North Kawartha granite and gravel and Green like healthy weeds.

The forage will camouflage themselves to match the background...

I have read that something like 80% of a Sm.Bass' diet is Crayfish.

I also buy worms, tubes and jig trailers in colours that resemble the Crayfish in my area.

Spinnerbaits might represent a school of minnows. Minnows are often very transparent, possiblly that's why white, and chartreuse & white are two of the most popular colours.

Crankbaits come in two basic shapes. Long and thin or short and fat.

The short and fat models more or less resemble Shad, in shape and often in the painted pattern too.

That's because Shad are the most important forage fish in the USA...

That doesn't help me much...so I buy patterns with colours that resemble baby Bass, Rock Bass, Pumpkin Seed and Crayfish.

I also buy long thin baits that resemble Perch, Walleye, Cisco and the other forage in my area.

[rbaquial]

I personally just think of all the lakes I've fished (or plan on fishing) and do some research AHEAD of time. What I do is find out what types of forage the bass (or whatever fish you're after) most commonly feed on in that particular body of water and also what time of year it might be. Then, when I get to "the show" (whatever it may be)... I get what I believe should work.

 

If I'm camping with buddies or whatever and I don't have a lure in my box that may not perform, I ask locals what lures are commonly used in this area (wherever that might be). Often, I try to 'twist' it around... you gotta remember, some of these fish are probably exposed to tournament after tournament, so they've seen practically everything out there. so, I try to be 'innovative' in a way... and think of different fashions of presenting my lure(s) to the fish...

 

as far as lure sizes go... I usually start off small (spring) then make my way to larger ones (summer). If one size isn't producing over another, I obviously switch it up.

[uglyfish]

pretty much every bait will catch fish as long as u put the time and effort into fishing it properly. but i think his question was more along the lines of "how do i know if this bait catches bass or walleye" for example. and really, most baits are versitile in catching different species. u just have to have a little knowledge of what the fish u target is foraging on, and try to match that. however, sometimes goin rite off the grid and tossing somethin totally different and "odd" might be the best way to catch them. always try new things, its a forever changing environment, and u can learn somethin new each trip out. be creative and u may surprise urself. like, everyone knows to throw tubes for smallies... its a bait made for them. but, how many of u ever tried throwing them for pike or walleye?? give it a try...

[uglyfish]

pretty much every bait will catch fish as long as u put the time and effort into fishing it properly. but i think his question was more along the lines of "how do i know if this bait catches bass or walleye" for example. and really, most baits are versitile in catching different species. u just have to have a little knowledge of what the fish u target is foraging on, and try to match that. however, sometimes goin rite off the grid and tossing somethin totally different and "odd" might be the best way to catch them. always try new things, its a forever changing environment, and u can learn somethin new each trip out. be creative and u may surprise urself. like, everyone knows to throw tubes for smallies... its a bait made for them. but, how many of u ever tried throwing them for pike or walleye?? give it a try...

[outllaw]

each lure is a tool for a specific job. . as i build lures for the masses we have found through sales and what the fish want. action , color and application.of course we all love the shiny lookers. but in reality some of the ugliest lures catch the most fish.