lures

[johnny roger]

Hi,
can anyone tell me what it is about a lure that attracts a fish? I mean how does a fish know what kind of lure to go for? does the fish just sit under the boat while you cast out 6 different lures, and when he decides that that is the one that looks the best he goes for it?
for example, if a fresh water fish goes for bugs that land on the water, then why do we use such heavy lures that could scare the fish off when it hits the water?
as you can tell, i am very new at fresh water fishing.
thanks for any help.

[chief 1]

well,i'm not a fresh water fisherman but i guess that you need a lure that looks like the bait they are eating and there is more chance they will go for that more often then any lure you just pulled off a shelf

[Catfish queen]

HI there Johnny roger,
Well - asking the questions you have asked is difficult as it is much the same as the "Colour" debate with lures.
However, this is what i know and have learnt - Lures gives out different types of frequencies according to how they swim and also how you retrieve them. For example, one lure may sound like an injured bait fish, quivering in the water, and this vibration may attract the fish to strike/kill. And another lure like the spinnerbait can give off flashes of light which is reflecting when it spins, this lure is retreived differently so would also give of a different vibration.
I hope what I have written makes sense

Bel

[johnny roger]

thanks bel, and yes you did make sense. can you elaborate on retrieving techniques? do you pull in fast as soon as it hits the water, or do you pull in fast for a few meters, pause, then pull in again?
Thanks,
John

[Dick Pasfield]

I select lures in the fresh based on the following -

Size: for barra thats big, bigger or biggest.
Depth: how deep is the bottom and where do you think the fish are at?
Presence: how much water do they displace as they move?
Noise: How much of a rattle, Classic 100 decibels or Tilsan silent running?
Colour: anything as long as its a bleeding mullet

If I got that all right, I worked out what attracts a fish on the day, at that moment.

A tip or two -

Be prepared to change lures, by depth, noise factor or even colour, sometimes you get the fish first or second cast with a new lure.

If everyone is using one type of lure and its a bit quiet, pull out something completely different. There is no hard and fast rules.

[Little grey men]

Have a look at the spot your fishing and make your decision...for instance if I see bugs being taken from the top of the water. I'll use something light that skips across the top of the water or just underneath the surface. If the surface is quiet I'll use a deeper diving lure to get to where the fish are.
As a general rule I try to match the fishes natural food source. I fish for bass and use a lot of soft plastics that have the same colour and profile of little garfish and other bibless sinking lures that look a lot like boney bream.
Sometimes the fish will want these offerings. Other days I'll get them on a purple spinner bait or a bright orange and pink bibbed lure, these are far from natural looking but the bass really hit them hard because they have a hunting instinct to chase and gobble smaller things.
Some days they seem to be turned on by lures that vibrate or rattle as you retreive them. Some days they want silent lures.
So the trick is to work out what the fish want on the particular day and see if you can fool them into liking what you have to offer.

[Colo77]

Hey there Johnny,

As most of the others have said, try and imitate the bait you think the fish are eating, you may have heard the expression "match the hatch". This applies to any type of fishing. So try and choose a lure profile that imitates the size and colour of the bait.

Having said that, darker lures may work better in murky waters or overcast days as they create more of a sillouette (spelling?) and make it easier for the fish to see it. Cleaner water and sunny days I would use a brighter lure or lures of more of a natural colour.

As for retrieves if using hard bodied bibbed lures I like to cast the lure, let it sit for a few seconds, give it a few cranks to get it swimming to depth and then finish the retrieve with a twitch-twitch-wind in the slack-twitch-twitch-wind in the slack and so on, all the way back to the boat. If this isn't working I'll change the retrieve (slow roll, slow roll with pauses,burns, burns with pauses, the options are huge) until I find something that generates a strike.

If using plastics, spinnerbaits or bibless minnows I'll cast the lure, let it sink to the depth the fish are and then slow roll back to the boat. Again if this isn't working, change the retrieve as above until you find the right combo.

If none of this works, try a different lure/colour. If still nothing works either the fish aren't playing ball or you're fishing where there are no fish. If you're fishing where there are no fish you definitely won't catch one. Try fishing structure, points, drop offs, or any other place/structure where you think the fish (or the food the fish eat) will be.

Fishing is a funny game, you might go to a spot one day and clean up and go there the next day and employ the same tactics and not even raise a scale. That's the way it goes.

The main thing is to keep trying and changing lures/retrieves/spots until you crack the code. This is one of the things I like most about fishing. I hope this helps.

Cheers Colo.

[johnny roger]

colo,
that was some interesting reading. very informative, and i thank you. i will definately use some of your advise next time i go out on the lake.
thanks again mate!

[Colo77]

No worries mate.

1 other thing, if you know there are fish where you are fishing and you're fishing the right depth (a sounder is an invaluable tool) etc, persistence pays off. Sometimes they'll strike on the umpteenth time you've run that lure past it's nose out of aggression not hunger.

Have fun, Colo