05-21-2016, 02:31 PM
Many small soft plastics catch pretty much any species that attack lures. The emphasis on attacking lures. IMO and after making or modifying many soft plastics and rigging them on jigs, I've come to the conclusion that a few designs work every time you fish a lake (if lakes are where you fish).
But equally important to the lure used is retrieve/ presentation. Power fishing has its time and place (burning certain lures through the water), but generally I've found slow is always best to entice fish to hit an object they have no experience ever hitting. In other words, they are sensitive to the real thing from the fake and hit the fake only because it trespasses their personal space with an action that live prey don't usually possess.
I've been experimenting with some basic grub designs and caught many freshwater species last year and this. In fact I won't even bother casting some lures I've owned for years such as curl tail grubs and Sassy Shads. Finesse action grubs are king in my book such as the ones pictured:
[inline "bullet shaped grub on 1-16 oz.jpg"]
[inline "thin tail grub.jpg"]
[inline "crappie on cone tail grub.jpg"]
[inline "Bob at Stillwell in May_13 in crappie.jpg"]
[inline "cone tail and thin tail grubs in tackle box.jpg"]
As you can see, there is nothing complicated about lure choice - all of the above work in the colors shown and on all pan fish species, bass, pickerel, trout and even catfish. Trying to come up with conventional reasons why they always work is nice around a camp fire, such as prey matching, but not helpful in the least. Why make something complex when simplicity trumps it every time you fish.
When retrieved slowly and with slight changes in lure speed (rod tip twitches), fish get really annoyed and attack - even on the next cast to the same spot if the hit was missed!
As usual, lures help find fish after a few are caught and sometimes in specific location types (weed lines, open water with scattered weeds, near rocks, etc.)
Line size may matter but I've found 8# test to be the max I'll use for any jig heads from 1/16-1/8; 6# for all jig head sizes. (BTW, I only use unpainted jig heads with no bait barb and use a wire I attach to keep lures in place for dozens of fish caught.)
Much to take in but standard when fishing most freshwater locations and easy to adopt with instant success without overthinking what prey they're eating or what colors that simulate it. (Even clear soft and hard plastic lures work most times.) Fish react with zero analysis of what their reacting to. JMHO
[signature]
But equally important to the lure used is retrieve/ presentation. Power fishing has its time and place (burning certain lures through the water), but generally I've found slow is always best to entice fish to hit an object they have no experience ever hitting. In other words, they are sensitive to the real thing from the fake and hit the fake only because it trespasses their personal space with an action that live prey don't usually possess.
I've been experimenting with some basic grub designs and caught many freshwater species last year and this. In fact I won't even bother casting some lures I've owned for years such as curl tail grubs and Sassy Shads. Finesse action grubs are king in my book such as the ones pictured:
[inline "bullet shaped grub on 1-16 oz.jpg"]
[inline "thin tail grub.jpg"]
[inline "crappie on cone tail grub.jpg"]
[inline "Bob at Stillwell in May_13 in crappie.jpg"]
[inline "cone tail and thin tail grubs in tackle box.jpg"]
As you can see, there is nothing complicated about lure choice - all of the above work in the colors shown and on all pan fish species, bass, pickerel, trout and even catfish. Trying to come up with conventional reasons why they always work is nice around a camp fire, such as prey matching, but not helpful in the least. Why make something complex when simplicity trumps it every time you fish.
When retrieved slowly and with slight changes in lure speed (rod tip twitches), fish get really annoyed and attack - even on the next cast to the same spot if the hit was missed!
As usual, lures help find fish after a few are caught and sometimes in specific location types (weed lines, open water with scattered weeds, near rocks, etc.)
Line size may matter but I've found 8# test to be the max I'll use for any jig heads from 1/16-1/8; 6# for all jig head sizes. (BTW, I only use unpainted jig heads with no bait barb and use a wire I attach to keep lures in place for dozens of fish caught.)
Much to take in but standard when fishing most freshwater locations and easy to adopt with instant success without overthinking what prey they're eating or what colors that simulate it. (Even clear soft and hard plastic lures work most times.) Fish react with zero analysis of what their reacting to. JMHO
[signature]