Soft plastic lures RULE

[SenkoSam]

When it comes to lure craft and design, it goes back over 100 years with many articles posted in magazines that included photos. In-Fisherman was one of the best when Al Lindner (rest his soul) did articles about catching various fish species on different lures as well as his weekly TV show.

Fly fishing experts know the exact materials to use for different classic fly patterns of which there are hundreds. Do they catch more fish - especially trout? Two friends of mine have used my soft plastics and caught more trout than fly fishermen upstream and downstream from them. What fish think a lure is IMO is not a consideration for me because fish can't think which is the basis upon which anglers believe fish are fooled into striking. If that belief supports having confidence in a lure, that's half the reason to use it. But if the design or lure type is not what fish generally strike - if which there are thousands - why even have it in your tackle box.

I've cast most lure types and caught fish on many of them: crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs with different skirt material and different trailers, spoons, surface lures, in-line and overhead spinners and soft plastics of all shapes, sizes & color combinations to name a few. Because of the variety of lures I've caught fish with, I believe many lures and presentations may work on a single outing as long as the lures work with those presentations.

Soft plastic lures allow the biggest variety of designs and I've found it nearly unlimited when it comes to finding new ones that fish strike. But as with any lure, a soft plastic lure in still a combination of parts  that must work together or the lure is useless or less successful getting struck. Soft plastic lures fall into general categories but it's the action type of each that makes a lure work or not - no different than hard lures.

Each of these have caught fish and in different colors:


BearTrap posted the question why bass strike Senkos. The answer lies in the lures action that's dependent on its shape and the plastic (soft and heavier) used to make them. As the Senko drops vertically, the tips wobble causing the body to wobble on the way down to the bottom. Bass watching that action get wound up and must attack it even with the lure sitting on bottom. Important is the rate of fall. Too slow and no proper action.

It didn't occur to me until last year that the Senko action can be obtained with smaller lures of the same general stick shape. Here's an example:

This was the first one made that caught fish on the first cast:


Why the jig head? As with the Senko, the lure must drop at a certain speed in order for the shape do its thing. So in the case of the mini-sticks, a light jig head had to be used. (Note: Senkos are made from a soft grade plastic with salt added for weight in order to have it's amazing action.)

Lure design options also include color considerations. Guess what - clear hard and soft plastic lures catch fish ! I've caught fish on all of these:



The whole point of the above is to demonstrate that no angler need have a limited selection of lures to catch fish as long as size, shape and lure action work together with the presentation used as was stated in the initial post and repeated in many of my posts on texasfishingforum.
Here's one on another forum:
https://sdfish.com/forums/t/know-what-he...gn.156011/

more examples in posts

[wiperhunter2]

I'm always amazed at some of these plastic lures you piece together. I had never heard that salt was used on senkos for weight, I always thought to salt gave off a flavor that fish liked. 
Are you still fishing? or has the hard water taken over?

[SenkoSam]

Older age and dislike of the cold has kept me home. Of course if I was invited I would go - if anything to avoid cabin fever.

A wacky rigged stick must fall at a certain speed and not just any soft plastic stick. Salt and a heavier sinking plastic produces the drop speed needed with only a hook stuck in the middle.

Many anglers apply fish scent and Mann plastics had different fruit flavors - none proven any better at catching fish better than no flavor or scent. I duplicated Uncle Josh pork frogs in plaster molds and caught just as many without the salt preservative the pork was soaked in.

Lures in my opinion and experience represent nothing to fish. If I were to label or categorize lures, it would be the actions they produce that consistently provoke strikes. For the Senko, it's the tip & body wobble on the vertical drop.  Other lures may have parts that quiver, flap or flutter, dart when whipped, wig wag on a horizontal retrieve, pulsate (ie skirted jig) or slither for example.

Along with a lure-descriptive action is the presentation that produces the best lure action for that action-by-design. Some lure designs have more than one presentation that can be used. For example, a skirted jig & trailer can be hopped off or slid on bottom; but also retrieved horizontally like a spinnerbait depending on trailer.