A Good Post Worth Reading....Mac

[Slayem9]

I have to agree with one of the replies:

most times its just putting the bait in the right place and not even the color, size, weight or anything else that provokes the strike...Its just being in the right place at the right time...The bass dont count the appendages or look at the symmetry or color or the size of the bait...A lot of times, they just react to the opportunity presented to them...

Recently I've gone out and tested many hybrid lures I've made up from worm and grub parts to create different profiles, sizes and actions. Most have produced either in open water - mid depth or near cover. None look natural and sizes range from 2" - 5" , all are rigged on 1/16-1/8 oz jigheads. Â*

All have caught different species, from 5" perch to 3lb bass and a load of crappie. The size of the forage for this time of year is small and are of multispecies ranging from minnows to newborn catfish, sunfish and small bass. The color range of the baits used were chartruese, pink, black, lime green, pumpkin, laminates, combos of metal flakes or in other words- unnatural. The water color is green and lure visibility only down 2'.

Beyond using soft plastics, hand tied jigs were used in a variety or colors, materials and sizes. Deer hair and flash produced equally to soft plastic grubs. Silver flash produced consistently, as did irridescent flash with no deer hair.

All the above demonstrate that color and size may have been important, but not exclusive enough to only be restrictive to certain match rules. None used scent or salt in any form and were smacked around with gusto!

As I relayed last year, my opinion is that size, action, profile, color and weight are the most important aspects of a lure that, when combined in any one of a Â*huge number ofÂ*lures, will catch many species on a given day, once the strike zone is hit. Barring that, all else is conjecture and hype to sell baits or write articles in Bassmaster magazine, with the exception of a Â*recent article on how to trigger strikes by using various presentations to impart unusual actions and by employing shocking, florescent colors.

I've been using too many lure profiles, colors and actions to go back to cliche-type reasons fish hit lures. Freshwater fish are very low on the brain power scale, probably just above a rock, and many triggers have been artifically produced since time began, to initiate the strike.

Sam