stephen Posted June 20, 2011 Report Share Posted June 20, 2011 Just had a thought on the way home tonight since I'm obsessed with making lures now...Looking through bass pro and other catalogs it seems that most of the successful soft plastic jerkbaits out there are without eyes..I know that its our own personal preference and level of confidence of whether or not eyes make a difference. I (as most of you) have fished the zoom super fluke for years with plenty of success and never questioned (until now) if it needed something else, or if adding eyes would improve strikes. Is it that the zoom fluke is such a perfect design in the water that it doesn't need any more flare to it. I think as I make more baits I will add eyes to some and not others (of the same color) and come up with my own conclusion. Just wanted to see what others thought....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted June 20, 2011 Report Share Posted June 20, 2011 I am one of those that believe the main attractant is action. If you cast a bait out and leave it just floating, I would imagine that it would catch less fish than if you were to give it some action. But it is difficult to prove how effective eyes and paint schemes actually are in combination with action. Personally, I do believe eyes make a difference. A strong argument for eyes on lures, is the shad spot. Darwinian evolution placed this spot on the fish. If the spot had no effect on the survival of the fish, the spot would not have survived. This is a strong indication that predators do consider the eye and are confused by the false eye. The survival of the shad is improved by the fals eye's presence. The first few lures that I made, I did not paint or attach eyes. There just seemed to be something not right about them. When I made the effort and painted eyes on the lures, they seemed to come to life and looked ten times better. The same goes for soft plastic fish imitations. If you are going to sell your lures, it is essential to have eyes, as the two legged prey are definately affected by the eyes. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longhorn Posted June 20, 2011 Report Share Posted June 20, 2011 I think there are too many variables for a yes or no answer. I believe on certain type baits and water color an eye would increase the potential for a strike. I also believe at times it makes no difference. Good question! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blanx Posted June 20, 2011 Report Share Posted June 20, 2011 I think there are too many variables for a yes or no answer. I believe on certain type baits and water color an eye would increase the potential for a strike. I also believe at times it makes no difference. Good question! I have to say i believe it makes a difference at times. a few years ago my buddie and i were throwing crank baits. when a fish hit the bait one eye fell off. after that we could not get another bite. switching to a new lure, with both eyes and we got bit again. But i think it depends on the situation. some are reaction bites, some are agression, some are hunger. if a fish is on the bed and she is mad u could drop anything on her and she would hit it. the fluke/sinko bite does depend on the action. sometimes its the fleeing others its the dieing action. i had a small mouth bite the past weekend. i worked the crap out of a fluke. when i saw a smallie eyeing the bait i paused it. the fish came up and began to back off. as the fish slowly sank i gave a small jerk it came back and watched it fall again. 2 times i had to do that before the fish ate it. the fluke has no eyes it was laying there still so the fish had time to get a good look. i belive it was natural for the bass to suck in the fluke on the fall. just my observations and opinions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen Posted June 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2011 So most would agree that as I / we all continue this addictive hobby, as we cut a little here, tweak there, that in the grand scheme of things action should take fore front over appearance? You get the action you want and then add eyes, color or airbrush? Is this how you experienced lure makers go about it....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Pancho Posted June 20, 2011 Report Share Posted June 20, 2011 So most would agree that as I / we all continue this addictive hobby, as we cut a little here, tweak there, that in the grand scheme of things action should take fore front over appearance? You get the action you want and then add eyes, color or airbrush? Is this how you experienced lure makers go about it....... Great question Stephen. This is a tough question to answer, Heres my take on this. I would think if you were making a shad style or fish shaped swimbait why not add the eyes to the lure. I feel if you can make a swimbait as realitic looking to a real fish than it will only increase your hook up ratio than a swimbait without eyes. Now many on here will respond and tell you that lures don't need eyes fish will eat them regardless. But try this out make a shad style lure with eyes and one without and see which one gets more strikes. Another hard question to answer would be scent or no scent? my answer would be scented baits or some type of fish attactant. Again just my personal prefference. BP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen Posted June 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 Thank you all for responding, I was initially afraid that the topic and question would be simply ignorance on my part but all the responses made me think a lot and develop new ideas. I have just started pouring in my first mold so my plan is to experiment extensively with different textures of plastic, hook sizes, weights, etc until I have success with this lure. It is a re-creation from a manufacture that stopped making them and selling them over 7 yrs ago. The original used to work on hybrid bass very well, and if any of you have ever fished for hybrids they are the most unpredictable fish to target. When they are hungry they will strike a bare hook, when they aren't, it takes a very special presentation and lure to get them to commit. Yes I plan on making several with eyes, and several without and log what takes place, if anything.......Thanks again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knifemaker3 Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 Necessary for the fish......No. Necessary for the fisherman......it will sell better. Most of the gimmicks on baits of all type is used to catch the fisherman more than the fish. I don't think the fish swim up to a bait to bite it and don't just because the lure doesn't have an eye?@!? Lots of gimmicks in this industry. If eyes matter then why do simple grubs and tubes work so well? They are made to mimick a minnow. Minnows have eyes, yet the lure doesn't and still catches fish...........just my 2 cents worth. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSC Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 (edited) If you really want the eyes. You can get the stick on ones I had rather "Spot" them on ... use the Paint that LC has for painting soft plastic. 2 cents worth (I am really not an "Eyes" person but their is a point of confidence to consider) ... JSC Edited June 21, 2011 by JSC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piscivorous Pike Posted June 26, 2011 Report Share Posted June 26, 2011 Just had a thought on the way home tonight since I'm obsessed with making lures now...Looking through bass pro and other catalogs it seems that most of the successful soft plastic jerkbaits out there are without eyes..I know that its our own personal preference and level of confidence of whether or not eyes make a difference. I (as most of you) have fished the zoom super fluke for years with plenty of success and never questioned (until now) if it needed something else, or if adding eyes would improve strikes. Is it that the zoom fluke is such a perfect design in the water that it doesn't need any more flare to it. I think as I make more baits I will add eyes to some and not others (of the same color) and come up with my own conclusion. Just wanted to see what others thought....... My experience, as a biologist and crazed fisherman, is that there are too many variables to the question. The key, I believe is to first ask what is the intended species and then determine if that critter has a preference to eye spots. You have water clarity, and time in strike zone (reaction bites) to consider as to how the lure is presented. Look at nature for a clue here. Shad, peacock bass, red fish and many other species have false eye spots. General consensus of opinions is that these attrack the strike and stear the predator wrong allowing the intended prey an escape. Species that I know clue in on eyes and especially if I am fishing clear water have me making and using eyes on the lures many times larger than natural eyes. The anatomy of fish, especially predators, demonstrate a propensity to rely more on sound and pressure stimulii from the environment than eye sight. Most fish are loaded with these types of sensory orgons, e.g. lateral lines, pressure pores as in Esox, a body that is a "tongue" (catfish) and eyesight here falls off to the last resort sense for navigation. Fish have no imagination so most lures, even swim baits do not look like any prey in reality, obviously something else triggers the strike in most cases. Vibrations and pressure waves given off by artificial lures rarely are researched nor do they match what natural prey are doing. Pike for instance, eat things 1/2-1/3 their length and and a 1/4 their weight yet we all know how famously spring pike take a small silver spoon! What gives? The vibration of the spoon tell the fish something different than what it sees. In this case eye spots probably only help slightly. That is an excellent question that opens up big territory. It also gives a bait builder many things to consider and more opprotunities to build more types of lures, MORE FUN FOR SURE. Thank you for asking that... PP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pitbull Baits Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 I honestly don't think it matters to much if you have eyes on or not. think they are mainly there to catch the customer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2deep Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 I think that if adding eyes build your confidence then it is worth the trouble to do it. I like them and add them when ever possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
