Senkosam Posted June 19, 2017 Report Share Posted June 19, 2017 (edited) I've begun investigating how different attributes of soft plastic lure attract fish and hold it's attention long enough to provoke a tantrum strike - the best kind when it comes to setting a hook. The lures I came up with were made from old lures sitting in storage for decades , using parts of a few fused together with a candle flame. They might not look or even act what and angler would consider natural , but natural is not something I've found to be essential when it comes to lure actions that make fish bite. The claw tails from a craw worm have very little action yet caught bass and pan fish as well as a 15" catfish. The firm plastic and thickness prevent the finesse action sought after in small baits yet the lure's profile and slow presentation was enough. The antennae taken from the same craw worm, I'm sure will generate the same bite enthusiasm. Hybrid lures are those anyone can make from lures you have hanging around and much of the time do as well if not better than a majority of lure sold - though many forums have members that would strongly disagree. Finesse plastics are my best producers any time of year and what better to find designs no one has ever used to catch fish as well as reinforce the fact that the sky'e the limit when it comes to designs that always work. Edited June 19, 2017 by Senkosam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fshng2 Posted June 19, 2017 Report Share Posted June 19, 2017 Very interesting, I like it. Your prototypes all provide enough material to firmly attach a hook. They also have different type twin tails that supply lively action of varying amounts. Just had a thought, how easy would it be to make a much larger flat or angled head? A larger head (2x) that is flat or angled on the front would push alot more water and cause a turbulence that would in turn cause the tail to have a crazy action! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglinarcher Posted June 19, 2017 Report Share Posted June 19, 2017 Reminds me of the late 70's when we called them "creature baits". Made a lot of baits using a soldering iron and a lighter. LOL One thing is for sure, fish do not have a long memory, but I swear, they do have a longer memory then we think. Sometimes I think the key to any lure, finesse or other, is that it is completely different to what everyone else had used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senkosam Posted June 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2017 Quote key to any lure, finesse or other, is that it is completely different to what everyone else had used Could be, but how would anyone ever know for sure that fish avoid lures that have proven effective that hooked them? Fish don't swap notes with those that have been caught on certain lures, and even if they did, still unlikely fish would avoid them. Besides that, of the thousands of fish of one species in a lake, what are the chances of catching the same fish that you caught on your lure by you or anyone else? Recently I've caught fish that have been caught before and I swear some of them were fish I caught last Tuesday on the same lure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ipt Posted June 29, 2017 Report Share Posted June 29, 2017 i do the same thing with my baits, Frankenstein'ing is what i call it. combine the best of both worlds from different baits. seems to work well in high pressured spots. i am a believer in bass being extremely curious about something they have never seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senkosam Posted June 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 (edited) 5 hours ago, ipt said: i do the same thing with my baits, Frankenstein'ing is what i call it. combine the best of both worlds from different baits. seems to work well in high pressured spots. i am a believer in bass being extremely curious about something they have never seen. Bravo! Excellent! Superb! Couldn't have said it better. Love your term for hybridization. But apart from that, I've been testing creations I've made in my laboratory (pardon the pun lol) and found that no design can be considered the ultimate design at any time when it comes to any fish species. Since I posted those pictures, yesterday I caught five fish species / 47 fish - 1/3 of them bass, on conventional, modified and original designs. Water was clear enough to see bottom in 9' and three feet higher than this time last year. Many fish were caught in shallow water on the flats and the presentation was, as usual for the soft plastic lures I always use, slow - giving fish a great deal of time to strike or ignore them. Luckily the strikes were hard ! So all in all, anytime I want to switch to any of over 20 tried and true designs, I can absolutely depend on them that some fish will bite them in an area. Believe this or not: as crazy as pickerel are, one snapped my line with the jig head and lure still hooked. Four cast later to the same area, another strike, but the lure came free - though feeling strange as I retrieved it. Woe and behold - my first lure had been hooked by the second lure and both were side by side on the jig. Both were of a stick bait design and used on both Ned rigs ! Granted, pickerel aggression is more than that of most freshwater species, but two strikes on the same lure design and size within 5 minutes by the same fish ? !! See photo On 6/19/2017 at 6:19 PM, Senkosam said: fish don't swap notes with those that have been caught on certain lures, and even if they did, still unlikely fish would avoid them. Caught fish after fish in a school ? Man do I love how dumb fish are but also how sensitive to lure action-by-design ! Too often anglers make believe fish have a semblance of human intelligence and cognitive ability such as targeting a prey species in a certain color or suggesting reasons fish have for striking such as hunger (stomach's growl?), anger related to territoriality or curiosity (sorry ipt). But as a lure designer and tester, I won't waste my time imagining fish motives for fish striking any lure design - mine or anyone else's. If a design works in many waters and seasons, that's good enough for me. Granted I do have high percentage designs that always get bit regardless water temperature or clarity, but as the ones in the picture, they will always be considered anytime I fish, or for that matter anyone I give them to. That's the beauty of what we as lure crafters do - we never again have to rely on anyone's opinion (or sale's pitch) what to fish because we are not limited except by our own creative imaginations! It's so nice to stay simple (in design) for the simple minded creatures we love to catch. Sorry for the blurry photo, but this was taken just after the pickerel got off the hook. Edited June 30, 2017 by Senkosam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senkosam Posted June 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 One other thing - once I find a lure that consistently catches fish, factors that made the lure successful are considered: Shape - of course Size (s) in a particular shape to include diameter, length Action by design - always #1 - some designs have only the lure body as the action part whereas an action tail may provide the action Color - I have my favorites for certain designs Softness - some lures do and act better using soft plastic Rigging options - some allow more than one rigs; IE the plastic worm or soft stick can be used with C-, T-, Ned, d/shot, etc. Weight and/ or no weight of the plastic when rigged which determines lure speed of retrieve and presentation Presentation and angler-imparted action - some lures only work best with angler input The combination of the above determines whether a lure is great or a dud. Theory of lure design: a fish's brain I would compare to a computer chip wired to it's senses. A chip is either on or off, #1. If on, the fish is more prone to react to lures or live prey; if off, the fish is in sleep mode. All fish brains are the same when it comes to lure design. When the brain is active, fish senses are turned up and is sensitivity to moving objects in the surrounding area whether real or man made lures - the fish's brain always sensing the difference but reacting to them the same. The combination above always matters and in a sense pushes the right buttons because the brain is programmed to usually react to certain combinations, less so or none to others. Wed. I decided to give a double curl tail grub a try - my least favorite design for lake fish. Strikes were far more infrequent than the other designs tried. I don't know if it was the limitation of presentation and speed when it comes to double tails or lure action, but other action tail or no tail grubs work far better with different angler - imparted action. So in conclusion, if fish (any species) reacts to a certain shape in a certain size that moves a certain way, all fish will species are programmed to respond to that combination and others similar to it no matter the season or water. It matters not any coincidental similarities to a real animal but only that fish respond involuntarily because of the sense buttons a lure pushes - those of sight and sound/vibration detection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
