If you’ve read my last two columns you’re aware they dealt with two of the most important ingredients for consistent fishing success. There’s a third element and it’s the subject this time around.
So what is it? It’s learning how to best use the lures you select for the species of fish you are after. The anglers who put the most fish in their boats do a good bit of study and research where their lures are involved.
Let’s say the last time you read a story about walleye fishing the writer told how he had made a dandy catch of walleye while using a Mack’s Lure Wally Pop. A day after reading that piece you visited your favorite tackle store and picked up a half dozen of those lures for your own tackle box.
Now that was a good move, but it’s not end of the story. Knowing that a lure is productive is one thing. Knowing how to use it to give it the best opportunity to put fish in your boat is something else.
Every now and then I run into newcomers to fishing who seem to think all you need is a rod, reel and line along with a hand full of lures and you’re in business. It just doesn’t work that way.
I had a hand in the design of the Mack’s Lure Pro Model Stan’s Spin. I expect I’ve thrown that dandy lure in more places and for longer periods than darn near anybody. Am I a cinch to catch bass on the lure that carries my name by using it in the same fashion each time out? No way! I won’t and you won’t either.
Now don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. A spinnerbait is a great lure for a beginning bass angler because it does get a fair share of fish even when it’s simply cast out and brought back in with a medium fast retrieve. But limiting yourself to that one procedure doesn’t begin to tap the lure’s full potential.
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| There are lots of fish in this lake. Even so, you've got to select the right lure and present it in the proper fashion to get them to hit. |
I recall once checking in at the airport in Guadalajara, Mexico. I was on my way home from a fishing trip to Mexico’s big and beautiful Agua Milpa Lake. I’d had a great trip to that Mexican bass factory. One of the highlights had been twice taking five largemouth to 5-pounds on successive casts. Every one of those fish came out of brush filled shallow coves. They all smashed into a Pro Model Stan’s Spin I’d rigged with a black and blue skirt. I used a fast retrieve that kept the lure racing along just beneath the surface.
Once I got my boarding pass at the airport I noticed someone waving at me from across the room. It was Shaw Grigsby, a valued friend and one of the top tournament bass fishermen in the world. Kevin Van Dam, another world-class pro and two-time winner of the Bassmasters Classic was with him. They were on their way home from Mexico’s Lake El Salto. That’s another Mexican bass fishing paradise I’ve fished a good many times.
Grigsby and Van Dam had been at El Salto to do a television fishing show. Shaw told me he and Kevin had some of their best success at El Salto throwing spinnerbaits. Did they get them with the same fast retrieve I had used so successfully at Aqua Milpa? Not even close! Their most effective procedure had been to cast their spinnerbait and let it fall all the way to the bottom. They let the lure rest for a heartbeat or two, then jerked it up. Often it was---wham! Fish on!
This is an excellent example of what I’m taking about. Here we had the same type lure being fished in two different lakes. The technique that got the best results in one were the exact opposite of what got the best results in the other.
The same thing applies where other lures are concerned. I know a walleye pro who loves the Mack’s Lure Wally Pop. Ninety per cent of the time he fishes it just as it comes out of the package. But this expert stays flexible in his approach. I recall what he told me about an occasion when he was fishing clear shallow water. The fish weren’t at all aggressive and he couldn’t buy a strike.
So what did he do? He switched to a lighter sinker and a longer leader. He also removed the Smile Blade from his Wally Pop and just hooked his nightcrawler to the body of the lure. When he stopped his boat the Wally Pop slowly floated his bait up where the walleye were holding.
Presented in that particular situation his nightcrawler must have looked like a steak on a platter. The fish began chomping down on it. The pro managed to boat some nice fish as a result.
Fish as much for as long as I have and you eventually learn that you’re better off eliminating the word “always” from your piscatorial vocabulary. That’s because most freshwater game fish don’t “always” react in the same fashion. You need to match your lures and the method of their presentation to suit whatever mood they happen to be in.
Gaining mastery of your equipment and then matching it to the problems you’re up against are indeed the keys to consistent fishing success. So is knowing how to get the most out of the lures you’re throwing.
You’re never going to join the 10 per cent of the anglers who catch 90 per cent of the fish until you blend these ingredients into your own recipe for consistent fishing success.
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