Another take on why fish (possibly) strike lures in general (not accepted by most)

[SPOONMINNOW]

Humans are attracted to, ignore, avoid and in some extreme cases - attack things, either by choice or involuntarily. (A few members on other forums make me want to attack them verbally with their sarcasm, but in most cases I resist the urge.) Fish are simple beings that are in the same boat (pun intended) as the humans that cast baits. Anglers attempt to initiate fish attacks - simple as that.

Live bait, obviously, is a tried & true way to fish that tops the list of ways to get fish to strike - even when the baits used are no way a part of a fish's diet or that even exist in the waters they live in. Examples are earthworms and centipedes. Why attack them? The answer is what this post is all about.

Fish have amazing senses that most anglers don't include in the reasons they chose lures. Granted, fish see baits but they also feel bait motions. Odor/scent is another but not from a distance. (Drop a bit of dye into the water and see how it stays in one spot as it spreads.) The lateral line completes the picture with fish watching with only one eye (forward vision being limited by head anatomy). In effect, fish see silhouettes of objects, leaving the lateral line to fill in the blanks as far as object thickness.

Do fish ever strike lures to eat them? Could be but not as plausible in my mind in that they are biologically formatted to attack various shapes and actions combined. Fishing lures are the most unnatural objects they will ever experience yet they attack them. examples?
How about the steady rotation of a brightly flashing, large willow-leaf blade on a spinnerbait along with its fluttering skirt? Only a human would imagine what a fish sees when confronted by that lure!
How about the steady flapping of a curl-tail Mr. Twister grub or Phenom worm curl tail, the latter bouncing off the bottom? Not too many animals bounce.
The same goes for a large Dardevel Spoon with its wild side-to-side swings and flips, a flashing chrome belly, and red & white striped back. Natural?
From those examples alone, the only conclusion I can come to is that fish don't see lures as anything but objects that move a certain way at a certain speed. I can't assume to know what fish are thinking much less their motive for attacking a lure. Hunger or the sudden urge to feed is not a helpful assumption leading to lure choice.

So why do fish attack certain moving objects, but not all moving objects? Finding lures fish attack is the primary goal and friction I think has a lot to do with it. The word friction has mainly two definitions: it occurs by rubbing two objects together; the other - a clash of temperaments.

Consider this: a lure is moving along minding its own business and out of nowhere - BAM! - it gets attacked. The lure clashes with the peaceful, quiet environment a fish hangs out in. No strobe-like flash; no on-the-surface swish/swish/swishing of a cigar-shaped object (Zara Spook); no fat wobbling tear-shaped plastic with bb's rattling around inside (fat-lipped crankbait). Yet fish get really p.o.'d when these lures intrude on their meditation. Let's just say that some fish have a very short temper and are intolerant of trespassers that flaunt their stuff.

The good thing about the above is the large number of lure actions + shapes that make fish attack for no reason other than, well - NO REASON WHATSOEVER, because that would require the ability to reason. As you've seen from the many photos I've posted of proven great fish catcher shapes and actions, all are different and most will catch fish in the same water on the same day. There's got to be something in a fish's brain DNA that once a lure is detected, a switch is flipped on either to attack it or let it pass. Lure design and how a lure is used is everything and a good thing: I sure as H wouldn't want to cast the same lure no matter how good day after day much less wait for live bait to get bit.

Don't shoot the author. It's a dreary cold day in the northeast with nothing to do. (Man do I wish jiggerjohn (John Mclean) was still alive! He loved to read my theories and we both loved putting them to the test.)


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[hookup]

a clash of temperament

a clash of temperaments.


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Sounds like a small mouth bass. I call them bullies

But I do believe they strike to disorientate so they can come in for the kill & eat too

 

[Hawnjigs]

Humans can use legs & arms to attack, tho there are exceptions the fish we commonly target only possess mouths. Practically all the predators I catch are hooked inside the mouth.

Altho this would appear to support a feeding response I once hooked nesting peacock bass (plural) with a large bare treble hook in the mouth by initiating a protective attack response with an aggressive in their face presentation. Years later I regretted disrupting a sacred event.

If one gets too close to a dog or critter that feels threatened they will bite. Maybe fish have a similar response?

That said 100% of my jig presentations are to mimic forage appearance and movement.

SM thanks for initiating a thought provoking discussion.

 

[hookup]

Humans can use legs & arms to attack, tho there are exceptions the fish we commonly target only possess mouths.

When I first started smallie fishing, a wise learned angler taught me to pay attention to the rub. Many discussions, and beer, were spent discussing what the "rub" was? After copious amounts of time on the river, I learned to recognize the rub and be prepared for the bite. My consolation is that smallies (or fish) have another means to attack and that is a flip of the tail or body to disorient the prey, then come in for the kill - so a tail or body flexing could also be a means to attack imho

Years later I regretted disrupting a sacred event.

I learned this lesson too. I don't target fish during the spawn and I'm glad to read others believe this is a sacred event

How about the steady flapping of a curl-tail Mr. Twister grub or Phenom worm curl tail, the latter bouncing off the bottom? Not too many animals bounce.

Makes perfect sense. If you're bottom fishing and "tickling the rocks" and move your rod tip from the 9 to 1 position, that transfers a huge bounce to the bait. Especially with braid. I've learned to slowly crawl the bait over the rocks and let the bait rest. In otherwords, eliminate the un-natural bounce.

Good topic - provokes some thought on this cold, blustery rainy/slushing day

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

If one gets too close to a dog or critter that feels threatened they will bite. Maybe fish have a similar response?

That said 100% of my jig presentations are to mimic forage appearance and movement.

Reaction strikes are probably more common than we might think.

Please give examples of lures and lure movements that mimic forage that actually live in a fish's environment. Not too many lures I catch fish with do that and I challenge anyone to produce evidence that the word natural is in a fish's vocabulary when it comes to what they strike and especially why. Plus, the overwhelming evidence of what fish strike proves just the opposite as proven by lure users from centuries ago.

The Roman scholar Claudius Aelianus first described the practice of "fastening red wool... round a hook, and fit on to the wool two feathers which grow under a cock's wattles" by Macedonian anglers on the Astraeus River, an early form of fly fishing, near the end of the 2nd century.

(Doubt I'll be using feathers from under a cock's wattle anytime soon.)

When referring to presentation, there are many for each lure capable of catching fish. Personal preferences aside, one angler's presentation is another's ho-hum when it comes to where the presentation is used such as on the bottom or mid-depth, bottom type - bare bottom vs vegetation present, depth, vertically vs horizontally, slow or fast, subtle or in-their-face, etc.

 

[Hawnjigs]

For minner eating predators walleye, wipers, & smallies my softies are natural baitfish pearl colors. After a lifetime of been there tried that all I need now are 3" PB white pearl Twitchtail Minnows, 3" PB pink highlight whitish pearl Ripple Shads, & 2" Bobby Garland silver pearl Baby Shads. Thats it, 3 are all I need on 3 variations of Hooksup heads. I've got a few others that work as well but don't need to use - 2-3/4" Lunker City white pearl & pro blue Swimfish, 2-1/2" Lunker City pro blue Fin-S-Fish, and 2" Bobby Garland blue ice Baby Shads. All were chosen to mimic the natural appearance of baitfish.

The only deviation from natural baitfish is cut in half 5" Gulp chartreuse pepper Sinking Minnows for catfish & occasional largemouth opportunity. Almost forgot the 2" motor oil red glitter twin tails resembling crawdads for targeting smallies.

The 2" mins on #2 hook heads work fine for larger trout, but I generally use 1/16 #6 mink fur jigs to include smaller fish as well, dark for a buggy or bottom scooter appearance and off white for swimming baitfish or light color insects. And the tiny jigs will get bit by the biggest trout around also.

Unlike most, my retrieve never varies for all species in all mostly shallow water conditions year round. Slow & close to bottom as possible without hanging straight ahead with frequent short twitches.

Simple, but effective, well satisfied with catches. Tho I don't indulge, worth mentioning that live bait can at times be superior to lures.

No doubting by your posts SM that almost any color / style soft bait will elicit reaction strikes. Amazing that bluegill will bite lures way too big for them to ingest.

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

Thanks H for your detailed reply.
I have caught many freshwater species on lures I've made in different sizes, shapes and various colors for each design. Pretty much all of those lures are unnatural in all respects. But the definition of natural - existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by humankind, more-or-less puts manmade lures into an unnatural category. (No comment on the lures you mentioned.)

The intention of the initial post was to allow others to consider ideas regarding the lures they use or plan on trying. It also points to the concept that lure choice should depend on what works as exemplified by many of my posts with photo proof. I know for a fact that fish respond to lure actions - many, unnatural in the extreme. Underwater videos might be helpful, but whether the concepts are seriously considered or not depends on an open mind and a bit of imagination to correlate shapes and actions only vs descriptions like natural and forage. For each lure that catches fish for an angler, I have eight or more that will do just as well if not better on the same outing proving once again that lure variety is the spice of fishing.

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

Lure companies give names to lures that supposedly describe their shape and possibly their action such as shiner, dace, minnow, frog, tadpole, etc. names don't impress me - descriptions do - some of which I mentioned.
Mr Twister Grub - no way a grub but definitely a flapping curl tail
Note: curl tail design matters A Power Grub tail whips side-to-side vs a Mr Twister that flaps like a flag
Phenom Worm - no way a worm that ever lived, but a slim body with flapping curl tail
Softy Worm - a stick body that darts back and forth I.e. jerk bait made with soft plastic. The tail is tapered but only small fins are added at the tip. (Fin-S-Fish BTW is a jerk & pause bait)

Daredevil Spoon - wild swing & flash lure.

Zara Spook - swish & splash surface fat cigar-shaped lure

Pork Frog trailer - flapping tails extending from a pulsating jig skirt

craw tail trailer - flapping tails

Bobby Garland Baby Shad - spike-tail quivers with the least bit of rod action

Lunker City Swimfish - a Sassy Shad type boot tail that thumps rhythmically, causing the thin body to shake regardless of a vertical or horizontal swim; a swimbait's action that has no action when paused.

Gulp Sinking Minnow - nothing but a shape-copy of the Senko and no way a minnow shape. Its actions are many depending on rigging and presentation. action: jerk worm; when wacky-rigged the tapered legs open & close or flutter on the drop; the body flexes like any plastic worm except with a thick body.

Jitterbug - cupped front that waddles & swishes on the surface differently than the Zara Spook in that the retrieve is steady with no rod tip imparted action

straight thin-tail grub - flat tail that quivers but doesn't impart much body motion. (similar to the spike-tail above except with a larger action-tail shape but also for subtle - slow presentations.

spinner bait - category depends on blade size & shape that produce various thumping vibrations whether on the surface or subsurface. The blade imparts the skirt's action - a steady pulsation.

Short-arm spinnerbaits and the Beetle Spin are in the same category both having smaller blades that reflect less light and produce less vibration. They can be skirted or rigged with plastics - action depending on shape and tail action.

Bobble-action bulb-tail grub that waddles with slight rod tip twitches - a minnie Zara Spook so to speak:


Spike-tails /grub that twitch slightly even under a float when wacky rigged:


Crappie Magnet - two thin flat tails that quiver

These are just a few action-by-design name/descriptions that I chose when I fish and not the names such as shad, crawfish or minnow labels attached by a company that says nothing about the lure or its use(s).
The best advice I can give is to watch what your lure does in the water at your feet and go from there. Once it catches fish, your description of its shape & action defines why it caught fish and nothing else.

 

[Hawnjigs]

HU are you saying that the "rub" is an angler felt reaction to a tail swish?

SM, you certainly have I would guess tried practically all available lure modalities at one time or another, and of course cherry picked what was most useful for you depending on applications. In HI back in the 80s the only available softies were "curly tails" which was my entry into soft plastics transitioning from mostly bait and some tied jigs. Caught fish and hooked me onto jigs for life. Years later tried mini Slug-gos and Fin-S-Fish from a mail order Bass Pro Shops and the smaller size and natural baitfish colors alewife and rainbow trout were at times more effective than the single color + glitter 2 & 3" twister grubs. Much later found Lunker City Shaker thumper tails to be somewhat useful in salt water after reading articles by Doug Stange in In-Fisherman about his walleye exploits.

After 66 yrs in HI settling in NE the past 8 gear and lure choices necessarily evolved into a style simply described as lighter and slower. Currently, have ditched all hard body lures in favor of jigs, ties for trout and softies for warm water species. Never use twisters anymore, and could actually get by without thumper tails tho at times they do function to show the fish something different from the usual straight tail twitch baits.

I still use Jigger John's shank propeller jigs for larger walleye at night, why fix what ain't broke? No longer use the pictured football head, prefer lighter decollared Hooksups or less frequently no collar plain ball heads.


The (arguably) natural baitfish shape and color softies currently in favor likely get reaction bit too. But who knows what works now may someday not, and gotta be willing to adjust.

 

[hookup]

HU are you saying that the "rub" is an angler felt reaction to a tail swish?

Yes. Or a body swish.

Again, to disorient the bait to the fish can come iback for the kill - or meal

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

Color matters but when it matters it's hard to prove. I've used every color Mr Twister curl tail and caught fish on all of them. Even now, bright yellow, bright opaque chartreuse and bright pink will still catch fish. (BTW Different generations of fish don't confer with one another.)
Do fish avoid tried & true lures and colors? Do they strike natural colors more often? (BTW, solid pearl/ white is not a natural color.)
We'll never know as long as you and I aren't fishing from the same boat in two or more waters - you casting natural colors and me casting any one of these Crappie Magnet Grub colors:


John's propeller jig is a perfect example of an unnatural design. I break down the design into these two factors in combination:
tiny spinner (visual sparkle and pulse waves)
red beads that click a bit (vibration) That's it.

The Slug and Fin S Fin still catch fish and in weird colors though I now prefer more subtle action plastics in subtle colors though at times small body parts may be fluorescent.

When it comes to size, a large size plastic may be key in catching med.-lg fish such as this 6.5" hand poured swimbait in the green pumpkin color. I don't care what fish think a lure is but only what they'll strike.

 

[Hawnjigs]

To clarify, the red shank beads on Jigger John's Boolie prop design are super glued in place to hold plastics.

I do prefer a silver pearl to white pearl for a natural baitfish appearance, but Berkley does not offer that color in their Powerbait plastics. The Bobby Garland silver pearl is ideal, also used in Keitech thump tails which I don't need at this time. I've tried a few Keitechs that I found on the rocks and they are very effective walleye attractors. AtticaFish once mentioned Keitechs were a favorite walleye bait, & if I wasn't already inventoried with PBs I would get some.

Many if not most have the opinion that larger baits catch bigger fish, but I've never had to upsize from 3" being well satisfied with results targeting best available larger local species walleye, wiper, & cats. Maybe if muskie opportunity materializes I will adjust.

Then again last year fishing with Bill on a slow night I lucked into a chunk wally on my usual high vis jig, and tho I offered him the same he decided to tie on a 4" pumpkinseed tube jig. I kept quiet thinking no way inna dark, and he got a wally the same size and broke off another shortly thereafter.

Taught me not to dismiss the choices of others.

 

[hookup]

Color matters but when it matters it's hard to prove.

I've been able to proved the following axiom on the water. "Color only matters when it matters, but when color matters, it really matters.

When it comes to size,

Again, small mouth river bass experience speaking here. How many times have you had a nice meal, not been hungry, but walked by a bowl of potato chips and had a couple?

Bass are the same way - sometimes they don't want a meal. Just a snack.

I don't give a crap what fish like - but only what they strike.

IMHO, most baits sold are based on what the angler likes.

But more to the point of this quote, fish do strike baits out of aggression. Not necessarily to eat them, but to kill them or injure them and see how the bait reacts. Back to the rub - you could consider this a strike but if the bait does not act like it should after the rub, then that is the end of the fish's interest.

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

But more to the point of this quote, fish do strike baits out of aggression. Not necessarily to eat them, but to kill them or injure them and see how the bait reacts

I stick by the first statement and go from there.

Wild animals - land and water - have amazing senses. I set mouse traps with a tiny bit of peanut butter in the traps' small cups and I catch 1-2 mice pert night. (I'm killing the little buggers that come out from under my jacuzzi to prevent damage to the wiring and insulation.) Their night vision is equal to that of a cat or owl but their stupidity level is on par with fish -(they see the corpse of a trapped sibling and go after the tidbit in another trap anyway).

"Unlike the rather flat lenses of humans and other mammals, fish eyes have round lenses that protrude outward, giving them greater peripheral vision. A round lens is optimal for bending light. This spherical lens also is dense, with a refractive index of about 1.67, the highest of any vertebrate animal. The peripheral parts of the visual field have excellent motion detection and the capability to perceive flicker-stimuli."

Again, my belief regarding fish senses as it pertains to the strike is uniquely mine alone, based on lure designs that affect those senses most. Your statement (in bold) is the basis of that belief. So when it comes to which lures do better, my choice of lures involves one of two things: activity level as it pertains to the level of aggression. The first determines the second.

Example: In the above fat grub photo I use floating plastic so the lure stands up off the bottom. There are always currents in lake water and the slight current makes the prongs of the tail twitch slightly. A sedentary fish watching it will come out of its stupor as it becomes irritated watching those little fins flutter as if to say, "I dare you to bite me!" What's more, is the fluorescent color that stands out like a bright, neon bulb against the background; the fat body does the rest as it sways slightly in an upright position not even attempting to 'keep-it-down'. In this sense, the senses magnify everything about the lure which leads to the strike. Covering water is not in the cards.

Example: On the other hand, a heightened level of aggression due to a higher activity level (i.e. a school feeding on a school of fish or surface bugs), where it doesn't take much to provoke strikes. But now the lure is in competition with real forage and must prove to be more worthy of strikes. That's where larger lures with more action come in. Rather than use small Colorado blades on a spinnerbait, I'll attach a very large flashing, chrome willow leaf blade. Bass of all sizes slam it in the spring. This lure covers a lot of water!

I try to match a lure's design to activity level and level of aggression.

Again, this is not an attempt to persuade you to even consider any of the above. You do well with your limited selection of lures and colors, I do well with a vast number of designs in many colors - while pretending all the above is accurate.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Indeed when wipers here are surface boiling a skitter on top jig is a ticket, and subsurface presentations get mostly ignored. Most here use poppers, some with a jig trailer, but I usually get a fair share with a jig light enuf for a surface presentation. A kick nose flat bottom tin jig head enhances that performance ability. A slab cast with lighter tin metal works well too and I still have a few for almost never longer cast situations. Long ago in salt water a spoon was also effective at a fast enuf retrieve to churn the surface.

Most of us are attracted enuf by the experienced(?) success testimonials of other anglers to give their stuff a try. Right now I've got 5 tackle boxes, albeit smallest possible, each for a different target species., filled with stuff I no longer deem necessary despite giving away a bunch. And that ain't the all of it stashed and most likely never to be used in my lifetime.

Personally, I'm grateful to have arrived at a point of getting by fine with a minimum of gear, except for an obsession with having multiple just in case rods & reels only a few of which gets actual water time, for example 3 out of over a dozen spinning reels. Guessing I'm not the only one.

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

Guessing I'm not the only one.

Believe me - you're not!

 

[hookup]

Guessing I'm not the only one.

All I really need is one rod/reel, handful of jigs in various sizes and a couple bags of soft plastics, so yup!

 

[Hawnjigs]

Mr. HU, are you sure one R&R setup is enuf ?

I need 3 here based on target species line requirements matched with appropriate R&R. 4-8# Daiwa Capricorn 1500 5' broke tip Fenwick HMX ML, 8-10# Pflueger Arbor 7430 5'3"Fenwick HMG L, & 10-15# Shimano Sahara 2500 G. Loomis e6x 6' M. Last year 20# Pflueger Arbor 7440 Cadence 5'7" cut tip MH worked fine for big cats, but think this year I'll try the just added lighter 15# rig. As mentioned, I only use braid for all apps.

Judging by the amount of jig varieties SM implements, I'd guess his gear arsenal exceeds mine.

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

Judging by the amount of jig varieties SM implements, I'd guess his gear arsenal exceeds mine.

By far! LOL

 

[hookup]

Mr. HU, are you sure one R&R setup is enuf ?

I carry one rod wading, traveling or kayaking in an area I could flip and loose it.

If we're talking all you need, yes

If I'm invited on a "real" boat, I'll bring two