Fishing Lures
Perhaps the best way to get the fish is to attract him with a sight-seeing lure. Fish had a highly developed, high visual acuity like some birds, only that theirs are more spherical.
Naturally, when fish find what’s attractive for them, they would easily fall into it, so it is important to choose the right combining features of lures so you can grab their attention instantly.
A Must-Read: Types Of Fishing Hooks
A fishing lure is an artificial bait that imitates the movements of a natural lure to attract fish. The usage of fishing lures has been rampant since 2000 BC until today’s date because of its effectiveness in luring the fish in.
The most important feature that you’ll need to look after a lure is the movement, color, and vibration when it is underwater. The lure is attached to the end of the mainline and casts it out underwater or anywhere the fish is hiding.
Over the years, technology seemed to develop fishing lures unlike in Egypt and China in 2000 BC, they only use bronze as lures.
Then, years evolved when the Chinese discovered that they could make lures from silk too. A Roman leader in 300 AD named Claudius Arlianus wrote about fly-fishing and other fishing sport.
He made lures out of feathers, lead, and bristles from the wild boar. Izaak Walton (1653) was most notable for his “The Compleat Angler,” a book that tackles the fisherman’s gear and necessities.
In the 1900s, more lure designs were made in Michigan headed by Heddon and Pflueger, and the fishing lure industry has eventually made it to the market.
Different Types Of Fishing Lures
Fishing lures are like a replica of the prey for the fish. Still, they are engineered to cause vibration in the water to grab the fish’s attention, knowing that fish are hypersensitive, aggressive, and territorial.
There are many types of lures.
Jigs
Most anglers use jigs as their fishing lure. It is moving vertically underwater, contrary to snapper baits which move horizontally.
Jigs are versatile to be used both in freshwater and saltwater. The jig’s head can vary in size, shape, and colors, along with other features.
The most popular jigs come in the shape of a flipping jig, football jigs, and grass jigs and can weigh around 0.80 ounces.
The body of the jigs has different materials in them too, like silicone and rubber. As mentioned above, they imitate the fish’s usual prey, which are frogs, minnows, paddle tails, and leeches.
Their colors are between bright yellow to red flakes, just enough vibrancy to attract their eyes.
Surface Lures
Surface lures, or commonly called waddlers, are another type of lure design to waddle, pop, twitch and lock across the water’s surface when it is retrieved. The materials for this lure are either plastic or wood.
Spoon Lures
Spoon lures are mostly used during fishing events. It is an oblong-shaped lure made of metal, used to target fish’s eyesight for the light reflection it can produce.
Plugs
Plugs are a hard-bodied fishing lure that was first made in the 19th century by James Heddon, the manufacturer and supplier of the fishing lure in Michigan.
He enjoyed the rest of the day when he mindedly thought a piece of wood into the waters when a large bass was hit and faintly went down to the water.
This scenario made him do some experimentation and named this “Lucky 13” to prove his point. So plugs maintained their popularity until the 20th century where many investors came in from different fishing industries to design and invest in fishing lures.
Spinnerbait
A snapper bait is quite similar to the jigs, only that it is made of metal. There are many kinds of spinnerbait too. In-line spinner, salty pit, and tail-spinner.
The in-line spinner is the most popular among the three because of its blade factor and treble hook dressing.
Top 5 Fishing Lures
Over time, fishing lures are being revolutionized by many fishing companies, hoping that their products would take fishing to a whole new level.
The Mepps Agilia
The Mepps Agilia was engineered in 1983 by French Andre Meulnart, and consider as the first-ever French Spinner.
Through his constant research, he found out that vibration and refraction of light can attract the fish because of its hypersensitivity and extreme vision ability.
He thought of naming it Aglia because it resembles a butterfly and later on, changed it to Mepps Agilia.
He later succeeded in manufacturing bigger companies and even writing his fishing book called “English: Precision Equipment for Sport Fishing.”
Moving forward to 1951, Todd Sheldon was interested in selling all kinds of lures and tried using the Mepps Agilia on a 2-hour fishing action.
Eventually, he caught 4 trout of more than 12 pounds. Since then, he initiates to invest in selling Mepps Agilia.
Much to his delight, the lure sold faster than expected. 10 years later, the demand for this lure has constantly been increasing its annual sales marked $3 million per year.
Todd then closed his small store and opened a larger company named Sheldon’s Incorporated to import Mepps lures to the US. By all means, when it comes to sports fishing, the Mepps lure became a standard because of its versatility to be cast anywhere.
It can be used in deep water, surface water and even behind fast-paced water in lakes, streams, and ponds.
The Chatterbait
The most popular lure is called chatter bait which is commonly known as the bladed jigs. This lure is best to use in any situation, depending on how extensive you’ve made to find out what kind of fish you’re about to pursue.
The best time to use the chatter bait is during summer and fall season wherein grasses are about to die.
Chatterbait can be a lovely sight to see for the fish because of its variation in colors and the natural-like movement it created underwater. As for the colors, it has designated use.
For example, dark blue and black baits are good when being lowered underwater, especially on the muddier part of the water. It can easily camouflage itself in the water, tricking the fish into getting near them.
According to some online fishing enthusiasts, the best color to use is the green pumpkin bait to look very natural in the water. The chatter baits competition is rising in the market and is used in many sports events, too.
Rapala Diving Minnow
Due to Lauri Rapala’s strong ambition to make a difference globally and to get out of his poor economic status, he tried to venture out a living on Lake Paijanne.
By then, he observed some fish behaviors and how predator fish can attack the prey. While he was there for observation, he noticed that the predator would appear nearer to a school and only attack when a single fish was left behind.
He thought that if he imitated the prey’s physical appearance, it would be easier for him to lure a fish. So Rapala Diving Minnow, which looks more like a small sardine, was created in 1930.
The lure eventually found its success, and this motivated Lauri Rapala to establish a bigger company. He also has made a lot of loyal followers too. Until now, Rapala Diving Minnow is still receiving praises from expert anglers, especially that it can lure bigger fish, either fresh or saltwater.
For more than 80 years in the fishing industry, anyone can hardly argue the effectiveness of Rapala Diving Minnow in catching walleyes, large freshwater fishes, and largemouth bass.
The Plastic Worm
This is designed to look literally like an earthworm, only this has come in various colors, yet the best lure to use is the color purple.
For a brief history, the plastic worm was initially created in the 1940s by Nick and Cosma Creme in Ohio when they thought of experimenting with different kinds of materials to replicate the taste and the movements of a live nightcrawler.
Nightcrawlers are effective live baits, and they can be very fragile because they can hardly live underwater. Their lifespan is the reason why nightcrawlers are more expensive in the market than other live baits.
So, The Cremes though it’s also pretty challenging to catch nightcrawlers because it’s taking too much of their time, and there’s a considerable amount of effort they need to exert before they can go on fishing.
They also thought that if they designed a lure that mimics the characteristics of a nightcrawler, they could help other fishers save more time, making a difference to the fishing market.
Their partnership had somehow made it right.
In 1951, they took their first Creme Wiggle Worm in a Cleveland Sports Show, and they successfully sold out about 9000 packages in just a matter of days for only $1.00 per 5 worms.
In the mid-1950s, they opened a small factory because the demands are getting higher than their supply. Due to its popularity, it expanded to Texas and where they decided to live a permanent residency.
Picking The Right Lure
Fishing can be fun as a hobby, and it can greatly influence your character. In fishing, the one that you needed to understand is the fish and the character and the features that your gears have, especially on the lures.
The lure very appealing to the fish is its strategy to combine noise, vibration, and delicate colors to attract them. All these features have to be right altogether because fish will not be interested in going near the lure if not.
Understand that any fish is a challenge because they’re tough to please, to begin with. And as previously noted, they are smart enough to know the fake lures. There are other fish that, when they taste a fake lure, would instantly spit it out.
Depth
Water depth is a factor in choosing the right lure. You have to think through: where will I go fishing? Being at the surface water only means that you can swim through it or mean down to five feet only.
For shallow or sub-surface waters, it should be between five to eight feet below whereas the deep waters are more than 20 feet below.
During the spring season, fish would move up to the shallow part of the water because that’s their spawning period, and they feed during that period. By all means, you have to choose a surface lure.
On the other hand, during the summer season, because of the high temperature, fish tend to go deeper to cool themselves.
Level of Fish Activity
There were more elements to consider before finding the right lure because fish are hypersensitive, and they follow their season most of the time.
Since they created a pattern, you must know where they should be headed because it’s a reflex for them to automatically head to somewhere else once the weather condition or the temperature tends to change.
The most critical level of their activity is the spawning season, where they have to release many eggs either in the rocks or in the shallow part of the water.
It is most expected for the female fish to hide behind the rocks while protecting its fry while the male fish is becoming more aggressive to protect his offsprings.
Conclusion
The Creme couple was right that finding a live lure is very time-consuming, and it will deduct to the fun adventure that you’re supposed to have in the water. Lures are usually bought in packs, and it’s better to buy them than to waste more time.
If talking about fishing as a hobby, getting a lure will make you more relaxed while waiting for the fish to bite. It’s laid back, but at least the amount of time that’s supposed to be enjoyed is becoming productive.
