Ron Mc wrote:hope Tobin doesn't take this the wrong way, but just about any lure will catch you fish if you fish it properly. (though I'm agreeing with the premise of his post, and I certainly like his lures)
I agree; that was really the whole point of my post...
And yes, I do make a lure... but most people don't need it, only those that fish shallow grass, shallow oysters, or rocks. Our number one goal is to teach people how to find fish, target schools of fish, and hunt the fish; most of my clients quit buying all that stuff and learn to focus on what's proven in given situations. One guy paired it down to Little Johns and She Dogs... that's it. Guide boats don't have huge tackle storage systems.. sure if you see their garage it look like the pics above because we all go through that phase, but good guides have a little bag of lures and the best ones are on the console and the jig heads are under the leaning post. They don't even have tackle bags on their boats. Knowledge catches fish.. not lures.
All one needs is 4-5 tools. I wouldn't say you can make them hit any lure though... Yes, it is the Archer and not the Arrow... The reason I listed the 4 I did is because the fish are in different feeding attitudes and I've encountered numerous times they wouldn't hit a topwater and wanted something on the bottom, or wouldn't hit a subsurface but would hit a top. Notice I'm not saying here that you need 10 brands of tops either. Pair it down to your most confident selection; Fish don't care.
Anglers also take the 'match the hatch' thing way to far. The first thing to know about matching the hatch is 'forage location'... not making the bait look exactly like the hatch. Next is size (ish) but it doesn't have to be exact. Just about any small bait will work when they are eating something like small glass minnow. Sometimes I've even caught fish on very large baits when I found the very small bait the fish were keying on and eating; It's all about finding the fish. That's what matching the hatch is ALL about.
Color... I've broken about every major 'color' rule in the book. I agree with Capt Steve Soule on this one... I've caught trout in super dirty water on clear with silver sparkle and it was also getting dark with clouds no sun light to reflect those sparkles. I'v also caught trout and reds on black in ultra clear water. Reduce down your colors to only 2-3. 1 dark, 1 light, 1 natural. That's plenty.. most people have book binders of all the colors and spend too much time switching baits instead of looking for fish in the right areas.
Depth.. "have to fish the bottom in 6-8 feet of water right".. nope.. we routinely catch trout on topwater in 6-8 feet over the reefs.
It's all about noticing the fishes aggression level and reading the signs. Hunt the fish guys, good luck and have fun!
