How much does it matter?

[Jeffrey]

I see many types of lures on the market. You have lures that don't necessarily resemble anything that reds and trout each, such as most soft plastics, spinner baits, spoons, those crazy frogs that were demonstrated on Tobin's last DVD. Then you have the fancy hard plastic plugs that have 3-D eyes and realistic painting on the sides to make them look very similar to the bait the reds and trout eat.

So, how much does it really matter if the lure looks like the bait? We don't really fish in clear water most of the time. If you had soft plastics that were about the same size as the bait, and the correct color according to conditions, what difference does it make that they don't look like a fancy Yo-zuri or one of the other more realistic looking lures on the market?

I ask this because I want to experiment with Hogy 7" Originals. They are about the size of a mullet that a red or trout would eat. They can be fished a variety of ways, but with winter coming on, these can be fished slowly and remain in the water column. Would a more realistic hard plastic twitch bait have an advantage over a Hogy 7" Original?

[pelochas]

true but then when you try all them lures in the box and nothing works, what then?...and this cycle continues haha

[GrantH]

IMHO color might matter a little but over all, if the fish are feeding and your presentation is quasi right then you are going to catch fish. If they are not feeding or skittish, try to get a reaction bite. Also IMO, there are different lures like there are different fishermen, different things work well for others while they may not work for some. For example, I hardly ever throw something with a rat tail despite how well they work for others. Sure I have plenty of them on hand but when it comes to SP I prefer a paddle tail. Bottom line, different strokes for different folks. Find what works best for you, elaborate, and stop changing lures. If you are not catching fish, then try another area.

Tight lines-

[quincyraybon]

My theory has been if the fish are there they're gonna eat. Using the TroutSupport DVDs I saw what the fish line of sight was, using that I work the bait differently. As for different lures.. I take gulp shrimp and DOA shrimp with me - that's it. If I'm not catching, I go somewhere else and do catch. The only thing I change other than that is the way I work the bait.

For example, If I'm fishing for trout I'll start with a popping cork. If I'm convinced I'm in one of the areas where the fish should be (but I'm not catching them) I'll switch to a jig head. I work corks differently, I call them different "Shots". Like the investigation shot. If there's a fish this usually gets em every time.

For reds I'll start out with a jig. I'll start by bouncing on the bottom (Because I'm in love with Flounder!)
After a few minutes I'll switch to realing and twitching slowly - then I'll progressively change to get it near the top. One of those usually work.

If I'm on a grass flat I don't bounce on the bottom like I would mud or sand. I keep it more spread out.

[Absolut]

It's called fishing for a reason.... You have to figure out what they want and the way they want it. Some days you can throw a bare hook out there and catch fish and others the first sight of a lure will send them darting away. I was out there a few weeks ago, and there were tailing and schooling reds EVERYWHERE. They wanted 1 specific color, on 1 specific bait. I tried more natural colors of the same bait, and many other baits after I had caught my fill, and they didn't want anything to do with them. I put that one color on, and bam catching them left and right again.

[TroutSupport.com]

Doesn't really matter. Those fish grew up eating things that moved and they didn't know what it was or that it was suppose to look a certain way.Ifit moves it must be alive and it must be food... that is "if they are hungry"

we've all seen that clip of the guy catching reds on jalapenos...in clear water no less.... and reds that have shotgun shells in them... shot gun shells DO NOT have 3d eyes on them... LOL..

with all that said... it can't hurt too much and what others have said is that if something like that increases your confidence then use it. ... They hit the profile, action, and cuase it's there and moving .... sometimes it's better to match the hatch as close as possible though...

[Bad Luck Guy]

I play the "easy to find" method. I like it to rattle (ball bearings, popping corks), flash (holographic or metal), or vibrate/swim (curly tails, paddle tails). I like plastics with glitter. I LIKE GULP. I have on occassion during a red feeding frenzy thrown something absolutely ridiculous to see and they hit it just fine. When the bite is slow, I'll experiment.

[quincyraybon]

I LIKE GULP.

You're not supposed to eat it!

[Jeffrey]

Doesn't really matter. Those fish grew up eating things that moved and they didn't know what it was or that it was suppose to look a certain way.Ifit moves it must be alive and it must be food... that is "if they are hungry"

we've all seen that clip of the guy catching reds on jalapenos...in clear water no less.... and reds that have shotgun shells in them... shot gun shells DO NOT have 3d eyes on them... LOL..

with all that said... it can't hurt too much and what others have said is that if something like that increases your confidence then use it. ... They hit the profile, action, and cuase it's there and moving .... sometimes it's better to match the hatch as close as possible though...

Let's just go with it doesn't matter. That is my gut feel since there are so many effective fishing lures that don't look like anything. I would say that is true of all of the soft plastics, but people obviously catch a lot of fish with soft plastics.

The related question would be about noise. Hogy's and all rat tail soft plastics will be mostly quiet. You can walk the dog below the water line with the Hogy's. Would that make noise? How much noise does most of the natural bait make? How much of an advantage is it that paddle tails emit a vibrating noise (athough I am sure very small) and the hard plastics have rattles inside?

[Off The Hook]

you are over analyzing the whole situation. just get on the water. like they say if you use the wrong lure all the time it eventually becomes the right lure. throw whatever you have so long as you have confidence in it. If you don't have confidence in the lure you are using those bad vibes will transfer from reel to line to hook to lure and the fish will sense it.

[Jeffrey]

you are over analyzing the whole situation. just get on the water.

I don't mean any disrespect with this statement, but this is a place to discuss fishing. If I want to ask a fishing related question, then this is the place to ask it. Go tell Yo-zuri that they are over analyzing it, or TTF, or anyone else that develops a new lure and markets it as the next great thing.

Do you literally go buy every new lure that catches your eye, or do you put some thought into how you spend your hard earned dollars and your limiited fishing time?

[1texasaggie]

Doesn't really matter. Those fish grew up eating things that moved and they didn't know what it was or that it was suppose to look a certain way.

x2. Even though there is no substitute for live bait, as long as the water is moving and you find where the fish are ambushing, I really don't think it matters which lure you use...they will try to swallow almost anything that's moving.

you are over analyzing the whole situation. just get on the water. like they say if you use the wrong lure all the time it eventually becomes the right lure. throw whatever you have so long as you have confidence in it. If you don't have confidence in the lure you are using those bad vibes will transfer from reel to line to hook to lure and the fish will sense it.

Again, x2. A few years ago, my wife and I were out kayak fishing marsh drains in east bay, Galveston. We were fishing with live shrimp using small red treble hooks. Shortly after staking, I looked over and noticed my wife baiting her hook, casting and then laying her rod down in her lap to get a drink of water. Suddenly, her rod goes airborne and flies out of her kayak and disappears into the marsh. Mind you, the water clarity is consistent with a cup of cappuccino. For the next 20- minutes, I would occassionaly see a fluorescent yellow blur whiz underwater as the redfish that took her rod would swim by with her popping cork & rod in tow. This is why I have since rigged all our rods with floats.

I finally told my wife to take her extra rod and begin casting in every direction, making sure not to bait her treble hook in an attempt to snag and retrive her other line. On her second cast, her rod bent over and I assumed she hooked her other line or rod. When she reeled in her line, there was a 24" red on the other end, but no sign of the lost rod. The redfish she had just caught inhailed an unbaited treble hook. A few casts later yielded the same result: another slot red swallowed her unbaited hook, but still no sign of her other rod. Finally, she snagged her other line. After pulling her original rod out of the water, she reeled in another slot red that was still hooked on the other end. The irony was my wife now had her limit of reds without ever attempting to fish.

[richg99]

1texasag.....you better enter her in a redfish tournament quick!

Great story. rich

[Jeffrey]

Doesn't really matter. Those fish grew up eating things that moved and they didn't know what it was or that it was suppose to look a certain way.

x2. Even though there is no substitute for live bait, as long as the water is moving and you find where the fish are ambushing, I really don't think it matters which lure you use...they will try to swallow almost anything that's moving.

you are over analyzing the whole situation. just get on the water. like they say if you use the wrong lure all the time it eventually becomes the right lure. throw whatever you have so long as you have confidence in it. If you don't have confidence in the lure you are using those bad vibes will transfer from reel to line to hook to lure and the fish will sense it.

Again, x2. A few years ago, my wife and I were out kayak fishing marsh drains in east bay, Galveston. We were fishing with live shrimp using small red treble hooks. Shortly after staking, I looked over and noticed my wife baiting her hook, casting and then laying her rod down in her lap to get a drink of water. Suddenly, her rod goes airborne and flies out of her kayak and disappears into the marsh. Mind you, the water clarity is consistent with a cup of cappuccino. For the next 20- minutes, I would occassionaly see a fluorescent yellow blur whiz underwater as the redfish that took her rod would swim by with her popping cork & rod in tow. This is why I have since rigged all our rods with floats.

I finally told my wife to take her extra rod and begin casting in every direction, making sure not to bait her treble hook in an attempt to snag and retrive her other line. On her second cast, her rod bent over and I assumed she hooked her other line or rod. When she reeled in her line, there was a 24" red on the other end, but no sign of the lost rod. The redfish she had just caught inhailed an unbaited treble hook. A few casts later yielded the same result: another slot red swallowed her unbaited hook, but still no sign of her other rod. Finally, she snagged her other line. After pulling her original rod out of the water, she reeled in another slot red that was still hooked on the other end. The irony was my wife now had her limit of reds without ever attempting to fish.

Thanks! That is excellent data to enter into my analysis!

[saltykat]

All year long a variety of lures will work but in winter I fish one lure all day every day and usually catch'em. Nothing beats a corky type lure especially for big trout

[surfpunk]

It's not the lure, it's the fisherman. If you can make a bait look like something the fish eat and are able to entice the fish to strike, you are in like flynn. I have the most confidence in top-water lures so that is what I'll throw 90% of the time.

[Coachsmills]

It's not the lure, it's the fisherman. If you can make a bait look like something the fish eat and are able to entice the fish to strike, you are in like flynn. I have the most confidence in top-water lures so that is what I'll throw 90% of the time.

I agree. I'm the opposite of you. I am horrible with top waters and have no confidence in myself using them. I love soft plastics and have all the confidence in the world in them. I will throw them even if the guy next to me is killing them on tops.

I normally don't switch colors to often. I will switch the size of the lure I'm throwing.

I fished a marsh last July that had reds everywhere. I threw my buggs lure at more than 30 visible fish for an hour straight without one nibble. They would look at it and swim around it just to avoid eating it. Never had I been so frustrated while fishing. It was getting dark and as I was leaving the marsh the fish were still everywhere. I decided to finally switch to a chicken boy for the heck of it. I had 3 on the stringer in 15 minutes. Slightly bigger bait in the same color and they were all over it.

Who really knows though. I caught this fish back in July on a 1/16 ounce jighead. No soft plastic attached.

http://youtu.be/rG7KCr4VcYI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[TroutSupport.com]

Ah... topwaters or plastics is a different conversation... I too used to be addicted to tops.. love those blow ups... but now i want the 'bow ups' so i'll decifer what the fish want... if there's lots of bait on top and very active and there is an aggressive feed.. topwater is a good choice... if less aggressive or lower in the water column.. plastics get the job done. read the water, read the fish.

About noise.. i used to think that rat tails made no noise... but if you are twitching that rod it's making the line pop straight from slack.. thats a little noise and if you are using a loop knot then it's even more... water compression is more acute than sound that happens in air. so i don't think it's entirely noise less... but it wouldn't have to be.. shrimp don't make a lot of noise... a lot of little clicks and vibrations.

[richg99]

Troutsupport....well put and very interesting.

I just ordered your "catch a lot of Trout" dvd the other day. Hope I can learn a lot and catch more fish. I need help! Ha ! rich

[Jeffrey]

It's time to review the Big Trout DVD to get ready for the cooler months. I will want to watch it once or twice this week.

[FishingSETX]

you are over analyzing the whole situation. just get on the water.

I don't mean any disrespect with this statement, but this is a place to discuss fishing. If I want to ask a fishing related question, then this is the place to ask it. Go tell Yo-zuri that they are over analyzing it, or TTF, or anyone else that develops a new lure and markets it as the next great thing.

Do you literally go buy every new lure that catches your eye, or do you put some thought into how you spend your hard earned dollars and your limiited fishing time?

You seem to take offense when someone tells you this and i do not understand why. Sometimes that can be the best advice!

I see your predicament time and time again. Someone wants to learn to fish so they buy video's, books, and questions on fishing boards, etc and then wonder why when they put together all the info they learn at home, it doesn't produce like they think it should on the water. Yes those are great tools to help you get started, but dont get mired down in the details.

Confidence is everything when it comes to bait selection. Next time you find the fish, switch to a similar bait that you dont really think will work and see what happens, then switch to another similar bait that you think will work just as good As the original. You'll start catching again.

As for rat tails, they work great. Its not all about noise, its about vibration! Mullet, shrimp, mud minnows, piggy perch, etc rarely make any noise but put off vibration when moving. Put out the wrong vibration and you'll zero, put out the right vibration and you'll catch. Sound and color matter, but not nearly as much as vibration. Ever been fishing right next to someone with the exact same bait fishing it in what you think i the exact aame manner and they are catching while you are not? Im convinced it the minute differences in the vibration of the bait.

As for yo zuri, TTF, etc, they could care less wether the fish bite their lire as long as they catch as many fishermen as possible! Yes, if fish didnt bite their lures every once in a while, they would loose business, but those flashy realistic baits are that way to catch fishermen not fish. Just look at the old tout tails, bingo lures, etc. They worked and would still work but looked nothing like anything that swims.

I know your final question was not directed to me, but i will answer it anyway. No i dont go buy every lure that cones out, those usually catch the curious or the new angler and not the fish. Occasionally ill experiment, but 99% of the time, i buy baits that have worked in the past. Gulp jerk shad, rattle traps, curl tail grubs, super spooks, spinner baits, etc are all good proven choices.

[Jeffrey]

You seem to take offense when someone tells you this and i do not understand why. Sometimes that can be the best advice!

I take offense because this is a fishing forum. We talk about fishing here. All kinds of topics. Some of the topics seem irrelevant to me. I tend to pass those topics by and let the people who are interested have at it. I appreciate the same consideration from someone who might think a topic I want to discuss is irrelevant. If I ran across you talking to several people at a boat launch about something and I told you guys to break up the conversation and just go fishing, you would say I was rude. Same thing here as far as I concerned.

I also take offense because the implication is that I am not spending time on the water. I don't spend as much time as I would like to but I get out there when my schedule allows for it.

Who is the topic police around here anyway?

[Off The Hook]

i don't know what you are reading but everyone here "IS" talking fishing. again just like everyone is telling you the best lure is the one "YOU" have confidence in. I have been in a boat where 4 people were all throwing in the same direction and everyone was using the exact same plastic and everyone except one person limited out. In fact that person did not catch diddly. From the get go he said oh this lure does not work and the rest of us proved him wrong. But the simple fact that he had no confidence in it he caught nothing.You asked the question so expect people to answer it. If you get offended then don't ask. Does it matter? Well only if it matters to you. I have a tackle box full of stuff and find myself using the same lures over and over because that is what works for me. Like you I get on the water when I can which is not enough if you ask me. However, getting on the water is the only way you are going to see for yourself what works. Did not mean to offend you by stating get on the water. Good luck on your lure selection

[Jeffrey]

Does it matter? Well only if it matters to you.

What if you have confidence in something something that doesn't work? Would that matter?

[FishingSETX]

You seem to take offense when someone tells you this and i do not understand why. Sometimes that can be the best advice!

I take offense because this is a fishing forum. We talk about fishing here. All kinds of topics. Some of the topics seem irrelevant to me. I tend to pass those topics by and let the people who are interested have at it. I appreciate the same consideration from someone who might think a topic I want to discuss is irrelevant. If I ran across you talking to several people at a boat launch about something and I told you guys to break up the conversation and just go fishing, you would say I was rude. Same thing here as far as I concerned.

I also take offense because the implication is that I am not spending time on the water. I don't spend as much time as I would like to but I get out there when my schedule allows for it.

Who is the topic police around here anyway?

Not trying to be the topic police. I am trying to help you. There is a lot of emotions, facial expressions, tone of voice, etc lost in text communication.

As far as i saw, tere was nothing in OffTheHook's post that was offensive. Time on the water is the one and only way you will learn what works and what doesnt for YOU!

Lots of people love topwater and catch fish on them all the time. Ive caught well over a hundred redfish this year and have fished topwaters quite a bit but only caught one on a topwater! They are just not my confidence bait. There is nothing quite like the rush that comes from watching a 30" red smash a superspook or she dog!! I could sit here and tell you they dont catch fish but im not going to because for some people they do. Just like the rat tails discussed earlier. Some people wont even buy them and i use them almost exclusively. Ive had luck with paddle tails but like te rat tails better even in my muddy home water on the upper coast. All comes down to what works for each individual. I have several tackle boxes full of lures in my garage that i have bought on the advise of great fishermen that worked great for them but just didnt work out for me. Its all part of the addiction. Now i am a firm believer of the K.I.S.S. way of thinking. 99 % of the time i carry 2 plano 3600 boxes (really only use 1), one rod, a PFD, a whistle, a stake out stick, and a paddle. When I first started yakking, i brought everything but the kitchen sink including a tacklebox that weighed close to 50 lbs! I figured out quick that i didnt like carrying all that stuff i didnt use so off came the anchor, gps, depth finder, 3 rods, etc, etc. Now i am much more productive and much more comfortable. I fish with people who still carry everything they can on the yak an it works great for them. I guess what im trying to say is, everyone is different and each person has to figure out what works for them and what doesnt. There isnt but one way to do that.

Just remember when lure shopping, the lure manufacturers are more worried about catching fishermen than catching fish! Look at the tried and true baits that have gone by the wayside because someone came out with something flashier and marketed it better even though it didnt work nearly as well. Not always a bad thing, but it happens. If I was in the business of manufacturing and marketing lures, i do the same thing!! I Did for several years back in college doing shows for a friend's bait company until he figured out there was a lot more money to be made making soft plastics for other companies rather than trying to brand his own!

Ask all the questions you want. This is by far the best site on the net for garnering information about fishing the texas coast, but understand this is an internet message board. Thick skin is required. You are going to get answeres to your questions and some may not fit exacty what you want to hear. Saying you are overanalizing it and that you just need more time on the water wasnt a personal attack, it was friendly advise that you will get every time you post a question like this. Kinda like saying try before you buy a new kayak.


To answer your original question in your first post, i dont think it matters, but you wont know till you try a few. You might do great on the realistic baits an not so good on the ones that look like a funny shaped hunk of plastic or it might just be the other way around. Thats just one of the many things that make fishing so great! Figure out what works for you and then try new things every once in a while. Dont put too much thought into it. We are matching wits with an animal that has a brain the size of a pea and the sad thing is the animal usually wins!!! Lol!