Senkosam
Member
As many of you that have read my posts have noticed, it's not the numbers of fish or large size that is important to me, but what I use to catch fish and the best presentation associated with a particular lure. It is an ongoing challenge and a continuing mystery. Various shape, size and action combinations make all the difference along with how a lure is worked.
As many of you know, fish may react to many lures on one day and far less the next. Wed. I caught 42 fish of different species (yp, wp, crappie, bass and sunfish) on 2.5" soft plastics and 1/16 oz. jigs in 4'-5'. The boat was anchored in three spots most of the time. The next day the bite in that area dropped and I was lucky to catch 21 fish. So yesterday I decided to try something not so new but definitely different as far as lure size and jig weight based on past experience where I caught hundreds of fish on min-stick soft plastic lures at least 3" long. I figured that when fish turn off, maybe the best way catch them is to go smaller & slower. How small and how slow you might ask. Enter micro finesse lures.
What I used:
1. a light action rod,
2. thin diameter line (10# test braid whether spinning or spincast);
3. 1/32 oz jig with #8 or #6 hook (#4 is too big)
4. 1 1/4" grub bodies minus any action tail
With braid, I can cast those tidbit lures a mile yet still feel the slightest strike. The fish - no matter its size - hooks itself. No sweeping hook sets, so horsing fish on that small hook! The key is a super slow retrieve with lure action provided by a combination of small turns of the reel handle and slight motions of the rod tip with pauses. The pill-like lure darts slightly and glides just long enough to get fish p.o.'d to hit the lure - even several times! Now, I'm not saying a small curl tail wouldn't have worked, but it didn't that day, same for small tubes.
The pearl colored one I hand poured (shown below) did almost as well as the grub body above it, but the grub body helped me catch over 30 fish on shallow flats. The 1 3/4 lb. bass (shown). a 28" pickerel and a few 13" crappie proved I made the right choice along with all the other fish ranging in size from 5" - 8". (6 fish species)
The day alternated constantly between semi calm and windy under a partly cloudy sky. The depth fish were caught in: 3-4' on flats near wetland vegetation. The day alternated constantly between semi calm and windy under a partly cloudy sky.
In conclusion, small grub body + light jighead + slow retrieve saved the day! Lures are my fish-finders and seeing as how all the fish were caught in shallow water (most likely pre-spawn), sonar was useless. Now I can fish shallow and deeper water with confidence knowing I have two ways to find and catch fish: smaller & slower or larger & a bit faster. The day didn't require structure - just casting all over the place in different directions to find small groups of fish ranging in size from 5" - 2 lbs. So much fun!
As many of you know, fish may react to many lures on one day and far less the next. Wed. I caught 42 fish of different species (yp, wp, crappie, bass and sunfish) on 2.5" soft plastics and 1/16 oz. jigs in 4'-5'. The boat was anchored in three spots most of the time. The next day the bite in that area dropped and I was lucky to catch 21 fish. So yesterday I decided to try something not so new but definitely different as far as lure size and jig weight based on past experience where I caught hundreds of fish on min-stick soft plastic lures at least 3" long. I figured that when fish turn off, maybe the best way catch them is to go smaller & slower. How small and how slow you might ask. Enter micro finesse lures.
What I used:
1. a light action rod,
2. thin diameter line (10# test braid whether spinning or spincast);
3. 1/32 oz jig with #8 or #6 hook (#4 is too big)
4. 1 1/4" grub bodies minus any action tail
With braid, I can cast those tidbit lures a mile yet still feel the slightest strike. The fish - no matter its size - hooks itself. No sweeping hook sets, so horsing fish on that small hook! The key is a super slow retrieve with lure action provided by a combination of small turns of the reel handle and slight motions of the rod tip with pauses. The pill-like lure darts slightly and glides just long enough to get fish p.o.'d to hit the lure - even several times! Now, I'm not saying a small curl tail wouldn't have worked, but it didn't that day, same for small tubes.
The pearl colored one I hand poured (shown below) did almost as well as the grub body above it, but the grub body helped me catch over 30 fish on shallow flats. The 1 3/4 lb. bass (shown). a 28" pickerel and a few 13" crappie proved I made the right choice along with all the other fish ranging in size from 5" - 8". (6 fish species)
The day alternated constantly between semi calm and windy under a partly cloudy sky. The depth fish were caught in: 3-4' on flats near wetland vegetation. The day alternated constantly between semi calm and windy under a partly cloudy sky.
In conclusion, small grub body + light jighead + slow retrieve saved the day! Lures are my fish-finders and seeing as how all the fish were caught in shallow water (most likely pre-spawn), sonar was useless. Now I can fish shallow and deeper water with confidence knowing I have two ways to find and catch fish: smaller & slower or larger & a bit faster. The day didn't require structure - just casting all over the place in different directions to find small groups of fish ranging in size from 5" - 2 lbs. So much fun!
