Crappies galore! Many soft plastic lures bit! Nice way to test different shapes.

[senkosam]

The rain in many states has been devastating to millions of people and property. The parking lot where I launch my boat has been flooded for 2 weeks and is finally coming down.

It's amazing that the port-a-potty to the right didn't float away! At least the water is warm to launch or do ...you know. The high water patterns and strange fish locations make me wish the water will stay high with daily catches of at least 4 fish species and numbers up to 80 fish days.

As you know from my posts, I'm obsessed with trying new lure shapes and actions, always posing questions and finding answers positive or negative such as, does this lure work and how often? If the answer is yes, I make copies.

One new design that blows me away every time I catch fish on it is a short plump stick I've named the hot dog. It catches everything!

Another similar shape has a tapered tail:

[senkosam]

Rigged on a 1/24 oz jig and twitched with the rod tip with pauses, the fish slam it.
My first experience catching fish was in 2.5' of water over a rocky flat where sunfish after sunfish grabbed it and wouldn't let go! Another version of the hot dog has a tapered tail.

But initially, for the life of me, I couldn't figure out where the lure came from. Finally yesterday, I did find the cavity in an aluminum mold that I had poured the stick from and used parts of lure - either the front 2" or tapered tail section. The action is more of a dart-and-waddle than anything else. Various colors have worked such as pumpkin, motor oil, pearl and chartreuse with black flakes.

I found mold that produces a similar shape I call the carrot stick. It also gets slammed by fish.

[brandx112679]

  Senkosam, it's amazing what fish will bite on. I can't ever figure out what they think they are feeding on, with some of my offerings sometimes. But it is fun throwing different baits at them to see if they will bite them.
 All that really maters is your having fun trying the different baits you come up with.
  Glad you are enjoying fishing thats the main thing.

[senkosam]

I can't ever figure out what they think they are feeding on

An old fishing buddy of mine out of the blue contacted me a few nights ago and we discussed lures that we've caught fish on over many years. We agreed that none of them looked nor acted like anything fish would eat, so we came to the conclusion that lures simply provoke fish to strike given the right place and time. Not all lures mind you, but only those lures that irritate the senses and bring out the bully in fish. Examples are many - retail and homemade.

After catching fish on a lure for the first time, I knew immediately that fish can't think much less have a reason (unless anglers give them one) for striking lures made of metal, wood, hard or soft plastic, lead, wire, silicone, etc. all attached to hooks no less. The beauty of that is that it allows a huge range of possible lure choices plus being able to catch fish in different location types and at different depths on the same outing.

What is the first lure characteristic an angler should discover when trying various lures? SIZE! Size affects the action-profile of lures. When larger lures works, fine, but when downsizing is called for - that's all she wrote! I found this out after getting nips by fish that refused to commit and turning into Jaws. I downsized, retrieved smaller lures slower and got good hook sets.

 Interesting was the observation that once one fish was caught, others in the area become as aggressive or more so that is maybe due to interpreting the panic of a hooked fish as fish aggression. May as well get into the fun! School fish are perfect examples of this phenomenon. Catch one/ catch ALL one after the other! More important - its further proof that fish don't and can't think - they simply react once provoked.

Lure design is all about whatever it takes via lure size/action to provoke strikes. Advertising doesn't address that. If it did, no one would buy lures. So, we as lure crafters of custom baits must pay attention to, is noting the lure action of a lure or lures that do well. It's more descriptive than giving names to lures such as Sassy Shad or Zara Spook which mean nothing to fish. It's also more accurate to associate a lure's action with how it was worked when it caught fish.

Your future lure choice should also depend on a specific lure profile, one that moves a certain way at a specific speed based on past observations and success stories. Photo records don't lie! I have thousands per my digital cameras. Before that, a notebook noting time, place, lures and fish caught were reminders in stone that anything is possible.

Don't shoot the author of the above! This is only one angler's belief and opinion based on my success over decades of catching fish on almost every lure one can think of. If other lure-choice reasons help anglers catch fish, so be it!

[ctom]

When crappies get on a good bite they'll hit a bare hook.

[senkosam]

When crappies get on a good bite they'll hit a bare hook.

Never had that happen. But then again a simple in-line spinner (Mepps) is in line with that thought except with a bit of flash thrown in. No animal, much less prey, produces a steady rhythmic flash fish strike.