San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

senkosam wrote: Mon Nov 11, 2024 1:47 am Just_Bass and I are on the same page for every aspect of fishing such as:
Great thing about bass (and most fish) is that they will strike baits that don't look anything like natural forage. Anyone who has ever visited a fish hatchery, had an aquarium or seen a pond feeder can attest that fish can be trained to eat featureless pellets. This is not to say that they can't be conditioned or evolve to avoid lures.

One reply stated the lures mimic live prey and name those prey mimicked yet ignore the fact that:
1. most lures are unnatural-looking and moving manmade objects
examples: spinnerbait with bright flashing blade(s) and fluttering skirt
wacky-rigged Senko waddling its way to the bottom
large-lipped crankbaits that have a wide side-to-side action and rattles not present in prey not to mention those inedible clanking treble hooks
small-lipped Rapala with its X-body motion
Zara Spook's rhythmic swishing back-&-forth, back-&-forth, back-&-forth - unlike and prey I've seen
curl tail grub with its steady whip-tail motion
skirted jig with an Uncle Josh #4 porkfrog - a flat piece of pork rind with triangular shaped flapping legs
A Mepps Spinner with its flashing blade and skirt of feather or fur. (like a hairy minnow??)
jerkworm that whips back & forth near the surface

Lure making companies have spouted lure mimicry for decades and suggesting that a lure resembles a prey animal ignores the fact that fish are dumber than dirt! as indicated by how many unnatural looking and moving objects fish strike since lures were first invented. Naming a lure is like putting lipstick on a pig and giving it a woman's name. Only a fool would want to kiss it! (...or pervert)

But getting back to the possible reason fish strike unnatural-looking, unnaturally-moving man=crafted objects. First and foremost:
1.LURE ACTION is # 1 !
Fish are super-sensitive via the bladder and lateral line to motion of any kind be it a bug on the surface or a crawfish on the bottom. Lure action + size + shape dictate what fish will strike, when and where. Do they think about what the object is before striking it? A fish's brain would have to be capable of remembering names and associating them with prey and lures - something the human brain is capable of (at least most human brains : ).

2. Why are some lures struck far more than others?
Remember the unique combination of action/shape/size? Some lure got it some don't. The soft plastics I cast get hit more than any lure I own by all size fish and all fish species. I'm talking 6 lb catfish, 4"- 4 lb bass, 14" crappie, white and yellow perch, larger-than-a hand sunfish, 6 lb white sucker, etc. What do fish have in common: a nature-given bully nature intolerant of different objects that pass into their immediate space. If fish had hands, swatting vs biting would be the normal response.

3. Various lure actions fall between subtle and extreme or IOW - finesse vs flashy, noisy, in-their-face. A trout fly is super subtle; a crankbait slamming rocks on the bottom not so much. One or the other of both may generate strikes on any given day. No point in carrying around 50 lures when just a few will do.

4. Color - hue or brightness/opacity
I've caught fish using clear plastic hard or soft plastic lures. No lure ever made nor no line ever cast is invisible in water. Light reflection and refraction make it so. Does line color or clarity matter to fish even in clear water? Not in my experience. Do some lure colors matter more when it comes to the strike? Maybe but only if a lure's shape and action are emphasized - NOTHING MORE!
What a fish sees only confirms what it feels, and those two senses allow the hunter-nature of fish to track and then provoke a fish to attack something for the simple reason that is can!

I've posted photos of hundreds of fish caught on a variety of lure (also for the reasons Just_Bass keeps a photo log). I have stored on my PC over a thousand photos to remind me of the above and keep track of what worked consistently from water to water. Pictures don't lie and neither should you! (...at least to yourself.)

senkosam wrote: Wed Nov 13, 2024 6:22 pm What is your definition of an expert angler?