Submitted by: Greg Vinall
Be honest, were you aware that fishing lures even have an expiry date?
You think I’m messing with you, right? No, I’m serious!
There may not be a little label on a lure body giving a discard date, but fishing lures most definitely have a limited lifetime. Or at least, they have a limited time during which they are really effective. Let me explain why.
Over the past few decades we’ve created a fantastic conservation culture among fishermen. Catch and release is now the accepted norm and there is no question that fish numbers and sizes have improved as a result.
But here’s the thing – catch and release makes fish smarter and harder to catch. That’s not bad thing either, if you ask me! Take a look at this:
“Research indicates that the largemouth bass is also the most intelligent freshwater fish, able to distinguish and avoid a particular type of lure after only one encounter with it. In fact, some bass lakes believed to be “fished out” contain plenty of bass but the fish have learned to recognize virtually all the lures in common use on the lake. In such cases, a lure that is new to them will often work where others have failed.”
(From the International Game Fish Association Website)
This is not news to anyone who fishes hard-fished waters regularly, we’ve all know this for years! But it does explain why new lures so often come on to the market with a huge splash success, but after a season or two are almost forgotten. And of course, catch and release means that the fish have a much greater chance to become educated.
If you want to vastly catch fish more consistently, especially if you want to catch BIG fish consistently, you need to keep presenting them with lures they haven’t seen before.
But how do you do that?
Well, in my view there are four ways:
1. You can run out and buy every new lure as it comes onto the market and try to get the jump on other anglers. The problem with this is it’s time consuming and expensive. There are a lot of companies making lures and not all of them are good. By the time you’ve found the good ones you can be sure that word is already getting around that they are good. And that means more and more people will be using them and more and more fish will be learning not to bite them.
2. You can get online and order some lure kits. There are various suppliers around who can help with this and it’s a popular way to fill a tackle box. Unfortunately, it’s the popularity of this approach that is it’s downfall – you guessed it, fish see a lot of these lures and start getting smart. Nonetheless, this approach will generally land you more big fish than just buying lures off the shelf, if only because they have a custom paint job.
3. You can buy some quality lures from reputable custom lure makers. This a great way to do it because these lures will usually be top quality, made with the best components and immaculate attention to detail. They are usually superb to use and because these lures aren’t mass produced the fish don’t see a lot of them, so it means they are not only built to last for years, but they will continue to catch fish for years. The downside to custom lures is the cost. Expect to pay from $25 to $300 per lure. No, I’m not kidding, some custom lures run to $300 each! Even the ones at the bottom end of the price scale can make a massive difference to your fishing results though.
4. By far the best way to really improve the quantity and quality of fish you catch in the long term, there really is no better option than learning to make your own. It’s really not a difficult thing to start making professional quality crankbaits, jerkbaits, topwater lures and other hardbaits from either wood or hard plastic. It doesn’t require a lot of tools or equipment and it isn’t an expensive pastime to get into. Best of all, you start to understand fish and lures a lot better, and as a result you’ll become much more proficient. And because these lures are so unique, they don’t have an expiry date and will continue to be BIG fish takers forever.
Of these four options, learning to make custom fishing lures is not only the most rewarding, it is also the most effective and economical. I guarantee it will make you a far better fisherman, too.
Give it a go, you’ll be amazed at how much your fishing will improve!
About the Author: Greg Vinall has been making fishing lures from wood and hard plastic for decades. He now shares his wooden lure making experience at
makebetterfishinglures.com/woodenlures.html
and hard plastic luremaking at
makebetterfishinglures.com/plasticlures.html
Source:
isnare.com
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