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catalyst
Blur Sotong
Joined: 21 Apr 2005
Posts: 3237
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 Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:15 pm Post subject: Basic lure presentation |
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basic lure presentation
Lure presentation is by far one of the most important aspects of successful Fishing If we are not confident we are fishing in productive waters, we go elsewhere. It makes no sense to fish waters we do not have confidence in. But if we are confident that we are fishing quality water and we are not getting bites; then, we do this: We change the presentation. Then, we change it again and again until we find what the fish want. Lots of days this takes two or three hours, but it pays off at the weigh in. This is a routine approach to fishing for pro fishermen. Presentation is the sum total of everything we put in front of fish.
A presentation includes
(1) the lure,
(2) the lure's color
(3) its running depth,
(4) its retrieve speed, and
(5) whether any special action is being imparted to the lure.
When we start systematically changing our presentation, we keep these five variables in mind, and often we change them in the order listed. The first thing we change is the color of the lure. When this doesn't work we change lure size or lure style.
If spinner baits aren’t working we might switch to crankbaits, or vice versa. Also, by changing line size we change the depth at which a crankbait runs.
Similarly, it frequently pays to change the speed at which we retrieve the lure. If a steady retrieve is ineffective we add herk-and-jerk to the retrieve. We keep changing the presentation until we find something that works. It takes patience.
biologists tell us that fish have very small brains, but we are certain of this: they have sufficient brains to learn not to bite lures they see regularly. We don't know how they learn, but they do. Therefore, we keep mixing up our presentations until we find something that they are not accustomed to seeing. If the fish should be hitting regular crankbaits but are not, then a flat-sided crankbait or a lipless crankbait are obvious alternatives. A standard crankbait has a wide wobble, while a flat-sided crankbait has a tight wiggle. This can make all the difference in the world if the fish have been seeing too many wobbling crankbaits. The lure's retrieve can also be changed slightly or drastically. Ima, Megabass, jackall and evergreen make very good crankbaits that suspend or countdown (sinker). A suspending crankbait can be retrieved with a jerkbait retrieve, and a countdown crankbait can be fished at any depth. You count it down, then you begin the retrieve. A countdown crankbait can also be fished with a pumping motion similar to how we fish grubs.
Believe it or not, changing presentation direction can also make a difference. If we fish down a shore we have confidence in, when we get to the end, we turn around and fish it in the opposite direction. The second pass we see different casting lanes, we come by cover on a different side and in a different direction.(giving the fish a totally different presentation) Frequently, we change lures and directions at the same time. This makes a lot more sense than movin off and going to waters we do not have confidence in. If you are in productive waters, why change spot? Change the presentation.
BOUNCE LURES OFF COVER
A major part of lure presentation is bouncing lures off of cover. A crankbait or spinner bait running near a stump may get a bite if there is a fish holding at that stump. But a crankbait or a spinner bait that hits that stump will increase the odds of a bite a least three-fold. Since an out-of-tune crankbaits does not run true, we frequently detune our crankbaits slightly to make them bounce into and off of cover.
Each time we feel our lure hit something we pause, then continue the retrieve.
This often generates a strike. Sometimes the delay is more than a pause. Particularly with spinner baits, we may let them drop all the way to the bottom. Then, we pick them up, shake them, pause, and renew the retrieve. Our rule of thumb is this: we bounce lures off of cover as much as possible and we make the lure do something erratic immediately after it hits the cover.
Soft Plastics Get Bites on the Drop With shad, worms, and jigs more often than not the bite occurs while the bait is dropping. And by dropping we mean falling on a limp line, not swinging at an angle due to the line being taut. Therefore, when fishing these types of lures our presentations are designed so that the bait falls freely into the strike zone. If we can make a soft entry into the water, we will cast directly to the spot. But if the entry will be a splash, we cast beyond the strike zone, retrieve until the bait is in the strike zone,then kill the retrieve and put slack in the line. Always we watch the line carefully as the bait sinks toward the bottom. If we are fishing productive waters (as opposed to fishing isolated pieces of cover), we keep our worms, shads or jigs hopping as we retrieve back to shore. Each hop is designed to present a falling bait to any fish that might be in the area. We do not expect the bite while the bait is rising; instead, we expect the bite as the bait is falling after a hop. The purpose of continuously hopping a worm or a jig is to keep in a continually falling motion. For this reason a hop is a precision movement. It begins with a jerk. Then the jerk is followed by a bait falling on slack line while we watch the line. The bite will most often be detected by a twitch in the line that we see but do not feel. Sometimes we feel the bite also, but more often than not it is line movement that betrays the fish, not a feel. This is a direct result of letting the bait fall with slack in the line. The slack eliminates the feel.
All the above info was lifted off the internet.
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Lure Haven
Affiliate
Joined: 19 Apr 2005
Posts: 1164
Location: No10 Bussorah Street(Beach Rd), Singapore 199433, Tel : 62974898
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| Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 8:49 am Post subject: |
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Hi all,
No offense to all but lets try to keep this thread as informative as possible so that to enable people that need or are looking for info to be able to find them easily instead of reading posts about our idle banter. Thanks
Regards
Stefan
p.s I will be deleting any posts that does not contribute to the thread, sorry again.
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Lure Haven
Affiliate
Joined: 19 Apr 2005
Posts: 1164
Location: No10 Bussorah Street(Beach Rd), Singapore 199433, Tel : 62974898
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| Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 9:13 am Post subject: Soft Plastic techniques |
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Complete the Illusion
Manufacturers of soft-plastic lures have become very proficient at pouring liquid plastic and secret sauces into a mold so that the resulting product looks like something gamefish might want to eat.
The molds have been carefully crafted to reflect the size and shape of forage commonly consumed by saltwater or freshwater species.
The liquid plastic poured into these molds is engineered so that after cooling, it will have a certain density (to float, sink or suspend), texture (for some degree of hardness or softness), and finally, color. Some manufacturers add flavors and scents to the poured plastic as an attractant that leeches out into the water so that fish will hold onto the lure longer, giving you time to set the hook, even if you fall asleep at the reel. Some soft-plastic baits are biodegradable, should one come off your hook. Ideally, your soft-plastic jerkbait looks like, feels like and tastes like the real deal when it comes out of the package. Just the same, you must present and retrieve it to complete the illusion.
Rigging Tricks
Suppose you see forage being busted in shallow water and can identify what is being ravished. You look into your tackle bag and see that you have a package of plastics that mirrors what you see in the water. How do you make that dead ringer come alive? It all depends on rigging. I can think of no other lure that allows so much latitude when it comes to the final product, that is, how it will behave in the water. You don’t just take them out of the package, put a hook in them, make a cast and begin catching fish. Wait. I hear ’ya. You did just that? Great, but hear me out—there are lots of tricks that improve your success.
Before rigging a soft-plastic bait, first consider where you are going to be fishing it. Are you fishing in deep water or shallow water? Do you want to fish it high or low in the water column, regardless of the depth? Will you be casting to open water or heavy cover? Will you have to make a long cast to cover water, or a short, soft one to a particular spot, or sighted fish? You also will want to consider the pound-test line you are using and whether you want your lure to make noise as it is being retrieved.
If you want to fish deep in the water column you are going to need to add some weight as you rig up. Perhaps the simplest solution is to use a jighead in the 1⁄8- to 3⁄8-ounce range. For shallow water, allow me to pass on a trick I was shown some time ago. Take a length of bead chain—the type used by fly tyers, or that comes on ceiling fans and lamps (available in hardware stores)—and cut off three beads with crosscut pliers or wire cutters. Make a small hole in the soft-plastic lure with your needle-nose pliers where eyes would be located and insert the three-bead link. Don’t make the hole too large, otherwise the chain won’t fit tightly. The lure now sinks slowly, nose first, and looks like a baitfish diving for cover, which is quite realistic. I sometimes insert a small glass rattle chamber, available in most tackle shops, in the same manner. Not only does it add a bit of weight, but they also rattle when you retrieve your soft-plastic lure erratically.
Another way to add light weight for shallow-water applications is to insert a finishing nail into the nose of the soft-plastic lure. Depending upon the size nail and how far you push it into the body of the bait, you can adjust the sink rate and the orientation of the bait as it falls. If you want to fish high in the water column, don’t add weight.
Soft-plastic lures tend to be aerodynamic and cast quite well, even without weight other than the hook. By using the lightest line possible you’ll make fairly long casts with your spinning tackle. However, pay special attention to hook selection. The larger the hook, the harder it is to set on the strike. You will really have to rear back to drive a large hook home, and that, in turn, means breakoffs unless you have heavier line. In open water, I prefer 8-pound-test line to achieve longer casts and will step down the size of my hooks—to a 1/0 or 3/0 for example—in order to accommodate the lighter line. If I intend to fish in grass or around mangroves, I may opt for something in the neighborhood of 12-pound and perhaps a 3/0 or 5/0 hook. Match hook size to the diameter of the jerkbait so you have clearance to set the hook.
To rig a snag-fee soft-plastic, I use an offset worm hook and the tried-and-proven Texas rig. Insert the hook into the nose of the bait for about a quarter of an inch (the length of the offset at the eye of the hook). Bring the hook out of the bait, rotate it 180 degrees and then pull the hook through the bait until the offset part of the shank is buried in the bait. Now insert the hook into the bait, bringing it through and out the opposite side. I then “skin hook” the barb of the hook by pulling the soft-plastic slightly away from the hook at the point the barb will make contact, insert the barb into the body, and finally, I let the plastic fall back onto the barb, burying it and making the rig weedless. The force of a hookset allows the barb to easily penetrate the plastic for a good hookup.
Retrieves
I have seen anglers fish side-by-side with identical tackle and similarly rigged soft-plastic baits, yet one consistently catches more fish than the other. The retrieve can make a world of difference.
I believe the first rule of thumb is that after making a good cast, don’t bring your lure racing back to where you are standing. Fish it thoroughly. When rigged weedless, you can make aggressive casts to put your soft-plastic lure under docks, in the middle of flooded grass, over subsurface oyster shell, or under overhanging mangroves. When retrieving, employ your rodtip; give the lure some action by twitching the rod slightly. Reel in the slack after each subtle movement. This causes a soft-plastic jerkbait to move back and forth, from one side to the other, as if it were swimming. I do this with one-second pauses for sighted fish in shallow water. Practice in a swimming pool until you can impart lifelike action to your lure.
In clear, shallow water, watch carefully when a fish starts tracking your lure. If the fish does not commit right away, make a change in the speed of your retrieve. Sometimes I stop and let the bait settle to the bottom, looking to a fish like prey trying to hide. Some fish take a bait sitting dead still on the bottom. Other times, they move in closer but continue to monitor it. If nothing happens after a few seconds, often all that is needed is the subtlest of twitches to cause a pickup. If the stop-and-drop technique doesn’t work, try speeding up your retrieve without all the twitching as if the bait is trying to escape. It might be now or never and this might induce the strike you have been trying to get.
If I am fishing deeper, my retrieve is s-l-o-w. With the added weight to get the lure down, I want to hop the bait off the bottom and swim it toward me a few inches at a time. Little twitches only, so that the lure doesn’t leap off the bottom and go three feet in the air. A couple of inches up and forward will do, letting it rest on the bottom after each hop. I vary the intervals so that hops occur every two or three seconds. The strikes are often not as explosive as they are in skinny water, but it is time to set the hook when you feel the tap.
When not sight fishing, I sometimes make an exception to the slow retrieval rule. I want to cover as much water as quickly as possible and identify where fish are holding. In this situation, I rig my soft-plastic lure with a bead in front of it as an added attractor and make the longest cast I can. I bring the bait back with a fast, steady retrieve. No twitches or working the lure. This technique will take only the most aggressively feeding fish, but remember you are searching for fish over the widest possible area. Once you get a strike, you can slow down and proceed to catch several of the more reluctant feeders.
There is a lot more to fishing soft plastics than you might assume by simply looking at one in its package. But when you master the techniques, the rewards are great. You can have the right type and size of bait with you at all times. If you or someone you know is having trouble with soft-plastic baits, try these rigging and retrieval techniques to make your soft-plastic lures come alive and complete the illusion.
Above all, you want to ensure that the bait runs straight without corkscrewing through the water. The key here is reinserting your hookpoint into the bait correctly (top bait). It’s also important that the hook enters and exits the bait’s body on the axis it will be retrieved. For example, if you look at your lure from above while it’s in the water, imagine a spinal cord running through your soft-plastic bait. The hook must be inserted and brought out along the line where the spinal cord would be. If you get the hook off-center (bottom bait), the lure spins—putting twist in the line and possibly deterring strikes.
All the above text was lifted off www.shallowwaterangler.com
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