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 Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 5:21 pm Post subject: Suspending Lure Article |
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The following article is written by scarface and extracted from http://www.fishingkaki.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=133579&highlight=
In Singapore’s luring scene, suspending lures have largely been ignored among hardbody lures at the expense of either floating or sinking lures. I believe that it's time you gave suspending jerkbaits a try. I did, and they've quickly become some of my favorite lures in both fresh and salt water. By writing this article I hope to be able to provide clear information as well as some answers to the mystery surrounding these amazing artificials and find out when, where and how to fish with suspending jerkbaits.
The difference between a floating lure and a suspending lure
To better understand the characteristics of a suspending lure, lets compare it to a floating plug. Typically, after a “floating” lure is cast into the water, it will rest on the surface of the water. When the lure is retrieved, it will dive to various depths depending upon the lure configuration. When the angler pauses the retrieve, the lure will ascend and return to the surface.
Suspending jerkbaits on the other hand, are essentially lures that have neutral buoyancy- when you pause the lure’s retrieval it should sit motionless in the water, depending on its maximum diving depth. The term “jerkbait” is derived from the way they are fished- suspending jerkbaits have been designed primarily for bass fishing in an erratic jerk-jerk pause retrieval style.
Why is a suspending lure so killer?
The deadly effect of a suspending jerkbait can be attributed to it’s ability to stay in a fish’s strike zone longer- a suspending lure will hover in the proximity of a potential fish hole for an extended period of time, thereby giving a fish more time to hit the lure. Suspending lures make sense when you consider a fish imitation that doesn’t sink to the reservoir/sea bed, or floats like a puffer fish filled with air to the surface. These lifelike baits stay right where you put them: in the fishes face.
Opportune moments to utilize a suspending lure
Using a suspending minnow is ideal when you are luring for fish that have a narrow feeding zone and are hesitant to move very far up or down to take a lure.
On this note, suspending jerkbaits make poor search baits. For instance choosing a suspending minnow to search for fish in a vast, new fishing ground that you are clueless about is more likely to frustrate you than catch you fish due to its poor casting ability (there are exceptions). Instead, a choice of a floating or sinking minnow with better casting properties would be a better choice of lure as it would enable the angler to cover more ground.
Prime time for suspending lures
Don’t get me wrong- suspending lures, like any other lure, can be used wherever, whenever. However, there are certain prime conditions where whipping out a suspending lure might produce results under seemingly tough fishing conditions, or even outfish your regular favourites!
Cold water
Various lures attract fish by producing visual cues (colour, movement), vibrations or rattling sounds when they either swim horizontally, dive to the bottom, or bounce off cover. By contrast, fish often slam suspending jerkbaits when they're simply hanging motionless in the water column. This perceived lack of action takes advantage of a fish’s behaviour in relatively colder water. As the temperature of their environment decreases, fish, being cold-blooded, become lethargic and often suspend to conserve metabolic energy. In colder water, a lazy barramundi would be more reluctant to hunt down a relatively fast-moving crankbait, but it might just take a swipe at a half-dead minnow that's dangling right in front of its nose.
Clear water
Bearing in mind that a suspending minnow’s greatest strength is its lack of action, clear water becomes essential in a suspending lure’s success as it is paramount that it stays visible despite its relative lack of visual cues. Water doesn’t have to be crystal clear, but it cannot be completely “teh” as well.
Structure
Suspending minnows are also highly effective when you are fishing a specific region or structures which you suspect might hold fish- jetty pillars, a stretch of drop-off, deep channel points, submerged logs- all these are essentially high percentage areas for casting suspending jerkbaits.
Working a suspending lure
There are as many ways to work a suspending jerkbait as there are colors and brands. Personally I start out by casting beyond my desired spot, then reel the lure down quickly to its maximum depth. At this point I pause, twitch or jerk the lure with one or two light to moderate downward or sideways strokes. For saltwater fishing an especially deadly approach would be allowing your suspending lure to drift like a wounded bait fish along the current into the strike zone with intermittent jerks or twitches. Fish in general love to hit the lure during the pause, or just as you begin the retrieve after a pause.
One important point to note is that there you are essentially fishing with a slack line as your lure is drifting or sitting motionless in the column of water. The biggest technical error that might occur is the tendency to tighten the slack line in an attempt to feel the strike during the pause in the retrieve. The result is the lure continues moving forward, which can have a negative affect to the presentation.
At this point I hope to emphasis that what I have written is essentially only rough guidelines and that ultimately, an angler’s imagination is his only limitation as to how a suspending jerkbait, or any lure for that matter, should be given life. As veteran bass pro Charlie Ingram aptly puts it, “Working a suspending jerkbait is like doing a standup comedy routine- your success, or lack of it, hinges on your timing," he said. "Some days the bass want it barely twitched; other days they want it sitting dead still. Let the fish tell you how to work it. If you're not getting strikes with a jerk/twitch/pause or twitch/pause/jerk/jerk routine, vary the intensity and number of rod movements and the duration of the pauses until you get positive feedback from the bass."
There’s a lot of suspending jerkbaits on the market today. I've fished and played with quite a few of them with models carried by popular brands such as Megabass, Owner and Duel. However for me, I now swear by Jackall’s Squad Minnow range of lures for both saltwater and freshwater fishing. They are priced almost similar to Duel and Yozuri lures (At approximately $18.00 a piece I think) but have eclipsed the other brands in terms of performance and have inevitably become one of my favourite tools of the trade.
A few changes to most Japanese suspending lure’s split rings and hooks are necessary, as we have to keep in mind that these lures are designed for largemouth bass fishing and upgrading the hooks to those of greater strength for local fishes, especially the saltwater critters such as groupers and barramundi, are necessary. However, make sure to test the buoyancy of your newly equipped lures to ensure that the change in weight of your hooks and split rings do not change your suspending minnow into a floating or sinking one.
It is fair to say that suspending lures are one of the most technically demanding lures to fish: size of the lure; bill shape and size; the right running depth; the attitude in the water; the line size; the length of pause; the right colour- these factors will all affect the lure’s catch rate. Figuring out the intricacies of this hidden talent is hard work and we have to accept that adapting a new system is not for everyone. Some anglers come in tune with the suspending jerkbait very easily; others never get the hang of how well it really works. It’s not a case of simply cast-and-retrieve fishing by far and if that’s what you're looking for, stay away from suspending jerkbaits. Remember that there is no need to go spend a fortune on high dollar baits until you know for sure this program is for you. But if you are getting bored with regular lures and are keen on spending some time on acquiring a new member into your lure armoury, I say give it a try!
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