Fishing World

Posts Tagged ‘Bigger’

A legendary outdoorsman and writer reveals his most guarded fishing secrets.

Ten percent of all anglers catch 90 percent of the fish taken. It’s really true, and shows that as much as it is enjoyable, fishing can be frustrating when it comes to results. 1001 Fishing Tips is the book that will help any angler crack into fishing’s elite successful 10 percent, the group that catches more fish and has more fun every time they get out fishing. Revealed here in quick-read, info-laden nuggets of angling wisdom are the secrets and techniques that make the difference between success and failure. Fishing isn’t just luck: it’s know-how and timing, presenting the right bait and lure at the right places at the right time. Coverage focuses on the most popular freshwater game fish—including trout, bass, crappie, bluegills, walleye, catfish, salmon and pike—and saltwater favorites such as striped bass, bluefish, flounder, redfish, weakfish and sea trout. Th

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Why do lure fishing legends spend so much money buying custom fishing lures when there is a huge range of perfectly good fishing lures right there on the tackle shop shelf – and most are a lot less expensive?

Could it be that the lures on the tackleshop shelves are not perfectly good at all?

Now I’m not saying that mass produced, commercial fishing lures don’t work. Not for a minute. What I am saying is that custom fishing lures work much better. And if you want to be at the top of your game as a competition fisherman, or even if you just want to out-fish your buddies that’s all important.

So, why do custom fishing lures outfish mass produced ones?

Perhaps the best evidence comes from the web pages of the International Game Fish Association:

“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.”

It’s the last line that’s important here “….a lure that is new to them will often work where others have failed “. Ah-huh!

Custom lures are made in much smaller numbers, so the fish don’t see them as much and they stay effective, year after year after year. This is why the top tournament anglers are in cahoots with fishing tackle manufacturers to keep designing and making new lures. If they use the same lures every year the fish become used to seeing them and their catch rates suffer. They have no choice, they have to keep coming up with new and better lures to stay in the competition.

What does this mean for the average fisherman? Does it mean that the only way we can compete is to spend loads of money of expensive custom lures? Well, that’s one way to stay competitive, I suppose. But I have a better one!

Have you ever stopped to think about how easy it is to make your own wooden fishing lures? I started doing it as a schoolboy, without instructions, tinkering in my fathers workshop until I created something that would work. In those days my wooden lures weren’t as pretty as the ones in the tackle shop, but they were every bit as effective, and more so.

And I’ve kept doing it for decades after. I make wooden fishing lures because it’s fun, I make them because it’s easy, because it’s exhilarating to catch fish on a lure that you have made yourself. But most of all I make them because it helps me to catch more fish. No ifs and no buts. I just catch more fish with lures I have designed and made, that are different from anything the fish have seen before and are tailored to suit my fishing needs.

And contrary to what you might think, you don’t need many tools or any special equipment, most people already own everything they need to get started. Sometimes I’ll make 8 to 10 lures in an evening while I’m watching my favourite fishing show on the TV, it’s that quick and easy.

Give it a thought. Are you wasting time dragging popular lures past fish that you really should be catching?