Best Fishing Lures

Fishing Lure Colors

reelfishinglures — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:28:20 +0000

When you head to your local sporting good store to look for the best fishing lure you can find a key aspect is also picking which color. There is always the option to go find a custom painted fishing lure, but as a general rule we still need to know which color(s) we are trying to mimic in order to maximize a lures effectiveness. The two key things to keep in mind here are the clarity or color of the water and the conditions on the body of water itself. To me it really leads to the same idea, being that what is the amount of feet that you can see a given bait into the water. A windy day will stir up the water and lead to less clarity as will obviously the actual clarity of the water itself. I tend to lean towards water clarity being the #1 aspect, but conditions in terms of wind, clouds and sun angle all play a role as well.

For clear lakes and days when the water isn't so churned up, the best idea is to mimic the color of the bait fish whenever possible. Stay with generally darker colors. Black is good in clear water as is brown color. Both of these are natural colors that represent what is seen below the water. I have had great luck with motor oil Berkley Power Worms over the years, as well as the Zoom Centipede in a pumpkin color. For crankbaits I have written many times on here that I am firmly in love with the black/silver Rapala Shad Rap SR7. All of the above are great lures to use in lakes with good water clarity.

On lakes with algae bloom (a dark green color) I have had the best luck with a colorful pattern. The clown color of late has been good for me, but I have had great luck over the years on the firetiger pattern on crankbaits. The firetiger color has been my best producer in these type of water conditions. It literally outfishes black colors 3-1 in my experience. However, when used on clear lakes it will get outfished badly by the standard colors mentioned above.

When picking a lure for your next cast, choosing the correct fishing color can make all the difference in the world. What are your experience with fishing lure colors?

Shore Fishing Lures

reelfishinglures — Tue, 12 May 2009 15:44:19 +0000

There are times that fishing from shore is the best or only option that is presented to us. The question then becomes what is the best fishing lure for fishing from shore? The thing to consider when fishing from shore is that you are going to be fishing relatively shallow water. That is unless you are fishing next to a severe drop off. For that a shallow diving and/or suspending crankbait like a Japanese fishing lure such as the Megabass Vision 110 can be very good option. A floating lure can be very good in these situations as well. You can crank and release allowing the bait to move to the top of the water. Same with a suspending lure, crank and release. This can work well over rocky and areas with sparse or no weeds. Perhaps there are several logs or generally a woody area, this can be great for crankbaits.

Another option is to fish with a soft plastic lure. A texas rigged worm or a jig and soft plastic lure can be just the ticket. Again, a severely weedy area probably isn't the best option for a texas rigged worm such as the Berkley 10" powerworm, but a sparsely weeded area can be prime spot for this technique.

A classic approach for shore fishing is a the time tested slip bobber rig. It allows for far casting ability and varying depths of presentation. The main reason for its popularity is the fact that it flat out works. I believe that this rig probably has accounted for more fish caught in the history of fishing than any other method.

If you are fishing a heavily weeded area the best option for a shore fishing lure in this situation is likely a topwater fishing lure. This will keep the lure on top of the weeds and away from the snagging tentacles of the weeds below that hold the fish.

As stated above there are many options for shore fishing lures. From topwater to deep diving crankbaits to soft plastic baits, picking the best one is often a game of trial and error. Fishing from shore can be extremely rewarding if the effort is put in. Find a great spot that you have access to and begin throwing those shore fishing lures!

Topwater Fishing Lures

reelfishinglures — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:49:55 +0000

Casting topwater fishing lures can be one of the most exhilarating experiences you can have while fishing. There are times when they are the best fishing lures to be casting. The pageantry of it all is quite impressive. You get to see

The Zara Spook is a great example of a topwater fishing lure

the lure pretty near the entire time it is away from the boat. Sure there are some that dive a bit before coming back to the surface, but the majority of the time they will be on the surface. On top of that nearly all of the stikes will happen when the bait is on the surface, which is what makes this type of fishing so great. Now, topwater baits are generally not meant to be walleye fishing lures. No, you are looking for aggressive fish that aren't afraid to rise to the top to hammer a lure. Generally we are talking about bass, northern pike and the like which are known to be aggressive at times and willing to boil the surface of the water to find a meal.

So what are the general ways to fish topwater fishing lures? Well that really depends on the bait. There are some topwater lures that needs to be fished fast. I'm thinking of lures that will sink if you don't reel them in quickly. A good example of this would be a buzzbait. A buzzbait is kind of like a spinnerbait that is designed to stay on the surface. Blades twirl in a circle and cause a ruckus on the surface designed to get the fishes attention. But generally, the lures that I have had the most luck fishing on the surface are slow movers. Often a good rule of thumb is to cast the lure to a likely spot and let it sit there until the ripples dissipate. This can be hard to do, but often pays off in spades. As soon as it hits the water, trust me the fish will notice. If you move it right away the fish may be spooked. By leaving it sit they get a chance to come up close and check it out. Often from here it is best to just twitch the lure with your rod tip and move it a few inches at a time in a haphazard fashion. Don't get me wrong, there are times when the fish wants it to really be moving, but it seems more likely they want a sporadic retrieve. Twitch then wait. Rinse repeat. Another option is to "walk the dog" as they say, and basically twitch the rod back and forth. The intent is to get the lure to "walk" back to the boat atop the water. This can be very effective in the right conditions.

The last thing I will say about top water fishing lures is that care needs to be taken as to when to set the hook. Make sure to count to 2-5 before setting the hook. You want to be sure to let the fish get the lure good and in his mouth. if you set the hook when you see them hit it you will miss about 95% of the fish that hit your presentation. Often they are just striking the bait for effect and will then hit it again and put it in their mouth after the initial hit. This is imperative to making sure to get more fish in the boat while fishing with top water baits.

Some classic brands and examples of topwater lures include the Heddon Zara Spook, the classic Hula Popper, a buzzbait, and many floating crankbaits such as the Rapala original floating lure (although to be truthful I prefer the Rapala Jointed Minnow, also called a broken tail minnow). If you want a look that most fisherman don't use consider going with a Japanese fishing lure or a custom painted crankbait. Both are great ways to give the fish something they have not seen before.

Perch Fishing Lure

reelfishinglures — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:16:58 +0000

On the never ending quest to find the best fishing lure money can buy, invariably it comes down to what a specific fish wants from a specific lake. In many lakes the key forage fish is the shad and therefore shad fishing lures are very

Perch fishing lures include the Rapala Shad Rap among others

effective. However, what if the main forage base is another fish? Well it would behoove you to make sure that you had a correct mimicry of that fish in your presentation. This would be the case on many lake with the perch. Perch can get quite large if they are allowed to grow, but they are also very prolific at breeding thus leading to a large forage base for the willing predator.

You can normally find a perch variation in color for the majority of crankbaits out there. The Rapala Shad Rap, Rebel Wee-r, and the Rapala DT series all come in a perch color variation. However, this tends to be a fairly archaic representation of what a true to life perch looks like. If you are a stickler for details or want a special way to set yourself apart from other fisherman, a custom painted crankbait could be just what you want. The airbrushing can be very impressive to display life like detail.

Great Fishing Blogs To Read

reelfishinglures — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:20:11 +0000

So I have been remiss in posting this as I promised to do it much sooner than now. While doing further research on the best fishing lures around the web, I came across these excellent blogs. I suggest you check them out, very good reads and quite informative.

Find The River - A blog based out of Michigan, Find the River runs the gamut of fishing and the joys/pains that associate with it. There are some great reads here, I especially like the recent posts about a bad fishing trip back in 1991. We have all been there!

Fish Head Blog - These guys do a flat out good job on their blog. From humorous posts to fishing reports in the New Jersey area including contests! A great source for all things fishing!

A couple of great blogs with great information and all centered around fishing. What more could you ask for? Let me know if you know any other high quality fishing blogs that would be worth noting.

Best Fishing Lures – Bassmaster Elite Series – Smith Mountain Lake

reelfishinglures — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:30:09 +0000

As mentioned in an earlier post about finding the best fishing lures by checking out the Bassmaster Elite Series winning lures, you can gleen a bunch of information about what fishing lures to use when by studying the pros on their strategy. The latest torunament was at Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia. Keith VanDam was the winner and he did so targeting smallmouth bass, which was a distinct difference between himself and the majority of the competition. Given the temperatures were rising and the bass were beginning to spawn, he targeting beds to catch his fish. I'm not a huge fan of targeting beds as it can lead to diminished reproduction, but there is no doubt that is can be effective. Just make sure to release the bass immediately if you do decide to go this route. Given that they were on beds, the most productive areas were hard gravel bottomed points and led to good spawning habitat. If the bottom were clay or mud it was not productive at all.

Strike King Finess Worm Used By Kieth VanDam to win at Smith Mountain Lake

His go to bait for the week was the Strike Master 3x finesse worm. I have used a similar type of soft plastic bait by Strike King, but never the finesse worm. I have found their version of the Zoom Centipede to be a reasonable facsimilie. I think the two key strong points that the Strike King series employ is a floating body and a ridiculous amount of stretchiness. The former is great if you are fishing your french fry lure with a weight of some sort (be it a carolina or texas rigged setup or in the case of this week's winner it was a jig head). The stretch does tend to help out the longevity of the lure and leads to less changing your plastic worms. The floating aspect was important for Keith VanDam this week as it allowed the bait to be very visible hanging out in the bed of the bass. This lead to increased catch rates for the week.

Do you have anything to add in terms of the best fishing lure of the week for the Bassmaster Elite Series stop at Smith Mountain Lake?

Best Way To Spool Your Reel For The Best Lure Action

reelfishinglures — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:48:07 +0000

Happened upon this video as I was perusing the Fish Head site today. No one wants to have line twist while they are out fishing. I don't care if you have the best fishing lure known to mankind, if your line is twisted you are going to catch less fish. Both in terms of lure action and in terms of time your lure is in the water! There is nothing worse than sitting there fixing a screwed up reel while out fishing. Trust me, I have been there while a hot bite has been going on only to watch my buddy haul in fish after fish while I was fixing my screwed up line. It doesn't matter what lure you buy, even one of those custom painted crankbaits that are all the rage these days, if your line is twisted you aren't going to have as much success. Watch below:

A few things that jumped out to me. The first thing is that apparently I have been spooling my reels wrong my whole life!!! LOL. I have always rolled the line off the spool like a wheel and then onto my reel. I guess it makes sense why not to do it that way, but man it doesn't seem intuitive. Great tip. The other key thing I noticed was that I don't ever check my line and its relation to the guide when I am on the water. Probably should make a point of that going forward. I think I already knew about the amount of line to have on a reel, but the 1/16" target at least gives a target to shoot for.

What are your thoughts on the best way to spool line onto your reel?

#7 Rapala Shad Rap, Natural Color

John — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:58:35 +0000

I must admit, my favorite all time fishing lure is the #7 Rapala Shad Rap, deep diver in the Natural Shad color (i.e. black/silver). When all else fails, I throw on a #7 shad rap and troll or cast this lure and it usually will produce fish. It has proven to be my best fishing lure over the course of time. In the spring time when the water clarity is really good this is absolutely a deadly lure in the cold water. I have easily caught over 100 walleyes on this exact lure in Minnesota in the springtime. Bouncing a #7 shad rap off the bottom at a fairly high speed is enought to get the walleye to strike hard and often.

The best part is that not only will it produce fish, but big fish as well. Several walleye in the 5lb class and others in the 7lb class. No real secret here to my success over the years with this lure - troll on rocky shelfs and let the trademark Rapala action produce fish. In the cold water, sometimes live bait does not produce as many strikes because of either the action or activity. The hard moving action of the #7 shad rap triggers the strike reflex from fish and often times produce more fish. If you prefer to get a bit crafty in your use of crankbaits, perhaps buy a custom painted Shad Rap to add to your tackle box.

To top it all off the #7 shad rap can be used to catch northern pike, small mouth, large mouth and even the occasional crappie. As I stated before this is my all time favorite fishing lure for good reason - It produces more and bigger fish.

Best Line For Crankbaits

reelfishinglures — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:03:59 +0000

So you are sitting at home with that newly acqured custom painted crankbait and now you are wondering what is the best line for crankbaits. The answer to that depends on what type of fishing you are planning on doing. As a general rule the thinner diameter the line the deeper the crankbait will dive. For that reason as a general rule a smaller diameter line such as 8-10 pounds test is a staple of most crankbait fishermen. I really try to avoid going any smaller than 8 pound test line when fishing with a crankbait because it seems that breakoffs are a lot more common. It wouldn't seem to be a big difference between 6 and 8 pound test, but in my experience it is huge. So, for my best line for crankbait fishing lures it would have to be 8 or 10 pound test monofilament.

That said, if you are fishing shallow water filled with submurged stumps / wood or heavy vegetation in places then I would beef up the line you are using. In shallow water losing dive depth can actually be a very good thing and in addition should there be any places that the fish would swim into that would be hard to pull them out of I have some extra umpfh to heave them towards the boat. Similarly, if I am trolling a crankbait in rock laden water I would also beef up my line. When I say beef up line, I mean move up to 14-17 pound test line for these applications.

So, how much does line diameter affect the dive depth of a crankbait? Well, after doing some research it seems to me that the right answer is something in the neighborhood of 10% per 2 lb test. So if you are trolling a size 7 Rapala Shad Rap behind your boat, it would be expected to dive to a maximum of 11 feet with 10 pound test line. So if 8 pound test were used instead, it would be expected to dive to 12 feet. Likewise, if 12 pound test were used the maximum depth would be expected would be 10 feet.

What do you think is the best line for crankbaits?

Winning Fishing Lures – Bassmaster Elite Series – Lake Amistad

reelfishinglures — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:35:41 +0000

There is no doubt that reading what the pro fishing tour guys use to win tournament will help you as you fish your local lake. To that end here is a recap of the best fishing lures on Lake Amistad, which was the location of the inaugeral tournament on the Bassmaster Elite Series in 2009. The top two finishers produced staggering weights of fish and also prove that there are more than one way to skin the proverbial cat.

Jason Williamson won the tournament with 96+ lbs of fish. That included a very impressive 68 pounds on the last two days of the tournament. His lure of choice was the Osprey Swimbait, which to me look a lot like a Mister Twister Sassy shad, but much larger.

Osprey big ole swimbait 65 inch new
US $.99

His tactic was to work the bait down to some trees that were about 20 feet below the surface and keep it down there. This helps to prove the point that sometimes you need to just wait and believe that the fish will be there. He didn't catch a single fish in the spot the first two days of the tournament, but went hog wild the last two days.

Alton Jones used a texas rigged YUM! Dinger to capture 2nd place at Lake Amistad.

This was in stark contrast to the 2nd place finisher, Alton Jones. He was the slow and steady Freddie that nearly went home with the prize. And if Williamson hadn't scored huge the last two days he would have easily won. All of his fish were caught on a texas rigged Yum! Dinger. He used the bait in shallow water situations and was especially fond of longer casts, which were then allowed to be worked extremely slowly when it was a solid cast to a great spot. This tedious process was deadly effective at putting these fish into the boat. The YUM Dinger is a similar type fishing bait as the Yamamoto Senko.

The Bassmaster Elite series is off to a roaring start with some big weights and some monster bass. There were two fish over 10 lbs that were weighed in during the tournament.