8 things to remember about Lures.

Hi Peoples,

As most of you would know i do most of my fishing with lures these days. I do on the odd occasion hook on a live bait for jew...but it is rare.

So over the past 6 years what are the things i reckon are most important to successful luring??? The following are my experiences and are subject to change. Nothing in fishing ever remains static.

1) Go Light - I put this at the top of the tree, before action, technique or any other factor. I believe the lighter you go, the more natural your presentation looks, the more sensitivity you have, the more fish you hook. Now go light refers to the whole integrated system from your rod and reel, to your braid, to your leader and thru to your jighead. Everything should balance. Not only is this more comfortable but you will trick more fish too.

2) Be Stealthy - This goes well with point 1. No good going light and finesse then roaring into a spot just to spook the fish. From a fishes perspective a roaring boat must seem like a F18 doing circus stunt fly-bys at very low altitude. It's loud and it's scary. Pull into a spot gently, operate on an electric motor or use the tide and wind to cover ground. Keep banging the boat to a minimum. Remember if you can hear noise sure as hell the fish can too. Also i wont take the boat of the garage if the leccy isn't working!

3) Make Long Casts - Once again, ties in well with point 1&2. If you fish light you make longer casts, make longer casts you can be stealthier, and the best attribute is cover more ground. The whole premise of my lure fishing is ground coverage. I try to work as much water as possible till i find fish, stick with em, exhaust the opportunity and move on. Long casts help me achieve this. The more fish that see my lure in a given session the more fish i catch.

4) Be Patient - Not every fish eats all the time! Just like us, fish eat and rest, they don't bite all day. So be patient, soon enuf the bites will come.

5) Fish Where the Fish Are - I know this sounds a little obvious but the amount of times i see boats flogging lures in a barren wasteland astounds me. Have a reason to fish a spot. I know you here it all the time, fish structure. A fish needs somewhere to eat and rest, if you were a fish where would you go to eat??? Where would you go to rest??? Answer these questions and your well on your way! Think like a fish....

6) Slow Down - By this i mean slow the retrieve down. When things are quiet slow everything right down. Keeping a lure dangling in a fishes face a split second longer might just be the tonic to make it strike. On tought days long pauses are often the difference between fish and no fish.

7) Use Scent - These days i don't go out fishing without my trusty S-Factor and a handful of Gulps. I do use conventional sp's but smeared with S-Factor. It honestly makes a huge difference. My jew catch rate has doubled while using S-Factor. It's GUN!

8) Clear Water, Clear Lures - The simple philosophy for lure colour selection is clear water clear lures, dark water dark lures. In saying that i believe that lure colour is the least important factor in the whole system. Get the action and size of the lure right, use the right equipment and usually fish will follow. On some days though, colour can be a factor.

There you have it. 8 factors for my success with lures. Common knowledge stuff but a foundation i base all my luring by.