Most effective lure actions you've noticed do better than others

[Spoonminnow]

I know we've discussed the reasons we think fish strike lures, but when it comes right down to it, lure design and size seem to matter most in the final analysis. By design I mean lure action unique to each. If some of you can put aside the idea that crappie and all other predator fish hit lures based on forage preference, consider this:

Fish sense the real thing because of an inherited set of senses coupled with some tiny place in its tiny brain that senses a living object as being real.

On the other hand, fish don't know what an artificial lure represents but hit it anyway because of certain lure features that annoy and provoke it to strike, some features being more effective than others.

Here are some examples:

Beetle Spins catch fish because of:
1. flash
2. blade-induced soft plastic vibration
3. curl tail flutter if the grub is a curl tail

My no-tail grub catches fish because of:
1. tail quiver
2. body wobble on slow retrieves and intermittent changes in lure speed


The above tapered tails do as well as any tail designs I've ever fished. If the plastic is soft, so much the better to impart the tail quiver with the rod tip.

Curl tail grubs catch fish because of:
1. a flapping/fluttering tail action and
2. slight body motion imparted due to that action

Note: some curl tails like Power Bait Ribbon Tail grubs, have more of a whipping tail action on slow retrieves.

Small crankbaits work because of:
1. body wobble imparted by the lip
2. sonic vibrations produced by internal rattles (ball bearings), hook vibrations caused by body wobble

Ned-rig plastics work because:
1. body quiver of the thin stick design imparted by the rod tip
2. darting action also imparted by the rod tip

The thin tail lures pictured below work because of:
1. tail quiver even when the lure is stationary
2. darting/dying action imparted by speed changes
3. profile and lure action combined that most resembles a prey fish


Mepps spinners work because of:
1. blade flash
2. vibrations produce by the blade
3. if a hair-tail hook is used, flutter imparted by the blade

Sassy Shad grubs work because of:
1. thumping tail
2. body shimmy due to the thumping tail

Soft plastic colors - even clear plastic work because of:
1. sunlight reflection producing tiny flashes off the shinny surface
2. refraction of light in clear or light tinted plastic that outline the lure
3. black flakes in translucent plastic produce an internal contrast easily detected by a fish's superb vision
4. extreme contrast to the bottom or sideways when the color is a solid fluorescent color, bright white or contains metal flakes that produce flash. The same though to a lesser degree for pearl colored hard or soft plastic baits - a glistening effect.

These are a few lure characteristics unique to each and most likely the reasons fish strike those lures. Have you noticed others?

[INTIMIDATOR]

Smell has to be included also....at certain times smell can be an overriding factor to success...not always, but during certain times when they are picky!

You said it best!
"profile and lure action combined that most resembles a prey fish"....plus the other triggers you listed!

All of your italicized points are "Triggers"....triggers are the natural characteristics that cause a fish to feed, these triggers are engineered into artificial lures to imitate something natural, or to highlight a lure so it can be detected by a fish, and then it triggers the feeding senses. Sight, Sound, Smell, flash, color, vibration, movement, etc., are all natural triggers that fish will "key" on.
A shad will flash color when the sunlight hits it in the shallow...a minnow will quiver while suspending in the grass...an injured or dying baitfish will wobble, dart, flap, or flutter, and send out signals it is in distress.
A fleeing baitfish will thump, vibrate, and send out sonic waves.
Minute amounts of blood can be detected, fish can smell Shad, Menhaden, and other oily baitfish.
Fish also key in on certain colors, profiles, etc., at different times..."Match The Hatch"! Insect hatches, craws coming out, shad/baitfish spawns, etc.

Some lures have a couple triggers, some may have many...the more triggers you can combine the better....if you can find a lure with many triggers and that lure can be fished in several different techniques then IMHO, you have a winner!

Good Fishing!

[Spoonminnow]

Many anglers have a tendency to humanize fish exhibited by, 'What would a do if I were a fish and why?' - fill in the blanks. What you said may be true, but absolutely unproven considering all of the lures anglers use side by side in the same hour that disprove matching a forage. Maybe my assertions of lure characteristics are too simplistic for many human brains to comprehend (not yours of course), but after having caught hundreds of fish annually on many lure types and colors - most times in the same outing, I can't but have a deep respect for fish senses as it relates directly to "triggers" that provoke fish into striking and not what those triggers supposedly represent.

As it pertains to lure characteristics, how many of you find some excel:
1. in certain seasons
2. far less than other lure types and designs or
3. all year -even under the ice

The lures I make (and don't sell to anyone/design patent pending)work 100% of the time and work better than the other lures I mentioned. Of the lures I mentioned, there is a time and place they might do well, but generally don't do quite as well as others. For example, Beetle Spins and Mepps are examples of lures that must be worked at a certain horizontal speed to work. Fish that are suspended in warm or cold water may not want to chase anything that is not in their strike zone (zone of provocation) long enough. For me, that is the key to using lures - the lure must be in the strike zone for as long as it takes and must sometimes move and look at least one of a few ways.

I chose lures based on what works a majority of time. If those lures happen to exhibit forage characteristics, so be it; if they don't and still catch fish - great! The group of lure types that work expand and contract depending on the season, weather fronts, water changes, fish depth, etc. Fish depth alone may dictate the use of only a few lures types especially when vertical jigging is the presentation called for. What do those lures represent? Again, who cares considering the fact that many other lures are thought to represent the same forage but fail to work because fish aren't provoked by them, the reasons being everything mentioned in the initial post.

If you understand which lure characteristics trigger an aggressive response, you're way ahead of the game versus someone who claims a fish bit his lure because it matched a certain forage species in size and color. Coincidences happen, but so does s*** when you're not catching anything and refuse to change lures. Matching a forage species tends to limit one's choices and not match the conditions that require others.

[INTIMIDATOR]

People try to humanize fish to be able to communicate to others about what is going on, what they have learned, etc. How would I explain to you that during the several Mayfly hatches here in Ohio, that most fish will not eat anything else because they are gorging on Mayflys...how would I explain the "Match The Hatch" lures needed and the triggers, without giving my opinion (humanize) about what I'm seeing?

What I stated before has been proven over and over by Thousands of Lure manufacturers trying to make their lures represent something...either a characteristic, profile, or other forage trigger. Watch any fishing show, read any fishing magazine, talk to any fishing Pro or Expert....they all talk about the lures, their characteristics, and how they represent a natural forage or it's actions.

When part of our group all goes out for a outing, we may have 15 to 20 guys lined up in the same area all throwing different things....some may be throwing Beetle Spins, some, swimbaits, some curly tails, some jigs, some spoons....just because they are throwing different things and still catching fish, means that the fish are feeding on whatever they can in that area....curly tails are more of a finesse gentle minnow profile and action, spoons are a flash dying flutter, swimbaits are larger profiles with active thumping baitfish appeal, beetle spins are flashing vibrating swimming baitfish, and jigs are less intrusive with flowing flutter minnow or craw movements.

I know old timers who still vertical jig with Beetle spins and Mepps....you can pretty much adapt any lure to different types of fishing if you understand triggers and what fish are feeding on during their Patterns. Fish do become picky at certain times, sometimes they suspend during the day and will not eat, but throw the same lure at night and they smash it.
There are often baitfish present in deeper water...ever seen a school of shad messed up by a school of juvenile White Bass? The WB move in and injure as many as possible during the first run...kinda like sawfish, Tuna, etc....this is done over and over....then they go in and feast...when full they head off. Injured and dying shad are scattered and other fish join in....jigging, spooning, vertical fishing, all represent things like this. It triggers the fishes senses that food is injured, dying, or weak and offers an easy meal with little expended energy. Baitfish and forage are dying daily all over all of our lakes...it is a natural response for fish to take advantage of that!
I fish with swimbaits that work 100% of the time, others fish with jigs that work 100% of the time they fish, others curly tails, etc., etc.,....ALL WE ARE DOING IS MIMICKING LIVE BAIT IS SOME WAY!

[warmouth]

Size is also a key to the mood of the fish. If the standard 1-3/4"-2" tube jigs aren't working for crappie, not only change colors or retrieves, but try going to a 3" or a 1" bait. They may be wanting a bigger bait due to forage or water conditions, or they may be shut down and only hitting micro baits that have to be right in their face.

This spring I definitely had better strikes going with a twerky retrieve with my jig more than a steady retrieve. I don't know why, but I do know that I had many more hits bouncing the jig along instead of letting it glide.

Certain jig colors are killers on specific lakes also, relating to water clarity and depth.

[Oregon slabman]

With the exception of the spawning period, what I've noticed with crappie in regards to lure action is that less is more.

[Spoonminnow]

Warmouth and Slabman - thanks for the great examples! Modifying presentation, lure size/ action/ color, design can make or break an outing.

in regards to lure action is that less is more.

If I had a single piece of advice for a co-angler not doing as well as me, it would be that!

Bass anglers have been going finesse for over fifteen years and found that lures and presentations that fit into that description get them more bites under tough conditions as well as under ideal conditions. The Senko's wobbling tips on the slow drop has accounted for more beginners beginners catching bass than many other lures. (BTW bright pink is one of may favorite Senko colors - and it matches what?)

The lures pictured in the original post are finesse in all ways and stay in the zone longer than any other lure especially when used under a float. There are many others that have more action at rest than the majority of lures sold. That's not to say that deep trolling crankbaits on a three way don't catch a fair amount of crappies in 25-30 ft., but only certain crankbait designs excel using that presentation (regardless of what a fish thinks it is).

The primary fish senses are the key to lure detection and tracking; the rest is whatever triggers the strike, taking into account examples such as what Slabman and Warmouth stated.

[warmouth]

With the exception of the spawning period, what I've noticed with crappie in regards to lure action is that less is more.

It was during the spawn, fishing for suspended crappie 3' deep over deeper water but within casting distance of the rocky spawning beds. I had been fishing the same pattern for days and knew they were there but it was an off day not biting, and switching up the retrieve made a big difference.