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Posts: 1360
Location: Lake "y" cause lake"x" got over fished | So I was inspired by GREENANDBLUE on the "next hot bait" thread. He brought up a good question.
How many times would you say you change lures in a single day trip. So different colored bucktails to different sizes to a suick? SO in roughly 12 hours of casting how many times would you change your bait?
I myself have OCLCD "obsessive compulsive lure changing disorder" I change a lot, I am trying to get better at using one bait for longer, but there are just so many pretty colors I have to use more than a few. I would say for me it's 6+ times a day (probably more) | |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | 6 times a day isn't alot of lure changes at all, depending upon the situation. I'll only give one example, but if I am fishing a river, and not drifting quickly, I might work the deep current seam with a different lure than I toss up to the bank. I'll then go through my quick progression of 2-3 baits in the spot to cover it thoroughly with varied and known action/speed/depth/size that I feel will get the nod that day. Changing lure soley based on color happens for other reasons. On the next spot, even if I catch a fish on the first few casts, I'll still run through my progression, to see if there are any that I might have missed with the first presentation. When running a weedline or break with the trolling motor, I'll stick with a lure for the duration of the 'drift'/'run'. The exception is a follow, or my partner starts crackin em wide open on something else. The point is to use at least some science in lure selection/duration. If you just change lures because the next one has a pretty paint job, you could be doing yourself a disservice in prolonging your discovery of a pattern. | |
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Posts: 833
| This is from the perspective of fishing solo:
It depends on a few things. If I am fishing a set pattern that I have confidence in, I will stick to that presentation style as I believe that timing is the missing factor a lot more often than some magic bait. I may switch lures within the confines of the pattern, which would entail something like going from a 10 to a 13 or from single bladed topwater to double. (or faster or slower) Sometimes I’ll switch to a bait that can be run inline like a bucktail, but with a different feel, like a shadzilla. If I think pressure is an issue, then I might transition to gliders.
If I’m not on a pattern then I’ll mix up location and switch baits accordingly. Example might be alternating deep/shallow locations. On shallow stuff I’ll still probably be using the bucktail, but the deep stuff would likely be rubber or a crank. Again, any switches in baits would be more in line with switching bait size or color vs. dramatically altering the presentation. Confidence is also a huge factor, hard to throw something you do not believe in.
A big lesson for me last year was that until you have fish engage baits on multiple occasions and experience the bait in the 8 with a musky behind it, you are not really learning all there is to learn about a bait. In order to get that experience, I find you have to keep tossing it and not switch.
The tough part I’m still trying to get a handle on is at what point do you “call it” and make a dramatic change. At some point you have to conclude “this isn’t working” and try something else, but I’m still building my “gut” that tells me that is the case vs. my timing being off.
The above tends to prevail once the summer patterns get rolling and continues into the early fall. Once turnover hits, things change. I find that this time of year I can be on fish that will respond to baits, but will not always eat. The fish also tend to stack up, thus you “know” they are there. In these cases I’ll be more inclined to alter presentations frequently in an effort to uncover the trigger, but I only do this when I know I’m on fish, and especially when I’m seeing them respond (or not respond) to baits.
If I have friends in the boat usually one person will switch baits more often since you have the luxury of multiple baits stacked over the area being fished. In this case you can cover both timing issue as well as hunt for a trigger since you’ve got more than one bait in the water.
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Posts: 1360
Location: Lake "y" cause lake"x" got over fished | I suppose I should state that I don't switch to a different color unless I feel that the conditions are calling for it. For example, I love black and red on overcast rainy days... but it has to be rainy. I think I have only fished 2 or 3 days where I used 1 or 2 lures the whole time, and that was because we figured out a pattern as soon as we got on the water. Otherwise I am always changing per situation or fish reaction.
Good stuff Brad!! | |
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| Yes, I concur in regards with changing lures depending on the different environmental scenarios or with patterns. The winds were blowing pretty fierce in an easterly direction so I decided to do the polar opposite of what i normally do on that particular lake. So, i threw a walk the dog top water plunging in and out of the white caps and sure enough a musky sky rocketed out of the air missing the lure. This experience taught me never to be afraid to mix it up or think out of the box. | |
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Changing Lures