John's Journal...


MAGIC LURES AND SECRET BAITS FOR BASS

What Causes a Lure to Be Magic

Click to enlargeEDITOR'S NOTE: Thousands of dollars are made each year by lure manufacturers who believe they have produced such a lure. Many anglers swear by baits they claim will produce bass under any weather or water conditions. Even though pro fishermen won't admit to having magic baits, they do use the words, confidence lures, to describe these baits instead of the word, magic. But what causes a lure to be magical? How do you find and use a magic lure? How long does a magic lure's spellbinding characteristics last? Can you make any lure in your tackle box magic? Let's find out this week.

Click to enlargeMagic lures are to the fishing industry what new fashion trends are to the clothing industry. Publicity, promotion and the endorsement by trend setters establish the magic in a lure as in clothes. If four or five of the best-known guides and anglers on any lake tout a particular lure as the best bait on the lake, then suddenly that lure becomes magical. Because of these pros' endorsements, more anglers will begin to fish that lure on the lake. Since more anglers are fishing that lure, more bass will be caught on that bait than any other used on that lake at that particular time.

When professional bass anglers and the T.V. pros like Roland MartinClick to enlarge, Bill Dance and Hank Parker start telling the press about a lure they have had phenomenal success with, then this bait becomes a magic lure all of us feel we must have in our tackle boxes. We believe if we use the lure properly, we can catch just as many bass and bass as big as the pros take. Yet another aspect of a lure that causes it to become magical is if the lure is different from any other lure the bass have seen. Bass become lure sensitive. After they have seen a particular variety of lures over some time, I believe they are more reluctant to strike those lures than they are a new lure presented in a different way. A different color, size or body type of lure often will make bass that have been reluctant to bite lures before to aggressively attack a new, magical lure. Or, if you utilize another kind of presentation or retrieve to give an old lure unusual action or an action the bass hasn't spotted Click to enlargebefore, often the fish will be attracted to the lure, hit it and take it, although they have not attacked the lure in the past.

Some years ago, the 4-inch, hand-poured, plastic worm became a magical bait, although nothing was very revolutionary about a 4-inch plastic worm. However, anglers who dropped the lure to the bottom and shook the bait as they retrieved it, an action called doodling, seemed to hypnotize bass and seduce them into biting. The pig and jig is one of the oldest lures on the market today. But once anglers have learned how to flip the pig and jig, how to fish the lure in current, and where to fish the lure during various times of the year, suddenly the pig and jig has become a mesmerizing lure anglers have to have in their tackle boxes.

TOMORROW: HOW TO FIND AND USE A MAGIC LURE


Check back each day this week for more about MAGIC LURES AND SECRET BAITS FOR BASS

Day 1: The Search for the Magical Bass Lure
Day 2: What Causes a Lure to Be Magic
Day 3: How to Find and Use a Magic Lure
Day 4: How Long Do Magic Lures Last?
Day 5: How Can You Make Any Lure in Your Tackle Box Magic?

 

 

Entry 306, Day 2