MAGIC LURES AND SECRET BAITS FOR BASS
How to Find and Use a Magic Lure
EDITOR'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.
An old magical lure I always depended on to produce
bass in farm ponds was an in-line spinner called the
Shyster, which had a silver blade in front, a white
body with black polka dots and a feathered tail with
treble hooks in it. I fished the lure three days a week
in farm ponds back during the 1970s and consistently
produced bass with it. One day in a store, I saw a lure
similar to the Shyster called the Thunderbird, which
also was an in-line spinner. However, its body was yellow
with black polka dots and had a rubber skirt instead
of feathers. When the Thunderbird proved to be twice
as effective as the Shyster, it became my new magic
lure.
Magic
lures are baits you have confidence in that you fish
more frequently than you do other lures. Most pro anglers
have certain lures they have developed specific techniques
for fishing that generally yield more bass than other
lures in their boxes. For West Coast fishermen who have
moved to the South like Gary Klein, sissy baits may
be their confidence lures. In the far West, most of
the lakes are deep and crystal clear. Little lures on
light line often produce more bass then big lures on
heavy line in these lakes. Because the West Coast pros
have developed confidence in these lures, they have
started fishing them in the East and have learned these
sissy baits pay off in bass dividends during bad weather
and/or bad weather conditions. Sissy baits include small
jigs and worms and sometimes spinners that because they
are small in size and are fished on light line, the
bass are more likely to take the lures. Also an angler
can feel the strikes better.
The plastic worm is another confidence bait for most
serious anglers because it is slow moving and easy for
the bass to eat, can be fished through various types
of cover and utilized in all weather and water conditions.
Many top pro bass fishermen believe that to regularly
catch bass, you must be proficient with fishing the
plastic worm, since often you can entice them to bite
with a plastic worm, even when they don't want to bite.
Too, smaller lures like the Slider worm, the 3-inch
grub and tiny spinners often will take more bass than
other lures throughout the year. Small baits moving
at slow speeds on light line historically have triggered
numbers of strikes under even the most-difficult
fishing conditions.
A confidence lure in many tackle boxes that charms
bass is the crankbait. But like most tricks, the magic
isn't in the lure but in the magician himself. If you
crash a crankbait into heavy cover where few other anglers
throw it, let the lure bounce off limbs and brush and
then allow the crankbait to float up as though it is
injured, bass will attack so quickly, you soon will
be convinced the crankbait with a bouncing/floating
action is magic.
Also, specific lures consistently produce more bass
than other lures under certain weather and water conditions
and at particular times of the year, which makes these
lures magical at those times. The black muskie Jitterbug
fished during hot summer months at night on heavy line
around aquatic vegetation in small lakes and farm ponds
holds large bass spellbound as it works its black magic
after dark. Too, the spinner bait, which gives off vibrations,
can be fished successfully in thick cover - especially
in the fall and winter months. The spinner bait can
be given a variety of actions to conjure up numbers
of bass for the anglers who learn how to fish this magical
lure.
One
of the hottest lures, even when the water is still cold
in the early spring, is the buzzbait. Four-time B.A.S.S.
Masters Classic winner, Rick Clunn, believes that when
you fish a buzzbait in the early spring, it will attract
very big bass that are just beginning to move to the
shallow water to feed and have not seen a buzz bait
in several months. However, Clunn also gives one of
the best definitions of how to find and use a magic
lure when he says, "Actually I don't have any favorite
baits or magic lures. I consider the lures in my tackle
box the same as the tools in a carpenter's tool box.
By choosing the correct lure for the job, I can catch
bass. If I don't select the right lure for that particular
job, then more than likely I won't take bass. To become
an effective bass fisherman, you have to learn to fish
a wide variety of lures effectively. When I begin fishing
a new lure, I try and learn every way I possibly can
to fish that lure under every water and weather condition."
Clunn is convinced that mastering lures rather than
searching for magic lures is the key to bass fishing
success.
TOMORROW: HOW LONG DO MAGIC
LURES LAST?
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