Lure Fishing

For me, nothing is more dynamic and no sport with more evolving learning curve than the art of Fishing. In fishing, you will never seem to stop learning something new with every single fishing trip.
Fishing covers many changing variables and needs utmost skills to adapt and make use of the constantly changing conditions.
With every experience and techniques gained we have to be on the learning curve and change our tactics and strategies. That’s where the fun begins, the uncertainties faced and the strategizing starts.

Here we have talked a lot about general fishing but in particular Lure fishing and the actual action of lure casting is more an act of active hunting rather than passive fishing.
Many believe that baiting tend to have a higher change of landing a catch but I firmly believe now that a right lure in the hands of a good angler will definitely land a sizeable catch relative to baiting.
Ardent baiters will tend to disregard luring as they believe that luring is too tiring and “fishes don’t eat plastics”
I have thought about this seriously and have studied the advantage of luring.

First of all a lure being retrieved right displays an aggressive motion where the fish is at its comfort zone will tend to strike the lure as a defensive measure.
All animals especially predators tend to have their own territories. In luring we call them strike zones. And when we cast our lure into that area we are mimicking another fish invading the fish’s “zone” enticing an attack.
A lure imitates a baitfish and a hungry fish will strike
Even though at an area where there are sufficient bait fishes available .. certain lures imitate an injured or wounded baitfish which is relatively an easier meal for the fish.
Amidst the schools of bait fishes a lure will be singled out as a different animal/fish and anything that stands out from the crowd usually will be singled out and attacked first.

I read somewhere in a magazine that it’s a generally accepted statement that 10% of anglers catches 90% of the fish.
There are published research that indicates the professional lurers have certain abilities or traits.
They have the instinct or knowledge that allows them to locate the target fish through years of practice.
The ability to impart action to their lure when retrieved or trolled very slowly so as to stay within the fishes strike-zone for as long as they could. Instead of just whizzing by the fish.
To vary and change the lure retrieval speed and depth as often as required.

My color is better than yours!
Remember my statement that we need to keep an open mind with fishing? When it comes to choosing a lure ..many of us will decide on color but are often unsure of which to choose and will go with the one that looks “good”.
We need to keep learning and stay on the learning curve.


There is however a rule of the thumb.
Dark Day = Dark Color
Bright Day = Bright Color

I have also discovered that purple/black lures and spinners work well in all conditions.
Orange color tinted lure is also very effective all rounder.

What about dirty water – casually known as Teh Tarik (Milk Tea) here locally.
Obviously the fish needs to be very close to the lure to see it. Hence color doesn’t matter. We need to make use of two things- Noise and vibration.
Use lure with strong action – Chug bug works well.

Also like the Kranji reservoir, when the water is thick with sediment or algae, the oxygen concentration is far greater near the surface of the water so we need to start popping the poppers.
Many anglers tend to choose lures to match the bait fishes …but if there are plenty of bait fishes around why would the fish choose your lure then? I believe anything that stands out will have a higher chance of being attacked.
Have you ever seen people landing huge snakeheads using poppers that look like your son’s toy or a marker pen?

Many anglers I speak to go for lures with red under the gills and near the tail – bleeding and injured fish. Also as I mentioned before – orangy tint at the belly is good.
But with all these theories and suggestions … think like a fish and choose the lure you like. Don’t bother with one that irks you because most likely you are going to keep using the one you like.





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