Think About It
November 9, 2000
Anglers, in general, aren’t perceived as a cerebral lot. Fishing’s simply a matter of impaling an innocent earth worm with a sharp hook and tossing it blindly into a lake with the hope that some unsuspecting trout will swallow it. Then you unceremoniously crank the fish in, bonk it on the head and toss it into a cooler. Nothing to it, right? Well, actually….
Of course, doing a little mindless bait dunking or lure tossing is quite desirable at times, but if you really want to score consistently, you’re going to have to use your noggin a little. Consider this familiar scenario, for example: You’re on a lake, casting a lure for trout. You’ve seen several fish follow your lure to within a few feet of where you’re standing, but none of them have actually hit it. The non-cerebral angler keeps tossing his lure at the fish without making any changes and probably ends up fishless. The intellectual, however, tries to figure out why the fish won’t strike and tinkers with things until he starts getting bit.
What Gives?
In this situation, the trout are obviously interested enough in what you’re throwing to take a long look at it, but why won’t they commit? There’s just something that’s not quite right as far as the fish are concerned. Analyze the situation — you’ve got several potential factors that you can tweak.
Starting with the lure itself, you can look at size, color, shape, and action. Maybe the baitfish in that particular lake are slightly smaller than the lure you’re using and by simply dropping down a size, you’ll get the trout to bite. Or, the color could be a little off and tying on a gold spoon instead of the silver one you’ve been using will make the difference. Many times, I’ve found that you can get seemingly off-the-bite fish to turn on when you throw a different lure at them, so try to switch from a spoon to a spinner, etc. and see if that works.
Presentation
On the other hand, you may already be using the right lure. Afterall, the fish are showing quite a bit of interest in it. The difference between success and failure may lie in your presentation. Try varying your retrieve and see if that helps. Sometimes, a sudden bust in speed will trigger an aggressive response from fish — in other words, don’t give them too much time to look your lure over. Force them to make a quick decision.
Once in Costa Rica, I could see tons of tuna, dorado and other assorted fish all around the boat and I knew that they were dialed in to 4- to 7-inch flying fish. I tried tossing several spoons into the schools with no results, despite the fact that my lures had the same coloration and size as the natural baitfish. Then it dawned on me that the lazy speed at which I was reeling in my lures was the problem. When they’re being chased from below, flying fish will jump out of the water in an attempt to escape. By skipping my spoons across the surface, I immediately started scoring.
Conversely, there are times that slowing your presentation down will do the trick. This works best with lures that aren’t particularly dense — a soft plastic jerk bait, for example, will flutter gently towards the bottom when you slow or stop your retrieve speed, while something like a Mepps spinner will simply drop to the bottom in an unattractive metal clump.
Other Factors
Now let’s assume that you’re pretty sure you have the right lure size, color, speed and action. You can tell because the guy next to you is using the same thing and absolutely putting the wood to the fish. So, what else can you do? Well, it may just be that your line is too heavy. The trout are attracted to you lure, but they can see your line and that unnatural appearance is what is keeping them from striking. Scent is another thing to think about. You’ve seen me (and many others) write about the effectiveness of a sardine wrap on the belly of a Kwikfish or Flatfish lure for river salmon. Since the sardine fillet is on the underside of the plug, it’s obviously not the color that the salmon are going for. It is, of course, the oily scent. Why do you think white corn on your lure works so well for kokanee? Yep, you guessed it, it’s the smell. When you find fish playing hard to get, try adding a little stink to your offering — stuff like Pro Cure Bait Butter works great, as do Mike’s Glo Scents and Smelly Jelly. When fishing for trout or salmon, try the salmon egg, corn, garlic, anise, shad or shrimp flavors. Bass tend to go for craw and shad scents.
Having said that, I don’t think there’s any kind of scent you can add to your lures or baits to make them do what some manufactures will lead you to believe. It’s doubtful that you’ll find one that will “Drive fish absolutely-freaking wild” or “Draws the lunkers from the depths” or even “Makes your lures smell just like the minnows Grandma Bass used to make.” However, commercially produced fish scents will help mask human odor, as well as any gasoline, smelly soap or perfume you may have on you hands.
Putting it all Together
Keep in mind that fish are not smart. They have little pea brains and don’t spend much time writing poetry, pondering the teachings of Aristotle or listening to Beethoven. They are simple creatures with a short list of basic needs. When fish aren’t being cooperative, it’s usually just a matter of altering something about your approach or technique to get them to bite.
I know, all that thinking’s got smoke coming out of your ears now and your head’s starting to hurt. When that happens, wad a big glob of power goo on the end of your line, lob it out into the water and wait for that little bell at the tip of your rod to ring.
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