Customize Your Lures
May 7, 2004
Ever had one of those agonizing days on the water when you knew the fish were there but you just couldn’t get them to bite? Of course you have! We’ve all been through it and it can drive you absolutely nuts when the fish flat out ignore whatever you’re throwing at them. Sometimes, slow fishing is caused by environmental factors like a falling barometer or water temperatures that are too warm or cold. In those situations, there’s not much you can do other than grin and bear it and grind it out until conditions change. In other instances however, the fish may have just seen too much of the same thing and have grown “stale.” That’s when you have to throw them a change-up – give them a little different look than they’re used to.
To do this, I like to take some of the lures that I know work well and tweak them just a bit. For example, when using spinners for trout, salmon or steelhead, I like to paint the backside of the blade a bright color. By painting the back, you still get the metallic flash off the front side, but you add a little splash of color that sometimes makes all the difference. The same also works with thin-bladed trolling spoons that are used for trout and kokanee trolling. Some of the best colors to add to your hardware are chartreuse, hot pink, flame red and orange.
If you’re into bass fishing, you’ve probably gotten into the Senko craze. For the uninitiated, Senko’s are dense, chubby plastic worms that have a mesmerizing flutter motion when they sink. They can be fished a million different ways, but most guys simply cast them into a likely-looking spot and let them fall to the bottom. Big bass love ‘em and will usually inhale a Senko on the way down.
When I start getting short or unenthusiastic strikes on these worms, I’ll trick them out with a pair of scissors. Try this: hold the worm flat in the palm of your hand and split about 1 ½ inches of the tail with your scissors. Rotate the worm 90 degrees and make another cut. What you end up with is a worm that has 4 tentacles in lieu of a tail. On the fall, the tentacles will catch the water and flare up and impart a “breathing” type motion to your bait that close-minded bass seem to really get excited about.
Another thing you can do is keep a set of colored Sharpie pens in your tackle box. With these permanent markers you can do on-the-water custom jobs that will sometimes save the day.
Just last week I had a couple clients out striped bass fishing on the American River. I had the guys throwing Rapala-like jerkbaits and one was consistently out-fishing the other. Both lures were silver with dark green backs, but the winning bait had a faint red stripe down the side. Unfortunately, I was out of that color, so I broke out a red Sharpie and doctored up the less successful lure and it quickly started getting bit as often as the hot plug.
Speaking of bodybaits like Rapalas, Rebels, Bombers and Thundersticks, you can make them more effective by adding a tail. I like to take a small curly-tailed rubber grub and attach it to the back hook with several wraps Magic Thread. When retrieved through the water, the grub will wiggle and vibrate enticingly and give the lure an all-new look.
In fact, striper trollers on the California Delta have taken this concept one step further and also add a rubber squid to the back end of the bait (in addition to the grub). I think the “Wild Thing” as it’s called looks kinda funny with all that extra stuff on it but the stripers sure seem to like it. So, when the chips are down and Ol’ Lucky just isn’t getting bit, try altering your lures – it could be the difference between a skunk and a full stringer.
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