A common mistake I’ve observed with many new artificial bait enthusiasts is that they over work the lure. When a lure has too much action, it does not appear to be natural prey and doesn’t get the interest of most game fish… in fact it often spooks them away!
The advice I give my clients during Flats Class charters is simple… “Be the bait”. My mimicking the behavior of natural prey your odds of drawing a strike go up exponentially. The “Be the bait” mentality forces anglers to slow down and even stall the lure at times; but more often than not, it requires anglers to swim the lure instead of jigging the lure erratically. It’s hard to believe but by imparting less action to the bait an angler’s overall success rate improves dramatically.
Here are a few sample presentations to put you on the right path:
- When working a soft plastic paddle tail baitfish imitation… simply make a long cast and straight crank the lure back at a moderate pace without jigging or hopping it. Just fish the paddle tail bait like you would a spoon and you’ll notice a marked improvement in the number of fish caught!
- When working a crustacean or tube pattern… work the bait with short upward rod movements (from the 9 o’clock to 12 o’clock) no more than 6” at a time then once at 12 o’clock position reel very slowly down to 9 o’clock only to take up slack. This gives the crustacean look baits a realistic slow hop & drag action… very natural. In fact this is my personal favorite cold water presentation or when the fish are really tuned into a shrimp run or crab hatch.
- When working a hard bait such as a suspending twitch bait… Again make a long cast and let the bait sink 6” to 10” under the surface then slow reel the lure several feet before giving the bait a subtle twitch then repeat the sequence. This very natural swimming technique will fool all inshore species and bar-none is one of my favorite plug fishing techniques.
In short, don’t over think your retrieve… after all you probably select lures because of their realistic appearance; why not let that feature work for you.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Thankx C.A.,
Gonna use these tactics,but where would one go to observe baits to watch them in Action?… Petorian
C.A.
Good info. I instruct people in this same manner and call it “imitating healthy baitfish.” To me, too much jigging takes you right out of the game particularly in the hottest and coldest times of year. Steady and smooth works great. One exception: “jump” the lure when it approaches a snook ambush location to elicit a strike response from those fish.
Do you use the same technique for soft plastic paddle tails as you would with ones that do not have the paddle tails such as a shrimp or straight tail pattern? Thanks
Go to a pool.
Exactly what we were doing this past Sunday at Cabbagehead, trout were hitting the 17MRs on the way down as they sank, not on the twitch during the retrieve. Wound up doing a “10 count” between each reeling. At first it took us a while to realize they were only interested in Chartreuse that afternoon and nothing else, took us even longer to realize we needed to slooooooooooow doooooooooown! Thaks C.A.
To further enhance the swimming action and the close to reality presentation try to keep the rod tip close to the surface of the water. I have found that more hits come with a low stick. The hook set is also done with a side sweep not a lifting motion. Even with the tube baits I try to sweep the bait about 2 to 3 feet with no more than a 6 inch lift.