Quest to discover more soft plastic shapes and actions ongoing

[senkosam]

I post quite a few of my catches on different forums. They always include shots of lures I've made or modified that I know I can count on once I've found fish that can be provoked to strike. Making lure choices based on existing prey is a waste of time IMHO; choosing lures based on presentation, lure size/shape/action is everything in my book. Plus I like to indulge in the fantasy that the lures that caught fish were the best at that time in that lake or river.

Lure variety has always been a thing with me starting with the use of many different lures for bass fishing. I tied my own jigs and spinnerbaits using various silicone skirt patterns and colors. I made my own in-line spinners using different size and shape blades - the same for spinnerbaits.

Once I started pouring soft plastic lures, I was hooked just like the fish that attack them! Discovering lure designs that fish strike consistently year after year is the challenge and that includes the modification of lures I already own. By that I mean taking a part of one soft plastic lure and using a candle to slightly melt the ends of another to be joined.

Granted, I own around 40 molds but rarely use them - especially those that are strictly for making bass lures. What I pour or modify catch all fish species and in various weights/sizes from the smallest bass to 7 lb. catfish and 4 lb pickerel. I don't usually carry a baitcast reel, but need spinning or spincast reels for casting light finesse lures rarely weighing more than 1/8 oz. - including jighead.

Something to consider on those days (like in winter) when you can't fish.

 

[LDUBS]

I've seen some of your creations in previous posts. You are like the mad scientist seeking the perfect artificial bait! IT does sound like a nice hobby. Keep it up.

 

[senkosam]

You are like the mad scientist seeking the perfect artificial bait!

You've described me to a T!

 

[FuzzyGrub]

Lure making is just an extension of the addiction.

While the aluminum molds, injectors, etc can get pricey, I enjoyed it more when just starting out making single pour molds and tube dipping.

 

[senkosam]

What blows me away are the shapes and actions that look like nor move like anything fish has ever seen or sensed (lat. line). I prove that every day throwing bits of bread to 2 doz. sunfish as well as 8 small turtles that line up on shore. They go berserk near the surface competing for those round bits of starch!

Take the skirted jig and trailer claimed to be a crawfish imitator?!!! Pleeeease! What B.S. Anyone who wants to believe in fairy tales like that - fine. Just don't publicly insist it's true like has been printed in fishing magazines for 40 years.

When it comes to lure shapes/actions, many types provoke fish and I have a catalog of them that I keep on hand. Here are a few winners:
This one I call Bulb Butt that consists of the body of a grub attached to the smaller body of another grub.

Basically it's a bobble action lure similar to the action of a Zara Spook except subsurface.

Another I call the pencil mustache. It consists of two thin tail attached to a grub body that looks like a mustache on fished hooked:


The action simulates the tail tips action of a wacky rigged Senko using a jig. It can be jigged in place or allowed to sink to the bottom.

Grub bodies that are dipped in hot plastic once or twice give the appearance of what I call the Chubby Grub which sports various tail shapes:
wide straight tail curl tail

 

[FuzzyGrub]

 

[senkosam]

To continue:


Crappie Magnet tail added to a grub body:



Mo Magic injection poured lure with flat tail:


All those lure creators of the past didn't believe their creations represented anything to fish, but in order to mass produce and sell those lures, they had to come up with something anglers could believe in. Even I thought that 2" Floating Rapalas represented minnows to predators for years. In any case, ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS.

 

[senkosam]

FuzzyGrub

Nice baits and single-pour molds BTW! Bet those baits caught a bunch!
Try my idea of cutting a part from one of your lures and welding it to another using a candle flame, finishing by smoothing the seam using a soldering iron. You won't be sorry! (plus, I'll most likely steal your idea! LOL)

 

[FuzzyGrub]

I like the mini-senko and the double dipped “abdomen” grub. I just wanted to add some rubber legs to make it more like a spider or ant. .

For the last few years my winter months have been dominated by building/modding PCP air guns. Now that I have too many and closet is over filled, tackle/lures should pop back to the top of the winter hobbies.

 

[richg99]

I have a couple of 3D printers. Just for fun, I printed a mold and then melted some old worms (we all have old worms)...and poured them in. I caught a few fish on my creations, too. Fun stuff. However, I must have 50 lbs of previously purchased worms. I can either use them as-is, or melt them into new lures.

 

[senkosam]

Would love to see your creations!

 

[thill]

I've done a ton of this for many years. I have a big, 10" lure for stripers that held (2)IGFA world record Cubera Snapper, and many large striper. I started to market them, but then a large lure company started making a clone, so I stopped. The clone disappeared, and no one knows about them, except for a few, but I still use them.

The only limit is your imagination. That being said, I have maybe a dozen shapes I use 98% of the time for saltwater use. I have a few for freshwater use, mostly crappie, crayfish, curlytails and paddletails. I don't freshwater fish very much, although I'm doing it more and more lately, with my little fishing-fiends for nephews.

 

[senkosam]

The only limit is your imagination. That being said, I have maybe a dozen shapes I use 98% of the time for saltwater use.

Lure making is just an extension of the addiction.

Many anglers on other forums don't comment on the pictures of fish and the lures that caught them, preferring store-bought lures. To each his own. Lure craft isn't for everyone and it's understandable. But lure crafters are after the answers to different questions - especially as it pertains to what fish bite and why fish bite them.

I've read thousands of articles and watched thousands of hours of fishing shows over the last 45 years believing much of the BS. But when you experiment, you question the validity of those statements with a much more open mind and can't help but become a better and more versatile angler.
Here's one: is match-the-hatch really necessary or useful?
If only it were true. The photos posted show lures that not only don't match anything in nature but many different shapes and actions that caught fish on the same day.
That phrase assumes a color should be matched, but what about clear hard and soft plastic lures? My first Zara Spook was clear plastic. Bass clobbered it same for a clear PopR.
Note the clear soft plastics that have caught fish:


Three questions answered:
1. lures don't have to look nor move like a forage animal and usually DO NOT.
2. clear plastic lures catch fish. - yes, even in murky water!!!
3. many lure actions per the many shapes shown, are unique and fun to provoke fish to attack which leads to this question:
4. Why does any lure catch fish? My theory:
lure action, detected by finely tuned fish senses, connected to somewhere in a fish's brain, bring out the bully in a fish.
Many animals have that temperment and don't like infringement of their territory. Even smaller fish get hooked on large lures (and it still cracks me up after all these years).

Question: Does a lead head need to be painted? ie. spinnerbaits, bass jigs or grub jigs?
I stopped painting those years ago and catch just as many fish.

Question: will panfish strike a 6" plastic worm?
These crappie and many like them hit these rigged on a 1/24 oz jig worked near the surface in weeds.


Even a non-lurecrafter can ask questions and get answers on the water. The truth will always be undeniable now and in the future.

 

[LDUBS]

Many anglers on other forums don't comment on the pictures of fish and the lures that caught them, preferring store-bought lures. To each his own. Lure craft isn't for everyone and it's understandable. But lure crafters are after the answers to different questions - especially as it pertains to what fish bite and why fish bite them.

I've read thousands of articles and watched thousands of hours of fishing shows over the last 45 years believing much of the BS. But when you experiment, you question the validity of those statements with a much more open mind and can't help but become a better and more versatile angler.
Here's one: is match-the-hatch really necessary or useful?
If only it were true. The photos posted show lures that not only don't match anything in nature but many different shapes and actions that caught fish on the same day.
That phrase assumes a color should be matched, but what about clear hard and soft plastic lures? My first Zara Spook was clear plastic. Bass clobbered it same for a clear PopR.
Note the clear soft plastics that have caught fish:

Three questions answered:
1. lures don't have to look nor move like a forage animal and usually DO NOT.
2. clear plastic lures catch fish. - yes, even in murky water!!!
3. many lure actions per the many shapes shown, are unique and fun to provoke fish to attack which leads to this question:
4. Why does any lure catch fish? My theory:
lure action, detected by finely tuned fish senses, connected to somewhere in a fish's brain, bring out the bully in a fish.
Many animals have that temperment and don't like infringement of their territory. Even smaller fish get hooked on large lures (and it still cracks me up after all these years).

Question: Does a lead head need to be painted? ie. spinnerbaits, bass jigs or grub jigs?
I stopped painting those years ago and catch just as many fish.

Question: will panfish strike a 6" plastic worm?
These crappie and many like them hit these rigged on a 1/24 oz jig worked near the surface in weeds.


Even a non-lurecrafter can ask questions and get answers on the water. The truth will always be undeniable now and in the future.

I always thought the expression "match the hatch" was used by fly fishermen trying to entice trout to rise to their offerings. Now that I think about it, it could apply equally to trying to match any natural bait. I sure agree the spoons I use most often don't look like natural bait and are sure not the same color as anything in nature. But they sure wobble around nicely.

I'm curious if you use any scents on your lures? I use Pro-Cure gel a lot. Sometimes I think it is more to cover the sunscreen or other off putting scents that might transfer from my hands to the lure.

If you don't mind my asking, if you do consider color, how do you determine what color you use? For rubber worms, which I haven't fished in a looong time, I always used a rule someone told me years ago to try to match the water color.

 

[senkosam]

IMO scents are nonscents. My lures move too fast even at slow speeds for fish to smell or spit out a lure due to scent or taste. Though if I dipped a lure in gasoline chances are it wouldn't get bit.

Color is as color does meaning: a lure's shape sets it apart from a background whether the sky, sideways against watercolor or against the bottom regardless of color. If I catch fish on a particular lure in certain colors, I make extras in those colors. I figure that maybe those colors emphasized lure action and shape which caught their attention long enough to provoke them to strike.

The above lures similar in shape and action do well in those colors. I could experiment and try them in every color but why? If something works, why bother?

I started catching fish on Mr Twister Phenom worms decades ago in black and purple. A bit later I tried purple (not grape) with a pink curl tail. Both did well for LM. Tried black. It did well regardless worm shape.
So, if I were to use worms on bottom, it would be in those colors since they worked years ago.

But when it comes to Senko-like sticks, green pumpkin. For jerk worms like the Kut Tail or Softie worm, many colors work and I keep some of them in the tacklebox:


The above colors would accent any soft plastic shape I cast - including Texas-rigged plastic bottom-bouncing worms. Black is my least favorite color for most lure shapes and actions most likely because my experience using it is limited.

As with all of my long-winded posts, my obsession with lure design and presentation dictates where I am with them at the moment as regards the truth of their success as I see it. That truth is based on successful catches over many years which can't be denied by forage-matching anglers with a set of rules that lock them in.