Bait Presentation

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BAIT PRESENTATION

Understanding the most productive methods of presenting live bait and artificial lures to fish during the seasonal cycle is vitally important. The metabolism & temperature is determined by weather, water clarity, sun penetration & wind direction. The best size, color, speed, & sound of lures are determined by these variables!

Fish eat plankton, larvae, nymphs, fresh water shrimp, insects, perch, smelt, shiners, ciscoes, tulibee, shad, herring, leeches and all types of minnows for survival! In the spring, new bait hatches make "young-of-the-year" forage plentiful and vulnerable. As a rule . . . you want your bait to "match-the-hatch" for size during the seasonal cycle of the year. Therefore, in the spring small lures usually work best. During the summer months, medium sized lures are often preferred. In the fall, a large bait presentation normally triggers the most strikes.

COLOR

The most effective color of any fishing lure varies from one day to another . . . and from one lake to the next. As a rule . . . you want your fishing lure to blend in naturally with the color of water you are fishing in! Therefore, natural baitfish colors blending with black, blue and green are best suite for clear water. For slightly stained water, yellow, gold, orange, chartreuse, green, perch and firetiger are top fishing tackle used. For stained and muddy water, the high visibility fluorescents like pink, orange and phosphorescent "glow-in-the-dark" colors are unbeatable. If the sun's rays are bright in shallow water, fluorescent yellow and chartreuse are simply the best!

SOUND

Sound transmitted through "sonic" vibration stimulates a positive response from most gamefish. Fish possess a lateral line which allow them to "home-in" and ambush their prey even though they cannot clearly see it. Rattles and spinner blades on jigs, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, spinner rigs and crankbaits "ring-the-dinner-bell" to attract gamefish . . . and trigger 'em to strike!

SPEED

In cold water, fish are dormant and S L O W movement is essential. During the warm summer months, fish become more active and aggressively chase after their prey. Therefore, moving lures at faster speeds will generally trigger more strikes. In the fall, as water cools, fish become less active and slow to moderate speeds are most productive! As rule . . . the shallower the water, the faster you move your bait. Therefore, slow down your speed in deep water.