[font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]Understanding the "C-Start" Response Trigger[/font]
[font="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]
Understanding response triggers is critical to designing effective lures. In a nutshell, a response trigger is a lure characteristic that makes a predator feel compelled to strike at it. The best response triggers replicate behavior patterns and cues that predator fish normally encounter from their prey while feeding. One such cue is a physical action that virtually all fish perform when they are attacked. It's known among scientists as a "C-Start" and it is perhaps one the best-studied fish behavior patterns.[/font]
[font="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]The "C-Start" gets its name from the shape the fish makes as it starts its escape from danger. As you'll see in the drawing above, a threatened fish will perform two distinct movements to change direction and speed away from the threat. First, it will curve its body into the shape of a "C", as showin in figure 2 above. It will then straighten its body from the curved position, as shown in figure 3. The straightening motion allows the fish to push water off the full broadside of it's body to quickly dart away from its attacker. If you've ever thrown pebbles into the water around minnows, you have probably seen this same action as all of the fish near your pebble scatter...but I bet you didn't know that the body motion each fish uses to dart away is exactly the same, predictable C-Start action! (While it's not really relevant to lure design, I should also point out that the direction the fish ends up heading after the C-Start move is complete is typically random and can range from a 90 degree turn to more than 180 degrees.)[/font]
[font="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]So what does this have to do with lure design? Good question! Here's the trick. As I mentioned before, the goal of lure design is to replicate the strike cues predator fish receive in their natural feeding experiences. For fish that hunt and eat other fish, seeing the C-Start motion start to occur will likely trigger an "attack now or this meal will escape" impulse that causes that fish to strike the lure. To translate this into a lure design that triggers the same strike response, look for opportunities to incorporate motion or optics that give the appearance of the lure starting to bend into a C position. This could be as simple as wacky-rigging a Senko (which incidently forms and releases the C shape frequently as it falls through the water column) or as complex as building a rocking motion into a crankbait that hints at the C-Start occuring. Another common implementation of this trait can be found in many of the jointed minnows or crankbaits that naturally form a C-like shape with their two halves while at rest in the water.[/font]
[font="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]So now that you know another secret to building effective lures, try incorporating it into your next design. Good luck![/font]
[font="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]
[font="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]The "C-Start" gets its name from the shape the fish makes as it starts its escape from danger. As you'll see in the drawing above, a threatened fish will perform two distinct movements to change direction and speed away from the threat. First, it will curve its body into the shape of a "C", as showin in figure 2 above. It will then straighten its body from the curved position, as shown in figure 3. The straightening motion allows the fish to push water off the full broadside of it's body to quickly dart away from its attacker. If you've ever thrown pebbles into the water around minnows, you have probably seen this same action as all of the fish near your pebble scatter...but I bet you didn't know that the body motion each fish uses to dart away is exactly the same, predictable C-Start action! (While it's not really relevant to lure design, I should also point out that the direction the fish ends up heading after the C-Start move is complete is typically random and can range from a 90 degree turn to more than 180 degrees.)[/font]
[font="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]So what does this have to do with lure design? Good question! Here's the trick. As I mentioned before, the goal of lure design is to replicate the strike cues predator fish receive in their natural feeding experiences. For fish that hunt and eat other fish, seeing the C-Start motion start to occur will likely trigger an "attack now or this meal will escape" impulse that causes that fish to strike the lure. To translate this into a lure design that triggers the same strike response, look for opportunities to incorporate motion or optics that give the appearance of the lure starting to bend into a C position. This could be as simple as wacky-rigging a Senko (which incidently forms and releases the C shape frequently as it falls through the water column) or as complex as building a rocking motion into a crankbait that hints at the C-Start occuring. Another common implementation of this trait can be found in many of the jointed minnows or crankbaits that naturally form a C-like shape with their two halves while at rest in the water.[/font]
[font="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]So now that you know another secret to building effective lures, try incorporating it into your next design. Good luck![/font]