Which lure when?

[Bux]

Ok so over the last few months my lure collection has grown considerably. Yes a good thing to look at, but when I get to the water I struggle to decide when to use what. Call me inexperienced, call me spoilt for choice but I'm getting confused!

So, I would like to know when to use what for what or is it all about whatever the angler feels like on the day? Only thing that I can say for certain by now is that topwater plugs work better for me when it gets dark as it does at least produce strikes. But during the day...spoons, onda's/spro's, bucktails, plugs? Oh, where I normally fish is very rocky so stray from slow bottom lure fishing as it cost more than what is worth.

 

 

[neilg]

The better you understand what your lure does the easier your choice would be.

First thing, dirty water (cloudy day), dark lure
Clean water (sunny day) lighter lure

A plug will work better at night because it attracts more attention to itself.

It is important to know what you want to target and how to target them.

Example
the water is a bit dirty and I want to target cob
I would go for either a bronze coloured lure (spoon) or a combination of silver and bronze. I would cast the lure onto a bank and then SLOWLY retrieve the lure. The reason I go slowly is because the cob normally wait in the channels for baitfish to come off the banks. Best retrieve would be pull the lure with the rod (slowly) for about say 1m, stop for a second, retrieve the slack and repeat again.

If targetting Leeries the top water plug would work better again. With this I would cast as far as I possibly can and then retrieve the lure in a manner that it creates the most noise as it possibly can. Remember that the plug doesn't just create noise, it also disturbes the water. Most people recommend retrieving it as fast as you possibly can, but I don't do it that way. I mostly use wooden plugs - they don't sink and I prefer to cast out, stop for a second, then proceed pulling the lure hard with the rod, retrieving the slack and continue doing it that way.

With some species you want to hug the bottom and with others you want to splash on the top.

As for the amount of lures, have the same problem but I know what to use for what fish.

Onda is good for mid to top water, I use it for elf before ANY OTHER LURE.
Plugs I use for Leeries
Spoons I use for Cob
Bucktails you can use for ANYTHING, its the most versatile lure in any box.