Over the years I and I'm sure many other anglers fall into the same mindset when it comes to lures, especially those new out of the package that catch fish the first time tried or don't catch fish even after a few outings. Just because a lure worked this week doesn't mean it will work all of the time. There are a lot of usual reasons lures don't work:
1. The usual - bad location. It has to be presented where fish are to catch fish!
2. Wrong presentation. Speed matters and fishing something too fast or too slow can make all the difference
3. Wrong lure design or size for the season or conditions
etc., etc., etc.
The reverse allows a lure to shine if only for one day, week or season. It's probably human nature, not honed by extensive angler experience, to believe that a particular lure has almost magical magnetic properties no fish can refuse. But reality sooner or later rears its ugly head (Sarah Palin style) and the lure proves to be a disappointment when it fails to catch a single fish the following year! :-\
I've had it happen with most style baits and wonder, what changed the fish's mind so completely that they now seem allergic to a bait regardless of changes made in color and size? Worse is when another lure of similar design, size and color seems to have acquired the magical magnetic properties no fish can refuse! - almost by osmosis in the tackle box!
The mystery continues, but I have a feeling that there are no simple answers or guarantees except:
there will always be exceptions, flukes, blind luck, lack of skill and of course, superstition, when it comes to lure choice, use and success. Some lures will usually shine more than others most of the time. Some will be dogs that need to be sold on Ebay to make more room for more lures that fail utterly and that we believe incapable of catching bass (which is most likely far from the truth!)
The fact is that lures that aren't defective may work as well as similar or even many different lures in many locations and during many times of the day. The same as for presentations. For example, if you are catching fish punching heavy jigs through heavy cover, in all likelihood many designs of soft plastics will also work. If bass are going after spinnerbaits, the possibility exists they can also be caught using grubs or swimming a skirted jig with action trailer. Substitutions are many and to think one lure is the only one for a certain location or time of day or season is a misconception (greatly reported in Bassmaster).
Granted, there are exceptional lures, some costing a premium price, but many cheaper substitutes can be found to do the same job. Angler confidence is never a bad thing except when substitutes are automatically ruled out. Worse is when lure choice is based on a particular color of a particular lure of a particular brand. Kind a sounds like the feeling one has wearing a highly valued lucky charm or underwear that hasn't been or won't be washed! Bass could care less the mind set of an angler or the pretty details of a lure chosen for those details. Once it's provoked, that it!!!
But interestingly enough, the right lure in the right hands may be all that's needed, sans substitution, to catch more than a limit all day long and in many locations! That's not superstition at all - that's skill!
1. The usual - bad location. It has to be presented where fish are to catch fish!
2. Wrong presentation. Speed matters and fishing something too fast or too slow can make all the difference
3. Wrong lure design or size for the season or conditions
etc., etc., etc.
The reverse allows a lure to shine if only for one day, week or season. It's probably human nature, not honed by extensive angler experience, to believe that a particular lure has almost magical magnetic properties no fish can refuse. But reality sooner or later rears its ugly head (Sarah Palin style) and the lure proves to be a disappointment when it fails to catch a single fish the following year! :-\
I've had it happen with most style baits and wonder, what changed the fish's mind so completely that they now seem allergic to a bait regardless of changes made in color and size? Worse is when another lure of similar design, size and color seems to have acquired the magical magnetic properties no fish can refuse! - almost by osmosis in the tackle box!
The mystery continues, but I have a feeling that there are no simple answers or guarantees except:
there will always be exceptions, flukes, blind luck, lack of skill and of course, superstition, when it comes to lure choice, use and success. Some lures will usually shine more than others most of the time. Some will be dogs that need to be sold on Ebay to make more room for more lures that fail utterly and that we believe incapable of catching bass (which is most likely far from the truth!)
The fact is that lures that aren't defective may work as well as similar or even many different lures in many locations and during many times of the day. The same as for presentations. For example, if you are catching fish punching heavy jigs through heavy cover, in all likelihood many designs of soft plastics will also work. If bass are going after spinnerbaits, the possibility exists they can also be caught using grubs or swimming a skirted jig with action trailer. Substitutions are many and to think one lure is the only one for a certain location or time of day or season is a misconception (greatly reported in Bassmaster).
Granted, there are exceptional lures, some costing a premium price, but many cheaper substitutes can be found to do the same job. Angler confidence is never a bad thing except when substitutes are automatically ruled out. Worse is when lure choice is based on a particular color of a particular lure of a particular brand. Kind a sounds like the feeling one has wearing a highly valued lucky charm or underwear that hasn't been or won't be washed! Bass could care less the mind set of an angler or the pretty details of a lure chosen for those details. Once it's provoked, that it!!!
But interestingly enough, the right lure in the right hands may be all that's needed, sans substitution, to catch more than a limit all day long and in many locations! That's not superstition at all - that's skill!