For decades I read articles in magazines and watched shows about fishing. Much of what was stated as fact is still repeated by many today - none of it ever proven. I've caught fish on almost every lure type and color ever made which can't but refute those 'recommendations' meant to improve one's catch. Problem is when they limit one's ability to catch fish based on generalizations, disinformation or misinformation. Details matter. Proof of lack or proof backing up what is asserted as the truth, matters. Here are a few examples - agree or not.

1. Lure shapes, actions and presentations (as well as color) should be 'natural'.
Fish don't know natural from unnatural and few lures mimic anything in nature.
Predators feed on other animals; not on spinnerbaits, crankbaits, PopRs or anything else manmade. Lure designs going back over the last 100 years simply provoke fish to strike. The colors of most lures do not and don't need to mimic forage animals. Lure presentations are not natural but are based on what a lure does and where an angler casts it.

2. Pressured lakes are harder to catch fish in.
Fish don't remember the presence of anglers, their boats nor the fish buddy caught near them. Fish after fish can be caught in a school which should be a clue not to bite the lure that caught them but still do. Finding fish is key and those that do it best have the greatest chance of catching them. Fish sometimes migrate daily but where you catch fish today might be where you can catch them tomorrow.

3. Match-the-hatch or casting what fish are supposedly feeding on is another one.
I've never heard of studies done underwater that support that statement. Fish are opportunists, at times irritable, lazy and bullies - sometimes all of those things. Does a fish bite from hunger? Who cares so long as fish strike. Stating reasons fish bit a lure is for angler ears only - not a fish's. The lure variety that can catch fish on a single outing is huge!

4. Too heavy a line diameter could scare fish from biting.
Line diameter affects lure action and may restrict an action that its shape was meant for to entice the strike. Nothing more. Prey fish don't know when they are about to be a meal for a nearby predator nor do predators have a clue as to the danger of biting a man-made object with hooks - your lure.

So when hearing any of the 'facts' stated in forums, in the media or from a buddy, take them with a grain of salt and instead ask specific questions about lure characteristics and presentations that did well under certain conditions. Comparing notes - not fallacies - is what catches fish.

For photographic proof of the above, read my recent post about jigs and soft plastic

I hear you. Along those same lines, don't fall in love with with your plastic mods, because they don't love you. Keep your open mind open, lest ye fall into the same trap of which you warn.
You know. Stuff like that.

I have fallen in love with my "plastic mods" and always catch fish with them.
Sat. my buddy and I caught over 180 fish in 5 hours using my modified lures.
Many species were caught but especially crappie, perch and sunfish in schools.
He managed a 3.5 lb bass and I a yard-long pickerel. We could have left the southern flat to search for more bass, but I fish where fish are when testing new mods. I was not disappointed.

What is a plastic mod?

A plastic model kit, (plamo in Eastern influenced parlance), is a consumer-grade plastic scale model manufactured as a kit, primarily assembled by hobbyists, and intended primarily for display.

Above doesn't click with me...

bobbernumber3: "What is a plastic mod?
"

Soft plastic lures can be modified by cutting off a piece of one lure and joining it to a piece of another to alter shape and action using a candle flame. Another modification is shortening a lure size by cutting off the front of the lure leaving the tail alone.example:
A fish bit off the curl tail leaving the body. It caught just as many fish if not more.

In this example a claw was added as a tail. Also catches a bunch!

Two grub bodies joined:



The actions are unique and provoke fish to bite.

senkosam: "I have fallen in love with my "plastic mods" and always catch fish with them.
Sat. my buddy and I caught over 180 fish in 5 hours using my modified lures.
Many species were caught but especially crappie, perch and sunfish in schools.
He managed a 3.5 lb bass and I a yard-long pickerel. We could have left the southern flat to search for more bass, but I fish where fish are when testing new mods. I was not disappointed."

Did you happen to have a control group? One person using unmodified lures to see which did better?

I don't compare notes with those using conventional lures on the same day. If anyone did poorly using their lures, it can't be proven it was the lure, presentation or the location(s) fished. But at times I do my own comparisons after finding that conventional lures didn't cut it but mods did. Mods I find are equal-opportunity fish catchers.

I investigate shapes and actions that catch fish - the more unconventional, the more exciting when they prove themselves. Catching fish on conventional lures is no challenge and in fact I find boring. An angler I fish with casts the same lure for hours. Whether he catches fish or not is of no interest to me; those days are long gone when just catching fish was the only goal.

senkosam: "I don't compare notes with those using conventional lures on the same day. If anyone did poorly using their lures, it can't be proven it was the lure, presentation or the location(s) fished. But at times I do my own comparisons after finding that conventional lures didn't cut it but mods did. Mods I find are equal-opportunity fish catchers.

I investigate shapes and actions that catch fish - the more unconventional, the more exciting when they prove themselves. Catching fish on conventional lures is no challenge and in fact I find boring. An angler I fish with casts the same lure for hours. Whether he catches fish or not is of no interest to me; those days are long gone when just catching fish was the only goal.
"

I see. Well carry on then, professor.

Today I'm showing an acquaintance I've never fished with the ropes when it comes to finesse fishing. I'll give him 6 mods and jigheads to match, load a casting length of braid over his mono and let him compare notes with his own tackle and presentation, one of which is using a float (yaaawwn). He wants to see how two anglers in a boat can catch over 70 fish each in 5 hours, never having caught nearly that many.

One important thing he will observe is boat position once fish are found. A different partner yesterday kept moving his boat, not concentrating on a section at a time. He expected that school locations would be the same on the wide flat we caught close to 180 fish last Sat. I emphasized anchoring as well as watching when your partner catches fish in an area as to when to stop the boat. At this time of year, vegetation isn't fully grown so fish school up. One fish could lead to 20 or more in an area on shallow flats less than 4' deep.

Fine when you're fishing alone casting from a constantly moving boat, but it's not for me who has fished the same way from a bass boat, canoe and small V-bottom in ponds, large lakes and rivers for decades. Knowing when to anchor and concentrate casts in fish-located areas with the potential of numbers, makes fishing so much more exciting. From now on he will have to fish from my boat if he wants to fish with me.

Depends on what your fishing for and where. I guarantee that if you fish trout on heavily-fished, clear streams, then line diameter, "matching the hatch", color, and presentation matters. Same with walleyes, lake trout, or other game fish when they are "turned off". This has been known for decades.

Perch, panfish, bass, and pike tend to be a lot easier to catch in general, especially on more turbid waters, and they are a lot less picky. You can get lucky and catch fish on just about anything at times.

I disagree on points 2-4. Ask any musky angler about pressured fish. The difference between their behavior in my local waters vs. less-pressured destinations is dramatic.
As far as "matching the hatch," the comment about trout is very accurate in my experience, but walleyes can also be very selective during the spottail shiner bite that will begin here in MN on Saturday. During the early part of the season, shiners will far outfish any other minnow or artificial during this period.
As far as line visibility, again, trout.

arctic: "Depends on what your fishing for..."

Yep... exactly.

Bass are pretty easy to trick with artificial bait. You get one shot, then they get smart. But overall, easy catching.

Walleye can be finicky, but we had an outing a couple years ago... 2pm, dead-calm, with brilliant sunshine. We caught so many walleyes, I swear we could have caught them on a cigarette butt. We left after a few hours as our arms were tired.

I am not a fishing expert but I slept at a Holiday Inn last night so will weigh in.

Location and timing are the two biggest predictors of success. Color, presentation, lure size, live bait, etc…all fail in comparison.

The trick most of us don’t understand is the why the location or the time matter and the ability in predicting it.

An easy one is ice fishing crappies. Find cover (location) like a brush pile…fish it at dusk…almost guaranteed success. :)

That’s why I love fishing. It’s hard to figure out. I’ve had the same experience as bobbernumber3… why? I have no idea LOL It’s hard to reproduce then…but that’s what keeps me coming back. You always have a shot at events like that and someday I will figure it all out (NOT :) )

T

Well, Senkosam, seems you have it all figured out, so I should probably keep my opinions (formed through 57 years of fishing, studying fishery biology, and reading every scientific paper or article I could get my hands on) to myself! Not that I disagree with everything you said, as some of it was true, but I do wonder why, if fish are as stupid and easy as you say, you have to create your own lures? And, what makes them superior? Maybe the fact that they are conditioned to "normal ones?" Or maybe you are just better at it than say Berkley or Rapala who spend millions on R&D. You really need to look in to #2 a bit more, there is much research disputing your belief on that one! Anyway, have a great year having fun catching fish, that is what it is all about, regardless of how you go about it. I do love finesse fishing, and live near one of the innovators, Ned Kehde after whom the "Ned Rig" was named. Happy Trails!

"Bass are pretty easy to trick with artificial bait. You get one shot, then they get smart. But overall, easy catching."

Have to weigh in on those statements:
1. baits are REAL regardless live or manmade.
2. bass can not get "smart"; they are as dumb as dirt as are ALL fish.
3. fish location followed by lure size, action and presentation matter ALWAYS.
Fish in general may not chase a spinnerbait or curl tail grub on 1/8 oz jig on a straight retrieve but strike a plastic that can be worked slowly on a light jig head 1/6 oz or lighter or a bottom hopping lure.

"Location and timing are the two biggest predictors of success. Color, presentation, lure size, live bait, etc…all fail in comparison."
This statement matters BIG TIME!

Today the two of us caught 145 fish. I got 2 large pickerel and one smaller one in the net.
My largest bass was 2.5 lbs.; the rest less than 1.5 lbs.
The largest crappie was 14", the rest averaged 10-11". 5 schools provided fish after fish - sometimes of mixed species. (You'd think they would catch on seeing their buddies yanked out of the water one after the other.)
Yellow and white perch were on the small side as were the gills but fun to catch.
Water temperature was 64 degrees.
Average depth was 4' or under.
Sonar indicated bait fish in the area on small humps. Flats that had emerging pads produced. Open-water fish near flat edges produce.
Lure size and shape/action varied but all were twitched-retrieved slowly.
The day was cloudy with a constant 10mph wind from the n.e.

I don't fish for walleye, salmon or other large species, but until I do, in my mind a fish is a fish is a fish with no IQ when it comes to manmade moving objects. Superstition is fine but limiting.

mgraber: you have to create your own lures?

I can't speak for him, but I make all of my soft plastics from panfish to halibut. I paint most of crankbaits, blade baits.

I don't get to fish 150 days like I used to, so sitting in the garage pouring jigs, shooting plastic etc. is my hobby similar to wood working for some guys I suppose. I don't know if what I make is superior, I do know I can make different colors, patterns, styles that you can not get in a store or from others, but there is satisfaction in catching fish on something you made. I also enjoy giving them away to people on the ice or out in the boat/canoe.

senkosam: ""Bass are pretty easy to trick with artificial bait. You get one shot, then they get smart. But overall, easy catching...."

I was thinking about surface baits cast along shorelines and docks. Rarely will a bass strike a bait the second time... they become smart, wary, conditioned, or...

I have to disagree with pretty much every point.

#1
Depends on what your goal is. Most fish bite to feed, so mimicking real prey enough to trigger the instinct to bite is very effective. Weather it is the action, the flash of color, scent, or a combination of factors, mimicking natural prey works. You seem to fish for mainly bass though and bass are known for being territorial. This means they will strike at about anything that gets too close and they perceive as a threat. So baits that trigger a defensive strike don't need to be natural, just threatening enough to trigger that instinctive strike. There are other reason fish strike as well, curiosity for one, so it's hard to make such a blanket statement that the bait doesn't need to look natural. It depends on the situation.

#2
Pressured fish do get wary. Fish are not as dumb as you make them out to be. They do have survival instincts and that causes them to act different when they feel threatened. Have you ever tried fly fishing on a trout stream? They spook easily and more pressured streams are harder to catch fish on, even when you can see a large school of fish there that have not been spooked yet.

#3
This one depends on what you are targeting. If you are going for bass, that's the "easy mode". They will react to just about anything new. You don't need to match anything with them. On the other end of the spectrum, brook trout won't often bite on nymph or flies that are out of season. You want to match the hatch with "smart" fish.

#4
Line diameter maters. For both presentation and because some fish have better eyesight or are more cautious than others. Again, it sounds like you are making blanket statements where your perspective is limited to bass or pan fishing and assuming that all fish are the same way. I'm not saying that is all you fish for, but the way you wrote this comes off that way.

I also have my doubts when statements about fishing are stated as fact...

Unless those statements are made by QueticoMike!

Don't agree with a lot of that either, but the last post was spot on, made me chuckle audibly so thanks for that.