Surface Fishing Lures.

Some fishing lure anglers are unsure which lures to use in different situations, so they buy fishing lures that are not suited for the area they are about to fish. Before you buy fishing lures you need to know what sort of fish you are trying to catch and whether they feed at the surface of the water, at the bottom or mid water.

Once you have established this you can start to look at which kind of fishing lures to use that work for say the surface. What are surface lures, well the name says it all.

Surface fishing lures are lures that are used to mimic a baitfish that is either fleeing because it is being chased, or it is injured or dieing and is splashing about on the surface of the water. All of these situations are what will attract a predatory fish, because it can feel the vibrations being given off by these actions of the distressed baitfish. It is like a dinner bell, so if there are predators that are close to these sounds and vibrations they will come to investigate to see if it can be their next meal.

This is where the surface lures come in, there are two main types of surface lures namely poppers and plugs which are mostly used for the surface as they are very successful when fished correctly. First off i'll start off with plugs, a plug is used to mimic a fish fleeing as it can be retrieved very fast and it skips or skims on top of the water which is like a baitfish fleeing for its life which predators love as this means it is a target as it can be singled out which is easier for the predator to keep its eye on so that it can hit it hard and eat it.

Baitfish that are fleeing don't tend to stick together they jump out the water in different directions as they are swimming for their lives, they will regroup as soon as they realise they are not the target. It is at that fleeing moment that the predator takes its chances to single out one baitfish to chase and devour, because when baitfish are together it is a little harder because there are so many of them which confuses the predator.

The predator needs to single it out so it can asses how the baitfish moves so that it can decide at which moment to hit the baitfish.

So this moment is a very important part of lure fishing and it is the moment a baitfish is singled out which is like you casting out your lure and retrieving it, your fishing lure is like a single baitfish so the way you retrieve the lure is very important. You need to keep a consistant movement of the lure so that the fish can get the rythym at which you are retrieving the fishing lure so that it can decide when to hit the lure.

Remember, even when you see the splash of the predator right behind your lure as it hits and misses, you must keep your retrieve at the same pace and rythym as you had it before do not slow down thinking it will take it, more often than not it will stop chasing as it can sense something is not the way it should be. You need to keep your retrieve the same which will keep the predator chasing your fishing lure to devour it, sometimes a predatory fish may be extremely hungry and it just goes for your lure until it gets it even if you slow it down a little, but you don't know how hungry it is so keep your retrieve consistant.

Fish are not stupid and they know what the different actions and reactions of fleeing baitfish are as they chase, hit and eat them every day in order to survive so you need to be smart and keep your retrieve spot on. When your retrieve is just right this is the exact moment lure fishermen live for, which is that instant it hits your lure as you are now in for a good fight once you have set the hook to ensure the fish does not get away.

The best way to set the hook, is as a fish strikes or hits your fishing lure and you feel the weight of the fish on it, you will simply give two slight jerks to the line using the rod to ensure the hook is set. The reason for doing
this is because sometimes the hook is just in the mouth of the fish, and is not really set in correctly, the problem with this is that you could have enough pressure on the fish to just hold it there throughout the fight, and then when you get the fish close to you, say within two metres and the fish see's you and tries to run and shake its head.

There is a very good chance you lose the fish at this key moment, because your heart is pumping and you are so excited as you have now seen your fish, and you make a silly mistake of not keeping enough tension on the line which gives the fish the opportunity to shake the lure out of its mouth. We all make mistakes but now that you know you should not make that mistake because you may have a fish of a lifetime on the line and you do not want to lose it, think about what you are doing and what the fish may do.

Remember, the lure has weight to it and is easy to shake out if it's hooks are not set in correctly, because the lure has drag or resistance in the water which works in the fishes favour so keep a tight line and make sure you set the hook.

Another key factor when lure fishing is that you do not want to injure or damage the fish if you are going to release it to grow bigger and live to fight another day, the way you do this is by flattening the barbs on your
hooks so that the hooks can be removed from the fishes mouth without ripping the inside of its mouth.

Another reason for flattening the barbs is incase the hooks go into your finger or another body part by accident, it will be easier to remove and is less painful.

The second best surface fishing lure is a popper, this type of lure comes in slightly different shapes. The overall look of the lure is the same with slightly altered features like the face or head of the lure or the thickness of the fishing lure body. All poppers make a splash on the surface and the size and weight of the lure will determine the size of the splash it makes aswell as how loud the popping or blooping sound it makes through the water hence its name popper.

A surface popper can be retrieved slow or fast depending on the species of fish you are after, but generally a fast action is used. The popping or blooping sound is irresistable and once the predator has located the popper and it sees the bubble trail it will chase the lure and hit it, if it misses the first time and you keep your retieve the same it will try to hit it again and again.