fishing lures for dummies

Question
Jack,
I have been fishing since before i can remember. My dad used to take me all the time, now i mainly go by myself. We would always use live bait when we fished and we did just fine. I can now catch fish left and right on any live bait, but my dad never had any knowledge (or faith) in fishing with lures. I have checked many websites and tried many techniques and lures to try to catch any kind of fish. I just can't get it to work. I have never caught a fish my entire life on artifical lures. if i didn't see them catching fish on tv with artificial lures all the time, i'd swear it was a big hoax. can you help me please? i have vowed to never fish with live bait again until i catch at least one fish on an artificial lure. any kind of advice or tips would be great. i fish in darker water (not necessarily  muddy) ponds in North Carolina and also in rivers in North Carolina at all times during the day. thank you.
Brandon

Answer
Brandon; I am a bit surprised to see you say you have never caught a single fish on an artificial lure.  You must be fishing in a bathtub.

Of course even I after fishing for nearly 70 years and using artificial lures since I was about 12 years old. That was during WWII.

Of course, the kind of fish you are after will make some difference in the lure you use and how you use it.  I fish mostly for largemouth bass down here in Georgia but when I go north to Wisconsin in the fall I spend most of my time fishing for muskies or smallmouth bass.  Actually the types of lures used for largemouth bass and smallmouth bass are very similar. The major difference being the size of the lure.  Then when I fish for muskies I use a lot of the same kinds of lures but much larger.

Basically lures fall into a few general categories.  I will go through each category and suggest some ways to fish each type and then deal with some which take special tactics.  Mostly these tactics will work to some extent on most species although there are some differences.

For example one of my favorite lures for both kinds of bass is the minnow shaped jerk bait.  These are relatively long slender lures with a bill under the head to make them dive a little ways and at the same time make them wiggle or wobble from side to side.  If I am fishing for largemouth I cast as close to cover such as weed edges or stumps or brush etc.   I usually cast them as close to the cover as possible and then let them lie for a few seconds then give them just a tiny twitch.  I wait a few more seconds (perhaps 5) then give it a pretty good jerk and start it back toward me.  I reel a few turns and then stop and I use my rod tip to make the lure dip and dive and then float back to the top.  
I use the same lure in a size smaller for smallmouth bass.  I do not spend much time looking for weeds or surface cover. I prefer rocky bottoms and relatively shallow here.  Here I cast over the rocky bottom and begin bringing the lure back with rapid jerks making it move along the water and do it's thing.  
When I go for muskies I use the same kind of lure but in about three times the size of my largemouth lure and four times the size of the smallmouth lure.  I like to have a pretty good wind blowing down the lake when I am fishing muskies.  I drift with the wind and cast directly into the wind.  I then begin the movement of the lure in hard jerks but not reeling.  I let the wind take up the slack and jerk it again.  Often I will cover a couple hundred yards before I get my lure back to the boat.
Actually these same types of lures in different sizes and colors are used for  walleye, pike, salmon, coho salmon, steelhead trout, rainbow trout, lake trout at times.  Very similar lures are used in salt water as well.  I believe that if you cast one of these type of lures in the manner I describe you will certainly break your drought and catch fish providing there are such fish in your water and I am sure there are in your area.

Another type lure that is used for a variety of species of fish is the crankbait.  This is the true "lure for dummies".  It will catch fish at times if you do nothing all day but cast it out and crank it straight back .  Of course you will catch more fish if you do some things to improve on it such as stop and go retrieve.  Cast it out and crank it down to its diving depth then use a start and stop top or using the  rod tip make it jump to one side and then the other.  At times casting it right into cover such as a fallen tree and working it slowly among the branches.  After a time you will find the "feel" to bring it over the limbs without hanging.  I have caught many largemouth bass on this lure but also some walleyes, some pike and even a catfish.

A crankbait that is really a no brainer is the lipless crank bait.  This lure has no bill but is made with the line tie on the top of its back and designed to be cast out a long way and be reeled in as fast as you can reel.   It catches fish. I have caught both kinds of bass as well as muskie on this lure.  I don't always use it just this way all the time.  Sometimes I reel it in more slowly just crawling it  along the bottom.  These lures sink like a rock so it must be kept moving or it will simply lie on the bottom.  Often I cast it out, let it sink and sweep my rod tip up and back making the lure jump a couple feet off the bottom then by lowering the rod tip it will fall again.  Several of these yo-yo movements often brings a hard strike by a big fish.  

At this point in your fishing life don't worry too much about colors of lures.  Most fish will hit something with some silver on it or a little red and or green.  The lure type and how to use it is more important than color.  As you gain experience you can begin thinking about what colors seem to do best for you.

Another lure type that I like is the surface lure.  These are designed to stay on top of the water and when retrieved in distinctive ways kick up a spray, gurgle with some propeller type spinners or walk side to side as retrieved or another walks on the surface making a plop,plop,plop.... I have caught some nice largemouth bass on these and all you do is make them walk along on the water, really a no brainer.  An example of this lure is the jitterbug. These are my favorites for largemouth bass but they also work for smallmouth, pike and muskie.
I have never fished for lake trout but at certain times of year they come into the shallows and will hit on top.   I forgot earlier when talking about the jerk and crank baits that striped bass, white bass and hybrids also hit these.  I think stripers are common in North Carolina as are smallmouth and largemouth bass.  I don't know about muskie or pike but I am certain some places have them.

Spinnerbaits are another category.  These too can be simply cast out and reeled in and at times they will take lots of fish of various types.  I have caught largemouth, smallmouth, pike, walleyes, yellow perch, crappie, bluegill, hybrids and even a catfish too.  They can be fished by reeling them fast just under the surface or  down deep crawling along the bottom or bumping into stumps or brush.  There are many types of these but it isn't necessary to go into all of that.  Just one with a large Colorado blade the size of a half dollar with a chartreuse and white skirt and one with a big willow leaf blade and a dark skirt or pure white skirt.  Just ask your tackle dealer about these.

Then there are the plastics.  This all began when a Mr. Creme made a mold of a night crawler and then made plastic worms (red only at first).  These had hooks set in the mold before the liquefied plastic was poured.  Nylon line connected the hooks and provided a short piece of the line to tie your casting line to.  Often there was a tiny propeller spinner in front of the worm.  Today there are thousands of colors and hundreds of shapes of plastic baits.  It is impossible to go into the technique of working these to catch fish but I can mention a couple.  Tie a 1/0-3/0 extra sharp hook to a line which has a 1/4oz bullet weight on it.  Put the point of the hook 1/3 inch into the nose of the worm (or lizard or other creature)and bring it out.  Slide the worm up the hook shank while turning the hook so the point is pointing into the belly or mid section of the worm. Run the point through the worm and then back it up just a little so the point is just under the surface of the skin of the worm thus making it nearly weedless.  Cast it into cover whether it be down trees, weed beds, stumps, a drop off or some rocks.  Let is  sink and then move is slowly just a few inches and stop.  Move it again slowly and if you feel anything  other than your worm reel up to tighten the line and if you feel any resistance set the hook.  Often a big bass will simply slurp up your worm and then slowly swim away.  When you feel definite movement reel down and set the hook.  With modern sharp hooks it isn't even necessary to "cross his eyes" as some used to advise.
Of course other plastics made to make 'ol bucketjaw think he is seeing a crawfish, a small animal, a worm or snake etc. You want him to think it is having some trouble or is involved in feeding and looks good enough to eat.  A bass will eat almost anything.
There are many other techniques of fishing plastics but I am not going to get into that here.  Use the method I mentioned and you will catch bass if any are present.  Not every time but often enough to keep trying.

One more type of lure that is fished differently for different fish.
This is the spoon so named because it is shaped somewhat like a spoon with the handle cut off.  In fact I have used old spoons with the handle cut off to catch fish.  If I am fishing somewhere that has a large area of emergent or semi emergent weeds such as lilly pads, coontail, hydrilla and most other weed types. I will probably be fishing for largemouth. My favorite method here is to use the Johnson silver minnow.  It is more elongated than many spoons and has a single hook soldered to the spoon.  It has a relatively useful weedguard.  I like to use a pork frog on this.   I cast it way back in the weed or lilly pad area and begin bringing it back skipping through the pads and over the top. Keep your rod tip high to keep the line above the pads.  The stems of lilly pads are tough.   I have seen bass tearing up the lilly pads headed  toward the lure.  This is where many people fail to hookup with a big fish.  They get excited when they see the splash when a bass hits this lure and give a big old jerk and the spoon comes flying back at them.  The fish wonders what happened.  With any surface or semi surface lure wait when you see or hear a strike WAIT UNTIL YOU FEEL THE FISH BEFORE YOU STRIKE TO SET THE HOOK.

As you know there are hundreds of lures some special for a  specific fish some are good for a number of different fish.  The spoon is especially good for pike and is often trolled 100 or more feet deep for lake trout.  It is often  silver or gold or painted some color.   One well known spoon is often the only lure people take with them when they fly deep into Canada to fish for big pike.  It is also good for muskie and steelhead trout. It is called a Daredevel and until recently was always silver with a red stripe sort of around its shoulders. Many people use spoons for salt water fish.  I have seveal in my box but the Johnson Silver Minnow is still my favorite.

Well, Sam, If you will try some of the things I just told you and are fishing in a lake or river with fish in it and not a bathtub or swimming pool I promise you will catch that first and many more

Best of luck
Jack