Lures

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Lures
This page describes the lures I use. Vic recommended most of these to me in the beginning, and each seems to have its place.
Crankbaits There are probably tens of thousands of different models of crankbaits, but they typically come in a few forms. All crankbaits dive when you reel them in, and most will wobble as well. Each lure is designed to run at a specific depth, so it's useful to have a number of them of different sizes and colors that run at various depths. If you're fishing in 6' deep water, an 8' crankbait isn't useful. Also, some are available in either sinking or floating models. Get the floating models. If you hit bottom while reeling, you'll feel it, and you can stop reeling. The lure will float out of danger. Very deep running crankbaits are useful when you're fishing a steep bluff; you can cast to the bluff, and the bait will dive down the face of the bluff. I have an assortment that range from 2' to 20', but the shallower running (2'-10') are probably most useful. They only cost $3 each, so you can get a good assortment without spending a fortune. These lures range in size from 1" to 1'. Bass/walleye baits are going to be between 1" and 3" while pike and muskie lures will be 4"+. The large crankbaits are usually trolled behind the boat rather than cast and retreived (they weigh a ton and are really hard to reel in). However, I've caught very large pike on very small crankbaits.
	This is the typical crankbait. They have a bill on the nose of the lure that causes it to dive and wobble when you reel it in.
	Bass LOVE crawfish, and Vic caught many more bass than I did at times when they weren't biting well, and he used a lure like this to do it. I've ordered several for this next trip. The craws are red on this lake, so get the orange or red lures.
	Rat-L-Trap crankbaits are also popular. They lack a bill, but you tie your line behind the head which makes them dive. They have beads inside that rattle as you reel them in. They come in an assortment of colors, sizes and running depths.
Minnows Minnows are more-or-less a crankbait, but they are long and slender. They are typically intended to be still for moments at a time to mimic injured fish, so they have the shape of a fish - long and slender.
	This is a Rapala Floating Minnow. When the water is dead calm, you cast one of these where you think the fish are, let it sit on top of the water for a few seconds, give it a mild twitch, let sit, repeat. The fish hit it hard sometimes getting airborne. You can also retrieve it as a shallow-running crankbait.
	Some are multi-segment for more "realistic" swimming motion.
	This is a suspending jerkbait minnow. You cast it out, reel in a bit so that it dives to the desired depth, then let it sit (it's neutrally bouyant and will "suspend" at that depth), give it a twitch, repeat.
Spinnerbaits These are my favorites. They involve a forked wire with a spinner blade on one end and a lure+hook on the other. The spinner attracts the fish who attack the lure+hook. When functioning properly, the spinner will run above, and the lure+hook will hang directly below. They work well in weeds, because the forked wire runs interference for the upturned hook.
	This is your typical spinnerbait. I use something like this for big bass and bigger pike. The size I like is 6" from the kink in the wire to the tip of the spinner blades. You can get them with one spinner and zero or more smaller "teaser" blades or spoons. I also use some smaller versions (~2" long), that otherwise look identical.
	When buying lures, remember to buy what fish like, not what fishermen think fish like. Perhaps the fish will count the blades on this one and be so impressed that it'll let you catch it.
	This is a "Beetle Spinner". It's a spinnerbait, but it's also a jig (hook with a lead sphere at the head and with a rubber body over it). Vic swore by these for bass, and we certainly caught bass with them. The 1/8 oz are what you'll want.
	These are "In-line spinnerbaits" (Mepps Black Fury). These are okay, but I've had much better luck with the others. The one exception here is if you're fishing for muskie - then you're talking HUGE IN-LINE-SPINNERS-FROM-HELL. They look the same as these Black Fury lures, but they're 10" long and weigh a ton. I've used my huge muskie lure a few times, and I had big muskie follow it in several times.
	These are 8" "Bucktail" in-line spinners for muskie.
	These are 8" spinnerbaits for muskie.
Buzzbaits Buzzbaits are lures that have a propeller of some sort on them that churns the surface of the water (or "buzzes") as you retrieve them. They work!
	This is the only model I own, though I have many colors. You can retrieve these full speed to get the churning at the surface, or you can start them slow so that they turn underwater, speed up slowly so that they start bulging at the surface, then eventually break the surface. The idea is that the fish thinks it's getting away and will strike. But I doubt a fish told anybody this. Nevertheless, when you get a strike, all hell breaks loose! Another great thing about these lures is that they go great in weedbeds. They run on top of the water, so they go over the weeds...and pike hang out in weedbeds in the spring.
	Vic had one like this, but I don't know if it works any better.
Spoons Spoons are a bent piece of metal with a hook on it, but they work wonders!
	This is a Johnson Silver Minnow. I swear by them. Vic and I both caught our big muskies with silver minnows, and we've caught numerous large pike on them as well. I caught my biggest pike (38") with a silver minnow. They have a wire that guards the hook from snags, so they are in essence weedless. I've run it right through thick weedbeds without getting it snagged. If you do snag a weed, you just rip the sucker out and keep retrieving the lure. They're great!! The silver minnow is available in black, gold, and silver, and comes in several weights. The silver, 1 1/8 oz version is da bomb! Get two.
	I'm going to try a spoon like this next year. It's not weedless, but it's bigger, and muskie don't hide in weeds.
Trailers Trailers are attached to the hooks of lures for added action, size, and color.
	They come in many shapes, colors, and sizes. You usually buy a pack of 20 at a time, and you'll go through a few of them - pike tend to chew off their tails when they strike short (pike have lousy eyesight). The top picture is a "grub" trailer which is what I use. The body is about 1" - 1.25" long, and the tail is about the same.
	Trailer hooks are an important add-on to buzzbaits and spinners. The eye of these hooks is oversized so that it can slip over the barb of the main hook of the lure. The trailer hook is held in place by slipping a small piece of surgical tubing over the oversized eye and then puncturing the tubing as the trailer hook is slid over the barb of the main hook. The images to the left show the trailer hooks and tubing and the final assembly. Note that the assembly is not done correctly (it was the only picture I could find that showed a trailer hook). The tubing should go around the eye of the trailer hook. Also, additional trailers like the twister-tail grub above can be added to the trailer or the main hook to increase the apparent size of the bait and add action. Pike have poor eyesight, and often hit the bait short, so having an extra hook decreases misses. Get 3/0 and/or 4/0 size trailer hooks.

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