Is this fact or fiction? Are plastic companies simply jerking your rod only because they can't market bulk live bait? Are you wasting $6 on a lure when $2 worth of minnows will catch you ten times more fish?
Let me relate to you an incident involving this ex-bass tournament angler remembering that bass tournaments generally do not allow the use of live bait.
Lake St Clair, the opening day of bass season, my dad and I are leisurely fishing for smallmouth bass. Although there is a tournament in the area, I have elected to take a year off, relax a bit and watch the action.
Instinctively, my rod is adorned with a subtle tube jig (which I have won hundreds of dollars at tournaments with) while another rod lay at my feet dangling a craw coloured crank-bait (which has caught 4 lb plus bass for me).
Settled in one of our "not so secret any more" hot-spots I cover the area with both fast and slow presented baits. In the first 45 minutes of our day, I had managed to miss two fish. I felt the hits but managed to practice unintentional live release. I pondered on the fact that if I were fishing a bass tournament, I would likely be looking for another spot with hopes of better success. Fortunately though, I had a control working with me...my dad. As we drifted across this "honey-hole" repeatedly, he was working a frisky spot tail shiner minnow on a small sharp hook and within the same period of time had already landed six bass nearing two pounds each and thrown a couple smaller ones back!
Considering that I was missing out on all the fun, an ultra light Shimano quickly came out of the rod holder and was rigged with the necessary equipment to get me into some of dad's fast action. Needless to say, the next half hour was filled with more bass, some we kept, others we released. One smallie that was gently slid back to the water weighed 3.5 lbs on the Normark digital.
We caught 16 smallies in less that 2 hours, returned home, cleaned some fish, had breakfast and laid down for a nap at 10:30 AM the same day! Why then would a person given the choice opt for artificial lures?
Let me tell you about an incident when this bass tournament angler won $1400 cash fishing a pro SWOBA tournament on Long Point Bay. Remember that this bass tournament (as with most) does not allow for the use of live bait.
Long Point Bay is "bass rich". My partner and I had readily caught a limit of 1 1/2 pound largemouth from the thick weed cover in the bay. The bucket mouths fell for a variety of artificial including Lewis Rattle Traps, Rapala Fat Raps, flashy spinnerbaits and 6 inch purple worms rigged Texas style. Intense fishing practices and detailed knowledge through time spent on this water aided in the taking of these fish. In other words, we had previously determined where the bulk of the bass were holding (pre-fishing a tournament) and fished for them in a way that did not allow for sit-downs or pop breaks!
To be successful in bass tournaments, anglers must catch fish of substantial size to guarantee themselves the top place money. A limit of 1 1/2 pound bass is respectable but just doesn't cut in for the top pay cheques.
Large smallmouth are common in the Bay and one only has to eye ball a couple of local charterboats (who use live bait) to determine where these fish are located. These fish like to relocate on a daily basis and that makes them secondary targets for tournament anglers.
We spotted a couple of charterboats working an area and slipped in behind them. Working with "Bass One" tube jigs filled with Jelled SparkleScales Fish Formula (an attracting scent), my partner and I managed to replace every one of those largemouth with feisty, fat smallies. As a matter of fact we caught the smallmouth bass so fast that we weighed in our catch early enough to relax at the site and watch all the other anglers weigh in their catches.
Interesting to note was the fact that the clients on those charterboats were appalled at the amount and size of bass we were catching. They had admitted to catching a number of fish in that area but the bass had seemed to quit bitting just before we pulled in. We answered many questions as the groups coaxed and applauded us on. We even tossed a number of lures to the charterboat folks so that they could get in on the action after we left.
In summarizing, lures can be very effectively used as well as live bait so long as the angler does not attempt compare the results (amount of fish taken) of the two. Although the desired results may be the same (amount of fish you catch), the way they are used, attitude of the angler, skill level, confidence, fish concentrations and even geographical regions will all make the differerence.
Anglers using lures, elect to fish in a much more aggresive manner. Lures will cover a much broader area, seeking out the attentions of more fish than live bait. This is very effective if your species of fish happens to be scattered rather than schooled.
Lures are designed to attract the fish's attention and make them strike. The practice of using some artificial scents is rewarding. While lures won't die or smell up the tackle box, schooled fish, lazy days and live bait just can't be beat!
