working the lure

[Foureel]

Another tip is to watch what other successful fishermen are doing.  If someone is catching fish see how he is working the lure/plug and try to imitate his retrieve.  Is he retrieving fast or slow?  Does he twitch his rod while on the retrieve?   How far out is he casting?  It is amazing to see how many guys fishing don't pay attention to what's going on around them and then complain that they don't catch.  I had a buddy out this fall and the bass wanted a slow retrieve with an ava jig.  I was hooking up often and I just couldn't convince him to slow down his lure.  Finally gave up trying and he never did catch.  

[EricDice]

Geez. Well, what they said. And I’ll add that you wanna try to be mindful of what worked when it works and piece your puzzle together from there but know it will change. 
 

I don’t always do this but when my brain is functioning well I try this:

• Slow on the bottom, slow mid water, slow topwater. 
• Same with twitches
• medium with twitch and pause
• etc

[yogiiiboy]

8 hours ago, hhager23 said:

You might find this helpful  or this 

Two VERY good reads right here.  I believe these books will answer many of your questions and lead you on your way 

 

[NewestGuyOnStripersOnline]

11 hours ago, hhager23 said:

You might find this helpful  or this 

Really want Zeno’s book, but I can’t find a paper copy! It’s not even on the SJ website.

[i_like_poppers]

2 hours ago, NewestGuyOnStripersOnline said:

Really want Zeno’s book, but I can’t find a paper copy! It’s not even on the SJ website.

It's available on Kindle if you do the e-book thing. Great read, would add Surfcaster: The Ultimate Surfcasting Guide by Doc Muller too. That should be available on Amazon.

[Captain Ahab]

10 hours ago, Foureel said:

Another tip is to watch what other successful fishermen are doing.  If someone is catching fish see how he is working the lure/plug and try to imitate his retrieve.  Is he retrieving fast or slow?  Does he twitch his rod while on the retrieve?   How far out is he casting?  It is amazing to see how many guys fishing don't pay attention to what's going on around them and then complain that they don't catch.  I had a buddy out this fall and the bass wanted a slow retrieve with an ava jig.  I was hooking up often and I just couldn't convince him to slow down his lure.  Finally gave up trying and he never did catch.  

I get this all the time as well.  Most basic mistake is too fast, it is very rare that fast beats slow for bass 

[NewestGuyOnStripersOnline]

2 hours ago, i_like_poppers said:

It's available on Kindle if you do the e-book thing. Great read, would add Surfcaster: The Ultimate Surfcasting Guide by Doc Muller too. That should be available on Amazon.

That’s just not the same. I want paper for my recreational reading!

[hawk6113]

Thanks all, I will head down to my local lake that has relatively clear water and practice and see what i can make each lure do. I have already started looking at some videos and have focused on how the lure should behave in the water and see if i can mimic. 

 

 

[Jollyrodger]

Hawk-

The internet has hundreds of videos of fisherman working different lures. A couple I have found very useful are John Skinner Fishing- probably a hundred videos,  and in most of the titles will be " working the X lure". Another good series is Surfcasting 101-  several videos dedicated to specific lures and how to work them in different situations.

Good luck- it is a wonderful and addictive journey.

[TheSuperApe]

21 hours ago, Popasilov said:

Read, read, read

till' your eyes bleed.

And, then ,

read some more.

 

And then fish until your fingers bleed.

[fmtuna]

Might be the only "rule" I have personally but it seems to hold true.... and I am in total agreement with everything said above...

 

 

Colder... slower... that's all I got....