What are fishing lures?
Fishing lures are tools that work as contraptions and also look fun. They can be pretty pricey, so some research and comparison is needed.
In this article we will go over some of the best brands and best prices to help you fill up your boxes and tackles.
How to choose the best fishing lures and flies?
There are many different opinions and methods, a lot depends on personal preferences, but usually the best rule is to imitate nature and hatching flies. It is important to know what your desired fish eats based on its living areas and try to mimic that.
There is also an alternative theory – try to stand out. Say if there are a lot of blue fish swimming in the area throw a red lure and see what happens.
How important are the details of the lure?
The answer is – it depends. You can catch some amazing fish on the simplest lure, especially close to the bottom in murky conditions, but the same won’t work in crystal clear trout rivers. Your lure should be meticulously made to fool a cunning trout.
What about the hooks?
Hooks are as important as your lures and flies. If you upgrade your lures, you should also upgrade your hooks. Don’t use treble-style hooks unless you never release a single fish. Consider getting Gamakatsu single hooks which are sharp, sure, don’t rust, and don’t damage the fish or your hands.
What are the best hard plastics for saltwater and freshwater fishing?
We recommend Rapala lures. They have been in business since 1936 and have been hand-tuned and hand-tested. It all started with a kid Lauri Rapala, in 1930’s, when he chose to help his family with food, rather than labor at a factory for very little pay. His job became learning how to fish. And learn he did.
He created a balsa wood minnow that acted and swam like a wounded baitfish, attracting bigger predators. This was a break-through discovery and put Rapala on the map of fishing lures, where the company still remains on top. The original balsa wood minnow is recommended for fresh water fishing, with emphasis on size.
When it comes to saltwater trolling, the CountDown Magnum is all you will ever need, except for times when you want to go for extremely big game, when you might need custom skirts.
Pros: hand-tuned and tested, huge variety
Cons: come with treble-style hooks that are expensive to change.
Prices:
- Original floating Rapala – $7.49-$12.49
- CountDown Magna – $14.99-$21.99
- 10% OFF Your Purchase
- Free Shipping on Your Order $89
- 95% OFF Clearance
What are best soft plastics for freshwater?
Soft plastics are not too expensive, easy to store, long lasting, and very effective on all sport fish. Yamamoto’s Senkos are a bit more technical, while Culprit’s 7.5-inch Tequila Shads are simpler and equally good.
The Senkos are very life-like, wobbly like slugs and have weight included. They will do the work for you and will generate a great number of bites.
When it comes to worms, any old brand works because fish chew them pretty bad. Our recommendation, if you are shopping for new ones, is Culprit’s 7.5-inch Tequila Shads. They are cheap, come in 18-packs, and break only after a while.
Pros: have weights, great for largemouth bass
Cons: expensive
Price:
- Gary Yamamoto Senko warms (10) start at $4.50
- Culprit 7.5-inch (18) – $5.95
What are best soft plastics for inshore saltwater?
The very best, in our humble opinion, is Storm, a subsidiary of Rapala. Go with them and you will have all your inshore needs covered.
Saltwater lure designs resemble crabs, shrimp, crustaceans, squid, and octopus. Fish in the ocean are bigger and so are the lures. Unfortunately, prices go bigger too.
When you go shopping for saltwater lures, start with the sale section of every tackle shop. If that fails, go for Storm brand because they are young, cheaper, and high quality. They are balanced, very life-like, and are owned by Rapala. Storm’s line of WildEye swimbates is great too.
Pros: highly effective, especially for saltwater.
Cons: WildEye tails get bitten off; Chuck Bugs’ hooks often need changing.
Price:
- Storm WildEyes – $3.99
- Storm rattling Chug Bugs – $9.49
What are the best surface lures?
Get Yo-Zury and enjoy their 50 years of experience. Such surface lures are fun to work with, they have to be evenly weighted, and disperse some water. Yo-Zuri makes their famous plastic lures from Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), which is almost indestructible. They also have inner hologram sheet, which always reflects light to imitate scales. They are not cheap, but they last incredibly long and make a good investment.
The Yo-Zury lures are extremely life-like, with great attention to colors, patterns, and eyes. The lures are nicely weighted.
Storm lures are good too, made with lower grade plastic, colors don’t last long, but they still catch fish, especially the Rattling Saltwater Chug Bug.
Pros: big variety, good balance, and very life-like
Cons: expensive
Price:
- Yo-Zuri top-water lures start at $6.77
- Storm Chug Bug starts at $8.99
What is the best place to buy flies online?
Big Y Fly Co. can be your go-to place for every fly imaginable. They are affordable, very realistic, and made correctly, meaning they won’t fall apart after the first use.
Cheap, factory made flies won’t serve you long, so stay away from Dick’s, Cabela’s, and Walmart. The best place to go to for flies is your local tackle shop. If you don’t have one close, go to Sierra online.
When you buy new flies, one recommendation is to apply a coat of head cement, clear nail polish or nail hardener to prolong its life. After each use wash them with fresh water.
Finally, you can try making your own flies and learn a great deal about fish and their likes. Orvis sells kits that are great and not overpriced.
Pros: good prices, many choices
Cons: delivery time