TexasKayakFisherman.com

In response to a topic of conversation that was briefly mentioned at Ray Roberts this weekend, I gotta put in my two cents worth!
This is nothing you will find written anywhere; just my own opinion based on a number of years of fishing, so we'll just call it "The World of Lures According To Deral"!
The fact is, most fishing lures are not designed to catch fish! They are designed to catch fishermen! If they are pretty enough, we will buy them!
If the truth be known, no self-respecting fish with an ounce of dignity would ever be seen biting most of those things! We are fully aware of that, but we don't care! We would never let something silly like common sense stop us from buying them anyway!
And what is this infatuation with lures that rattle!
I have always been under the impression that the best lures are those that closely simulate the "real thing"!
I was raised near a creek where I spent countless hours of my youth fishing. I have caught, cleaned, cooked, and consumed, literally thousands of perch, bass and catfish (and an occasional mud cat and carp) from that creek, and for the life of me, I do not remember ever hearing a single one of them rattle!
On occasion, I still shake a fish once in a while just to see if I can hear it rattle. Once, for a few seconds, I thought I did hear one rattle! I quickly realized I was shaking a drum!
Maybe I'm getting too old and set in my ways, but that's my story, and I'm gonna stick to it!
Deral

And that in a nutshell is why we tie flies.

Deral, are you saying you don't like Rat'L Traps!?!?! LOL

I live by the following motto:

"He who dies with the most lures wins"

Fish don't make noise? Guess my fish in the aquarium didn't get the memo.

Deral,
You seem to be making good sense. But what lures do you use? And how?
I grew up on the coast, and bass fishing is so different. Ant tips or advice would be much appreciated.

Hey, TomE!
You made a good point! Of course some fish can make a sound! Whales and porpoises certainly do! And any fish that feeds on the surface do also. They make a "slurping" sound. Plus croakers, drum, and some catfish all make a very unique sound! I'm sure there are a bunch more that I can't think of at the moment, but I've never heard a fish that sounds like a rattlesnake! (I'd put one of the smiley faces here, but I don't know how to do it!)
OK, Vlaude, maybe I'm being a bit hasty on judging things like Rat'L Traps! They've certainly proven their worth, haven't they? Perhaps I was so critical because I've never caught a fish on a Rat'L Trap! But, like most fishermen, there is no doubt in my mind, if I ever do catch an eight-pounder on a Rat'L Trap, that lure, in my mind, will automatically become the greatest thing that ever happened to the fishing industry! (I do have a couple of Rat'L Traps, and although I haven't caught anything on them, I'll never give up trying!)
Yaqui, apparently, you and I come from opposite backgrounds! I was raised on perch, catfish, bass, and crappie. But I caught my first-ever saltwater fish two summers ago and fell head-over-heels in love with saltwater fishing! I caught my first bull red last summer! The ultimate fishing-thrill of my life! I'll jump at any chance to go back to the coast! Earlier this summer when my cousin and I pulled up to the bait house at Port O'Connor, opened the pick-up door, that very unique smell hit us in the face! I told my cousin that is not an odor! It is a fragrance!
I don't know where to begin to answer your questions! The problem is, if you ask ten different fishermen how to catch a certain species of fish, you will get ten different answers! And they will all be right! So anything I tell you will be nothing more than my personal opinion! If that's OK with you, I will be glad to help you in any way I can!
Assuming the objective is bass - -
My "lure of choice" is plastic worms! The kind, size, and color will depend on a number of factors like temperature, water clarity, and time of day. If I'm on the water when the sun comes up and the surface is smooth, I use some type of top-water popper. ( Hey! I do use noise makers, don't I?) If the water is slightly choppy, I prefer some kind of floating lure like a Rapala. When the sun gets higher, and drives the fish deeper, I switch to worms.
I'm not very good at night fishing! When the sun goes down, so do my eyelids!
I know this doesn't thoroughly answer your questions, but perhaps we will get a chance to talk some more at the meet at Purtis Creek. Assuming, of course, by some strange twist of fate, Purtis Creek happens to win the election! Barring an earthquake, tornado, hurricane, tsunami, or nuclear fall-out, I will be there!
Or if you would like to email me directly, I will be more than happy to help you in any way I can! (deralelkins@charter.net)
'Nuff rambling! Guess I'd better shut up!
Deral

Whales and porpoises (sp) aint fish. Fish don't hear, they feel. The vibrations put off by the rattle attract the fish, out of curiousity or territory defense and then they do what fish do and try to eat it. I just don't like them because too many hooks are too dangerous on a flopping fish in the boat.

I won't even start on how fish "hear" differs from how (and what) we hear as well as the medium the sound is traveling through.

But I do agree with your take on artificials to 95%.

I use live bait almost exclusively for the simple reason, the more real it is , the better it is. I fish to catch fish and enjoy myself. I made my first trip out today in a couple of decades without live bait. I did not have a good day and I even tied my own jigs to what I believed would match the last hatch and remains from inspecting stomachs. A gentleman in jon boat joined me using minows and proceeded to clean my plow.

Underwater: I have a small electronic "clicker" for lack of a more descriptive term. If you turn it on while observing a typical game fish (I have done it dozens of times with Bass), he will immediately come to inspect it. If it simulates bait or if it just stimulates their curiosity, I can't say. It DOES have a visible effect on them. If while diving, you take a plastic pocket comb and scrape the teeth slowly across a coin, you will draw the attention of most anything around. I have entertained many newbie divers with that trick for almost 40 years.

When fish are schooling, I'll throw anything in the box at them and not waste any live bait. Other than that, I tend to ignore most of my plastic and rubber.