How To Choose The Perfect Lure

Australia is a land of vast fishing opportunities, target species and locations - and we also are home to thousands of different lure varieties! So how do you go about choosing the perfect lure from your overflowing tackle box on any given day?

Food Source

The first thing to consider is the food source of the fish you're targeting. If you're targeting bream over a shallow mud flat on the high tide; you probably wouldn't be casting a rat imitation lure - and likewise, if you're targeting Murray Cod in a skinny creek with overhanging vegetation - a sandworm imitation isn't your best bet!

Luckily, these days there is a lure imitating just about every fish food source found in Australia. Fish profiles are by far the most common (and best all rounders) - be it soft plastics, hardbodies, swimbaits, topwater, jigs, vibes etc. Prawn & shrimp imitations come a close second, with this market booming especially in Australia's north. Squid imitation soft plastics are becoming quite popular in the coastal waters, alongside crabs and mussels.

Understanding the forage of your local fish requires a little understanding of the species and the waterway you're fishing. It'll also be more location specific (ie fish on mud flats are generally keyed in on crustaceans) - but we will touch on this later. However down below I'll quickly go through 10 common Aussie lure fishing species and the likely forage species for them on any given day - and this is a great starting point.

• Bream: Fish (to 7cm), prawns/shrimp, worms, crabs, mussels, yabbies.
• Barramundi: Fish (to 30cm), prawns, frogs.
• Murray cod: Fish (to 30cm), yabbies, shrimp, frogs, reptiles, birds, worms.
• Bass & Estuary Perch: Fish (to 15cm), yabbies, frogs, shrimp, nymphs.
• Snapper: Fish (to 20cm), crabs, prawns, shellfish.
• Flathead: Fish (to 30cm), prawns, saltwater yabbies.
• Mulloway: Fish (to 30cm), prawns, saltwater yabbies, worms.
• Trout: Fish (to 15cm), nymphs, worms, yabbies, terrestrial insects.
• Golden Perch: Fish (to 15cm), yabbies, worms, shrimp.
• Whiting: Shrimp/prawns, saltwater yabbies and worms.
  

Fish Activity

Once you work out what the fish may be feeding on, you need to consider fish activity. In winter, when water temps cool, you generally need to slow down your approach for most species (asides from trout!). This means choosing lures that may sink a little slower or suspend to keep the lure in front of that fish for longer.

On the flip side, when fish are voraciously feeding such as a surface baitfish workup - faster is often better and a quickly retrieved lure will trigger a reaction bite. A reaction bite can also be a serious trigger for many predators like barra, mangrove jacks, cod and flathead, where a quickly retrieved lure may prompt a bite simply out of aggression where a slower lure may simply be refused as the fish have too much time to consider it.

Also consider where in the water column a fish may be sitting. Schooled up fish in winter and spring are best presented with weighted soft plastics & blades, whereas the same fish in summer may be spread along the edges in one foot of water requiring a topwater, shallow jerkbait or unweighted plastic. Fish sitting tight on pylons and pontoons require a lure that works on the drop without much movement back to the boat which will subsquently put the lure working away from the fish - not what we want.

Live Scope has really demonstrated fish behaviour to many anglers at a scale previously unseen. Watching how fish behave when presented with a lure is very eye opening, and it's amazing how many times we may have previously dragged a lure away from a fish in the past too quickly without even realising.

Water Conditions

Water temperature is a huge factor as discussed above, and overlooked by far too many beginner anglers. As a general rule - slower, suspending lures in winter, or blades for schooled up fish. Summer brings topwater, faster retrieves and more structure oriented fishing.

Flow is also something you need to factor in. Fish sitting on the bottom in a heavy, fast flow (such as barra run off or a winter trout stream) won't even see a surface lure 2m above getting swept away in the current. The faster the flow, the heavier the lure required to hold current. Some lures such as blades and flat sided sinking trout minnows are ideal for fast water situations. At other times, you might find a small pocket of slack water to the side of the main current - an ideal hunting zone. This will require a lure that works well with minimal horizontal movement; sometimes these lures may only be a couple of metres wide so you don't want that lure moving out of the strike zone before the fish even see it. A suspending jerkbait is ideal here.

Water colour is also crucial - both for style and colour choice. Generally dirty water will require a noisier lure with rattles or strong vibrations, and either a bright (ie chartreuse/orange) or dark (black) lure. Clearer water requires a more subtle actioned lure with a natural colour pattern. Here in SW Victoria, fishing for schooled bream in the muddy, cold winter rivers is most effective with a black vibe; a lure which is visible in the silty waters and attracts fish due to strong vibrations. However in summer we use super light soft plastics in natural patterns as the fish can see these lures from many metres away.

Also consider the structure in the area you're fishing. An expensive, sinking glide bait or swim jig cast into heavy timber for Murray Cod is often a recipe for financial disaster! Sinking lures with trebles are generally best reserved for open water - or confident, accurate casters. When fishing near cover, we recommend weedless hooks (ie Decoy Nail Bomb).

Time of day is also your final consideration. For many fish, such as Murray Cod, bass, estuary perch and trout - surface feeding is generally done in low light conditions as the fish move up the water column towards the surface and away from their daytime lairs in heavy cover. As such, your lure also needs to change and this is generally the best time to throw a topwater lure - black is a great choice for the silhouette against the night sky when viewed from beneath by a fish. However try the same lure in the middle of the day and most of the time you won't even get a sniff!

Hopefully this article gives you a little insight into fish behaviour - and why it can be important to have a good selection of lures with you on the water!

- Tim V