Fishing Lures: Types And Tactics

I've always found fishing lures to be fascinating, often beautiful little things. With their colorful and shiny designs, it can be easy to ignore the purpose of such lures. Yet they do have a purpose, one for which they are named, and that is to lure and catch fish on their hooks. Lures are attached to the ends of fishing lines and are designed to mimic the appearance and movement of something a fish might like to eat. Once the fish bites, it is caught, and the lure has done its job. What is amazing is the sheer variety of lures on the market. There is a reason fishermen carry huge tackle boxes-it is to store and convey the wide variety of lures considered necessary to the pastime.

Fishing lures have been used for thousands of years. The Chinese and Egyptian cultures were using such lures as much as 4000 years ago. Ancient fishing lures were often made of bone with hooks of bronze. Over the past few millennia, fishing lures have come a long way, evolving and mutating into the vast array of models available to the modern fisherman. The first modern commercial fishing lure was developed in the United States in the early 20th century. Since then, the product and its market have expanded exponentially. It would be impossible to cover every kind of fishing lure available today, so only a few of the more common will be discussed here.

A jig consists of a lead sinker with a hook molded to it, accompanied by a soft body that will attract fish. Jigs can be used to create a jerky, vertical motion, as opposed to come other lures, which move horizontally through the water. Jigs are versatile: they can be used in both salt and fresh water and to attract many different species of fish.

A spinnerbait is characterized by one or more metal blades shaped like propellers. When the lure moves horizontally through the water, these blades spin and flash. Such movements mimic those of a small fish, which attracts larger ones.

Surface lures are different from those mentioned above in that these lures are designed to rest atop the surface of the water. There, they waddle, pulse, twitch, pulse, and perform a number of other small motions, all of which imitate fish's surface prey. Such prey includes mice, lizards, frogs and insects. Surface lures usually have wooden bodies and carry one or more hooks.

Spoon lures are a simple design of lure, consisting of an oblong, concave piece of metal that resembles the bowl of a spoon. The metal reflects light, and when pulled through the water, the lure moves randomly in the manner of a small fish.

Artificial flies, as their name implies, are designed to resemble the insects that fish prey upon. Flies are used in fly fishing, or angling. While most forms of fishing rely on the lure's weight to pull the line from the real, artificial flies are not heavy enough to do this. Angling, therefore, relies on the weight of the line to cast the fly.