Lures for fisher-persons or fish?

Jon

2008-03-26 18:39:53

I recently read an article in which someone said "the lure manufactures create lures to catch the fisherman, not the fish". I feel like this is a pretty accurate statement based on one observation - almost everyone I know seem to catch about the same amount of fish over the course of a year and they're all using different gear. The largest variable I see is location and amount of time spent with gear in the water. We all can be using completely different gear in different ways and the catch rate is very close if not identical if we're on the same drag for the same amount of time. There's some variation each day, but weekly or trip totals are almost identical and monthly totals are even closer. If one type of gear was truly better than another, by process of elimination we'd all be using it.

I'll concede gear type and color make a small difference but I think it is more beneficial to concern ourselves with location, correct speed based on gear type, sharp hooks, strong gear, running the gear frequently enough (but perhaps not too frequently), putting in our time, not moving to a new spot if you have a bad pass or two, etc. There are many other aspects of fishing which probably should come before worrying about the color of our gear. How about boat and engine maintenance so we can put in as many fishing hours as we want? I think one lost day due to a breakdown might take a months worth of gear-tweaking to make up for.

Here's how I would rate things although this certainly isn't comprehensive, it's what I could think of off the top of my head.

Salmon Trolling Catch Rating. 200 points is the maximum score, meaning you're catching every fish that comes in the vicinity of your boat.

Location: 100 Points

Maintenance (no downtime): 15 Points

Running gear often: 15 Points

Not losing leads/lines on the bottom: 10 Points

Correct Gear Type: 8 Points

Speed: 7 Points

Strong gear: 5 Points

Sharp Hooks: 5 Points

Finely-tuned gear: 3 Points

Various Tricks of the Trade (i.e. Skillz): 16x 2 points each (32 Points)

Location pretty much makes everything else moot. If you're in the wrong spot you aren't going to catch no matter how perfect everything else is.

It's fun to experiment with new gear and perhaps we dream of having a competitive advantage over everyone else because of a secret spoon, flasher, hoochie, plug, or color of paint. I think more important aspects of catching fish are often overlooked and there's too much focus on pretty gear.

What else makes a big difference in the amount of fish you catch?

Carol W

2008-03-26 20:38:41

Jon I have never done an analysis based on points as to what it takes to catch, no wonder after 34 yrs of trolling I am a low liner. I would agree that location is top of the list but somewhere in there you forgot to mention the stick and stay make it pay rule, or rather you can't catch with the gear on the back deck. The variables are huge and I think anyone of us that has been in the business has had the frustration of one time or another watching the piggy oink oink in the drag throwing over both sholders while nothing happens on your gear, what the hell is he doing you aren't. I attribute some of that to it isn't your time and if the boat is tuned you will eventually have your time, if the gear is in the water. I bet all the real highliners will not contribute much to this topic, Kind of like getting on channel 16 and announcing you got a 100 kings by noon at Goddard.