Efficacy

[Mark]

It’s a word we hear a lot in the news right now.

It means the ability of something to produce a desired effect.

An efficacy of 95% for a vaccine is outstanding. The vaccines on the way will help us leave our COVID cocoons and return to a normal life.

But this talk of efficacy got me to thinking about how we trick fish to bite our offerings of lures and flies. How do we measure the efficacy of a particular lure or fly? I think we can’t.

There is a thread on this forum right now about a particular jig. Other times there are threads about specific crankbaits, paddletails, spinners, etc. We have a good day with a lure or fly and we’re ready to claim it’s the best. But is it? On our next outing the bite might be slower. Was that due to the choice of our artificial bait, or was it due to the mood and/or scarcity of fish? Was it due to how we employed the bait, the way we retrieved it, the speed or depth we trolled it? I believe there are too many variables to know for sure.

I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no best lure or fly. Whatever works at the time in my opinion is the best. And I have seen on many occasions when multiple lures and flies work well on a giving day – much more so than the reverse situation.

I do believe the confidence and skill of the angler plays a role. But again, how to do you measure the efficacy of that? It's not just the number or size of fish you catch. If you’re confident in a particular lure and fly and use it more than another, how do you know another won’t work? I fall into that trap.

If two anglers in the same location are using different lures and getting different results that’s a good indicator that one lure is better than the other – at that particular moment. Or it could me that one angler is more skilled, more intuitive than another. It could be luck. I've seen each of those factors firsthand.

I look only for this: If a bait attracts the interest of fish that’s the first good sign. Most do. The second, is whether it hooks up and holds the catch long enough for me to touch it. A quality hook is indeed important. There is nothing I use that doesn’t accomplish those two things from name brand lures to homemade offerings. If they meet those two criteria, I keep using them.

So…I think lure makers and fly designers intend first to catch anglers with their offerings. I think the fish we chase in our kayaks are far less choosy about what we offer them. Driven by instinct and hunger, they see something flashing through the water and they chase it. They don't have time to examine the particular nuances of a jig, fly or whatever.

Just some random thoughts of a guy on grey day with his snow shovel presently poised for action.

[captmikestarrett]

This is an exercise in solving for X variable. You need a control group and study guideline in to even get close to X variable.
Now where is my slide rule...

Good head scratching post.

Capt Mike

[bignose]

So…I think lure makers and fly designers intend first to catch anglers with their offerings. I think the fish we chase in our kayaks are far less choosy about what we offer them. Driven by instinct and hunger, they see something flashing through the water and they chase it. They don't have time to examine the particular nuances of a jig, fly or whatever.

Just some random thoughts of a guy on grey day with his snow shovel presently poised for action.

When I tie up my spinner jigs, I tie them to catch the fisherman first. If they won't buy them and fish them, they aren't going to catch anything.
Quite a bit different then, say, Trout fishing, where "match the hatch" down to eyeballs, and buttholes are part of the equation. I gave up fishing for finicky fish, and just want to catch something to relax.

[Mark]

Quite a bit different then, say, Trout fishing, where "match the hatch" down to eyeballs, and buttholes are part of the equation. I gave up fishing for finicky fish, and just want to catch something to relax.

Very true, Stu.

That's why I added the caveat "fish we chase in our kayaks". I was thinking primarily of warm water fish. I know trout can be picky when they're feeding on a particular hatch. But even they may succumb to a black wooly bugger if a trout angler lowers his pride enough during a hatch to tie one on.

[bignose]

There's that darn wooly bugger again!
For those who don't fly fish, the wooly bugger, which is about the simplest fly to tie, is generally considered about 1 step above bait fishing by the snooty fly fishing purists ( I used to be one, but I got better! ) who insist on making fly fishing as difficult as possible.

I mean some of the flies I tied and fished were one step up from a speck of lint.
Size 20 hook, about 1/8 " long, with a 1/2 pound test leader.

And the darn flies had all sorts of components and parts, wings, tails, hackle, hook, thread, dubbing, ribbing, because if you didn't mimick the natural insect exactly, the fish would rise and then scornfully reject your offering with the fish equivalent of a sneer.
Darn things would take 20 minutes to tie and if you didn't leave a half dozen in the trees surrounding the stream, they'd invariably rust out by the next trip......

I spent way too much time carefully wading into position, risking life and limb, (not a kayak event), and making repetitive presentations to get the perfect cast and current drift, fishing a fly that was too small to see, and leader (tippet in fly talk) that was way too thin, only to catch a single fish that wasn't much larger than some of the bait we use on the Bay. Pretty places and pretty fish, true, but c'mon man, all that work for one little old fish........

Efficacy? Yeah it was effective at catching, but not in sheer numbers of fish caught on a trip.

Talking warm water fishing?
Oh, and what do we fly fish for Pickerel?
An articulated Wooly Bugger. Just a wooly bugger with a swivel tail!

Tongue firmly in cheek!
COVID /Cabin Fever is setting in!

Stay safe out there

[DanMarino]

Pink foam spiders on my 5 weight fly rod have a high efficacy at catching sunfish and bluegills when the water isn't frozen. haha

[Mark]

Stu,

This is what pickerels do to wooly buggers:

P1030478 (2)_LI.jpg

The red arrow is pointing to the shredded hackle. Inevitably, they'll cut through the hackle and pretty soon you no longer have a fuzzy fly.

No one knows what a wooly bugger represents to fish. But fly anglers know it will catch anything. And you're right. It's easy to tie.

However, the articulated crystal buggers I've shown in other threads recently are even easier and faster to tie because there is no hackle to deal with. They're also more durable than wooly buggers. I have one that has caught over 20 picks and still going strong.

P1060232 (2).jpg

Tom -- Congrats on your pink fly. I've seen bluegills inspect a fly almost as patiently as the rising trout Stu describes. If your creation removes a bluegill's inhibitions, good on you.

[DanMarino]

[DanMarino]

Smallmouth bass even like them.

[Mark]

Tom,

As I was saying...fish see something flashy and they chase it. They can't help themselves. I'm no bug expert, but I don't believe pink is a common color of natural food in freshwater where bass and bluegills swim. Indeed, I've yet to find a color of a lure or fly that has not worked on occasion in fresh or tidal water.

I tied this on Monday:

ACB13.jpg

I shared the photo with a friend and told him I would use it for a Valentine's Day pickerel.

I have no doubt that it will work.

[summersoff]

Good thing Einstein wasn’t a fisherman, because he never would have come up with the great saying, “ Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Because to most fisherman, that is our modus operandi. We are constantly beating a desert. Throwing the same lure, to the same place, the same exact way, all while thinking, it’s going to this time, no this time, no this time... Heck, most divorced fisherman can be summed up in three words, “One More Cast”
But I think you nailed it in the complexity of measuring confidence. Confidence is so elusive, it randomly appears after a hours of practicing “insanity”. After the eight thousandth cast, the fish shows up and you quickly become the expert. Within seconds, you turn to your fishing buddy, telling everything you expertly did to catch the fish and subsequently pointing what they are doing wrong. We all did this, it’s part of the fishing culture. But at the same time it allows us to perfect our skills, efficacy, and become better fisherman. Whether that conversation is out loud or in our head, the analysis of every nanoparticle of what happen differently from the 7,999 previous casts is essential part of fishing. It is through that analysis, and abusing our buddy’s lack of fish we build that confidence. Was it the slight jerk, hard jerk, two bump- three bump, bump pause, two bum pause, extra floatant, medium floatant, no floatant, white-chartruese-yellow and the combination of everything possible. Although no nonfisherman would ever give us credit, but it is a chess game that we perfect by constantly loosing through every cast we don’t hook up on.

[Mark]

Good thing Einstein wasn’t a fisherman, because he never would have come up with the great saying, “ Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Because to most fisherman, that is our modus operandi. We are constantly beating a desert. Throwing the same lure, to the same place, the same exact way, all while thinking, it’s going to this time, no this time, no this time... Heck, most divorced fisherman can be summed up in three words, “One More Cast”
But I think you nailed it in the complexity of measuring confidence. Confidence is so elusive, it randomly appears after a hours of practicing “insanity”. After the eight thousandth cast, the fish shows up and you quickly become the expert. Within seconds, you turn to your fishing buddy, telling everything you expertly did to catch the fish and subsequently pointing what they are doing wrong. We all did this, it’s part of the fishing culture. But at the same time it allows us to perfect our skills, efficacy, and become better fisherman. Whether that conversation is out loud or in our head, the analysis of every nanoparticle of what happen differently from the 7,999 previous casts is essential part of fishing. It is through that analysis, and abusing our buddy’s lack of fish we build that confidence. Was it the slight jerk, hard jerk, two bump- three bump, bump pause, two bum pause, extra floatant, medium floatant, no floatant, white-chartruese-yellow and the combination of everything possible. Although no no fisherman would ever give us credit, but it is a chess game that we perfect by constantly loosing through every cast we don’t hook up on.

Very good!

So much thought, time, effort and money we spend to catch a fish. We may think we're in control. But our successes are purely at the whims of our prey -- a creature with a prehistoric brain acting on instinct and impulse to chase and eat its next meal, oblivious to the various subtleties in approach and technique we employ to trick them.

I don't understand the gratification that brings to me. But I do enjoy thinking I've actually accomplished something even when I know it's the fish that truly controlled the outcome.

[ronaultmtd]

As smart as Einstein was...he would most likely invented a five senses fishing lure...that incorporated smell, sight, feel...like Berkley Gulp...which most of us use from time to time...Personally, I enjoy the challenges of figuring out the bite for the day...different tide phases, moon phase, bait migration, water clarity, etc. last few years I have gone back and forth between hard lures and soft plastics, but all are part of the tackle box...

[Mark]

Years ago, I read somewhere that Albert Einstein fished at Deep Creek Lake in MD.

I just Googled the topic and lo and behold, it's true.

https://www.times-news.com/einstein-...65a6baca4.html

There is no mention of his success as an angler. But it didn't matter. His visit to MD must have been a welcome relief from the stresses of his wartime work.

[Jigsup]

A lot of variables. Fish mood, tide, target species, etc. Some fish are easier to catch then others. Put a hook on a table spoon you can catch blue fish. Every fisherman has his favorite lure. I do believe there are lures that catch fishermen only. Live bait will out fish any other bait. Guy and I was fishing perch in the same spot. He had grass shrimp I had the best soft plastic for perch to me which is the gulp alive mullet. I winded up leaving him at the spot. Couldn’t buy a bite. He wore the perch out. That situation definitely didn’t hurt my confidence level in the lure. In fact as seasons go by I realize my tackle gets slim. It’s only filled with the lures I use 90% of the time. If I don’t catch a fish all day I still enjoyed the time out... Well snakehead fishing can get pretty frustrating. I’ve seen them sniff my spook jr only to swim off the other way!