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Historically, I have spent little time fishing with hard plastic lures, and rarely threw crankbaits. Last year I picked up some crankbaits and intentionally spend extra time throwing them to see what I could catch. In part because of scarcity of stripers where I fished, I did not catch many fish on crankbaits in 2019.
At the HOW fishing flea market a few weeks ago, I tried to sell several crankbaits, including a gold Yozuri crankbait that had not produced anything for me last year. I had swapped out the original trebles for inline J-hooks. I asked only $2 for a name brand lure, but nobody bought that lure.
Yesterday I made a quick trip to a Severn tidal pond looking for pickerel. I decided to try the Yozuri and threw the three lures shown below. For the first hour, the fish ignored the soft plastic tails but showed interest in the gold Yozuri. I caught at least 7 pickerel on that lure and had many other follows. I cast it out and worked it erratically back to the kayak. I made a few fast cranks, which caused the lure to dart side-to-side, then paused.
IMG_20200202_160015.jpg
I had never caught a pickerel before on a crankbait. After yesterday's success, I will keep a crankbait in my pickerel arsenal. And by the way, the gold Yozuri is no longer for sale - potential buyers lost the opportunity to buy a winning lure for a cheap price.
The take away lesson here is that different lures work under different conditions. When your preferred lures are not producing, don't be afraid to try something different. I'm glad I did.
At the HOW fishing flea market a few weeks ago, I tried to sell several crankbaits, including a gold Yozuri crankbait that had not produced anything for me last year. I had swapped out the original trebles for inline J-hooks. I asked only $2 for a name brand lure, but nobody bought that lure.
Yesterday I made a quick trip to a Severn tidal pond looking for pickerel. I decided to try the Yozuri and threw the three lures shown below. For the first hour, the fish ignored the soft plastic tails but showed interest in the gold Yozuri. I caught at least 7 pickerel on that lure and had many other follows. I cast it out and worked it erratically back to the kayak. I made a few fast cranks, which caused the lure to dart side-to-side, then paused.
IMG_20200202_160015.jpg
I had never caught a pickerel before on a crankbait. After yesterday's success, I will keep a crankbait in my pickerel arsenal. And by the way, the gold Yozuri is no longer for sale - potential buyers lost the opportunity to buy a winning lure for a cheap price.
The take away lesson here is that different lures work under different conditions. When your preferred lures are not producing, don't be afraid to try something different. I'm glad I did.
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