P52 - FISH & BOAT, February 2019 Fishing Surface Lure Selection By Dave Magner and sizes out there, how do you Sh t t Ithink most fishos would agreethat using surface lures is aboutas exciting as fishing gets. Whilework out which one to use? Well,for many anglers, the answer oftencomes down to personal preference or cus a jarring strike on a diving lure al-or simply sticking to one they’ve had ways comes as a nice surprise, being success with in the past. able to see the strike, as well as feelWhile that seems like a perfectly it takes that electrifying moment of good way to make your decision, first contact to a whole new level. newcomers may not have that expe- No matter how many times I experi- rience to fall back on. Luckily, there ence it, those crashing surface strikesare some basic guidelines which still send a shot of pure adrenaline I normally follow that I’ve found through my veins. helpful in streamlining the selection Using surface lures is also the mostprocess a little. nerve-wracking fishing method I When deciding what type of lure know of. As you watch your lure on I’m going to tie on, the main things its path back to the rod tip, in the I look at are the environmental fac- back of your mind you just know tors. Things like the amount of wa- that at any moment it could disap- ter I need to cover, the time of day, pear in a whirlpool of white-water. the expected activity level of the fish Sometimes the buildup of suspense and so forth. and anticipating as you’re watching Generally speaking, that means and waiting for that hit to come can thinking about whether the fish become almost as addictive as the are likely to be in an active or pas- actual strike itself. As you watchyour lure on sive mood. As the I’ve also got to its path backto the rod tip, in active fish are onname suggests, saythat there’s a the back of your mind you just the prowl and are greatdeal of per- sonal satisfaction knowthat at any moment it ready and keen to to be had from coulddisappear in a whirlpoolhit a lure. Fish in a watching that di-rect link between ofwhite-water. cooperative moodlike this are usu- my rod tip and the lure’s response. ally best tempted When my lure is inching its way with a mobile presentation. On the across the top, I get a front-row viewother hand, passive presentations of the way it responds to every littleare more suited to those times when twitch. Fish that are interested but the fish are sitting tight to cover and not yet convinced can often be seen need to be teased into striking. shadowing the lure, so I get the op- Taking Sides portunity to adjust my retrieve to tryWhile there’s an almost infinite and persuade them to strike. number of subtle variations in terms It puts me completely in control ofof surface lures, the vast majority of the entire process. I reckon the feed-them can be easily be divided up on back you get from working surface the basis of whether they best suit lures helps you shift from being a active or passive situations. Barra love a surface lure. lure winder to a lure driver. The active style incorporates While the fun factor generated by things like stickbaits and paddlers. surface lures is clearly the main at-The passive group consists mainly traction, don’t think that’s the onlyof the classic up faced poppers and reason to use them. prop baits or fizzers as they are also When it comes to fishing during known. Here’s a very brief rundown the warmer months, we’ve often of the pros and cons of each style found surface lures can be just as, ifand some of the best-known repre- down banana and don’t have any easy to achieve with a minimum of cover, such as along the weed edges not even more productive than most sentatives from each group. bibs, propellers or recessed faces tohand-eye coordination and a lit- in lakes. While mentioning the Cul- other lure styles. The rider being of As a side note, there are a number give them any action. Consequen- tle bit of practice. Of late, stickbaitstiva lures, I’ve got to plug the Zip’n course, that you know which one to of soft plastic and wire-framed sur-tially, the angler is in charge of howhave become my favourite style of Ziggy’s casting attributes. These tie on for each specific situation andface lures that could be included they swim and what sort of motion surface lure, and I’ve caught a stackthings are ideal when long search- how to get the best out of it. Hope- here but to keep things at a reason-they exhibit. of fish on the Megabass Dog X and ing casts are required, and you can fully, that’s where this article comesable length, I’ll just stick to hard- The most popular style of retrieve its clones. Other well-known exam- almost launch them into the next in. bodied lures. is undoubtedly the famous ‘walk the ples would include the Lucky Craft postcode on a quality spin setup. Selection Strategies Stickbaits in Sammy the Cultiva Tango Dancer Paddlers Okay, surface lures are fun to fish Stickbaits (sometimes referred to retrieve seems to drive a lot of spe-and its little brother the Zip’n ZiggyPaddlers are a classic lure style that with and can catch you a lot of fish,as pencil baits, DTs or dogwalkers) cies wild and with today’s highly Lures from this group are often has undergone a boom in popularity but there are so many different stylesare typically shaped like an upside-refined and balanced lures, is pretty highly effective along the outside of Continued next page Having a range of surface lures in different colours allows you to fish with confidence. These are all custom paint jobs from Reds Lures Custom Skins. Stickbaits are deadly on bass. The author gets his custom painted at Reds Lures Custom Skins (check them out on Facebook).