Locating fish, lure selection and presentation

Steve Steer

Being able to consistently locate your target species, select an appropriate lure and then present it in a way that the fish likes to see it can be a very daunting task for any angler.  With so many variables at work against us such as different; fishing locations, target species, environmental factors, light levels, water depths, water clarities, water temperatures, water flow/tidal movements,  activity/aggression levels of the fish, lure sizes/shapes/colors/actions/weights/smells/sink rates, etc, etc.

How can we anglers get it right and manage to catch the fish we are setting out to target on lures more times than not?-  What follows is a common sense approach to lure fishing that any angler can use to help them catch more fish. The system described below relies on at least a basic understanding of the fish species targeted, some careful on the water observation and a willingness from the angler to adjust to the conditions at hand. It is a system that is based on common sense, many years of on the water experience, careful observation of fish and prey behavior and continually trying to understand why a fish lives or feeds were it does and strikes at one lure over another on any given day. This common sense approach to locating and catching fish on lures takes a bit of homework from the angler but it works for me and I am sure it will work for you also!  

Location, location, location
Yes we are talking real estate here folks, fish real estate that is! Just as we like to live in prime real estate located in the best positions (i.e. safe environment, with good access to food, water, hospitals, schools, parks and with a nice view, etc), so do fish. Just as different people have different wants and needs so do different fish. Therefore, it makes sense for an angler to familiarize themselves with the preferred real estate of the fish species that they wish to target before setting out in an attempt to catch that species. Ask yourself, if you were a big bream for instance who was looking for a place to live or for somewhere to get a meal, where would you be looking?... To answer this question accurately you would need to understand the wants and needs of a bream right?...Once you had a clear understanding of a breams wants and needs, you would then be able to look for locations that catered well to these wants and needs, right!... I mean there is no use fishing for bream in an area where bream do not like to live or eat, is there!... It also makes sense that you are not likely to catch a bream using a lure that represents something that bream do not typically like to eat. This general common sense approach applies to all aspects of lure fishing and it makes good sense to understand exactly what your target species likes and does not like as this will tell you where to look for them and what lures best represent their preferred prey.

Represent the prey
Once you understand where your target species prefers to live and what they like to eat you can then apply the same basic analysis to the prey of your target species (i.e. If a big bream likes to eat crabs, prawns, shrimp, baitfish, oysters, mussels, barnacles, etc, etc then where do these species like to live?) chances are you will find that prey and predator go hand in hand (i.e. were you find plentiful numbers of the preferred prey of your target species, you will find plentiful numbers of that target species). Taking this basic process of analysis one step further, what does the preferred prey of your target species look like and how does it move through the water? -Wouldn't it make sense to use a lure that looks a lot like this preferred prey item and then move it through the water in the same way as the natural prey item does?
This stuff is common sense I hear you saying!... And you would be right!... But I am continually amazed to see just how many anglers cast out a lure into open water and wind it straight back in towards them relying totally on the target species to bump into their lure and for the inbuilt action of the lure itself to evoke a positive response from the fish.
Question: Have you ever seen a bait fish swimming in a straight line through the water for any length of time?... I never have!... but I have seen plenty of baitfish swimming in an erratic, darting, stop/start type fashion. So, if fishing a baitfish style of lure, why would you not imitate this erratic baitfish type swimming action with your lure so as to better represent a natural baitfish?... Take a shrimp or prawn (common prey of a lot of fish species) as another example, where do prawns and shrimp like to live and how does a shrimp or prawn move through the water to evade a predator?...  Firstly, shrimp and prawns eat vegetation so they tend to live in close proximity to natural structure such as weed beds, bank side vegetation, fallen trees etc for food and protection. Secondly, when startled or attempting to avoid a predator, shrimp and prawns will give several quick flicks of their tails to propel themselves in a backwards, darting type swimming motion. Therefore, it would make sense for the angler to fish a prawn/shrimp pattern lure within close proximity to some form of natural vegetation and retrieve it using a darting (flick, flick, flick, stop/flick, flick, stop) type of retrieve. So you can start to see that if an angler looks closely at the target species and at the preferred prey of that species, they can gain a lot of information about where to cast their lures and how to best retrieve them through the water.

When the fishing is tough, go searching
So you have now studied your target species wants and needs, you know were it likes to live and what it likes to eat and you have studied its preferred prey and how this prey looks and moves through the water- What now?
It is now time to purchase yourself a pair of polarized sunglasses, get out on the water and look for areas that satisfy the wants and needs of your target species and look for signs of its preferred prey items within these areas. This reconnaissance type of fishing trip is generally best done on bright sunny days when the water is calm and clear and the tide is at its lowest. These calm, clear, sunny, low water conditions and a set of good polarized sunglasses allow the angler to see structure such as reefs, rocks, weed beds, drop-offs, channels, submerged snags, baitfish, mussels, oysters, shrimps, crabs, fish, etc that sometimes cannot be seen in overcast, windy, dirty water or high tide situations. Once you have discovered areas that look to have potential then mark them down on a map, make a mental note or plot them into your GPS if you are lucky enough to own one of these brilliant fishing aids and come back and fish these areas when conditions best suit your target species wants and needs not your own wants and needs. Understanding a bit about your target species and teaching yourself to think like the fish species that you target will make a big difference to your angling results. It is not always best to think about your own wants and needs if you wish to catch more fish because if we do think about our own needs, then a warm, calm, sunny, windless day would sound like a perfect day to go fishing to us but maybe you should consider that the species that you target may be shy, spooky and hard to fool with a lure at these times? So try to train yourself to think more like the fish species you target and I guarantee you will catch more fish by doing this.

Study your target species and its prey
Once you have located some prime fish real estate (i.e. where your target species is likely to live or feed on a regular basis), the next step is to think about what might be the best time, tide and weather conditions to target this species and how you should present your lures to best represent the species natural prey.  Factors such as the time of day/year, level of tide/water movement, light intensity and the way we present our lures can have a big effect on our success when fishing with lures. By simply observing a target species carefully we can sometimes discover a lot about that species preferred feeding habits and where they might be found at different stages of the tide and what may be the best way to present our lure to this fish. Take the humble flathead for instance, flathead as the name suggests, are flat in body shape with their eyes located at the highest points on the tops of their heads and are typically a sandy coloration on the top side of their body's. What does this tell us about the feeding habits of the flathead and what information can we gather from thinking about the shape and coloration of this species? Well firstly the shape of a flathead could tell us that they are typically bottom feeders who lay flat on the bottom with there eyes looking straight up for their prey to swim above. Secondly, we could determine from their sandy coloration that this species would be well camouflaged in a sandy environment and could lay in wait for its preferred prey to swim close by before attacking. We could also determine from this that a flatheads preferred prey items would typically be live baitfish or live crustaceans that are found swimming within close proximity to a sandy bottom. Being an ambush type feeder, we could also safely assume that a flathead would rely heavily on its sight and its ability to detect the movement, noise, vibration and smell coming from its prey to locate its food, making it the perfect lure target.  
So what does this information tell us about when, where and how we should be targeting a flathead with lures?  This information can tell us:
- that flathead live and feed close to or on the bottom and that our lures need to be swimming in close proximity to the bottom to catch flathead;
- it tells us that we would be best to fish our lures around sandy bottoms that have good concentration of baitfish or crustaceans swimming within close proximity;
- it tells us that in bright sunshine and clear water situations that we would be best to use lures that closely represent the natural prey in appearance, shape and swim motion as flathead rely heavily on sight ;
- it tells us that in dirty water or low light conditions (such as early morning/late afternoon, at night or when fishing greater water depths), that we could benefit from using lures that creates more noise, vibration or give off more flash, color or scent;
- it tells us that flathead can move into very shallow sandy areas to hunt their prey and be virtually undetected due to their flat shape and sandy camouflaged colorations;
- it tells us that if we can locate good concentration of the natural prey of our target species that we can then expect to find good concentration of our target species within close proximity;
- it tells us that we should look closely at the prey of our target species and then select a lure that mimic's the natural color, size, shape and swim motion of this natural prey item.

So as you can see, by simply taking a much closer look at our target species (whatever that species may be) and its natural prey items you can learn a lot about how, where and when you should be fishing with lures for that species.

The Six P's of lure fishing
I always find it good to continually remind myself of the six P's of lure fishing and it is as simple as follows: "Proper Preparation and lure Presentation Prevents Poor Performance'

Conclusion
To become a consistently good lure fisherman takes time spent on the water, good powers of observation and a clear understanding of your target species and its prey.
If you just follow the common sense approach that I have described here and look at things a little bit closer, then I am sure you will become a proficient lure angler in no time.
Steve Steer!