"James" wrote in message
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"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
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"James" wrote in message
. ..
I have not done any fishing in several years. This past month I decided
to take fishing back up again. So I was searching around on the web to
see if there was anything new about fishing that I was not aware of. I
came across a fishing tactic called "dead-sticking a jerkbait". I found
this on the Bass Pro Shops' web sight. If you click on Fishing Library
and then go to the article titled, "A Great Way to Catch Pre-Spawn Bass"
it will tell you all about it. You start with a suspending minnow lure
about 4 ½ to 5 inches long. You cast the lure then crank it down to the
depth you want to fish it. Then you stop cranking the lure and do
absolutely nothing. Just let the lure stay suspended. The article says
to leave it for as long as 2 minutes or more. The Bass is supposed to
hit it while it is suspended. If you read the article they make it sound
as though you are going to just clean up on the Bass doing this.

So I went out and bought about $45.00 of suspending minnow lures of
different sizes and colors. I made sure that every lure had the word
"Suspending" on the package. I bought 6 Rapala and 3 Storm lures. A
suspending lure is suppose to be neutral buoyant. It should not sink
and it should not float. Until I read this article I had never heard of
a suspending lure.

These new lures looked real pretty in my tackle box. Last night I
decided to put one of them in a bucket of water to see what it would do.
Every one of the Rapala lures floated. I could hold it on the bottom of
the bucket but as soon as I took my finger off it would pop to the top
like a cork. Every one of the Storm Lures would sink like rock.

So this evening I put my boat in the river to see what these "Suspending
Lures" would do in the real world. I used the same set up they used in
the article. A 7' light rod with 8 lb monofilament line. In the real
world the lures did the same thing they did in the bucket. The Rapala
lures float and the Storm Lures sink. The article said to let the lure
set motionless for 2 minutes. That Rapala lure will be floating on the
surface in about 15 seconds if you stop cranking the reel.

I believe that sometimes fishing articles are written for no other
purpose that to sucker you into spending money. They hooked me and
reeled me right in to the turn of $45.00. The lures are pretty though.
James




They'll probably still catch fish. I've had great results with the
Rapalas over the past couple of years. I've been using the ones with the
really long lips for diving. Last year, in the St Lawrence River, I was
able to see that they ran down about 4 feet on a medium-fast retrieve,
and stayed there for at least a minute. A jerk of the rod tip drove them
down a little further. I hammered about a half dozen smallmouth that way,
just letting the lures sit for a bit.

There's a product called Suspend-Dots or something like that - dots of
lead about the size of the bits that are produced by a paper punch. You
stick them on lures, right on the bottom center line, to fine-tune their
suspending capability. Worth a try.

This suspending type of fishing is all new to me. I didn't know about
Suspend-Dots. So I'll spent some more money and try again. However, with
the Storm lures I am going to have to take off weight because they sink
every time. Thanks guys James



There's a reason for having all kinds of lures. Nothing's wrong with the
Storm sinkers. You'd probably do well to subscribe to In-Fisherman Magazine.
Dumb name, good magazine.