LURE SIZE & VIBRATIONS

One of the greatest lure anglers in the world once told me you should use a lure that swims like the size of fish you are imitating. Dietmar Isiasch has caught perch, pike and zander I can only dream of. This point is key and is often the reason why one style of shad will consistently perform on one venue. It stands to reason that a smaller fish kicks its tail in fast, shorter bursts, while a larger one swims with a different vibration, or body roll. It’s why the most successful lures don’t all have the same profile at every length – and why certain sizes in certain patterns are more successful than others. It brings me back to those two boxes in my waist pack. The smaller lures all provide different levels of vibration and movement underwater. Some of the shads have fast small tails, while others have a slower tail action, or no tail action at all. I can use the same size jighead hook size for all those lures and just change the weights over – it saves me needing to take loads of jigheads. A size 1 jighead covers me for everything in the box. With the mid- size box, it’s the same story. Some of the lures kick like crazy, while others are designed to fish slower. Some days it’s definitely the vibration making the difference, as I can try the same coloured lure in another pattern and catch nothing. It’s not that one lure is better than the other, it’s just the case in that moment that they want a certain vibration. With these lures I can use a 1/ 0 or 2/ 0 jighead which helps simplify my jig box.

Shads may have small or large tails, or none at all