Suspending Lures - do they?

[Newt]

I enjoy fishing the 'suspending' lures that will simply remain where they are if you stop reeling.

 

However, I've only used them with mono/braid to the lure. I got to wondering if the weight of the wire trace you need in pike waters makes them sink?

 

If so, can you fix things by replacing the treble hooks with single circle hooks to reduce the overall weight?

 

The mention in another thread here of Bull Dawg lures really started the train of thought because they are designed for pike and musky use where wire is usual so I was afraid that if fished with line to the lure (no wire) they might float up slowly rather than suspending as they are supposed to.

[Vagabond]

..... 'suspending' lures that will simply remain where they are if you stop reeling.

 

However, I've only used them with mono/braid to the lure. I got to wondering if the weight of the wire trace you need in pike waters makes them sink?

 

Bull Dawg lures ..... designed for pike and musky use where wire is usual so I was afraid that if fished with line to the lure (no wire) they might float up slowly rather than suspending as they are supposed to.

 

Hmmm, I bought a load of lures, including some designed to suspend, on my recent visit to Texas.

 

Variations in the size/design/weight of link swivel attached would also have an effect .

 

It looks like some experiments in the bath would be in order - beats playing with plastic ducks

 

Take great care with those treble hooks, mind..............

 

 

Afterthought.... once you have worked out what each lure does, then put it back in your lure box, you need an elephantine memory to remember the characteristics of each when you wish to change lures at the waterside - especially if you have a lot of different ones. Colour coding with a tiny dab of paint on the diving vane comes to mind.

 

I still have a number of ABU Hi-Lo plugs, which have an adjustable diving vane, so the depth to which they dive can be varied. Not quite the same thing, I know, but do you have anything like that in the States?

Edited January 27, 2006 by Vagabond

[Ken L]

I'm not a fan of suspending hard lures. They always sink on a wire trace and it's had to control their running depth at distance.

 

Soft plastics are another matter and I love being able to twitch and jerk them subsurface.

[Steve Burke]

Yes, the wire trace does make a difference. I've tested all my lures and found a few that do suspend with the wire trace and the hooks (I often change the hooks) that I use with them. Two hard baits in particular work very well, although of course they don't suspend without the wire trace.

 

One is a Mann's Stretch 10+, the other is a Bagley Diving Bang-o-Lure #5. The Mann's is a cross between a shad and a minnow shape, the Bagley is a minnow that dives to a similar depth.

Edited January 27, 2006 by Steve Burke

[Peter Waller]

The trace does, generally, make a difference. I have tried balancing out the effect of the trace with small pieces of closed cell foam, but solve one problem and create another! Yes, metal-ware does create problems.

[Tim Kelly]

Water temperature (and therefore density) make a suprising difference to whether baits suspend or not. I used to make some neutrally buoyant glidebaits and if you got them suspending in the summer they'd float up in the winter, and vice versa.

 

Suspending jerkbaits (musky definition of the word) are less effected by the hardware than bass jerkbaits due to their size and the relative weight of the trace in comparison with the bait itself.

[Dick Dastardly]

Interesting stuff guys I would never thought that it would be that critical.

[Tim Kelly]

Tha balence is that critical, but whether the bait hanging perfectly still is to the fish..... I doubt it!

[Newt]

Perfectly still? Probably not important and probably not possible.

 

Suspending - maintaining depth? Can be critical.

 

If I'm fishing a lure 2 feet deep over heavy weed at 3 feet, I surely don't want the thing to sink. If I'm finding fish at 6 feet, I surely don't want to see the lure broach the surface after I've stopped it for a while.

[Vidar6]

I love using both shallow and deep diving suspending jerkbaits such a Lucky Craft Pointers, L.C. Staysee, Megabass Vision & Rapala X-Rap and I have found the Power Pro Proleader to be the best trace solution used in combination with suspending lures. Somehow the very buoyant braid material seems to contractive the woven in steel thus minimising the negative effect traces have on the lures.

 

http://www.thelureshack.com/acatalog/Power...aided_Line.html

 

I connect the leader/trace to my mainline using a double grinner.

Edited January 27, 2006 by Vidar6