What are Your Favourite Fishing Lures?
This post is dedicated to your favourite fishing lure reviews. Every year more lures of all shapes and sizes hit the shelves. To maybe help you decide which one to go for, every now and then I will gather a few reviews together and post them on here. Below is a list of a few Anglers’ favourites.
The Korum Snapper Drone
The korum snapper drone (goldfish pattern) is my favourite lure due to the success I have had with it on a very hard venue. It comes in three sizes, 8cm, 10cm, and 12cm. I use the 12cm version which is pictured here. It has very good detail on it around the face area and all the scales and the tail movement is bright orange colour. The white flash on the tail has proven very attractive to Pike, and it is bright enough for them to see in the coloured water. I really do like this lure a lot. Some lures just seem to have the edge on others available, and the Korum Snapper Drone is certainly one of them.
The Korum Snapper Drone
It is a Strong Lure
It is fairly durable and can withstand pike after Pike after Pike before it tears. The hooks that come with it are more than strong enough for the job. It weighs 45g so it can be cast a fairly long way accurately to get to those spots where lighter lures just will not reach. However, due to this, it cannot be fished in shallow weedy water which in my opinion is the only downside to it.
The Fox Spikey Shad
If I could choose one lure that has caught me many pike it would have to be the Fox Spikey shad. It is a paddle tail shad that comes in many different types of colours/designs including my favourite design (lemon tiger) which I use when the water is clear but not gin clear.
I fish it close up to boats and any other features that look fishy. One day I tried something different. I cast it into the basin and let it sink down to the bottom and started jigging it up and down. When it came close in I saw some roach fry jump out of the water and a pike had swallowed my lure and I banked an 8lb pike I was well chuffed.
The Fox Spikey Shad
Are They Worth the Money?
The 9cm Spikey shads don’t swim as much so you just let them sink in the water then jig them up in the water and the tail will waggle giving of vibrations to predators saying there is a fish in distress.
A three pack of ready-made spikey shads already with the jigs in them are about £5.99 but when you buy them separately they are about £1.00 each and the jig heads are about £1.50-£2.00 each.
How it casts depends on the weight of the jig head and the size of the lure, for example, I use the 9cm spikey shad with a 10-gram jig head, I can cast that quite easily….. Will Punnett https://www.facebook.com/chesterlureangler/
The XL Minnow
In a world dominated by large companies with huge budgets selling mass-produced plastic lures at overly inflated prices, you might find yourself looking for something a little different, something you can have your own twist put on. This is where Mark Houghton comes into play. I’m a huge fan of crankbaits and have found many of the shop-bought ones either lack quality action in the water or low-quality paint that comes off after a few pike. Or the hardware just isn’t up to scratch and needs altering before they perform to my required standard.
A Selection of Mark Houghton’s Lures
Is the XL Minnow Hard Wearing?
Out of the different lures, I ordered the Xl minnow really started to shine over any crank I’d used from other companies. The tight body roll and tail action are held whether retrieved very slowly or cranked really fast to gain depth. And at around 60mm and 9grams they can be thrown on quite a range of rods without issue.
People may turn their noses up at lures made from balsa which this particular one is. But Mark has spent a long time using different epoxy finishes to ensure a hard and lasting lure. And I can assure you these will last you a long time. It is available in pretty much any colour or finishes you can think of. The bonus of a custom lure maker over a mass-produced lure. But my favourite is the chrome/black finish and it has truly been a prolific catcher for me. From double-figure Pike to the smallest Chub and Perch you’ll ever see.
Will the XL Minnow Only Catch Small Fish?
You may be thinking this is a small lure and it will only catch small fish but really it is an all-round performer. I never go fishing without a selection of the XL minnow and you’ll see for yourself why.
So be different, go for some handmade English lures and you will see why Marks lures catch fish on every continent in the world. Just be warned you may keep buying more and more…..Tim Ennock.
The Realistic Gudgeon Shad
So let me start by saying I’ve fished nearly all my life whether it be for brown trout in the local brook, chub in the local river, pike in the local estate lake, carp in the local puddle, and Zander in the local canal system!! But more recently I’ve immersed myself in the art of soft lure fishing. It’s the ease of throwing a rod, net, and small bag in the car and being ready to fish at the drop of a hat, I’ve fished for as little as 20mins to get my fix! Now I have loads of soft lures and I absolutely love change, I love trying something different at any opportunity, I never eat the same meal twice at the local restaurant until I’ve tried everything.
The Realistic Shads
Is the Realistic Gudgeon Shad a Good Lure?
I’m the same with my lures swapping and changing, always afraid I’m using the wrong one for conditions etc. Recently something changed, I found a lure that I feel 110% confident with. A lure that gives me options and reacts differently when it comes to rigs and a lure that I feel I connect with and one that I can work effectively.
The realistic shads Gudgeon 7cm lure is my current go-to lure without fail, if I had to choose one lure for life it would be this lure. The lure is super soft which is important to me as I believe the fish hold onto it that split second longer allowing me to set the hook firmly.
It is also important as my current go-to rig is to fish it weedless style on a 2-4g Cheb head with a size 2 offset worm hook as the local canal can be quite leafy and have lots of debris on the bottom. The action of the lure is hugely influenced by the weight, if the waters are cooler and I feel the fish are a little more sluggish I’ll cast and retrieve super slowly with small twitches. This tames the action and I feel better represents the action of baitfish in cold water.
The Action of the Lure
The action of the lure especially on the drop with a lighter weight is very subdued and I’ll sometimes even rig it on its side to imitate a dying baitfish. In warmer water or when I think the fish are more certain in their takes, I’ll ramp up the weight to 4g to speed up the action on the drop which can sometimes make all the difference. Now, this lure works equally as good on an std Cheb rig or a jig head, again though its shape and design allow me to have full control all the time which has, without doubt, resulted in me landing a lot more fish!
Which Colour is Best?
Colour-wise I personally love any of the yellow or green bellied versions as they always produce for me. I fish every day for 50 mins without fail through my lunch on the local canal. And this year since I’ve been using the Gudgeon I have only blanked twice in around 30 sessions. And that’s been when the canal has been almost totally frozen. I’m so confident it will produce I rig my rods up in the evening, one with my weedless Cheb rig and one with a std jig head to allow me maximum fishing time…David Warren (The lunchtime Angler).