The FishTalk fishing reports say there’s an epic bite going off in this very spot, you bought the exact same lure everyone raves about, and the conditions look ideal. But… you’ve caught bupkis. Could it be you’re missing some element that’s critical for success? Could the fish be off their feed for some inexplicable reason? Or, are you just cursed?!

anglers casting lures from a fishing boat
There are times when everything seems right, but the fish just don't bite those lures.

Any or all could be true. But there’s also a good possibility that you’ve missed a critical detail affecting the way your lure or bait is presented. A detail that makes the difference between success and an empty cooler. The next time you find yourself fishless and flummoxed, make sure none of these five common foibles are the reason why.

  1. Something is Spinning – Excluding spinner blades that are meant to rotate around a lure or from the end of a swivel, a spinning lure or bait is a common curse. Ballyhoo that spin will never get attacked by a pelagic. Wobbling spoons that spin instead of wobbling will go untouched and create epic line twist tangles to boot. Same goes for cut baits that spin in the current. And jigs that spin as they fall usually won’t get intercepted as they head for the bottom. As a general rule of thumb lures and baits should swim and wiggle enticingly, not spin around in dizzying circles.
  2. Something is Dragging Instead of Swimming – Take a surgical hose eel out of the package, attach it to your trolling line, and send it over the side, and most of the time it’ll drag through the water in an entirely un-lifelike manner. You need to put the hook through the eye, twist it into a figure-eight, and give a tug to put a bend in that hose so it swims instead of dragging. Similarly, if you rig a ballyhoo but fail to pop the row of scales along its back and limber it up, or if you over-brine it, it’ll have all the appeal of a stick. Live critters don’t drag, they swim—and your offerings need to swim, too.
  3. Paddles aren’t Paddling or Spinners aren’t Spinning – All plastic paddletails are not created equally, and while some flip back and forth with vigor on a slow, steady retrieve, some do not. Whenever there’s a question in your mind pull one through the water next to the boat, and see if there’s a minimum speed it needs to travel or if twitches and jerks are necessary to get that tail in motion. Likewise, some spinners require a certain rate of speed to speed to start spinning. In some other cases a tiny bit of weed or algae can prevent that blade from doing its thing. If you don’t feel the “whump-whump-whump” of the rotating blade in your rod tip you need to figure out why that blade isn’t active and resolve the situation.
  4. Set and Forget – Anytime a lure or bait remains in the water for an extended period of time it needs to be visually checked. Otherwise, you might reel up your offering hours later and find it covered in weeds, dragging a piece of snagged trash, or hanging in a mess of tangled leader. The more likely you’ll be collecting garbage (such as when you’re trolling through a weedy area or jigging over structure covered in sea squirts), the more often that lure or bait needs checking.
  5. Brand Gets Mistaken for Model – This is something we see time and again, sometimes even among some fairly experienced anglers. When someone says X, Y, or Z is the hot bait, you need to make sure you have the exact type and model, not just the brand, or you might be chasing fish down a blind alley. The Clark Spoon is a great example: the “Original Clarkspoon” is a wobbling spoon that’s too light to cast effectively in most scenarios, but provides great action on the troll. The “Clarkspoon Stick Jig” is a jigging spoon that’s great for casting or vertical jigging, but looks blasé at best when trolled. Mix the two up, and you’ll be scratching your head wondering why everyone said the fish were hitting “Clark spoons.”
clark spoon fishing lures
What’s in a fishing lures' name? Just getting a “Clark spoon” won’t necessarily put you down the right path, because their jigging spoons (left) and trolling spoons (right) are two entirely different types of lures.

BONUS FOIBLE: Each and every time you free a snag, check the hook point and leader before taking another cast. Points can get bent or dulled and if you don’t pick up on it you might get strike after strike without hooking up. Leaders can get chafed and if you don’t notice you’ll break off when you do finally hook up. Make checking both a part of your post-snag process.

You say you keep all of the above in mind all of the time, yet still have trouble bringing home dinner? Well, maybe those dang fish just weren’t biting. Or, maybe you are cursed. Or, maybe one of a million other things isn’t right. Welcome to fishing, folks—the possibilities are endless.