Various types of lures

In this article you will find useful insights into the various types of artificial lures used in spin fishing.

What are artificial baits

Crucial to spin fishing is artificial lures. These are plastic reproductions of the more common fish in our seas, sometimes faithful reproductions, some other times not so. For this reason it will be essential to "animate" them properly. Often the colors of the artificial baits reproduce the livery of forage fish, which are attacked during the hunting actions of predators, or even the shape of some worms. Essentially there are two large types of artificial baits: hard baits and soft baits.

Hard baits, hard lures

Let's start by talking about hard baits. These are made of plastic or wood and have different shapes, weights and ways of working in water. Their movements mimic those of a fish that is injured or in distress. Let's go into more detail about the different types of hard baits, which are:

• Minnows, which have a tapered shape with a more or less long and wide blade.
• the Wtd, which have the most rounded shape, do not have the headstock and have no particular movements. For this reason they must be moved with small jerks from right to left, and rotating in a zig zag. In some models they are inserted spheres inside so to produce noise. They are particularly suitable for large predators and work on the surface of the water.
• Poppers, fairly heavy lures that attract large prey. They have hollow mouths so to create strong friction with the water, and produce splashes and bubbles that attract predators even from long distances.
• The skipping, completely different from the ones above. They are shaped like a bar of soap and don't look like any type of fish. They do not have a type of swimming, but their recovery must be very fast. In fact, they will jump on the surface of the water alternating light and short thrusts just below the surface.

Soft baits, soft lures

After seeing the hard baits, let's move on to soft baits, also commonly called rubber. They are mainly used to catch sea bass and big fish or largemouth bass, which have a real passion for silicone lures.

There are:

• The Grup, which have the same shape as small worms with a striped body. They have a flat, sickle-shaped tail which, moving very fast, attracts predators by emitting many vibrations.
• The shad, silicone rubber reproductions of forage fish. There are on the market in cylindrical shape, striped, flat or smooth. The striped ones have more flexibility, while the smooth ones are slightly more rigid. They may have their tails attached directly to the body - giving a smoother movement - or no tails directly attached.

The Worms, specific lures for spin fishing in fresh water. They have the shape of a worm and are striped. They must be made to work closely with the bottom, making them look like a wriggling worm.