4 great lures for surface action
Taking predators off the top is a spectacular way to catch perch, pike and even zander, so here are your best options for action...
When it comes to lure fishing there is nothing more electrifying than surface fishing.
Watching your piece of brightly coloured plastic wobble, pop and gyrate its way across the top of the lake before, in the blink of an eye and a flurry of water, it is violently snatched and you find yourself into a hungry predator.
With the water at its warmest, the prey fish are also close to the top and the predators have learned over the years that these unsuspecting fish make for a very easy meal at this time of the year.
Like all branches of lure fishing, lures that are designed to fish ‘on the top’ all have similarities, but each type of lure has slight differences, which means it is either fished/retrieved differently or it ‘fishes’ very differently.
Some are designed to ‘pop’, others jerk from side to side, while some move in an almost snake-like action.
And you never really know which one will be the ‘trigger’ on any particular day.
With this I mind, here is a brief guide to the main types of surface fishing lures.
Spro Ikiru
At first glance these types of lure seem to offer the angler very little. There is no propeller, spinner blade or nose cone to create an ‘action’ in the water.
To get the most out of what is known as a ‘walk the dog’ lure, you need to work the rod tip back and forth while jerking the reel handle in time. It’s a difficult art to master at first but, once mastered, the lure will ‘walk’ across the surface in a pleasing zig-zag motion.
The other downside is that it is tiring on the wrists, but it is a hypnotic way to fish. A true walk the dog lure is best fished in relatively calm conditions, because they are easily knocked off their stride in choppy water.
They can be cast a long way though, so you cover a lot of water quickly and tend to be more effective when fished at a slow to medium pace.
Sebile Splasher
This type of lure is characterised by the concave frontage. This sees it doing ‘what it says on the box’!
As you retrieve this lure, you also flick the rod tip down to exaggerate the movement and create the ‘pop’ as the lure’s concave part pushes the water.
Poppers make varying amounts of noise and disturbance and, as far as surface lures go, they are the most stable in choppier conditions.
Some anglers mistakenly believe that surface lures are to be used only when the conditions are flat calm, but a popper works best if there is a wind on the water and even the occasional white horse.
Its stability and relentless action can help bring the fish up to the surface and the accuracy with which you can fish them really helps to fish tight areas where the predators often lurk.
If the popper does not feel right on the retrieve and is behaving strangely, it has most likely turned over in flight and the trebles have caught your line. Wind in and check – this does happen from time to time.
Koppers Live Target frog
Frog lures are far from being a new concept. And when it comes to enticing a bite from a hungry predator, they are simply unbeatable at certain times in and around particular features such as lily beds that are natural nursery areas for young frogs.
Loved by pike and perch alike, frog lures can also be particularly effective when looking to target chub.
This one has a hollow body, with the two hooks wrapping around the sides. This makes it weedless, so it is ideal to fish into any areas of heavy vegetation.
To fish a frog lure, you can either jerk it back in a series of hops, making quarter turns of the reel handle before briefly pausing, or twist the rod side to side, so you can fish in a similar way to a ‘walk the dog’ lure.
Halco Nightwalker
These unusual looking lures have a quite distinct wing-shaped nose. It is this feature that enables the lure to ‘walk’ and ‘crawl’ across the surface, resembling a distressed fish, frog or rodent.
Fished with a simple retrieve or a slightly jerky movement will see you catching pike, perch and even zander. The walking action makes a very distinct popping noise as it scurries across the top.
A lure like this can even be fished at night, as the combination of the noise, action and the fact its propeller frontage glows in the dark, makes it a very interesting and very often deadly lure.
Guide to shotting patterns
What’s a ‘shotting pattern’ and why can the correct pattern mean the difference between bagging a netful of fish and blanking? Here’s our quick guide to stick float, waggler and pole float fishing shotting patterns...
Shotting pattern is merely the order in which you attach the weights (split shot or styls) on to your line to cock your float and help the bait fall through the water.
There are three main types of shotting pattern – and each is designed to do a different job.
BULK: This is where the main bulk of split shot are grouped tightly together. Its main uses are to make a waggler float sit upright in the water, or to ‘bomb’ the bait quickly down through the water in deep swims where the target fish are close to the bottom, or where smaller ‘nuisance’ fish like fingerling bleak, roach or rudd will take a slow-sinking bait before it gets down to larger, target fish.
On a waggler float you’d normally nip on size AAA or BB shot immediately below the float. Bulks of No 8 shot are most often used with pole or waggler rigs. Bulk shot on river float rigs can vary from tiny No 8s to large No 1 shot, depending on the depth and strength of the flow.
STRUNG-OUT (also known as ‘shirt button’): This pattern can be used on wagglers, stick floats or pole rigs. The shot are spaced equally apart – like the buttons on a shirt – to help sink the bait at a slower, controlled rate.
Number 8, 9 and 10 shot are favourite on stillwater waggler and pole floats, and No 8 and No 6 are used on stick floats.
DROPPER: Droppers are smaller, lighter shot positioned at intervals below the bulk shot. They sink the hookbait slowly once the heavier bulk shot has settled. Dropper shot on stillwater waggler and pole rigs are normally legal lead size 8, 9 or 10 ‘micro’ shot.
How to avoid line damage
1. Take a 10cm (4in) length of line that’s heavier than your mainline and push it through the waggler eye
2. Squeeze on the heavy locking shot either side of the float. The shot mainly grips the thicker line
3. Add your final shot to the rig and trim heavy line. The shot runs on the heavy line protecting the mainline
CLASSIC SHOTTING PATTERNS...
1. THE WAGGLER
Waggler floats are attached bottom-end only with the reel line running through a plastic or metal eye. Wagglers are locked in place by split shot nipped either side of the eye. The vast bulk of the shot must be placed around the eye in order for them to be cast accurately over long distances.
(Sometimes, waggler floats don’t have an eye, but are designed to be pushed into a rubber/silicone float adaptor which is fitted with an eye.)
A typical 3AAA float should have two size AAA shot immediately below the eye, and one AAA shot above. A couple of No 8 dropper shot spaced equidistant between the bottom of the float and the hook will be enough to make the hookbait fall slowly and enticingly through the water. Any other weight to ‘dot’ the float tip down should be pushed directly under the lowest AAA shot.
In deep water, when the fish are on the bottom, a string of No 8 shot placed 40cm (16 inches) from the hook with one or two No 10 ‘dropper’ shot below them will be a better bet.
● NOTE: Never place the bulk of shot needed to cock a waggler properly anywhere lower down the line than the base of the float. If you do, you won’t be able to cast far or accurately as the whole rig will be unbalanced and ‘cartwheel’ in flight.
2 THE POLE
The amount of shot required to correctly shot a pole float is normally printed on the side of the float. This can either be shown in terms of UK split shot, or incontinental styl weights. (A styls to split shot conversion table was printed in these pages last month.)
In deeper water, or where the fish are on, or close to, the bottom, a bulk of No 8 or No 9 shot 40cm from the hook with one or two No 10 or 11 dropper shot works best.
When you want to explore the whole water column a slow-sinking bait with strung-out No 8 or No 10 shot is the best pattern to go for.
