Why This Lure Is My New Favorite For Calm Conditions During The Summer
- By: Luke Simonds
- on
- Found In: Fishing Tips, Inshore Fishing, Tackle & Gear, Artifical Lure Tips
We’ve had a lot of calm weather lately, and that can often make the fish tougher to catch because they can more easily feel our presence before we get close enough to get our lures/baits to them.
But these calm and hot weather days can still be very productive as long as we make the necessary adjustments.
First, we need to be very mindful of any noise or vibration we emit while approaching our target spots… that’s crucial.
But we also need to be very selective in which lures we decide to throw.
Here are 2 key factors I focus on when fishing on a calm summer day:
- Minimal Vibration
- Long Casting Distance
Once I started focusing my time in the summer using lures that score well in these needs, my catch rate for both quantity and quality of fish skyrocketed.
If you’re not catching as many fish during these calm summer days as you’d like, I highly recommend giving this Polk County Tweaker lure a try… here’s a quick video showing how it works and what retrieve styles do great when it’s calm:
Featured Gear
- Lure: Polk County Tweaker (use couple code “tweaker” for 50% discount on your 1st pack)
- Rigging: 3/0 Hoss Helix Weighted Hook
Why The Polk County Tweaker Excels In Calm Conditions
Calm water makes fish more aware of their surroundings, especially in shallow areas.
The Polk County Tweaker has a subtle, natural glide that doesn’t create excessive vibration, making it an excellent choice for pressured redfish and trout that have seen plenty of other lures.
Rigged weedless, it also allows you to fish confidently around grass, oyster bars, and other shallow structure where these fish spend much of their time.
If you want a great video showcasing this retrieve in action, check this video out!
My Favorite Retrieves
The best retrieve is usually the simplest one.
Slow & Steady
When fish are lethargic or especially spooky, a slow, steady retrieve is hard to beat. Let the lure do the work.
Add A Couple Twitches
If you’re getting follows but not commits, mix in one or two subtle twitches before returning to a steady retrieve.
Small changes in cadence can often trigger the strike.
Choosing The Right Color
If you’re wondering which color to throw, here’s what’s been working best for me lately based on some testing.
- Lighter colors have been producing better during low-light periods around sunrise and sunset.
- Darker colors have been getting more bites once the sun gets higher.
Note: Insiders, this month’s FREE Tackle Tester lets you try the Polk County Tweaker in the Black Ice color. You can also choose from two other lure profiles if you prefer. Claim your free pack here.
Final Thoughts
When you’re fishing during calm hot days this summer, I highly recommend giving lures like this Polk County Tweaker a try.
It casts farther than any other 4″ jerk lure I’ve tried, and it can be rigged on weighted hooks for weedless presentations while also doing great on normal jigheads for deeper water.
Its subtle action and simple retrieves make it one of my favorite lures for targeting redfish and oversized trout, and the footage above shows exactly why.
And don’t forget, you can get 50% off your first pack of Polk County Tweakers at FishStrong.com with the code TWEAKER.
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STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish every trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
Even though I have ALREADY ALL the colors of the tweeker lure like most other plastic stick baits I really have never done a whole lot on them and because they are really made for subtle quiet presentations in the time of year your saying to fish them here in northeast florida where unlike your gulf coast area where clear water is more prevalent northeast floridas waters where its murky and visibility is very limited I have found baits with at least some noise and or vibration is best like a spinnerbait or at least a paddletail and I have found in my 23 going on 24 years of inshore saltwater fishing that if the water is murky like it most of the year is here in northeast fl being quiet is NOT the best option only in the wintertime and very early spring I have found that quiet baits like plastic shrimp and maybe a plastic stickbait work well and being very old fashioned I always stick with what works and has for going on 24 years now plus since im not a big pursuer of trout anymore and mostly fish for reds and flounder I use alot of gulp baits and have found that both scent and sound when used in conjuction with vivid colors like black ( my personal favorite being the gulp 4 inch paddletail in back with red flakes and a chartruse tail) work best here in the waters i fish plastic stickbaits work great in clear calm water but in murky not so much and I only say what I have personally experienced what works for others is for them not knocking or saying your intsl is wrong because I know you know what your talking about and have the videos to prove it I just know from what has worked for me in my DIFFERENT area of florida then yours thanks for the intel and all you do😉👍
Excellent, if not the BEST lure for calm conditions & in colder waters in winter !! thanks for the retrieve tip Luke !!
Which color works best in NE Florida dirty water?
From the color tests I’ve done so far, I’m believing more and more that the color choice is one of the least important of all in terms of getting strikes… retrieve tempo, depth control, and lure size are the much more important variables.
One trend I have been seeing with colors is that the darker ones seem to get better results when the fish are not feeding well. So I’ve been going with darker lures most often lately since they typically work equally well when they are feeding, and they have the uptick on the slower days. For the Tweaker, the Terd Ferguson and Black Ice colors are my favorites.
Thanks Luke for the very informative video. ?? Do you use battle rattles with tweekers under these conditions ?
Our pleasure Terry. I do not use rattles in calm conditions… these predator fish are designed to find prey that’s extra quiet when it’s calm, so rattles can be a red flag to smarter fish that it’s not natural.
Excellent short video Luke! By the way the umbrella save and cooler in the water on last video was hilarious! I think all of us have one or two moments like that in our lives.
Thanks Scott! I’m glad to see that you enjoyed the umbrella fail from that Homosassa exploration trip… it’s funny how a calm day can turn into chaos so quickly.
Thanks Luke! I need to try the straight retrieve more often. It’s easy to over-work a lure and scare fish off.
I’m glad to see that you enjoyed this video.