Fishing School
Lures/Hooks
As you’ll see in this lesson, the key to consistently catching quality fish does NOT involve having to buy a huge assembly of lures.
If fact, having a bunch of lures in your tackle bag will often do more harm than good.
What I’ve found after 8 years of being a full time fishing coach is that most people over-spend on their tackle, and those big spenders are catching less fish because of it.
Watch this video below to see the two lures and two rigging options (yes, just 2) that is all you need for consistently catching good fish.
With just 2 lures, you’ll be forced to put your focus on finding the 90/10 zones which is by far the biggest factor in catching fish vs. getting skunked.
Also, you’ll become an expert at generating strikes while using these lures so that you’ll be able to catch fish even on days when other fishermen struggle.
Here’s an overview of the core lures that’ll help you consistently catch fish:
Featured Tackle
- The Prawn USA Junior
- The Slam Shady 2.0
- Hoss Helix Weighted Hooks
- Hoss Football Jigheads
- Hoss Weedless Football Jigheads
How To Rig/Use These Lures
Note: Click here to see a guide for selecting the right rigging options for each lure and depth range.
Lure Rigging Mistakes [VIDEO]
Featured Tackle:
Note: Click here to see a guide for selecting the right rigging options for each lure and depth range.
what about nlbns
The NLBN lures are not nearly as versatile as the ones listed above because the NLBNs have a flat face designed pair up with their jigheads, and that flat face makes for subpar results when trying to rig them on a weighted hooks for shallow water. Also, they don’t have jigheads that allow for weedless rigging which is crucial for those of us who target redfish, snook, and/or flounder which all like to hold tight to structure.
When to use the Hoss helix vs. weedless football?
The decision point between those two rigging options is all about depth… the helix hooks are best for the shallows since the weight is backed away from the front of the lure. Here’s a link to a helpful rigging guide that shows how to pair each lure with the right sized rigging option based on depth: https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/depth-guide-lures-hooks/
When large parts of the hook are exposed like this, the fish still go for it?
Yes, the fish seem to mostly key in on the overall shape, size, and motion of lures. We of course make an effort to minimize the amount of hook that shows, but it doesn’t have to go down to zero.
I see there’s a lot of lessons on lures. What about live bait? I saw there’s another course that I have to pay for. Is there anything in these courses about that except the beginning video which shows how to hook the shrimp. By the way that is a game changer for me less snagging and I used that setup so I been catching not exactly the size I want but I caught a lot of different stuff that I never did before.
The most important factor in getting better at catching fish more consistently is to get better at finding good spots based on tides and weather. And the best way to get better at that is to use lures since they allow you to cover more water and see more examples of good and bad spots every trip. If in need of simply catching fish, the shrimp tips in the beginner module will get anyone on fish. But after that, we recommend transitioning to lures because they’ll significantly help you speed up your growth in being able to consistently catch game fish.
Note: We do have a live bait mastery course, but I recommend not taking that until your comfortable being able to find somee good spots that hold enough fish to have some success with lures.
I think you mentioned the Prawn USA at 3.5″? But I see you have the Jr listed below! Thanks for this info!
So I noticed throughout this lesson, you did a lot of talking about the fish holding to the bottom in the winter into take those rigs and bounce them off the bottom. What would you do in the spring and summer scenarios and even fall when the spring in the summer the water temps here are 80+ and then in the fall when they are not quite the low winter temps?
Great questions Wesley! The summer is very similar to winter in which the fish will push out to find some deeper structure so they can get relief from the extreme temps.
In the Spring & Fall seasons, many fish will push up a bit shallower to feed. But even in those seasons, most of the feeding happens on or at least near the bottom.
New member here. Linking it so far! great info! i have a question. Im up in the northeast New Jersey shore area. Do these lures and weights combos work where I’m at as well? only reason i ask is because i see most of the information seems to be geared towards fishing in Florida.
i hope luke does not mind my answering but yes everything you see works everywhere. joe and luke live in florida is why you see most of their lessions in florida.
Great question Jack! Yes, the same lures will work in the northeast area too since there are many predator fish that feed in similar sized prey.
In fact, I use these same lures and rigging tactics when I fish freshwater lakes too, and I’m catching more fish per hour than I used to back in my bass fishing days when I mostly used plastic worms.
How do you feel about adding shrimp scent to the Prawn Jr. or Slam Shady? Does it make any difference on them or anything else for that matter?
The only scent that seems to make a difference from what I’ve seen is the Saltwater Slam scent from Dr. Juice: https://fishstrong.com/products/dr-juice-saltwater-slam-scents
I now put it on all of my lures regardless if it’s a baitfish, shrimp, or crab imitation.
What color lures should we be using in summer months?
Color is rarely a big factor (as long as you’re using a good one), so I pretty much stick with Slam Shady for paddletails and jerks while I stick with natural shrimp when using the Prawn lures throughout the entire year.
Another great video Luke! I have all of that tackle, in every color available, lol. You mentioned the depth chart for the lures, jigs, and hooks would be linked below, but I don’t see it.. Maybe its my failing eyes. Tight Lines!
Hey Marc, my apologies for not adding that link and for missing your question… here’s the link to the rigging guide lesson: https://saltstrongdev.wpengine.com/articles/depth-guide-lures-hooks/