There truly is such a thing as the perfect lure   There are probably several hundred opinions why a fish won't bite or go for a lure. I tend to believe there are as many excuses to this mystery as there are species of freshwater fish. Even in south Florida, the land of early-bird dinners (3:30 p.m., and you still better get there early), white 4-door sedans, an endless stream of humidity coupled to an endless stream of humanity, the fishing experts are a dime-a-dozen, and then some. I made the mistake of trying to talk sense to a self-proclaimed angler expert from New York. "Don't tell me about bass fishing boy," he exclaimed as I valiantly tried to back my way out of a tackle store just inside Broward County. Moments earlier I was aimlessly cruising the aisles of the store, examining salt and fresh water terminal tackle. And then the noise accosted my ears. Like a submarine's sonar or closer to home, one of my fish locators, I zeroed-in on what appeared to be a heated discussion between two self-anointed fishing mavens, formerly of Manhattan. It was Mort who was expounding on the summertime habits of a Florida largemouth bass. His oratory was reminiscent of a couple old movies with actors portraying members of the Roman Senate. It was also Mort who had laid me open like one of his east coast flounders. The other combatant was named Anthony. When he spoke he sounded like an old New York cop giving lectures to errant youngsters. "It's July and these bass won't hit top-water lures for love or money," Anthony argued. "What do you know," yelled Mort, "all you ever did was catch those smelly bluefish and maybe a striper or two. Down here you can catch a bass on anything." Startling news I suspected. Anthony got right up in front of Mort's face and stood there, inches away from what could have been a nose-to-nose, knock-down, dragged-out, quickly decided episode. "Listen," Anthony went on, "these Florida bass burrow down into the roots of the saw grass and stay there for days on end, not eating, not moving, not doing anything. And the only thing you can throw would be dynamite to get their attention." Like the unwanted visitor I frequently am, I jumped in to offer 13 cents. "You know, there are a lot of ways to get Florida largemouth to react to a lure," I offered, reallynot intending to have myself sucked into this vortex. It was that magic moment, that one single instant that brought forth Mort's "don't tell me about bass fishing boy". "Excuse me," I answered, "but I've caught my fair share of big bass down here when the bank thermometers were broadcasting impending doom with 100 degrees of digitally created bad news. All you have to do is find the right lure and use the right presentation." I figured that statement alone would fuse the two eastern combatants into a mighty force against the kid from Chicago. Well, almost. "Look guys," I went on, "the people who taught me the ABC's of bass fishing never used the that as an excuse for not finding and catching bass. They told me to find a couple of lures and stick with them--build up my confidence and believe there are fish under that log or next to a dock, or anywhere it looks fishy. Throw that lure to the target zones and keep doing it until you get a strike." Their mouths hung open like the tailgate of my sport utility vehicle. "And furthermore," I added, "the tactics you used up north can be used down here as well. There's really not much of a difference. And it is true that in some cases largemouth will go straight to the bottom, stay there for a while where it's cooler, and not actively feed. The no-feeding aspect could be the result of a huge meal the fish may have engulfed the day before. If your old-reliable, high-confidence lure isn't working, find another one and get to know how it really works underwater. During these hot days, I like to start off with a large jig and crawfish or black eel, or Texas-rigged worm and then work my way down in size until I'm in the finesse range. In the past 10 years, I've taken bass from the freshwater canals close to this shop ranging from 2-12 lbs. And I never used a boat. Everything was done from shore. The bigger fish came from deeper holes under the Florida turnpike." It was at that point where both gentlemen turned into little puppy dogs. "Got any ideas as to which plastic worms would work best?", they asked. "Come out to my car and let me show the high-confidence baits I use here." I open a tackle bag and laid out a variety or pre-rigged worms, like the Little Action Macs in both weedless and plain hook styles. I gave each of them a half dozen worms and suggested they stop arguing with each other and start catching some big fish. "How do I know these small worms will work?", Mort asked, in one last-ditch effort to remain kill of the argument hill. Anthony quickly added his two cents with a similar comment. I offered the following--"A very good friend suggested that I carry these, some Texas worms and a few other pieces of plastic. I was smart enough to take his advice, and all I'm doing is passing along the gift he gave me. All of these baits are high-confidence lures for me because I used my head instead of being stubborn." The immediately returned to the store and started scouring the aisles for various plastic baits. I stayed long enough to see them sign their names to the credit card slips. Maybe they finally stumbled onto their perfect fishing lures once and for all.     ©copyright 1997, Mike Jackson Outdoors