New Here and a few questions

[zhenchok]

Hi everyone have been a lurker for a while and decided to join the board. I've had a fascination with Rapala lures ever since in 1997. I caught a 14lb Pike on a jointed perched colored J9 at a summer camp in Michigan; Rapalas have been my favorite lures since then and I’ve accumulated a nice collection of mostly original, husky jerks, and jointed over the years. I love the way they look and the different color patterns available.

To be honest, I have more success with a Yo-Zuri Pins minnow when I fish, my collection of Rapala’s is currently mostly un fished. I do have a concern that I’m going to get it stuck and lose it on some weed beds and it also doesn’t seem like it is as durable, I have had the plastic bill fall off a couple before with normal use. I do tent to baby my lures. I live not too far from a lake so I do get a chance to fish with my lures over the summer season, mostly fishing from my kayak. I am in Michigan and fish a lake with a lot of bass and some pike. In the past I did fish a private lake and got to experiment using all my lures. If I cast my yozuri, I get at least four times as many bites than I do on any Rapala. I’ve tried using similar color husky jerks with no success; I have never caught anything with any husky jerks. Perhaps the movement of the Yozuri is more appealing to the fish, the water is clear and I can see how the fish react. Another observation I’ve noticed is that even though I do let them dry, and I keep my lures in small Plano lure boxes when I fish, it seems that some of my most used lures have rust spots from the hooks and the clear coat has scratches. In the past I tried to paint one of my most used lures with some clear nail polish and it didn’t turn out that pretty, what have you done to repair your lures?. So with everything mentioned I have a few questions that’s I’ve been meaning to ask over the years. I’d love to see pictures of others lures, fish, or anything related.


1. How can I store the lures to prevent the rust?

2. With the rust spots that I have, what can I do to wash them out? The hooks and the links are in good shape so no need to replace

3. What’s the best way to transport the lures when I fish without them getting scratched up and banged up while being in the box? I do tend to put a few in the square and even when I have one in there I make sure to secure them with paper towels inside the square, I know it seems like overkill.

4. What color of lures do you recommend I keep trying to fish wish to increase my success and confidence in the lures? I’ve tried them all, even the clown color for clear water with no success. My only go to lure is the perch and silver color originals; don’t have much success with the others.

Thank you

[bacon]

welcome aboard. i will try to help where i can, but others might be better suited to answering some of them.
keeping lures dry is important. plano(or other brand) boxes are good, but if water gets into them from boatsplash or rain or whatever, they can be a bear to get to completely dried out. they look dry and fine and then the temp changes and the water condenses inside the box and back to drying them out. there are some products out there made to go into your box to prevent rust and to dry the air inside them. no clue if they are worth it or not. i have heard that you can use toothpaste to clean rusty spots off of lures, again, no idea. but anything that has a little abrasive in it will polish some rust staining off. i know guys who carry there gear in ways that would make you cringe. pull out the lure they want and get a wad of 20 lures with hooks and rings all tangled up and spend 10 minutes getting it straight, but ultimately it really doesnt harm the lures. i personally had to talk myself into using my lures. i know how you feel about not wanting to toss a lure for fear of losing it. i have come to realize that even the rarer lures i fish with are replaceable, i fish with them because i believe they will catch me fish, and i have made peace with that.
as far as colors, there are lots to pick from, knowing what will be good when is a trick that some are much better at then i. but a member here, qbert has done a very intresting trial as far as colors and styles goes. he has caught dozens and dozens of fish all on different lures, all sizes and colors and styles. truly interesting
i also fish clearer waters and have the most luck with natural colors, gold, silver, shad, however perch doesnt do that well for me, nor does FT. i wish you well in your fishing. good luck.

bacon

[zhenchok]

Thanks for the feedback bacon