HI have fished seriously since I was about 20.
Predominantly off rocks or out of boats.
After getting married to a very avid fisherwoman, I started fishing rivers and lakes, her preferred.

Recently her brother, an even more avid fisherman, started using lures and was getting some brilliant catches.
That go me thinking.
I have never been successful with any lure, but my brother in law spent an entire afternoon going over the finer details of lure fishing.
And, suprise , suprise, I was doing it all wrong.

So off the the bait Shop
I bought a nice new Calcutta overhead, I like overheads and have several.
I purchased some good braid.
I purchased some of the brother in law's suggested lures and some insertable rattles.
And I bought myself a nice new, lure friendly 7 foot rod to match the Calcutta reel.

Several hundred dollars later I was ready to fish.
For the initiated, braid does not behave the same as monofilament line ( news to me)
Overheads are notoriously fickle things and will give you a Birdsnest with the slightest provocation.
Needless to say, even with careful tuning of my reel and lure combo, I nearly had several Birdsnests on my first outing.
It turned into an exercise of becoming familiar with my new rig, braid and lures, more than actual fishing.

Subsequent outings have been.........less than successful, with lures.
I get the occasional nibble, have decimated several lures, but catching a fish still eludes me.
I have never been the successful fisher that my wife or any of her family are, but I have caught and do catch fish competently with bait.

Lure fishing interests me.
But I can't seem to make it work.

Do any of you guys use lures?
Do you catch fish?
What's the trick?

Sounds like you are getting good information from the BIL.

Have you watched your return speed, are you coming in to fast or slow for the fish.

I use bait for smaller fish like herring even though if I don't have bait a small piece of plastic (white straws are best) I can still get a bucket full. For the bigger fish I use lures to imitate a mulie (sardine) and go for blue and silver colors. Having a swivel in the line about 600mm up from the lure helps it to swim better.

Leroy wrote on Apr 6^th, 2026 at 2:19pm:

Sounds like you are getting good information from the BIL. Have you watched your return speed, are you coming in to fast or slow for the fish. I use bait for smaller fish like herring even though if I don't have bait a small piece of plastic (white straws are best) I can still get a bucket full. For the bigger fish I use lures to imitate a mulie (sardine) and go for blue and silver colors. Having a swivel in the line about 600mm up from the lure helps it to swim better.

I have tried fast and slow, with easy and quick jerks.
I let the lure sink and then give it a juggle up.
I watched my brother in law and he makes it look so easy.

But they don't like me or my lure.
I have had quite a few inquisitive nibbles, and one nearly bite, but still nothing.

I guess I just have to practice, practice, practice.
The best bite I have had so far was when I did a short cast and was winding in fast to do another longer cast.
He latched on but somehow got off.

He tells me he changes lures until he gets some bites.
I only have 4 types of lures at the moment, all soft plastics, so I might need some more variety.

Valkie wrote on Apr 6^th, 2026 at 6:51pm:

Leroy wrote on Apr 6th, 2026 at 2:19pm: Sounds like you are getting good information from the BIL. Have you watched your return speed, are you coming in to fast or slow for the fish. I use bait for smaller fish like herring even though if I don't have bait a small piece of plastic (white straws are best) I can still get a bucket full. For the bigger fish I use lures to imitate a mulie (sardine) and go for blue and silver colors. Having a swivel in the line about 600mm up from the lure helps it to swim better. I have tried fast and slow, with easy and quick jerks. I let the lure sink and then give it a juggle up. I watched my brother in law and he makes it look so easy. But they don't like me or my lure. I have had quite a few inquisitive nibbles, and one nearly bite, but still nothing. I guess I just have to practice, practice, practice. The best bite I have had so far was when I did a short cast and was winding in fast to do another longer cast. He latched on but somehow got off. He tells me he changes lures until he gets some bites. I only have 4 types of lures at the moment, all soft plastics, so I might need some more variety.

Yeah try some different lures, don't worry about catching fish just get used to using different lures and learn how they move.

Maybe play with the tension on your spool, loosen it right off and let the fish take the lure before setting your hooks.

I mostly fish from kayak in river estuary and tidal lakes always on change of tide and preferably sunset/sunrise using soft body minnow either casting or trolling about 20m behind kayak. Works for me.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/7706/uWQ1B5.gif

Also mainly catchflat head with lure. I tend to fish shallow water in lake or river just lift the tip to let it rise off the bottom and then let it sink again winding in minimally. several times and then try again. The lure used (mostly soft plastic) makes a big difference. Big difference with bait is that you tend to catch a variety of fish but with these I only ever catch Flathead. Have tries using different plastics to target whiting but never had success.

I still prefer to use bait - like the idea that if I miss the fish gets a feed. Seems more fair to me.

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Dnarever wrote on Apr 6^th, 2026 at 7:47pm:

Also mainly catchflat head with lure. I tend to fish shallow water in lake or river just lift the tip to let it rise off the bottom and then let it sink again winding in minimally. several times and then try again. The lure used (mostly soft plastic) makes a big difference. Big difference with bait is that you tend to catch a variety of fish but with these I only ever catch Flathead. Have tries using different plastics to target whiting but never had success. I still prefer to use bait - like the idea that if I miss the fish gets a feed. Seems more fair to me.

The little woman and I put the kayaks into Red Rock river on the north coast last year.
Wevdrifted from the mouth back into the river aided by the tide.
We must have just had one of those days, using fresh saught yabgies.
We caught about 20 each over the 4 hours fee were there.
All catch and release.

People fishing from the beach were catching nothing atcall.
This lead me to think that the movement across thevriver bed attracted the flathead.

We tend to use free bait where possible, but when we cantvwe use steak or chicken.
Prawns are great, but these are getting expensive.
This is another reason I am moving to lures.

I have had very similar experiences to you. My brother in law is reasonably good with lures, and I have seen him bring in some nice fish. But I have had limited success myself. The only situation now where I prefer a lure is when pelagics are working a bait ball. It's handy to have a rig set up in the boat with a small silvery slug on it to throw at a bait ball. Most of the time it is just mac tuna, but I have landed a decent tuna this way. If I had live bait ready to go, that would be preferable, but a lure is handy when you are out for a quick fish.

Black or purple lures are best for after dark fishing.

Something like these

https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/14/blackluresopener.jpeg

tallowood wrote on Apr 12^th, 2026 at 8:04am:

Black or purple lures are best for after dark fishing. Something like these https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/14/blackluresopener.jpeg

I'll get some and see how I go.

As a fisherman, I make a great fish feeder.

Some fishos soak lures in tuna oil or make paste and smear it on hard bodies but did not work for me.

tallowood wrote on Apr 13^th, 2026 at 3:59pm:

Some fishos soak lures in tuna oil or make paste and smear it on hard bodies but did not work for me.

Works with plastics, don't see why it wouldn't work with others.

tallowood wrote on Apr 13^th, 2026 at 3:59pm:

Some fishos soak lures in tuna oil or make paste and smear it on hard bodies but did not work for me.

In the interest of actually catching a fish.
I purchased some "fish attractant" along with my new lures.

I did find that there was more interest in my lure for the first few minutes after application of said attractant.
However, not long after it was back to occasional nibbles.

It could be that I'm just not a good fisherman.

Example.
I was invited to to fishing with my wife's "male" family to go beach fishing as the whiting were biting.
She was excluded because she was female....each, I don't get it either.
I stood shoulder to shoulder with the other family members who were dragging whiting out of the surf one after another.
My bait remained untouched.
It was close to 40 minutes before I caught my first fish, which wasn't even a whiting.

We were all using the same bait, beach worms picked that morning. ( Something else I'm not good at)
We were all fishing into the exact same hole, all using the same style and size hooks and leader line.

When fishing off our boat, it was always my wife that caught the first fish, caught more and generally bigger ones.
I thought I had it made one day, catching an 80cm flathead (catch and release)
But less than 5 minutes later she pulled in an 82cm flathead ( catch and release)

The only type of fishing I am truely successful in is spear fishing.
I have pulled in some huge fish with my spear;
Line fishing is just not my forte.

But I am determined to catch fish with lures.
I will succeed.
...........I hope

Do you use a lot of sunscreen, or insect repellant?

freediver wrote on Apr 14^th, 2026 at 2:28pm:

Do you use a lot of sunscreen, or insect repellant?

Or take an orange (non Trump related).

freediver wrote on Apr 14^th, 2026 at 2:28pm:

Do you use a lot of sunscreen, or insect repellant?

I do use sunscreen, but wash my hands.
However, so does my wife, she is a redhead and smothers herself to prevent sunburn.
It doesn't seem to give her any issues.
The same for her family, they are all redheads or blonds, and use sunscreen liberally, they catch fish.

Same bait, same sunscreen, same fishing lines.
Just the people on the other ed is different.

I was much better with hand lines, thinking of going back to them.

Dnarever wrote on Apr 14^th, 2026 at 3:48pm:

freediver wrote on Apr 14th, 2026 at 2:28pm: Do you use a lot of sunscreen, or insect repellant? Or take an orange (non Trump related).

Not sure the relevance?

Valkie wrote on Apr 14^th, 2026 at 6:30pm:

Dnarever wrote on Apr 14th, 2026 at 3:48pm: freediver wrote on Apr 14th, 2026 at 2:28pm: Do you use a lot of sunscreen, or insect repellant? Or take an orange (non Trump related). Not sure the relevance?

Orange or any citrus or banana scent can be bad for fishing.

I haven't fished for whiting in a while. Watch what they do. They might be setting the hook after the first bite or something.

freediver wrote on Apr 15^th, 2026 at 8:01am:

I haven't fished for whiting in a while. Watch what they do. They might be setting the hook after the first bite or something.

Daughter when 7 caught a monster whiting at the entrance - We were a bit early around dusk going out prawning and scooped a few prawns had half an hour fishing before we went out. She had this little scooby doo rod the fish was something like 20 inches. We released her. Got a nice bag of prawns that night as well.

Valkie wrote on Apr 14^th, 2026 at 6:30pm:

Dnarever wrote on Apr 14th, 2026 at 3:48pm: freediver wrote on Apr 14th, 2026 at 2:28pm: Do you use a lot of sunscreen, or insect repellant? Or take an orange (non Trump related). Not sure the relevance?

Sunscreen, bug repellant and Orange are all known or suspected to prevent fish from biting if you get it on the line. I was assuming that FD was refering to this. Could be wrong.

Fishing again today.
Both lure and bait.
Got a couple of nibbles on the lure, caught 5b fish on bait.

I'm obviously doing something wrong.
Tried three different lures, even use attractant.

I guess I'm just not a lure person.
But at least I got a nice new rod out of it.

Valkie wrote on Apr 24^th, 2026 at 6:04pm:

Fishing again today. Both lure and bait. Got a couple of nibbles on the lure, caught 5b fish on bait. I'm obviously doing something wrong. Tried three different lures, even use attractant. I guess I'm just not a lure person. But at least I got a nice new rod out of it.

Most people I know that are successful lure fishers seem to only target one species and are very good at it. They work out what lure and drag technique work best. I mostly use bait as that seems to be the best overall in most circumstances but I have watched some lure fishers pull them in while I just feed them.

Went for a surf today - there was a school of large whiting crusing around at the bottom as you would expect.

Dnarever wrote on Apr 25^th, 2026 at 9:18pm:

Went for a surf today - there was a school of large whiting crusing around at the bottom as you would expect.

Talk about whiting.
I was advised by the father in law that the whiting were biting.
The whole family turned out and a good collection of beach worms were quickly collected.

We stood shoulder to shoulder in the surf, my father in law telling me where to cast, right where he was.
In the first 15 minutes every one of the 6 family member had landed 1 or 2 good sized whiting.
My bait was untouched.

It became a challenge for them to get me hooked, so they guided me to the best target area and one even baited my hook.
Still no fish.

After a couple of hours, I did manage a bream, not a whiting.
They said I was just unlucky.
While helping me, two family members caught whiting with just their lines in the surf.

Off the rocks, I seem to do ok, but surf fishing......
Out of my boat, the wife generally caught 2 or 3 to my one.
My only successful fishing is spear fishing.
I always come back with a good feed, and occasionally a huge specimen of any species.
Perhaps I should stick to my strengths.