PUBLICATION MAGAZINE VOLUME ONE final magazine siap | Page 10

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LURES
A fishing lure is a type of artificial
fishing bait which is designed to at-
tract a fish’s attention. The lure uses
movement, vibration, flash and color
to bait fish. Many lures are equipped
with one or more hooks that are used
to catch fish when they strike the
lure. Some lures are placed to attract
fish so a spear can be impaled into
the fish or so the fish can be captured
by hand. Most lures are attached to
the end of a fishing line and have
various styles of hooks attached to
the body and are designed to elicit a
strike resulting in a hookset. Many
lures are commercially made but
some are hand made such as fishing
flies. Hand tying fly lures to match
the hatch is considered a challenge
by many amateur entomologists.
Modern commercial lures usually
are often used with a fishing rod and
fishing reel but there are some who
use a technique where they hold the
line in their hands. Handlining is a
technique in which the line is held di-
rectly in the hands versus being fed
through the guides of a fishing rod.
Longlining also can employ lures to
catch fish. When a lure is used for
casting, it is continually cast out
and retrieved, the retrieve making
the lure swim or produce a popping
action. A skilled angler can explore
many possible hiding places for fish
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through lure casting such as under
logs and on flats. In early time, fish-
ing lures were made from bone or
bronze. The Chinese and Egyptians
used fishing rods, hooks, and lines
as early as 2,000 B.C., though most
of the first fishermen used hand-
lines. The first hooks were made out
of bronze, which was strong but still
very thin and less visible to the fish.
The Chinese were the first to make
fishing line, spun from fine silk. The
modern fishing lure was made com-
mercially in the United States in the
early 1900s by the firm of Heddon and
Pflueger in Michigan. Before this time
most fishing lures were made by indi-
vidual craftsman. Commercial-made
lures were based on the same ideas
that the individual craftsmen were
making but on a larger scale. The
fishing lure is either tied with a knot,
such as the improved clinch knot, or
connected with a tiny safety pin-like
device called a “swivel” onto the fish-
ing line which is in turn connected
to the reel via the arbor. The reel is
attached to a rod. The motion of the
lure is made by winding line back
on to the reel, by sweeping the fish-
ing rod, jigging movements with the
fishing rod, or by being pulled behind
a moving boat (trolling). exceptions
included are artificial flies, common-
ly called flies by fly fishers, which ei-
ther float on the water surface, slowly
sink or float underwater, and repre-
sent some form of insect fish food.