Fishing with Tony Lincoln | Lure colours and patterns

LAST edition, I spoke about lure action playing such a large part in their effectiveness. While it's my belief that action is at least 90 per cent of a lure’s effectiveness, there's no denying that certain colours do seem to produce more consistently than others.

As an example, flathead love pink, but the contrast to this is the undeniable effectiveness of the soft plastic lure colour, "Motor Oil". Pink and motor oil are about as far away from each other on the colour spectrum as they can get, yet they both produce. In my experience, Motor Oil would be the premier allrounder colour for anyone looking to start fishing with soft plastic lures, especially for our bread and butter species such as bream, flathead, etc.

Lure colours and patterns can be broadly segregated into three categories, brights, naturals and darks, with each one having their place. I choose colours based mostly on water clarity at the time and location I'm fishing. In clear water, I tend to use either brights, (to stand out and grab the fish’s attention), or naturals to mimic the naturally occurring prey that my target species feeds on or is feeding on.

In murky, discoloured water I'm very fond of darks or solid colours as I feel they silhouette much better against the backdrop of the water at the time, thus giving the fish an easier target once the vibration has drawn them in. Contrasting colour patterns, such as a light or bright main colour with bold dark stripes, spots or features can also work very well in murky water as these features viewed against the lighter background once again give the attacking fish an easier target.

On those special days, when the fish are fired up and feeding aggressively, they'll hit just about anything we throw at them, but when they're shut down or finicky, lure selection becomes much more important for us to achieve success. This is when style of lure, colour and retrieve technique all play a part.

Thanks for reading again, and remember;

Talk to old people, they know stuff you don't.

Talk to young people, they know stuff you don't.

FISHING REPORT:

• Once again, healthy fishing all round at the moment with plenty of baitfish around the peninsula and bay, and the great condition of the fish reflecting this.
• Flathead fishing very well.
• Some very nice tailor up to 70cm being caught.
• The odd jewfish being landed as well.
• Tailor off Woody Point jetty, off all the rocky points and inshore reefs around the peninsula, Ted Smout platform, Pine River mouth and particularly in Bramble Bay.
• Plenty of squire and snapper on the rocky points, inshore reefs and the odd one off the jetties.
• Bream on the beaches, jetties, rocky points and on the inshore reefs.
• Bream, flathead and some whiting in Hays Inlet, the Pine River, Scarborough Spit and foreshore, and the mouth of the canals.
• The occasional school of GTs around the mouth of the Newport canals which have been giving out lessons to the odd unsuspecting fisho.
• Diver whiting off Scarborough into Deception Bay, and across to the Cockle Banks.
• Good numbers of squid in all the usual haunts.
• Snapper and tuskies on the artificial reefs inside Moreton.