I am a biochemist so I conduct casual experiments in my free time. I have spent $100s testing out different baits, colors, patterns, materials, etc as I'm sure you all have. My question is why does a functionally similar bait get dramatically different results. A common example is a Yamamoto Senko vs a Yum Dinger.
Testing areas:
Lake Murray, SC
Lake Hartwell, SC
Various family and friends pond in SC
In my personal experience I have tried dang near every Zoom Super Fluke. I notice dramatically different results between other brands, colors, sizes etc. The Zoom White Pearl Super Fluke catches the most bass by far, followed by Green Pumpkin in stained water. I have tried like 20 caffeine shad colors, yum Houdini, Berkley Jerk etc. I have tried White super fluke and albino shiner with abysmal results except for the albino shiner outperforming specifically at sun up as light starts cresting, so I am assuming it is the light reflection. I have tried all the different watermelon flakes and green pumpkin flakes. But specifically the green pumpkin black flake noticeably gets more attention.
Now here is the weird part. I have tried the super fluke jr 4" and fluke 4" and the fluke gets significantly more hits, I use a 2/0 ewg for control. And to top all of that off I notice that specifically white ice and watermelon seed outperforms the traditional white pearl and green pumpkin in that size, EVEN when the fish are biting the larger Super Fluke in those colors. I don't understand! If I swap to a larger size in the exact same colors... no to little attention. Even on a tandem rig. I will even swap the position of the baits with the exact same results.
My theory is that the smaller colors being more translucent mimics juvenile bait fish as they typically have newer scales with less coloration.
As for the plastic technology, dye, and weight I am at a loss.
I have no idea why the results vary so dramatically.
