Fishing lures have evolved over centuries from a piece of fur lashed to a bone hook to the high tech fang-dangle beasts we use today. And as new lures have emerged in different geographic locations a confusing range of names for the often subtly distinct varieties of fishing lures has also evolved. We'll focus on the familiar fish shaped wooden and hard plastic lures and will leave the bladed, wire, leaded, and fur/feathered varieties for another time. We'll also leave out the varieties that float and don't ever dive beneath the water surface.
Let's start with "Baits". Originally, this was a term used to describe a piece of fish or meat, and insect or other tasty morsel that was impaled on a hook to entice ("lure") a fish to take the hook. Somewhere, somehow, somebody (probably out of desperation) worked out that inedible things could also be attached to a hook and used to lure fish into biting. This resulted in the first of the "artificial baits", a term used to describe anything that fooled a fish into taking a hook even though it wasn't actually edible. "Natural baits" described the good 'ol worm or other edible item on a hook.
Now, humans are incredibly lazy creatures, so over time the term "artificial baits" was shortened back to just "baits". Likewise, "natural baits" was also shortened to just simply "baits". So there you have it, full circle. The "baitcaster" style of fishing reel also developed along the way - rarely used for natural baits, the baitcaster is instead perfectly suited to artificial baits.
Contrary to popular belief, the term "Crankbait" was not coined to describe natural baits that had a grouchy disposition, nor does it have anything to do with the illicit drug trade. No, instead it is a general term that originated in the USA to describe a family of hard bodied lures that were originally intended for casting and retrieving (cranking). Of course, crankbaits are also used just as effectively for trolling.
"Plug" is another general name for this family of lures and is popular in the USA and England. These days, plugs are often considered to be a sub-group of crankbaits that are characterised by being fairly stout and robust in design, often with strong, wide actions, though the distinction is blurry and many lures sit on the boundary.
In recent decades the terms "hard baits", "hardbaits" or "hard bodied lures" has become more popular. This term is also a fairly general one that includes a whole bunch of different styles. The term has developed to enable anglers to distinguish between lures made from harder materials like wood or plastic form the rubbery soft plastic varieties.
"Wobblers" is another general term used to describe this style of lure. I used to imagine that the word "wobbler" described the unstable characters that skulk around rivers poaching trout. I now know that the term came about because it described the action of the lures as they are trolled or retrieved. Wobbler is a term that is more popular in Europe, and these lures can be thick-set and robust or thin and slender.
"Jerkbait", "jerk minnow" and "stickbait" are terms that can be used interchangeably to describe a very effective sub-group of this family of lures. There are unverified rumours that an attractive young lady standing outside of a pub at closing time can also be referred to as a "jerkbait". Jerkbaits tend are characteristically slender with relatively small bibs. They may be floating, suspending or sinking, depending on angler requirements and are usually worked with sharp stabs of the rod tip to impart action.
"Minnows" are characterised by relatively slender, fish shaped bodies. They tend to have larger bibs than jerkbaits, but the bibs are quite narrow, enabling them to be retrieved or trolled at reasonable speeds. These lures are often used for speedy pelagic gamefish, although once again the distinction between minnows and jerkbaits can be blurry.
"Floaters", "Floater Divers" and "Deep Divers" are terms used to describe bibbed lures that float when they hit the water, but dive under when retrieved or trolled. They are also terms that can be used to describe various pieces of flotsam found in the vicinity of sewage outlets. Their body shape of floater divers can range from slender minnow style lures to heavy set plugs - again, much like the flotsam around sewage outlets.
"Suspending lures" can have body shapes similar to jerkbaits or minnows, although plug-like suspending lures also exist. Their main feature is that they remain stationary when the retrieve or troll is halted, rather than floating back to the top or sinking to the bottom.
"Jointed lures" or "jointed minnows" tend to be fairly slender lures that (as the name suggests) have a two part body that is joined in the middle by rings or eyelets. Jointed minnows tend to have more enticing actions that standard crankbaits.
So there you have it in a nutshell, a glossary or fishing lure terms. I'm sure there are plenty more, don't hesitate to let me know if I've forgotten any!
Dr Greg Vinall, teaches people to make wooden fishing lures at http://www.makebetterfishinglures.com/woodenlures.html
He also teaches hard plastic lure making at http://www.makebetterfishinglures.com/plasticlures.html
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