General

At present, the most manufactures of artificial fishing lures offer spinners, in which rotating blades and sinkers made usually in the form of body or head, are combined together. Such the leadheaded spinners as Mepps Lusox and Abu Garcia Morrum are typical examples. In this post, we will show that combinations of two lures, made by dividing the leadheaded lures into heads and light spinners, are much more effective.

Fig. 1 illustrates scematically an integrated leadheaded lure and combinations of its two parts connected with the short, middle and long line or steel leaders (usually up to 30-60 cm length).

Field Experiments

We examined the effectiveness of integrated lures (IL) in comparison with tandems of their two parts, spherical heads and light spinners, connected with the 20 cm line leaders (T). The high quality 5 gr stannic heads with the two lateral 2D or 3D eyes (5 mm, red, WTP Inc.), called goggle heads (gogglers), and Mepps Silver Aglia #2 were used. Original Aglia spinners (see Mepps catalog) were disassembled and assembled to replace the brass bodies of the hard plastic tubes (2.5 mm diameter, 20 mm length, red).

In tests, goggle heads were equipped with the small double hooks.

Using common perch, Perca fluviatilis, as usable model fish, lures of both types were presented alternately at the estimated localities of these abundant fish. At each locality, 20 presentations (cast and retrieving) of lures were made: 5 with IL, 5 with T, 5 with IL and 5 with T. Then an experimentator moved to the other locality, where 20 presentations of the compared lures were made in the reverse order. Within 1 day session, 39 perch were landed (and released) in total, the numder of fish were distributed per earch 10 lure presentations (for IL and T, correspondingly).

Student t-test was used to estimate the difference between the mean values of fish number for lures of both types, IL and T. Perch (71%) preferred tandems (p < 0,01). Among heads (about 2 cm length with hook) and spinners (4 cm), nine perch of ten preferred to attack larger spinners.

Similar results were obtained in the other 3 sessions with perch carried out in the different fishing conditions. In one special test session (with the reassembled Aglia Longue # 1), asp, Aspius aspius, also authentically preferred spinners in tandems over single tinheaded lures.

Figure 2. Asp, Aspius aspius

It is necessary to underline that strictly regulated test sessions have been conducted to confirm the foregoing preferences at the statistical level. Meanwhile, the members of our group use tandems of lures mentioned above and other (with hookless leading lures, called usualy teasers) during 50 years with the more or less constant seccess. The drawbacks of tandems are the overlapping of leader for the main line, especially when lures are cast upwind, and relatively short distance of casting.

Discussion

In an experimental ethological literature, there is limited information about responses of animals to two conjugately moving stimuli. Among two moving feeding objects, edible frog, Rana esculenta, for example, show preferences for near and larger objects (for review, see Manteifel, 1977).

According to tests and general observations in the nature, pursuits of horizontally moving small objects, float up small objects and sinking small objects are stereotypical motor acts in the feeding behaviour of fish (Protasov, 1968). These motor acts as well as typical feeding poses play an important signaling role in the intraspecific (like roach-roach) and interspecific (like perch-roach) relationships. On the other hand, it is shown that pike, Esox lucius, and other predatory fish prefer faster and discomposedly moving feeding objects than benthivorous fish do (Meesters, 1940; Prorasov, 1968). In our case, two lures allow to imitate all the foregoing patterns when an evidently larger object pursues horizontally moving, lifting and sinking small objects, using the well known lure slip, rise and fall retrieving technique.