As fishing technology gets more and more advanced, as our knowledge of fish habits grow, and our lure selection gets more and more advanced, i have been wondering about the mythical "perfect lure". now this question is not just for fly fishing, but for all kinds of fishing where an artificial lure is used. The spin fishing crowd is getting ever more realistic lures, some with such action as being nearly indistinguishable from a live fish in the water. The new swimbaits are a great example of this. And checking realistic fly tying forums, and seeing the kinds of flies some people tie, the best of the realistics only differentiate from live insects in that the lures have hook points coming out of them.

so at this point, i am beginning to wonder, "are we soon going to have the perfect lure?"

To even begin to wonder about this, a perfect lure must be defined. that is, its characteristics need to be materialized in order to determine when a lure becomes perfect.
Often when i am out on the water without catching anything, i start to think about how great it would be to have this "perfect lure" and so i think i have come up with a decent list of requirements for it.

1. The perfect lure must be able to catch ANY fish. That is, it is sized, or built in such a way that it can catch anything from bluegills, to muskellunge.
2. It can catch them any time of day, any time of year, and in any water condition.
3. It can catch any fish, no matter how hungry it is. even if it just ate a duck, it will still attack the "perfect lure".
4.Fish will ALWAYS hit it. Even if they have been hooked on it, but escaped enough times to make a fish give up whatever food it imitates permanently. The fish will still attack the lure.
5. When a fish is hooked, it cannot get off until you unhook it. even the best hooks and the best lures today, a fish still occasionaly shakes off.

So is such a lure coming soon? or ever?

or what if there might soon be multiple perfect lures, but only for select species of fish. That is, all the requirements apply, except for number 1. Maybe a perfect bass lure, or a perfect bluegill lure.

Or what if the perfection lies in the whole fishing outfit? as in to achieve all of these requirements, you must have the perfect rod, reel, line, lure, waders, boat, etc. would this system of perfection in fishing seem more tangible and more likely to come?

maybe the perfection lies in how YOU behave. Maybe you can take an ordinary imperfect lure and through stealth, excellent casts, and a perfect retrieve, you can achieve all the elements of the perfect fishing lure.



so think about these aspects the next time you make or buy a lure, "how close or far is this from a perfect lure?" "or could i fish this in such a way to achieve at least some aspects of a perfect lure?"


interested to hear youre thoughts on this.
-Ryan