03-06-2006, 05:46 PM
Lure eyes in focus Some anglers swear that the eyes on baits make a difference; some
think they don't matter. Here are both sides of an interesting debate By Darl Black BASSMASTER Magazine, February 2006
[li]Editor's note: This article is from the February 2006 issue of BASSMASTER Magazine. For additional features. (deleted link)
![[Image: P2v_BMM_Feb06_LureEyes1.jpg]](http://espn.go.com/winnercomm/outdoors/bassmaster/i/P2v_BMM_Feb06_LureEyes1.jpg)
This Yo-Zuri Live crankbait features holographic eyes, the newest generation of peepers for artificial baits.
"Always focus on the eye." This universal canon of photography applies when taking pictures of people, animals, birds, insects and fish. It was a principle reinforced to me decades ago by one of my photography mentors, Ed Gray.
If the eye of a subject is in sharp focus, viewers tend to accept the photograph even if the other parts of the subject may not be as sharp. Gray — a dedicated angler as well as photographer — stressed the importance of eyes, time and time again, not only in photography but in fishing, as well.
"Just as viewers focus on an eye in a photograph, predators focus on the eye of prey," said Gray. During the late 1940s and early '50s, the double-dab eyes he put on his handcrafted hair-and-feather jigs were considered an unnecessary frill by contemporary anglers. But Gray refused to fish any bait — even a jig — that did not sport eyes, which he believed breathed life into inanimate lures.
According to Jim Duckworth, an antique lure collector and one of Tennessee's foremost bass guides, the recent push for realistic eyes in American manufactured baits started with the influx of Japanese-crafted artificials into the U.S. market during the 1990s.
"Early American lures from the late 1800s often did not have eyes, and if they did, it was simply a small black dot," Duckworth explains. "Then around 1900, lure makers began putting glass eyes in lures. When the Great Depression hit in the 1930s, lure sales sagged, and manufacturers went back to economical painted tack eyes. Eventually, hard baits began featuring a separate iris and pupil painted in contrasting colors."
By the mid 1990s, greater attention to lure details brought reflective, holographic and 3-dimensional eyes into prominence. Eyes have become a selling point for certain lure lines, such as Berkley's Realistix, Bass Pro Shops' Lazer Eye hard baits, Cabela's Livin' Eye jigheads and soft plastic bodies, and Yo-Zuri Live Bait series, just to name a few.
"As an angler, I believe eyes on lures are important," states Duckworth. "An eye contributes to the lifelike illusion of a lure, particularly in clear water. The color of an eye may also be important, especially if it's a triggering color such as red.
"Early on, Matzuo emphasized realistic eyes on their jerkbaits, crankbaits and spinnerbaits. I believe attention to eye detail is a key factor in the success I have with these baits," concludes Duckworth.
![[Image: P2v_BMM_Feb06_LureEyes2.jpg]](http://espn.go.com/winnercomm/outdoors/bassmaster/i/P2v_BMM_Feb06_LureEyes2.jpg)
Although cranks feature a variety of eye colors and patterns, experts agree red should be the color of choice for baits that are paused in the water column.
Renowned Pickwick Lake smallmouth guide Roger Stegall is a firm believer in the effects of lure eyes, too. "In my experience, eyes on lures make a difference, particularly red eyes. To prove the point, I've alternated casts between a white crankbait with red eyes and white crankbait with black eyes. The red eye bait always outfishes the black eye crankbait.
However, professional bass angler Dave Lefebre of Pennsylvania expresses mixed feelings about lure eyes. "During my career I've enjoyed great success pitching jigs and trailers; however, few jigheads feature eyes. On the other hand, you expect eyes on crankbaits and jerkbaits to help complete the look of the bait, so I don't give it too much thought as long as it looks natural. When crankbaits are in motion, I don't think eyes matter. The exception: I never fish yellow eyes on a suspending plug. No preyfish has a yellow eye. I'll scrape off a yellow eye before I use the bait."
Bill Jarboe, a 34-year veteran lure engineer at PRADCO Fishing has seen a lot of trends come and go in the industry. "A unique-looking eye helps establish brand recognition, such as the unusual eye on Smithwick baits — but whether that eye helps catch more fish is a subjective call.
"The role of eyes in drawing strikes must be kept in context with the type of lure and presentation," continues Jarboe, who believes that eyes play a critical part in triggering strikes on suspending baits — both jerkbaits and crankbaits. "When you get a lure down in the zone and stop it dead, fish can get a good look at it. That lure had better be convincing."
Tom Seward is one of the nation's most respected hard bait lure designers and research fishermen. In the late '70s, he ran a series of tests with a 9-pound largemouth to determine a predator's recognition of eyes on prey. With a glass divider separating prey and predator, Seward presented portions of a shiner to the bass.
"The shiner would be presented tail first and then head first. The bass would hit the tank glass only when the eye of the shiner was presented, making the eye the only possible source for the response," explains Seward.
"Before anyone comes up with weird eye theories, it is best to remember that thousands and thousands of bass have been caught on lures where eyes are not visible when the lure is in motion," continues Seward. "If the eyes are to mean anything on lures in motion in terms of fish response, eyes have to be seen.
"If the eyes are to be part of an effective response package to a predator, they will be most effective on topwater baits, jerkbaits and other slow moving lures that linger long enough for fish to see clearly, and therefore allow them to respond to the eyes."
[#a50400][size 3]Eyes on plastic[/size][/#a50400]
![[Image: P2h_BMM_Feb06_LureEyes3.jpg]](http://espn.go.com/winnercomm/outdoors/bassmaster/i/P2h_BMM_Feb06_LureEyes3.jpg)
While the consensus indicates that lure eyes are most critical on slow moving lures, ironically some of the slowest moving baits — soft plastics — have lacked eyes since their inception. It has only been within the last decade that a small percentage of soft plastic critters have sprouted defined eyes of contrasting colors. The most notable addition comes from Berkley. A staple for just about all fishermen, PowerBait now has even more curb appeal for bass with the addition of 3-D eyes in the Realistix line. Anglers can look for the following baits in the Realistix series: Sinking Minnow, Jerk Shad, Power Craw, Kicker Frog, Power Minnow, Power Pogy and Minnow Grub.[/li]
[signature]
think they don't matter. Here are both sides of an interesting debate By Darl Black BASSMASTER Magazine, February 2006
[li]Editor's note: This article is from the February 2006 issue of BASSMASTER Magazine. For additional features. (deleted link)
This Yo-Zuri Live crankbait features holographic eyes, the newest generation of peepers for artificial baits. "Always focus on the eye." This universal canon of photography applies when taking pictures of people, animals, birds, insects and fish. It was a principle reinforced to me decades ago by one of my photography mentors, Ed Gray.
If the eye of a subject is in sharp focus, viewers tend to accept the photograph even if the other parts of the subject may not be as sharp. Gray — a dedicated angler as well as photographer — stressed the importance of eyes, time and time again, not only in photography but in fishing, as well.
"Just as viewers focus on an eye in a photograph, predators focus on the eye of prey," said Gray. During the late 1940s and early '50s, the double-dab eyes he put on his handcrafted hair-and-feather jigs were considered an unnecessary frill by contemporary anglers. But Gray refused to fish any bait — even a jig — that did not sport eyes, which he believed breathed life into inanimate lures.
According to Jim Duckworth, an antique lure collector and one of Tennessee's foremost bass guides, the recent push for realistic eyes in American manufactured baits started with the influx of Japanese-crafted artificials into the U.S. market during the 1990s.
"Early American lures from the late 1800s often did not have eyes, and if they did, it was simply a small black dot," Duckworth explains. "Then around 1900, lure makers began putting glass eyes in lures. When the Great Depression hit in the 1930s, lure sales sagged, and manufacturers went back to economical painted tack eyes. Eventually, hard baits began featuring a separate iris and pupil painted in contrasting colors."
By the mid 1990s, greater attention to lure details brought reflective, holographic and 3-dimensional eyes into prominence. Eyes have become a selling point for certain lure lines, such as Berkley's Realistix, Bass Pro Shops' Lazer Eye hard baits, Cabela's Livin' Eye jigheads and soft plastic bodies, and Yo-Zuri Live Bait series, just to name a few.
"As an angler, I believe eyes on lures are important," states Duckworth. "An eye contributes to the lifelike illusion of a lure, particularly in clear water. The color of an eye may also be important, especially if it's a triggering color such as red.
"Early on, Matzuo emphasized realistic eyes on their jerkbaits, crankbaits and spinnerbaits. I believe attention to eye detail is a key factor in the success I have with these baits," concludes Duckworth.
Although cranks feature a variety of eye colors and patterns, experts agree red should be the color of choice for baits that are paused in the water column. Renowned Pickwick Lake smallmouth guide Roger Stegall is a firm believer in the effects of lure eyes, too. "In my experience, eyes on lures make a difference, particularly red eyes. To prove the point, I've alternated casts between a white crankbait with red eyes and white crankbait with black eyes. The red eye bait always outfishes the black eye crankbait.
However, professional bass angler Dave Lefebre of Pennsylvania expresses mixed feelings about lure eyes. "During my career I've enjoyed great success pitching jigs and trailers; however, few jigheads feature eyes. On the other hand, you expect eyes on crankbaits and jerkbaits to help complete the look of the bait, so I don't give it too much thought as long as it looks natural. When crankbaits are in motion, I don't think eyes matter. The exception: I never fish yellow eyes on a suspending plug. No preyfish has a yellow eye. I'll scrape off a yellow eye before I use the bait."
Bill Jarboe, a 34-year veteran lure engineer at PRADCO Fishing has seen a lot of trends come and go in the industry. "A unique-looking eye helps establish brand recognition, such as the unusual eye on Smithwick baits — but whether that eye helps catch more fish is a subjective call.
"The role of eyes in drawing strikes must be kept in context with the type of lure and presentation," continues Jarboe, who believes that eyes play a critical part in triggering strikes on suspending baits — both jerkbaits and crankbaits. "When you get a lure down in the zone and stop it dead, fish can get a good look at it. That lure had better be convincing."
Tom Seward is one of the nation's most respected hard bait lure designers and research fishermen. In the late '70s, he ran a series of tests with a 9-pound largemouth to determine a predator's recognition of eyes on prey. With a glass divider separating prey and predator, Seward presented portions of a shiner to the bass.
"The shiner would be presented tail first and then head first. The bass would hit the tank glass only when the eye of the shiner was presented, making the eye the only possible source for the response," explains Seward.
"Before anyone comes up with weird eye theories, it is best to remember that thousands and thousands of bass have been caught on lures where eyes are not visible when the lure is in motion," continues Seward. "If the eyes are to mean anything on lures in motion in terms of fish response, eyes have to be seen.
"If the eyes are to be part of an effective response package to a predator, they will be most effective on topwater baits, jerkbaits and other slow moving lures that linger long enough for fish to see clearly, and therefore allow them to respond to the eyes."
[#a50400][size 3]Eyes on plastic[/size][/#a50400]
While the consensus indicates that lure eyes are most critical on slow moving lures, ironically some of the slowest moving baits — soft plastics — have lacked eyes since their inception. It has only been within the last decade that a small percentage of soft plastic critters have sprouted defined eyes of contrasting colors. The most notable addition comes from Berkley. A staple for just about all fishermen, PowerBait now has even more curb appeal for bass with the addition of 3-D eyes in the Realistix line. Anglers can look for the following baits in the Realistix series: Sinking Minnow, Jerk Shad, Power Craw, Kicker Frog, Power Minnow, Power Pogy and Minnow Grub.[/li]
[signature]
