Winter reading - read at your own risk LOL

[SenkoSam]

The following is based on having caught fish on most lure types ever made as well as on those of my own design. I'm referring to the thousands of fish that have confirmed once and for all that lure action and presentation are most important followed by color.
First off, I stand firm when it comes to these statements about lures in general:
1. natural my ass!
Over the decades, we've seen a million examples of lures that don't look nor move naturally (i.e. like an animal) but yet are some of the best lures ever cast. Granted, coincidences do exist, but the statement frees the angler from having to choose a lure based on how natural it is.

3. lure color always matters. Really?
When referring to color, hue and color brightness describe a color. But where do opacity, sparkle, flash, reflectivity (mirror finishes), and a lure's surface texture come in? In fact, the answer to 'what color did you use', is so vague as to be useless. Better yet, it demonstrates that color is
1. a personal choice - not a fish's choice - proven when:
2. many colors of the same lure catch fish on the same outing which is true for most lures. Granted, even I prefer certain colors depending on the lure, but still, there is no scientific evidence to suggest they are the best color(s) on certain days or seasonally.  That color confidence is based on experience is a valid enough reason to stay with certain colors for certain lures.

When it comes to lure action-by-design, many classic lure actions are set in stone as far as getting fish to react to lures. Basically that's what we're all after - a fish's reaction-by-provocation. What are some classic lure actions you ask?
Here are a few that are still fish catchers so many years after they were first discovered:
1. pop-goes-the popper
I first caught bass on poppers in the 70's. The way the concave surface of the popper pushes water is unique and provocative as hell! I work a popper in a way that is unnatural and rhythmic, same for the next classic action:

2. the Zara Spook waddles & splashes water in all directions on the surface. But guess what, other than splashing water, various soft plastic lure shapes are capable of performing the same side-to-side waddle at any depth.

3. A spinnerbait not only flashes, but vibrates. The larger the blade, the more the skirt flutters and pulsates. The Beetle Spin is a type of spinnerbait but the lure produces its own vibration ie. a curl tail grub. Straight tail lures get some vibration from the spinning vibrating blade.

4. the wacky-rig Senko was a genius design that made GY rich! The action is nothing more than a worm with tapered ends, hooked in the middle, that twitches & flutters on the drop. My hand-made mini-sticks do the same thing.

5. Have you caught fish on suspending jerk baits where the action imparted by the rod tip Causes the dart & pause/ dart & pause? The Kut Tail Worm by GY does the same thing and generates even more strikes when jerked with the rod tip. I usually rig it on a very light jighead.

These are just a few of the many classic lure actions that have caught millions of fish over the years proving once again: LURE ACTION MATTERS - PERIOD! Lure design factors that affect lure action are things such as diameter, total length, blade type and size, crankbait bill width and length, overall lure shape as compared to others, weight (bullet or jig), hook placement, type and speed of retrieve, etc., etc.

Funny though, a newbie reading the above may be overwhelmed by the opinion-based information, but in general it's easy to understand once one catches fish on different lures with different actions - many that are classics. In fact, just a few of the lures mentioned will catch fish a majority of the time - no lie!

Photos of various design examples and their actions are included.

[Kal-Kevin]

I agree with what you're saying, I find colors outside the norm work the best when you believe it will catch fish. 

[SenkoSam]

when you believe it will catch fish.

That's key in learning about the various lures that can consistently catch fish! Once you catch fish on the lure, it's always in the tacklebox. In my case I own far too many lures and not enough days in my life to catch fish on most of them.