Fishing: Pick-a-lure

Spoons/wobblers

Spoons and Wobblers share a common action — when retrieved they move side-to-side, and are meant to resemble a bait or forage fish. Their action and varying colors are an attraction to fish. They can be cast out and retrieved or trolled.

Spinners

Spinners are broken into parts — the eye, where the line is tied; the blade, which spins and gives the lure its action; the body that can be metal or plastic, and the hook, which is usually a treble hook that is often dressed with feathers or fur. When pulled through the water the flashing blade resembles a fleeing fish and attracts a strike.

Crankbait

This refers to lures designed to be cast and retrieved. They imitate all kinds of small forage fish, frogs, crayfish and even small rodents. Crankbait depth is determined by the length of the lip. Longer lips allow them to dive to different depths when retrieved. Within this family of lures are floating, suspending, sinking and diving models. Jerkbaits are a popular crankbait. Here, fishermen create the action by stop-and-go jerking on retrieval. Between jerks the lure rests, suspended enticingly before a hungry fish.

Jigs

Jigs are lures where the weight is attached to a hook. They are considered to be the most versatile of the lure family and can be fished at any depth. They can be fished with a variety of different bodies, including tubes, grubs and worms. They have no built-in action, so it's left to the fisherman to add it when retrieving. Jigging refers to a stop-and-go action achieved by lifting and then lowering the rod tip on the retrieve.

Plastic lures

There is a large selection of plastic lures, and they come in all sizes and shapes, including frogs, crayfish, salamanders, worms and other fish. They are intended to resemble every imaginable food source for fish and have a lifelike feel.

Dry flies

Dry flies are meant to stay on the surface and are patterned after terrestrial or aquatic insects that float. They are usually presented with a floating fly line. The secret is to deliver the fly in such as way as to give the impression of a natural drift, similar to that of a real insect that has fallen into the water.

Wet flies/nymphs

Wet flies and nymphs sink and are patterned to imitate hatching, aquatic insects, but are often designed to resemble worms, scuds, leeches and snails. They can be fish with any fly line — floating, sinking tip in rivers or full sinking in lakes — depending on where the fishing are holding. The action is usually drifting, but varies with whatever the pattern is intended to imitate.

Streamers