1 - Which lure for which use ?
- Flow stick
The sinking stick is the lure par excellence for the asp. It is brought back as fast as possible, rod down, without animation. The design of the lure as well as the movements of the rods linked to the fact of bringing back quickly are more than enough to give life to the lure. The most important thing, as surprising as it may seem, is the speed, the swimming comes second.
- Surface stick
Two animations are possible with the surface stick. You can do a classic walking the dog which is good when the asps are hunting. Otherwise, if the model tolerates it, you can bring it back like a sinking stick, which will give it a messy swim.
The jerkbait minnow have my preference because they are good in all situations. Indeed, the very good models can be used in any current without stalling. The suspending and sinking models are to be preferred to keep good performance despite the current.
- Metal jigs
To reach remote areas that you can not reach otherwise, the metal jig has no equal. It can be reeled in like a sinking stick or more gently. In this case, it will be necessary to accompany the recovery of some blows of canes to give him life.
2 - The size
Concerning the asp, the adage that says big lure = big fish is not really applicable. In my opinion, to trigger very big fish you should concentrate on very fast animations, rather than trying to increase the size of the lures. Between June and mid-August, you should prefer lures of 6 to 10 cm. Then, until the first cold weather, you can use larger lures, ranging from 9 to 12 cm. This corresponds to the size of the prey according to the season. To adjust the best, it is necessary to take the time to look at the schools of bleak or other small fish in edge, they are a good information concerning the preys of the moment which it is necessary to imitate.
3 - The color
The color is a crucial point to fish the asp. Changing it can be the determining point to trigger attacks. By clear water, it is necessary to privilege the natural colors as the white, transparent, bleak or ayu, colors as close as possible to those of the small fishes on which the asps feed. To this, I would add the trout color because yes, I don't know for what reason, but asps like this color! By tinted water, it is better to go for colors such as: fluorescent yellow, tiger mat, white and gold.
4 - Weaponization of lures
For asps, I recommend using single hooks on swimming fish, especially those intended for a very fast retrieve. In this case, the asp often gobbles the lure from behind and the tail hook is difficult to access. Moreover, even if it has an exclusively piscivorous diet, the asp is a cyprinid and is close to a chub or a bream, so it remains fragile like these species.
5 - Be original
To find these lures or similar, it is often in the sea fishing or trout department that you will have to look to find things adapted to this particular fishing. Don't hesitate to go and have a look in these departments to try new things and make the difference at the water's edge.
