A while back, a reader wrote asking why trolling lures were so expensive and, as an example, he gave me a couple of links to one of those
"HIP" fishing outfitters with silly expensive lures...
Now, as someone who makes lures and flies myself, I realize that there is both labor and materials involved in the making of such things, but to be perfectly honest, I think a lot of those high-priced lures are based on the concept that since it's a known fact that suckers are born every day, some folks might just put a silly price on it and get lucky. In other words, you can avoid the silly expensive lure bling.
So what works?
For around $7 there are any number of rigged squid lures that catch fish. In this case the lure is a 7-Strand Tuna Clone... Offhand, I expect that about 25% of the fish I've caught trolling have been on just this sort of lure.
Still in the realm of squid inspired lures, this $6 Hoo Lili has a concave head which gives it some action and a bubble stream at speeds over about five knots so it's a lure you want to bring out and use when you're not ghosting along...
Cedar plugs, for around $11, are the ultimate minimalist lure as there is hardly anything to them but a bit of wood with a big hook on one end and some lead on the other... Sort of the anti-bling lure if you will. That said, they do catch fish and most of the big tuna I've landed have been because I was using one of these. When I was a kid growing up on Catalina this was the big tuna go to lure and for me it still is.
This selection is pretty much the three lures that I'd suggest anyone on a sailboat start with. Add a handline and you're all set.
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