Three Totally Weird Fishing Lures That Work

We’ve all seen strange things happen on the water: species that have no business being where you are, fish that don’t bite when they ought to, and in at least one case, discovering a fish with a suction cup so strong it can lift rocks 20 times its size. When it comes to abject weirdness, there’s plenty to go around in the aquatic animal kingdom. What’s even stranger, however, is some of the fishing lures we anglers use to temp those fish into biting. And at times, weird works wonders. Check out these three bizarre lures that happen to be highly effective.

Do fish like to eat bats? We’re not sure – but they do try to eat the Savage Gear 3D Bat.

1. The Savage Gear 3D Bat – This oddity hit the market just last year, following on the heels of another rather strange introduction from Savage Gear, the 3D Suicide Duck. We can’t say if fish think this thing is actually a bat as it skitters across the surface of the water, nor can we say if the fish even care. Do fish eat bats in the first place? Bottom line: we don’t care. They do find the lure’s action attractive, which means it rates a place in the tacklebox – all weirdness aside.
2. The Hot Dog – This isn’t a fishing lure you’ll ever find on the tackleshop shelf, but we promise you’ll have no problem locating them in the meat isles of your local grocery store. Yes, we’re talking about regular old standard-issue hot dogs. Tie a five-inch two-hook trailer rig onto the end of your line, and slide the front hook through the front of the doggie. Then take a (gentle) cast, and retrieve with a walk-the-dog motion. You’ll quickly discover that hot dogs give a great zig-zagging action. Even better, they’re soft enough that the fish can chomp right through them so they usually find that trailer hook without a problem. Be sure to bring a fresh pack, though, because they’re usually trashed after a hit or two.
3. The Zombait Robotic Fishing Lure – Usually it’s zombies who are looking to eat the live creatures, but turnabout is fair play. In this case, you can turn a dead baitfish into a life-like zombie fish by inserting a Zombait in through the fish’s mouth. The Zombait then wiggles back and forth, creating a surprisingly life-like swimming motion. Yes, we know this sounds weird (you can watch a video of the Zombiat in action,) but then again, if it catches fish, who cares?!