Selecting hard bodied lures requires some knowledge from the angler regarding what it will be used for and where?
Example whilst targeting bream in dirty water, a black and gold or any dark lure is best suited due to it creating a silhouette in the water column, lures with a rattle can also be used to enhance your chances of it being seen or detected by Bream.
Bream prefer lures that swim as close to the river floor, surface or structure as possible, there fore select a hard body lure to suit the depth you are fishing the area.
The required swimming speed of lures is also crucial to the lure that is trolled. This may be marked on the lure itself or the box it was purchased in.
Using a hard body lure with a 3 meter diving depth in an area where the water is only 1 - 1.5 meters deep would cause the lure to constantly snag on any rough bottom structure present and would not be practical & may cost you by having to break your lure off to retrieve your line.
It can be beneficial in other areas due to the lure kicking up sand or mud by using lures with diving capabilities slightly deeper than the waters depth this is a very popular technique for targeting bream with competition anglers due to the lure kicking up the sand or mud.
Size of your lure choice is also a key factor when selecting any lure and trying to replicate the exact size, profile and color of the bait species in the area they are feeding on will increase your chances considerably on your hook up rate, most lures on today’s market contain a series of stripes on them; this is designed to mimic fright stripes seen on bait fish during predatory situations.
The weight of the lure and how far it is able to be cast should also be taken into careful consideration as trying to cast a lightly weighted, hard bodied lure a long distance is quite difficult, so use the wind to your advantage when it arises & have the wind behind you.
The swimming depth of a hard bodied lure is generally determined by the size and angle of its bib. Example the larger and shallower the angle of the lure’s bib, the deeper it will then swim and of coarse vice versa.