Speaking of Spring
I would like to thank everybody that responded to the braided line question. I thought I would get more specific uses. I use braid more and more each year. I was afraid of using braid in clear water. I know one tourney that was won on Maranacook using braid. I did get a chuckle out of the person that broke a reel. Mike, you didn’t blame the line did you? Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
All bass fishermen have a favorite style of fishing. The one they are most comfortable with. The only problem with this is that I don’t know of one way that will always win a tournament. The person that can make himself become proficient in several other methods will do much better across the board rather than once in awhile. There are days when you can use a Spinnerbait in a bunch of different presentations. Jigs are the same way. How many of you feel comfortable swimming a jig for 8 hours? What do you put on, for jig trailer, when you swim it? I use a twintail of some sort, some of the time. I have several that I choose from. Now that you have picked out a trailer, why and when would you use it? When the water is in thefifties, I start with my twin tails. I cut off the front of the twin tail, and start cutting off more as it gets warmer. The reason for this is simple. The farther back into the skirt the twin tails get, the more the skirts will flair. It will actually pulse with the beat of the tails. I don’t suppose anybody would try this on a buzzbait.I watched a woman, which is a Pro; she was telling how to swim a jig. She stated that you use a grub and always put the tail down. What she didn’t say was that in warm water you always put the tail down. Here in Maine in April you have to cut off some of the tail and turn it up, just to get strikes. The one thing I haven’t experimented with is if it matters at what angle you cut them off.
Here is an idea that will create some laughter. The image alone, of what a fisher man would look like trying this, is already making me chuckle. I was fishing a tournament early in the year. You know, the ice was building on the eyes of the rods. You were thinking about throwing something that would take a long time to retrieve, so you could warm up your hand a little. (that is just around the corner)I had been throwing a jig for many hours. I was out of shape, standing at sportsmen’s shows all winter. I started using both hands to real in the jig. Picture this; both hands were making revolutions around each other. Remember; practice this alone in a desolate cove. Well; The rod got in a slight rocking action. That was all it took. I have used this application on many occasions. Not just in the Spring. I can’t tell you what exactly this makes the jig do, but it works.
Speaking of Spring; I fished a tournament last year. The males were up and the females hadn’t started up yet. The male smallies were plentiful. I started on a hump I had rode over on the way out of a good shore line. I put on a red Gammy trailer hook. I like the hookup percentage on the open hook. Wacky styled a white senko type and twitched it fast 5 or 6 times with a short pause. The hump was smaller than I thought. It was only about twice the size of my boat. I caught 15 smallies in about 45 minutes. My partner using a jig didn’t catch a fish, on that hump.
I have noticed an item in Basspro that has peaked my interest. With swimbaits being one of the new crazes, I started looking for weighted hooks. I wanted different sizes to get different depths at the same speed. This a very simple idea, Basspro has weights that can be attached directly to the hook. They come in different sizes. When you compare them to the price of the weighted hooks, you can get a large variety of sizes for a fraction of the cost. Here is a list of possible uses; flukes, tubes, grubs, craws, worms and swimbaits. Lets face it, the list is endless. You are on the fish, throwing a craw, the wind comes up, you crimp on a weight and you’re back in business. That is my Achilles heel. I hate to change when I am in a tournament. I don’t mind picking up another rod. My partner hates running the trolling motor. When the wind picks up and it’s time to retie, I have to make that choice. Lose ground or get blown to shore or just keep fishing what I have been. Those weights will make it a simple and quick change.
I spend a lot of time in the winter watching fishing shows. I pick apart what is said on those shows. I try to watch how they are fishing something rather than what. I try to find a comparison to specific situations that I have come across. The best info so far has come from Rick Clunn. He talked once about the pattern for the day. He stated that if you figure out what the pattern for the day, you then have to figure out whether or not it is for one fish or many. I had a day on Pocomoonshine that the pattern was two pencil reeds, a foot or two away from all the other weeds. I caught 5 fish all over 3 lbs. That was prefishing of course. I was using a jig head and a green pumpkin grub. I went to Alabama and was fishing a tournament with my friend Jack Tibbs. He owns Strikezone Lures. He was certain that his spinnerbaits were going to be the ticket. The pattern of that day was a clump of flat reeds that was on the outside edge of the shoreline. You just can’t tell somebody that lives on the Lake that he isn’t right, or make that suggestion that comes from a Mainer. He did listen, he just couldn’t convince himself that he should change. He has a sales manager that fished that day. Jack asked him if they had found a pattern that day. He repeated what I had said word for word. Saying I told you so didn’t have any fun in it after the tournament was over. It also didn’t help that I dropped a seven pounder off from one of those clumps.
Copolymers, florocarbons, and mono lines are the next question that I hope to get some responses. The only time I use mono is for crankbaits and top water. I usually only use them in the spring. I can’t afford all the different types of crank baits for the rest of the year. I have tried a few, but when out of a dozen only one will work great it is hard to give up what you believe in. I do want to make sure everybody knows that fluorocarbon line has only 30% less stretch than mono.
