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We finally got some winter and got 12 inches of snow last night.
There will be some happy snowmobilers and cross country skiers this week.
Actually it has been a prefect winter with a cold snap making 18 inches of clear blue ice on the lakes and now some snow cover.
I haven't been out the past couple of weeks, due to some personal business, and a cold. Doing any good?
I was out one afternoon before the storm hit testing some home ties. I did C & R two northerns one went 16 and the other 26. One 12 inch bass, five small gills and a bunch of perch the best going 10 inches. The bite is still lite and a spring is a must. With the exception of the northerns who hammered the lures.Quote:
Originally Posted by no1son
<BTW> The EC inline drag handled the northerns quite well with 4 # line.
I have been experimenting with a spring, the titanium one from Frabill. I am having some problem controlling my presentation with that. I cannot get a crisp enough jigging action to suit me. Any suggestions? Is is possible that I am using to soft a rod with my spring? I am having some difficulty getting a good solid stop for my pauses.
BTW the pike we took that I wrote about earlier, one of them hit pretty hard, but the other was as soft a pickup as any crappie. We normally get that kind of soft take from such bass as show up, too. The most positive takes we have gotten so far this winter have been a few perch and a couple of sunnies who really hammered the jig, but turned out to be dinks when we got them to the hole.
We have been finding fish in the holes, but not being able to convince them to take or finish off a chase, when we can even get one. Perhaps that is from our very light snow cover. They are almost universally acting really nervous. Next week we will be out trying again and several times if at all possible.
Sorry for the late reply as I just got back from a trip to Winnie.Quote:
Originally Posted by no1son
If you are using a pounding presentation then a spring will give you too much bounce. If I am pounding I remove the spring.
With the spring I use a long drop,pause presentation; more of a subtle presentation. The lure is motionless when the bite happens. I either lift the rod then allow the lure to drop or grab the line between the reel and first guide and pull on the line. This allows me to raise the lure up to six feet. The natural drop of the lure triggers the bite.
The lures I use are home ties that imitate some type of terrestrial or fry. I have found that this type of presentation works well when the fish are in a neutral mode, which is the majority of the time, and a spring is require to detect the lite bite.
All my winter rods are now fitted with a spring carrier.
The "long drop" is very effective, I just haven't used it much with spring bobbers. So here I am forgetting my summer lessons! It just continues to amaze me how much winter and summer jigging presentations work so much alike across the different seasons. We do very well with winter presentations in open water, and then I forget to apply that experience back onto hard water.
Do you work a slower drop or a faster one generally? In the past a faster one has worked best for us on the ice, but this year we are not getting the normal number of greeters with it. In summer I generally do best with the lightest jig I have that will sink quickly on an open bail. With neutral fish that has always required a fine line or I don't get a controllable settle. I haven't really worked out a proper backreel with the in-line I have that has no free spool.
Thanks for the reminder.
The lakes we are on are way down this winter, and the breaks the fish are using are different and seem to be somewhat uncomfortable to them. Or perhaps just too exposed, or something. They are there in the bottom of the holes once we get the holes set right, but seem to be reluctant to come up out into the open as much as we have seen in the past. It seems to me that we are seeing more predator patrol than we have in the past, too.
My winter presentation is very similar to my summer presentation. During the summer I use a 10 foot spinning rod and a fixed balanced bobber. I use a pull drop retrieve which allows for a natural lure drop.Quote:
Originally Posted by no1son
I use lite lures 1/32 to 1/80 once with a hook size from 8 to 12. The small size allow for a slow natural drop. Many times the inactive fish will rise up and look at the the lure for a long period before biting.(Sniffers) If this is the case generally it is important not to move the lure. It seems that a very slight movement spooks the fish. I will rest the rod on my knee to eliminate any movement and watch the spring for a very lite twitch.
With the spring system I use it is very easy to change the spring to match the load of the lure.
I am one of the owners of Bite Master, we have been testing our new Decoy Crib this year and it has been working excellent for Crappies and Sun Fish. We also attract a few Northern's with the crib but that could be from all of the Pan fish also. We have been selling our Angling decoys for 4 years now and they have been working great, we can attract and hold fish by you but it is up to you to make them bite. We are located in Dassel and Prior Lake MN. Check out our website if you are interested. We also have a Face book page and You-Tube videos. Home | Bite Master