2/15 clearlake

Nice day. Fished 4 hrs only had 5 keepers. Fish are fat. Lakes low. Kept 2 over 14".

Tried the capps and coleman rigs. Every fish we caught on the bottom hook was hooked really deep. Is that normal? The slack on the bottom leader seemed to keep us from feeling the fish. That would be bad on a lake with a minimum length limit or a lake like nimrod where you catch a lot of small fish. I don't like using the pliers on half the fish I catch. Anyone else have trouble deep hooking the fish on the capps and coleman rig? I think Im going to go back to Kentucky rig, or drop shotting.

Kentucky rig ? Would you care to explain how that is, as I've never heard of it.

Kentucky rig is a hook tied into a loop knot several inches above a weight.
The main line is run through the eye of the hook and the hook is tied into the loop.
Below that is a bell sinker or similar weight.

Yes we usually tie a 1/2 to 1 oz bell sinker on the bottom, come 12" and tie a 4 " loop in the line, come up 24" and tie another loop in the line. wrap the loops 5 wraps before you cinch them up so they don't slip. when we get ready to fish we slip the loops through the hook eyes and drop the hook through the loop. remove the hooks the same way for traveling. This puts both hooks between the sinker and the rod, we seem to feel and see the bites a lot better. a lot of time we drag the sinker on the bottom, hooks stay off the bottom. when we hang up most times its just the sinker, back up and they come off the brush.

Good report , have not fished Clear Lake since I was a kid when my dad's aunt and uncle ran the bait shop in the 1960's !

if they are swallowing it that just means they were wanting it and feeding aggressively , what kind of rods do you fish with, may need more sensitive rods to see the bite better, most everyone that spider riggs uses the capps coleman rig or some version of it, deep hooked fish is not the norm

Awesome job. I have fished the crap outa that lake in the previous 3 years. I have yet to get a nice box from there quality wise. Would always catch 60-100 8-9inch fish. Great to hear there are some bigger fish in there!

I am with Greg !! For sum reason you are not picking up the bite quick enough I have used c and c rigs or a similar rig for many years and have not had that kind of problem often and when I do its because I didn't see the bite quick enough because I was not paying attention !!!!!!

Greg's take is spot on as far as my experience ... Most hook ups are not that deep unless u run into real agressive bite. Used it all year last yr and was very satisfied