Nice day. Fished 4 hrs only had 5 keepers. Fish are fat. Lakes low. Kept 2 over 14".
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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
I like it when the fish hammer it. The light bite is much tougher to detect. I doubt it's you rig that's the problem as most trollers use some form of the C and C rig, the bottom bouncer (Kentucky Rig), or all forms double drop rigs. What rods are you using? Sounds like you're experienced with trolling, but if they swallowed it deep and you didn't see the bite, Id think either the rod tip was too stiff, or you weren't paying attention to them. You did say that you didn't Feel it, were you strolling? That's what we call it when you're holding two rods in your hands while trolling.
It's one of three things.
1. Too much weight. (we go lighter at this time of year except in the wind)
2. Too small hook (we had this problem when we used #4)
3. BRM's answer.
I choose number 3. [emoji12]Quote:
Originally Posted by RCC
You ain't got as much experience catching 8 inch slabs as I have. I have my equipment tuned for a small fish bite. Anyone can see the bite on them 2ft long Mississippi hawgs. :biggrinQuote:
Originally Posted by BigRiverMarine
It was a beautiful afternoon to go fishing on Clear Lake. The weather was great and it was a perfect Valentines Day. I had a good time even though I didn't catch any fish. Teresa.
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Those are some nice ones.
Those look like some grilling or baking fillets!
Glad to hear that's unusual. Rods in driftmasters but I keep my hand on the t bar. Normally feel the thump. Probably just us. Between the gulls and the bald eagle fishing and all the boats running up and down the little lake we were probably not paying attention. We do use cheap rods and zebco 202 s, but we normally catch a few fish. First nice day on the water. Nice sunset. Probably just us. I ll try it again when the ice melts. Sorry we are fair weather fisherman. LoL.
i would keep an eye on the line more than the rod tips , ive seen times when the fish wil take the line off to the side or in an unusual direction and never move the tip, 2 1/2 lbrs !
Most of the time and especially in cold water if it's a big fish like Greg said the pole might never move at first watch YOUR LINE they will move to the side or easy it down and just hold a few seconds then spit it out and most of your real hard bites will be your smaller crappie or a trash fish !!!
What kind of rod/pole works best for this application.Quote:
Originally Posted by jtresn
There is several good poles out there !!! The B N M 's BGJP in 16 ft is one of best for just spiderring and seeing a lite bite however if your going to power troll or pull crank baits and only could have one set of poles I would use the B N M PRO STAFF IN 16FT.!!!!!!
We use 12 ft rods. 18 ft boat. 16 ft rod is too long. Wife can't handle 16 footers either.
Do you use a colored line? I have trouble seeing clear line sometimes.
We use hi-vis yellow braid and I also use clear flourcent .they also have the poles in 14 ft they are light weight anyone can handle these and I will bet your catch will improve !!!
jtresn is right. The 16's are a handful for most women. I've got 4 16's and 4 14's for Carol. When I'm by myself, I alternate lengths. As of late, they have stayed in the transport racks. I just use monofilament line in whatever brand is on sale.