Your Subtitle text
Techniques
Dead-Sticking Chugger
Testing Scenario: Using a Sebile Splasher, I fished with two friends who are both highly skilled anglers. They used walkers and fished with a fast retrieve. We were targeting small schools of trout on Sabine Lake that would come up for a minute or two and feed on small shrimp along the Louisiana shoreline.
Results: My friends got far more strikes than I did but the average size on my fish was markedly bigger. I would throw the plug, let it sit, pop it twice, let it sit for 10 seconds and pop again. Most of the strikes came about halfway between my rest period so somewhere in the five second mark. The biggest fish I caught of the day was when I let it sit for somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 seconds after I worked the plug while I was tending to something else.
F.L.E.X. Notes: Most savvy anglers know that the bigger fish in any given species are typically not in much of a hurry to strike baitfish, at least not like their smaller, younger counterparts. I believe this comes from an innate genetically-programmed need to eat bigger bait that requires less calorie expenditure to hunt down. The chugging of the plug probably stirred the big fish's curiosity but did not appeal as much to the smaller trout that seemed to be attracted to quick movement. In underwater observations of largemouth bass I have noticed that big baitfish and big plugs will almost always draw in nearby lunker bass while smaller baits/lures sometimes repel them. In this case and in other field trials in the past, this dead-sticking technique has proven to be effective for targeting big trout although it does require almost inhuman patience.
Sinking Swim Bait
Success in hand from the F.L.E.X. experiment.
Introduction: There is something about big swimbaits that makes me want to throw it out, let it sink a few feet, pop it and let it sink more. Repeat process. I know that goes against the whole swimming part of the bait but after playing around with swimbaits for awhile I just had to test out this method.
Testing Scenario: I tested this one at super clear private lake that I have access to use. This is a huge blessing since the fish are highly pressured and I feel if I can get them to bite something here using it on fish on big water would be much easier. Plus, I can actually see what the lures/baits are doing and often how the fish react.
Results: I fished the Yum Money Minnow rigged with the new Sebile soft weight system, which I rigged with the weight forward so the Money Minnow would fall sort of head first. I pitched it against a brushpile I knew held fish and immediately had a few bass in the 2-3 pound class come up, take a look and leave. Shortly thereafter a five-pounder came up as I was slowly letting the lure sink and circled it and then disappeared. I pitched it back out, let it sit on the surface a second and then let it sink and the bass came up from the shadows, circled again and engulfed the lure.
F.L.E.X. Notes: F.L.E.X. is all about targeting big fish and eliminating small ones. I found in interesting the smaller bass here literally swam up and were curious but did not bother the huge swimbait. This type of reaction is the reason many of the top bass pros are relying on swimbaits in clearwater reservoirs like Lake Falcon and Amistad as the super realism of the lure and the size allow fish to get a good look and big bass a chance to strike. The sinking of the swimbait definitely got the reaction of not just the bass I caught but others. There is something programmed in fish to strike an injured fish and in this case it worked. I do not know if this will out produce a standard swimming action but it is something to consider if other methods are not getting the job done.
Thump-and-Wait Crappie
Introduction: A few years ago I had the pleasure of diving with the world's record blue catfish "Splash" at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center. While in the tank I got to hand feed a huge crappie (three pounder) and learned something unique about how they feed. When fishing on Sam Rayburn in 2009, we experienced crappie thumping hard and then no fish when you set the hook. I thought back to what I learned in the tank and went to test out my theory on the course of a couple of trips.
Testing Scenario: Targeting main lake brush on Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend reservoirs fishing with live shiners using ultralight spinning reels.
Results: The big crappie bit exactly they had during the previous year which means they thumped the shiner hard and then would not be there when you set the hook. So instead of setting the hook instantly, I would wait two seconds and then set the hook. My guide friend Roger Bacon suggested when they hit lightly to feed them line for a couple of seconds. The results were almost zero fish were caught with an instant hookset. Most of the hooksets after waiting a couple of seconds resulted in fish, many of which were bigger than average.
The author and "Splash" during the dive described here in 2005. Photo by Kriss Stephens.
F.LE.X. Notes: The experience in the tank was the crappie would swim up, blow a hard jet of water over the shiner (and my finger) and then wait about two seconds before engulfing it. I do not know if it was an action to stun their prey or test it out somehow but the big fish in the tank did it every time. By taking this knowledge and then applying it in an area where I knew some big crappie dwelled, I was able to catch a high proportion of good fish. Both large black and white crappie were caught using this technique. However, on both Rayburn and Toledo Bend the largest fish of the trips were whites and both caught using this method. The really big whites seem to bite like this frequently.
"Fluttering" Spoon
Introduction: The truth is catching Spanish mackerel is easy. Throw anything shiny in the water with a fast retrieve and these toothy fish will respond with supreme aggression. However, catching BIG Spanish mackerel is challenging, which is why I developed and tested this method that involves chunking a spoon into visibly feeding mackerel and letting it flutter down 5-10 seconds and then popping it up and down.
Testing Scenario: Over the course of summer 2010, using this method on three different occasions at the Sabine Jetties. I used both gold and silver spoons of several different brands. The Mepp's worked the best overall.
Results: This method works better than any I have used for Spanish mackerel. Each trip saw multiple fish caught between 22-24 inches while the average mackerel we catch using other method is somewhere around 16-18.
F.L.E.X. Notes: The big fish tend to be deeper than the small ones and are more cautious about what they hit just like most other predators. This is an easy method to employ that even kids can pick up quickly.
