Category Archives: How To Fish

Find the Birds, Find the Fish

For the Birds – Find the Birds, Find the Fish!

By Frank Sargeant, Editor
from The Fishing Wire

Searching for the birds may seem a roundabout way to go bass fishing, but from now through March, it’s a highly successful tactic on many lakes in the southern half of the nation.

Diving gulls

Diving gulls and leaping baits mean one thing—gamefish below!

An assortment of sea gulls migrate into this region each winter as cold drives them south, and many settle on the larger freshwater impoundments due to the large shad populations. The birds know how to take advantage of the feeding behavior of largemouths, white bass and stripers–they watch for striking fish from aloft, then swoop in and grab injured baits from the surface.

During a major flurry, they may form what some anglers call a “white tornado” of birds whirling over the school. Find one of these events and throw any sort of shad-imitating lure into the midst and it’s instant fish.

But even when there are only a few birds diving–or when there’s a flock sitting on the water–the birds are well worth checking out. Often they rest right above the school of bait, just waiting for the bass and other species to go to work and drive them to the top where they can get at them.

Anglers with sonar can ease up to areas where birds are resting and graph the depths below to see if there’s a large school of bait under them. If so, these spots are well worth fishing, because the birds don’t often hang around bait that does not have some predators close by to push them to the top now and then.

Two bass at a time

When bass are schooling tightly on bait under birds, it’s not uncommon to catch them two at a time on multiple-hook plugs.

Though topwater lures are usually not thought of as winter baits, they can be effective when fished around bass feeding on bait schools. Noisy lures like the One-Knocker Spook, Sexy Dawg and Pop-R can all be effective at times.

More often, though, sinking lures are a better choice, and suspending baits like the Rapala Shadow Rap can be ideal. Swimbaits–jig heads with long soft plastic swimmer tails, can also be effective, as are “rattlebaits” or lipless crankbaits.

And, if the fish are deep, heavy-weight lures like the Rapala Jigging Rap, the Hopkins Spoon and other lures that can be jigged vertically do the job.

The nice thing about finding fish under birds is that the bass may not be on the usual “community holes”, and so are more inclined to feed than those that see 30 or 40 lures a day.

Fishing around cormorants does not seem to work, it should be noted. Cormorants are able to dive below the surface and chase the bait like predatory fish, and this seems to run the gamefish off–maybe because the cormorants are not above latching on to smaller bass when they get the chance.

Fishing under gulls, however, is frequently productive–when nothing else is working, it’s often a great way to put fish in the boat.

How To Catch November Bass At Lake Juliette

We all yearn for a private lake where access is limited, the bass grow big and fat and there are no irritating pleasure boaters. That is a dream for almost all of us, but you can have most of those conditions at Lake Juliette. You can catch November bass at Lake Juliette.

Juliette is a 3000 acre Georgia Power Lake about 20 miles east of I-75 half-way between Atlanta and Macon. It is the cooling lake for Plant Scherer and built just for that purpose. It is on Rum Creek but the small flow from the creek does not keep it filled. Water is pumped from the Ocmulgee River to keep it full.

Fortunately, Georgia Power provides access to anglers and works with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to manage the lake. The water is very clear since there is little inflow and natural cover from standing timber to huge grass beds is abundant.

There is good access to the lake from two boat ramps but there is a 25 horsepower limit on motors. You can put your bass boat in and fish, but you can not crank your gas motor. The size of the lake makes it difficult to fish it with just a trolling motor but if you have access to a smaller boat the fishing can be fantastic. And the horsepower limit means no skiers, jet skis and other pleasure boats on the lake.

Jack “Zero” Ridgeway has lived in Griffin all his life and owns Zero’s Garage there. He fishes with two local bass clubs, but Juliette is one of his favorite lakes. He has a boat with a legal motor for Juliette and fishes it a lot. For several years he entered the monthly bass tournament on Juliette and did well in them.

“Bass at Juliette don’t have to move as far as they do on bigger lakes in the fall migration,” Jack said. They do follow the shad into the creeks and coves, but the lake’s smaller size means it is easier to fish many creeks without burning a lot of gas.

Most baits will catch November bass on Juliette, but Jack’s favorites all work well for him and keep the number of rods you need manageable. He will have a rattling bait like a half-ounce XCalibur One Knocker, a rattling, suspending Shad Rap, a DT 6 or Norman Middle N crankbait, and a Carolina rigged worm ready to cover where he fishes. He may also throw a spinnerbait a little.

The lake has a lot of four to six pound bass, with a good chance of a bigger fish, too. While Jack and I fished his November holes to check them out the last Sunday in September, the last monthly tournament was taking place. At weigh-in it took five bass weighing 19.97 pounds to win and that stringer included two over six pounds. The top six teams all had over 16.5 pounds and there were six bass over five pounds.

Jack’s best bass on Juliette weighed over seven pounds and he has landed over 40 six pound plus bass there since he started fishing the lake in 1988. In one pot tournament he had five weighing just over 20 pounds, and came in second that day. He often camps at Juliette and fishes it every month of the year. November is one of his best months.

We fished the following ten spots and fish were on most of them, even in late September. More and bigger fish are on them now and they will get better all month long.

1. N 33 01.940 – W 83 47.027 – Going up the lake from the Dames Ferry Ramp, Davis Cove is a big creek on the left, just downstream of the long shallow island where the lake narrows. Go back into the cove to the first small cove on the left bank and start on the upstream point.

This point has some clay and rocks on it and bass live back in here year round, but more move into it in the fall. Fish crankbaits, rattle baits and a Carolina rig as you go from this point and the next one toward the back of the creek. Then jump across to the rocky point on the other side and fish it. The cove channel runs down this bank.

The rocky point on the right going in is the upstream side of a small feeder creek and has a blue pole with the number 8 on the bank. Fish it and the point on the other side of the creek, too. Jack says he has caught four bass over six pounds off the rocky point, one of them the day after Thanksgiving. We caught several bass here.

2. N 33 02.637 – W 83 47.041 – Out on the main lake go to the upstream side out on the end of the long, shallow point coming off the island where the lake narrows. This point and the pocket upstream of the island is covered with hydrilla and there is a patch of standing timber out in the middle of the cove. All hold bass.

Jack says more eight pound plus bass have been caught in this area than anywhere else on the lake. Start out on the end of the point and work toward the bank on the upstream side of the island. Stay on the outside of the hydrilla and cast a rattling bait to the edge of the visible grass, ripping it free when it hits underwater grass.

The half ounce silver and black One Knocker is Zero’s favorite bait for this area. He will also cast a suspending natural shad Shad Rap to the grass, ripping it free when it hits grass, too. We caught several keepers here and saw the tournament winners fishing the same way while we were there.

When you get to the back of the cove ease out to the timber and cast your Carolina rig around it. There is an old grave yard near the timber and bass hold around the trees and the holes where the graves were dug up for removal when the lake was built.

3. N 33 03.025 – W 83 47.768 – Across the lake in the last pocket on the right before you get to the intake cove for the power plant holds bass. Go back into the pocket and you will see an old beaver lodge on the bank. Near the lodge the bank is steep and a ditch runs along the bank. Jack says he thinks it is an old silage trench.

Start just outside the beaver lodge with your boat out a fairly long cast from the bank. Cast a Carolina rigged worm to the bank. Jack likes a three quarters ounce sinker, three foot leader and a ruby red or red shad Old Monster or Mag 2 worm. Work the rig from the bank down the slope. Fish slowly and carefully. Jack says bass often just suck in the worm and hold it without moving, so it is hard to tell if you have hit grass or have a fish on.

4. N 33 02.873 – W 83 49.876 – Go upstream past the power plant and the cove with the dam in it for the settling pond on the right. As you enter the standing timber be careful to follow the marked channel. There is an open field on the right. Across from it you will see a clay point. It is the point that sticks out the most on that side upstream of Billy’s Island.
Go to this point, being careful as you idle through the timber when you leave the channel.

This is the downstream point of a small cove with an old pond in the middle of it. There is standing timber all around the cove but the middle is open where the old pond was located. Stop on the point and fish back into and around the cove.

Fish a crankbait and rattle bait around this cove. For crankbaits, a chartreuse splatter back or sexy shad color works well. Jack fishes both kinds of baits on eight pound test line and makes fairly long casts from the middle of the cove toward the bank as he fishes around it.

Jack says this is an excellent cold weather cove and there were schooling fish here the day we fished. We caught several keepers and Jack had a five pounder that hit his One Knocker, jumped twice then got his line around the trolling motor and broke off.

5. N 33 02.382 – W 83 49.909 – Go back downstream to the next big cove on the same side. It is behind Billy’s island and called Fletcher Cove on the map. Stay to the left going back into it. This arm splits into three fingers in the back.

Stop on the point between the finger to the right and the one straight ahead and fish it with all your baits. Fish from the point down the right bank into the middle finger. The bank is steep and the clay and scattered rocks hold bass. Down this bank in a small indention there is an old beaver lodge that holds bass. Fish around it carefully with your crankbait and Carolina rig.

6. N 33 02.747 – W 83 48.877 – Go back out to the main lake and head downstream. Past the next big creek on the right the main lake point is called Treasure Point and is across from the cove at the power plant. Stop on the downstream side of this big round point where it goes into the next big creek.

There is timber off this point. Keep your boat near it in about ten feet of water and cast to the bank. There is some clay bottom and scattered rock. Upstream of the end of the point a blowdown is in the water. Fish from the end of the point past the blowdown.

Jack fishes a crankbait here. Some wind blowing on the point helps make fish move onto it to feed. Since there is no current in Juliette Jack says it fishes like a big pond, with wind making a difference. Try to bump the bottom from two to ten feet deep.

7. N 33 01.936 – W 83 47.916 – Go downstream past the big creek and around the point. The next creek is Fleming Cove. Go into it and keep to the right arm all the way to the back where this side splits into two small arms.

Stop on the point between the two arms. There is an old bridge in the back of the right arm. The point has rocks on it so fish it with crankbait and Carolina rig. Sit out in deep water a moderate cast off the bank and fish water from the bank to at least ten feet deep.

Fish down the right bank past the point and you will see another beaver lodge. The bank and beaver lodge hold bass. Jack likes to fish around the lodges with a crankbait and Carolina rig, and can usually catch bass on them.

8. N 33 03.146 – W 83 46.542 – Go across the lake to the left bank going downstream. There is a big three arm bay, named Buzzard Bay on the map, just downstream of the power plant. Downstream of the bay two small islands sit off the bank back in the next big cove. There is lots of grass all around them.

The back island has a saddle between it and the point on the bank. There are rocks on the point and grass in the saddle. Start on the end of the island toward the bank and fish from it across the saddle to the bank point.

Jack fishes a crankbait and Carolina rig in this area, and will throw a spinnerbait around the grass in the saddle. He usually keeps his boat on the downstream side of the saddle and fishes across the points and saddle in that direction.

9. N 33 02.852 – W 83 46.413 – The next cove downstream of the islands splits into two arms and both them split, too. The downstream point of this cove is called Quail Head because of its shape. The point sticking out pointing toward the power plant is a good rocky point.

Fish your crankbaits around the rocks on the point, keeping your boat in 20 plus feet of water, not too far off the bank. Also cast a spinnerbait around the scattered grass on this point. Wind helps lot here.

10. N 33 02.542 – W 83 46.173 – Go around Quail Head point to the downstream side. There is a shallow hump off the bank on the downstream side and behind it a point sticks out toward the dam. Stop out in ten feet of water off this point.

Fish the point with crankbait and rattlebait then work into the pocket on the downstream side. The left bank going into the pocket is good. There is 30 feet of water not far off this point and bank and Jack says sometime during the day fish will move into the shallows to feed, so it is worth hitting several times during the day.

Give these spots a try, they are some of Jack’s favorites. There are many others in the lake and this is good time to fish there. Enjoy the peace and quiet and catch some quality bass.

How Can I Catch Reservoir Smallmouth Bass?

Five things to consider for reservoir smallmouth bass season

Here are some tips on catching big winter smallmouths, provided to us by Lee McClellan of Kentucky Afield Magazine.
from The Fishing Wire

Nice bass

The recent spate of rainy and somewhat dismal days sends many minds toward the grim reality that winter is here to stay.

Sunless, dreary days with bouts of rain in December, January and February give most people the blues. However, desolate winter days bring joy to the heart of a reservoir smallmouth bass angler. These are the days to catch the big ones.

Kentucky is a blessed region for smallmouth bass as the 11-pound, 15-ounce all-tackle world record came to the net of Leitchfield’s David Hayes on a July morning in 1955 on Dale Hollow Lake. The genetics of the upper Cumberland drainage produce some of the largest specimens in the world and winter is arguably the best time to catch them.

Here are five simple tips that will help get more smallmouths in your hand this winter.

1. The uglier the weather, the better: Leaden skies that seem to scrape the tops of the tallest trees bring with them great wintertime smallmouth bass fishing. The falling barometric pressure that usually accompanies such conditions puts predator fish on the prowl. Dark clouds that obliterate the sun limit light penetration into the depths of Kentucky’s better smallmouth lakes such as Laurel River, Dale Hollow, Fishtrap, Green River and Barren River, as well as Lake Cumberland. This creates better conditions for predator fish to ambush prey. A light rain or snow makes this scenario even more conducive to catching large smallmouth bass. Bright, shining days just after a frontal passage often offer comfort, but are the worst days to fish.

2. Find the bait, find the smallmouth bass: Electronic sonar units, commonly called “fish finders,” improve each year. Users can manipulate the sensitivity of even inexpensive units to find schools of baitfish in reservoirs. These resemble cotton balls on the screen. However, astute anglers also look for gulls diving to the surface to discern the location of baitfish. If all else fails, fishing a point near the old river channel on the main lake presents a good chance of an angler intercepting a school of roving baitfish and the smallmouth bass following it. Fishing points, sloping banks or channel ledges near schools of baitfish greatly increases angling efficiency and boost the chances of a large smallmouth striking your lure. Dropping a jigging spoon or blade bait near the baitfish school often produces several fish.

3. Keep lure selection simple: One of the best things about winter smallmouth fishing is you can fit a day’s worth of productive lures in a cigar box. A selection of ½-ounce football jigs for bottom fishing, some 3/16-ounce hair jigs for a swimming retrieve, a few blade baits like the ½-ounce Silver Buddy, a couple of jigging spoons and a bag or two of swimbaits with some ¼-ounce ball heads are all you need. These lures consistently produce reservoir smallmouth bass all winter long. Concentrate on fishing slowly and thoroughly probing likely smallmouth structures instead of changing lures every half-hour. If all else fails, try live shiners or large crappie minnows rigged on a size 1 Octopus-style hook with a few split shots crimped about 18-inches above the hook.

4. Have the right mentality: Winter fishing for smallmouth bass is a big fish game, not a numbers game. You’ll have lulls in the fishing and a lot of empty casts. It is the nature of the game. Boredom and frustration can worm their way into the mind and you’ll find yourself going through the motions. Trophy smallmouth bass often bite when you aren’t mentally prepared. Keep concentration on the task at hand, so you won’t be flatfooted and consequently panicked when the 22-incher hits. This is especially important during that prime time of 3:30 p.m. to dark. Smallmouth anglers in winter often go fishless until this time of day, then land several before dark with the shortest one measuring 19 inches. Keep on your toes and mentally push through the lulls.

5. Big, deep water = big, fat smallmouth bass: Large smallmouth bass use acres and acres of deep water as their sanctuary much like white-tailed deer use heavy thickets. Anglers confused about where to prospect for winter smallmouth bass should stick to the main lake of the lower one-third of a reservoir nearest the dam. This is especially true on Kentucky’s mid-depth hill-land smallmouth reservoirs such as Barren River or Green River lakes. You can’t go wrong fishing main lake points or small covelets just off the main lake nearest the old river channel in winter for smallmouths. Anglers without boats can fish these areas from the bank in winter with just a few lures or some large crappie minnows and do just as well as those in expensive boats.

Texas, Florida and California offer largemouth bass anglers an authentic chance of catching several larger than 10 pounds. Trout anglers fishing the reservoir tailwaters of the Ozarks have an opportunity for the fish of a lifetime.

Kentucky is one of the few places in the world where anglers can routinely catch smallmouth bass heavier than 5 pounds with a chance at much larger fish. Its waters produced the largest smallmouth ever caught and documented and produces world class fish year after year.

Get out this winter and keep these simple tips in mind. A battle with a 5-pound smallmouth bass on a December day sure beats remodeling the basement.

Author Lee McClellan is a nationally award-winning associate editor for Kentucky Afield magazine, the official publication of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. He is a life-long hunter and angler, with a passion for smallmouth bass fishing.

What Does Find the Bait, Find the Bass Mean?

Find the Bait, Find the Bass!

By Livingston Lures Pro Joe Budzinski
from The Fishing Wire

“Lake Conroe on Fire right now, Break out your Deep Cranks”

Big Lake Conroe bass

It is the time of year where a sportsman has to decide to grab a rifle or a fishing rod. Chuck and I chose wisely. We grabbed our Power Tackle Cranking rods paired with our Ardent reels, and went to work.

Lake Conroe, Texas, is on fire right now. The big fish have begun to move up to feed for the upcoming winter months. We drove several areas until we found bait balls being FEASTED upon by feeding bass.

Bass feeding on baitfish

Bait balls are easily found this time of year, but you will need to find the ones being pummeled by bass on your graph. You can see this on your graph or side imaging by the bait balls sporadically broken up through the water column. Massive, uniform schools of bait tend to be the ones that are not bothered by predators.

Bass eats a crankbait

Chuck and I discovered an area of approximately 50 yards of sporadic chunk rock bottom in 14-16 ft of water where the majority of feeding was found. The Livingston Deep Impact 18 with EBS MultiTouch was our weapon of choice. The bass this time of year have shad on the brain, so ensure you set your MultiTouch setting to the third biological Baitfish sound – Fleeting Shad. This was key. Our retrieve was a stop and go retrieve after our Livingston Lures began digging the bottom and/or bouncing off the chunk rock. This retrieve coupled by the EBS Sound on the pause was a great one-two punch.

Do not be afraid to bounce these Deep Impact’s off the bottom to generate strikes. Often I call this technique “planting corn”, meaning the bill of the lure digs into the bottom enough to create a corn row, worthy enough to begin to seed. Your color of choice depends upon water conditions, and lake forage. Get yourself a variety or colors and hang on. This is the time of year you can get your arm broke by a Green Monster!

Fish on!

— Joe Budzinski, Army Bass Angler

Conditions Recap:
Time: 2:30 pm to dusk
Skies: Sunny
Surface temp: 73
Water: Clear
Wind: 1-5 NE
Hooks Rating: 4 of 5

Why Does Burning’ Spinnerbaits Bring Reaction Strikes from Fall Bass?

Burning’ Spinnerbaits Bring Reaction Strikes from Fall Bass

Yamaha Pro Matt Herren Uses a Fast Retrieve to Trigger Bass Into Biting
from The Fishing Wire

November ranks as one of Matt Herren’s favorite months of the year, but not because he enjoys deer hunting and most whitetail seasons open this month. Rather, the Yamaha Pro knows November means it’s time to burn his spinnerbaits for autumn bass.

“Burning,” in this case, means reeling the blade baits as fast as he can turn his reel handle, keeping the lures just two to three inches below the surface. It’s a technique the Alabama-based angler has used successfully on lakes around the country for more than two decades, but one many of today’s fishermen frequently overlook.

“Burning a spinnerbait is purely about getting reaction strikes,” notes Herren, who will be competing in his sixth Bassmaster Classic® next March. “Throughout the autumn months, when water temperatures are still generally in the 60’s or high 50-degree range, bass are gorging themselves on baitfish, and a spinnerbait probably imitates a shad or herring as well as any lure made.

“There is a lot of feeding competition among the bass, and they go after a fast-moving spinnerbait without hesitation, just trying to get it before another bass does. It works in stained to clear water, and typically throughout the day, too.”

Spinnerbait for burning in the fall

The Yamaha Pro chooses spinnerbaits featuring what is known as thin wire construction. A thinner wire increases the lure’s overall vibration and also makes it easier to retrieve. Herren’s color choices are simple, too; any color is fine as long as it matches a shad, such as white or white/chartreuse. For maximum vibration, he uses double willow leaf blades, and his weight choices range from ¼ to ¾-ounce.

“When I fish spinnerbaits this time of year, I usually have three different models tied on and ready to use, depending on how the fish act, and on the size of the baitfish,” Herren explains. “One will be a very compact spinnerbait between 3/8- and ½-ounce, but which looks small, in case the bass are feeding on smaller threadfin shad. I’ll also have two other spinnerbaits weighing ½-ounce and ¾-ounce, but with different blade colors, such as gold or even copper.

“White or nickel blades will usually produce on most lakes, but just in case the bass are finicky, I can offer them something different.”

Using a fast 7:1 reel and 15-pound fluorocarbon line, Herren concentrates in larger tributaries and upper-lake arms where baitfish migrations are often the strongest, targeting steep bluffs, rocky banks, submerged vegetation, standing timber, and even channel breaks. Depth is not that critical, because he’s caught bass suspended in water as deep as 50 feet.

Matt Herren with fall bass

“I really think one key to burning a spinnerbait over deeper water is slowing my fast retrieve just for a second to make the blades change their speed,” he continues. “This can be as simple as stopping my retrieve, shaking my rod tip, or slowing down so the spinnerbait sinks a few inches. It’s just for a split second to change the blade cadence. Then I start reeling fast again.

“Changing your retrieve like this is a pretty standard way to fish a spinnerbait anytime of year, but it’s important to remember to do it even when you’re reeling as fast as you can because it’s a major part of getting bass to react. In the fall, you’ll frequently have a bass following your spinnerbait, even though it’s moving fast, and just a simple change of cadence can be enough to bring a strike.”

In recent years as the spinnerbait’s popularity has lessened and other lures have taken its place, the technique of burning has practically become a lost art, concludes Herren. Nonetheless, it’s a technique the Yamaha Pro will continue to use wherever he fishes this time of year because he knows how effective it still is.

Targeting Bass During the Fall Turnover

Randy Howell Offers Tips on Targeting Bass During the Fall Turnover
from The Fishing Wire

Randy Howell catching fall bass

Photo Credits: BASS/Wired2Fish

When the thermocline starts to break up and the cold water from the depths begin to mix with the warmer surface water it is called the turnover. The fish scatter and can be hard to locate. Many of the big fish will go very shallow and hold onto any piece of cover or structure they can find. Which is exactly why I like to fish super shallow and focus on targets.

I like to find shallow flats near deeper areas, especially areas where grass is or was present. I look for any sort of structure like logs, grass patches, and even a single stick up can be enough to hold a fish. I will move quickly from target to target and hit as many key spots as possible.

Missing the target by even a foot or two is enough to keep the fish from biting, that’s why it’s important to make multiple cast and intentionally bump the target with your bait. Casting accuracy is extremely important when fishing this way, which is why a finely tuned 7.3 Daiwa Tatula or Zillion reel with the T-Wing casting system is crucial. I like to use a Steez 7’2″ med/hvy rod for casting accuracy and control. I spool up with 16 lb.Gamma fluorocarbon line to haul em out of cover.

My three favorite baits for this time of year are; a 3/8 oz. double willow blade Hawg Caller spinnerbait, a Livingston Lures Walk-n-Pop 77 top water popping bait, and a 1/2 ounce Lunker Lure Flat Shad buzzbait. For sub-surface fishing I will use the Livingston Lures Howeller squarebill crankbait.

Photo Credits: BASS/Wired2Fish

Randy Howell Lands A Bass

When I pull into an area and locate a target I drop my Power-Poles and make several accurate casts at each target. If I am trying to cover a lot of water quickly I will utilize the buzzbait and the Howeller squarebill. If I want to slow down and really pick the area apart I will go with the Walk-n-Pop and the spinnerbait.

The one advantage to the squarebill is that I can bounce it off of the targets and generate a reaction strike. For the spinnerbait I can slow it down quite a bit and really keep it in the strike zone longer than the other baits.

As your water begins to turnover, and fishing gets slow, I suggest going shallower than ever before. Make an effort to slow down, make precise casts with a variety of baits, and you can make one on the toughest seasonal changes, very productive.
Until next time, Good luck and God bless!!

–Randy Howell

How Can I Catch More Tautog?

Yamaha Fishing Tip of the Week: Be Anchor Savvy to Catch More Tautog
from The Fishing Wire

Use two anchors to get on the structure and stay there!

Tautog

Even though the hot days of summer fishing are a memory and fall is starting its march toward winter, mid-Atlantic anglers shouldn’t have to take their boats out of the water just yet. The best fishing of the year for blackfish, aka tautog or tog, is just getting started, and the season is open through January in most states along the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts. Open seasons, size and bag limits vary from one jurisdiction to another, so be sure to check your state’s marine fish regulations so you don’t run afoul of the law.

Tog are bottom fish that live and feed in and around structure. Likely places include mussel beds, wrecks and rocky outcroppings – pretty much any form of what is classed as “hard” structure. Regardless of whether it’s naturally occurring or manmade, if it’s been on the bottom in 25 to 100 feet of water long enough to be encrusted with mussels and other anchoring life forms and invaded by crustaceans like crabs, tog will inhabit it at some time during the year. The most productive depths to fish will change with the seasons and water temperature because tog will generally move from shallower to deeper environs as temperatures drop. In late fall and early winter, concentrate your efforts on hard structure in 40 to 70 feet. When ocean temps get down into the 40s, shift to even deeper spots. There are many artificial reefs found off states such as New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland that provide prime tog habitat; further north your focus will be on naturally-occurring hard structure.

Fishing for tog requires a higher level of boat handling expertise and an understanding of how to use your depth finder, chart plotter and anchor(s) to position your boat. Your depth finder and chart plotter are the keys to finding and saving good structure spots to fish, but they will also be critical in helping you anchor directly over those spots to cash in on the tog they are holding. Private boaters will learn that some of the most productive pieces of structure consist of smaller wrecks and rock piles that are overlooked by larger head boats and charter boats. But to get on them you have to be able to anchor with pinpoint accuracy, and that’s an art form that requires a little practice.

Most serious tog fishermen keep two complete sets of ground tackle (anchor, chain and rode) aboard their boats and with good reason. One is typically kept in the boat’s bow anchor compartment, the second in a tub so it can be stowed when not in use. There are a number of anchor designs, but a Danforth-style is the most widely accepted for recreational fishing boats and works well for both sets of ground gear. When choosing an anchor, start by referring to the manufacturer’s application chart for the weight generally recommended for your size boat, but for fishing purposes go up one additional size. This will let you anchor more quickly and with less line between the boat and anchor, which makes deploying and retrieving less work. For a typical 20- to 27-foot boat, each set of ground tackle should consist of an anchor, 12 feet of 1/4-inch chain attached to the anchor with a shackle, and one cable length (600 feet) of 3/8-inch braided nylon line, which is called the “rode.”

Catch Tautog

If you’re new to this, you’ll probably want to have a marker buoy or two rigged and ready to drop on the structure as the boat passes over it. A buoy will provide you with a visible reference point when trying to get the boat settled over a spot. If you are well practiced with your GPS, you can forego the buoy and use the saved structure waypoints on the plotter screen for your anchoring reference point. Buoys can be purchased at marine specialty stores or websites, or you can make your own out of brightly colored commercial pot marker buoys wrapped with 150 feet of 1/8-inch nylon twine, marked every 50 feet with a permanent marker with a sash weight attached to the opposite end. Use stainless steel screws to attach a Velcro strap from the top to the bottom of the marker buoy, and use it to control how much line will pay off the buoy when it hits the water. If the water is 75 feet deep, release about 85 feet of twine before dropping the buoy to keep it above your spot, with enough extra line to keep the weight from being bounced off the bottom by waves.

One anchor might be sufficient for most boating needs, but for serious tog fishing two anchors spread approximately 90 degrees apart allow you to adjust the boat’s position by lengthening or shortening the rode for each anchor. By double anchoring, you can hit your mark quickly with some wiggle room to spare for adjusting position if the wind or current changes after you’re anchored. Nothing is more frustrating than getting on a spot and building a good bite only to have the wind change a few degrees and blow you off the spot.

Here’s how to do it. Once you mark a spot, either on your chart plotter or using a marker buoy as a visual reference, you have to determine how the wind and current are going to affect the way the boat will lay at anchor. To do this put the boat in neutral, and let it drift for a few minutes with your plotter scaled down to a very tight range setting (200-500 feet works fine for this phase) with the plot trail feature activated to record the direction of the drift on screen. That trail will be your guide to approximate how the boat will settle back on the anchor lines. The other thing you have to determine is how much rode you’ll have to let out for the anchors to set and hold the boat, because that will tell you how far away from the structure point you have to drop them. To get that number, simply multiply the depth of the water by five. For example, if the structure is in 70 feet of water, you’ll want to drop each anchor about 350 feet away from the mark. Don’t worry about being off by as much as 50 feet one way or another – that’s why you’re using an anchor one size larger than recommended.

Anchors

Now that you’ve determined the direction the boat should rest at anchor and how far away the anchors should be dropped from the mark, get your anchors ready for deployment at the bow of the boat, and then slowly run the boat directly down current of the buoy or the waypoint marker on your plotter. Turn so it parallels the drift trail you just created, passing directly alongside the buoy or over the mark on the plotter screen. As soon as the boat reaches the mark, turn the boat at least 45 degrees to port of the drift line, and proceed at a slow speed until you are about 350 feet from the mark and drop the first anchor. Once it strikes bottom, carefully power backwards toward the buoy in reverse letting line out until you get close to the mark. Then hold the anchor line tight until the anchor sets in the bottom and pulls the line through your hand. Take a wrap on a bow cleat, let the boat settle back on the rode to be sure the anchor is firmly set, then loosen that line and repeat the procedure, but this time running the boat from the mark at least 45 degrees to starboard of your drift line. When you’re done you will have two anchors set 350 feet out from the mark, spread approximately 90 degrees apart.

Drop back both lines until you get close to your mark, and wrap them around a bow cleat and let the boat settle in. If the boat is positioned too far forward, drop back by letting out more rode from both lines to put it on the mark. If it’s behind the mark, pull up on both lines. If it is laying to the right, let out a little line on the starboard anchor and pull in some line on the port. Do the opposite if the boat is laying too
far to the left. It’s that simple.

If you want to move the boat while you’re fishing to cover more of the structure, you’ll find that adjusting the anchor lines will give you quite a bit of latitude to do so. This is important because you will encounter structure where you will only catch tog on specific areas and not on the whole piece. Sometimes bigger tog will show a preference for a specific portion of a larger piece of structure. For example, there are wrecks where they feed on the up-current side so anchoring over the up-current portion of the wreck will catch a lot of fish, while being off that spot might only produce a few bites or small fish.

Remember that anchoring accurately is an art that takes into consideration some scientific observations on your part and the smart use of the tools you have on your boat. It takes practice to gain an understanding of how sea and wind conditions affect your boat under different anchoring scenarios. Just remember that tog fishing is all about location, so with some good structure numbers, a compliment of well set-up ground gear and these techniques, you can get on even the smallest piece accurately and hold the boat there while you limit out. If conditions change during the day, you might have to reposition one or both anchors, but that’s the price you pay for great fishing. Anchoring might be the least fun part of the trip, but nine times out of ten it’s the most important.

How To Catch Cold Water Smallmouth

Don’t Miss the Skinny Wasteland for Autumn Smallies

Super shallow and non-structured bottoms entice smallmouth so you can Catch Cold Water Smallmouth bass there

Catch cold water smallmouth

By Mitch Eeagan
from The Fishing Wire

Cool days and even colder nights have water temperatures tumbling; bug hatches are coming to a halt. The once warm summer rains are turning bitter, too – crawlers and the like burrowing deep rather than getting washed into the drink. Young-of-the-year fishes that have avoided being eaten since birth have learned to be on the lookout for predators better than ever.

Captain Chris Noffsinger sporting smallmouth bling, which were caught from super-shallow water during the fall season.

To say the food sources of smallmouth bass dwindle as autumn arrives is an understatement.

As fall starts showing its face, a smallie’s diet turns to the only forage left: baitfish and crayfish; with the latter becoming scarcer as the season wanes. It’s this forage-vanishing-act that has bronze-finned prowlers on the move. It’s also what makes them easier to catch this time of year.

But smallmouths aren’t always roaming where you might think. Classic deep water haunts, weedbeds, reefs and sunken timber aren’t providing sustenance. So where might one find smallies when the leaves start turning? In depths registering only in the single digits; that’s 2 to 5 feet, even in ultra-clear water.

Wide Open Spaces

Enter Captain Chris Noffsinger, bass aficionado and fulltime guide on the waterways surrounding Traverse City, Michigan. Smallmouths have populated the Great Lakes and natural inland lakes here since the last glacier receded nearly 10,000 years ago. The fishery is loaded with trophy-size bass; many which are caught in places the average angler wouldn’t even consider casting.

“Sometimes my clients get a dumbfounded look on their faces when I tell them where to cast,” said Noffsinger. “But I don’t blame them, because, after all, we’re on giant sand flats with not a stitch of cover to be found except maybe some gravel or sand grass.

“The key to finding fish here lies in finding minnows,” adds Noffsinger. “You’ll see them near shore through your polarized glasses. And if you look closely, you’ll see smallies there, too.”

Cover and Cast

With trolling motor deployed, Noffsinger covers as much water as possible. Overall, the trick is using lures that imitate minnows, but at the same time, won’t dive into the dirt – spinnerbaits being a prime example. The captain’s favorite is Red Dirt Bait Company’s 1/2- and 3/4-ouncers, with painted willow-leaf blades, because they can be cast far, fished fast and his clients can cover a lot of water.

Spoons can be worked slowly, all the while staying in the strike zone without dredging bottom. Spoons, however, are rarely thought of as a smallmouth bait, yet do catch fish, and deserve more respect.

Smallmouth caught on
Fin-Wing

Lures that don’t dive into the dirt, like spinnerbaits and the Fin-Wing (pictured) imitate the minnows smallmouth chase in autumn.

The #-3 Fin-Wing can be retrieved at a steady pace in super-shallow water without snagging up. It’s stamped from metal, but its wide, swimming wobble is nothing like that of an ordinary spoon. Because of the Fin-Wing’s unique shape, light reflects off it at multiple angles and the lure gets noticed like the flashing blades of a spinnerbait. Increase the speed of your retrieve and the Fin-Wing turns toward the sun and creates a wake, even rides the surface with a walk-the-dog action; perfect for first light in the shallows.

Soft Side

Noffsinger and his guests also throw soft-bodied lures like un-weighted flukes, aka soft jerkbaits. When retrieved with a twitch, these lures dart side to side wildly like an injured minnow.

If the smallies aren’t responding to the erratic motion of flukes, large grubs on a light-weight jig head, fished with a steady retrieve will often do the trick. BFishN’s 5-inch K Grub on a H20 Precision Jig is a great option as the grub’s mega tail has more than enough whirl to emit vibrations.

Stick it to ‘Em

Making long casts is a must in such clear, shallow water. Seven foot plus rods will get your bait farther from the boat. But fishin’ sticks must also have enough backbone to make a solid hookset, which can be challenging with so much line out.

Seventeen-pound-test fluorocarbon coursing through a St. Croix 7-foot Mojo Bass Spinnerbait casting rod, for example, will whip a spinnerbait a country mile and still stick a hook. The low stretch of fluoro helps oversized hooks penetrate a bass’ boney jaw, making the line perfect for spoons and spinnerbaits. Meanwhile, a 7-foot medium-power fast-action St. Croix Avid X, for instance, has the ability to properly launch a lighter soft plastic on 8-pound-test fluoro.

Going Nowhere Fast

If you’re looking to catch big smallies this fall, explore the shallow wastelands.

Position your boat on a shallow flat, cast shoreward and cover water with baitfish imitating lures. Make long casts and employ a rod and line that support solid hooksets at long distances.

You know all those featureless shallow flats you buzzed by all summer long? Time to put on the brakes and commence casting.

What Is Dropshotting for Crappie?

Get The Drop On Crappies – Dropshotting for crappie

Crappie caught dropshotting

Drop shot rigging not just for bass anymore

Drop shot rigging is a staple presentation of serious bass fans from coast to coast. But it remains a largely overlooked option for anglers pursuing other species of gamefish, including crappies.

That’s unfortunate, because in the right situations, drop shotting can yield banner catches, and even outfish textbook strategies.

“Drop shotting is a great choice whenever the fish are relatively close to bottom and you want to cover water a little faster, or with more precision, than you can with slip bobbers or vertical jigging,” says veteran fishing guide and lifelong panfish fanatic Scott Glorvigen.

Case in point: the late summer to early fall crappie migration.

“When crappies abandon withering shoreline weedbeds and head toward the main basin where they’ll spend the winter, they often follow bars and points that serve as travel corridors on their way out to deeper water,” he explains.

Drop shot rigs excel at presenting a tantalizing softbait or minnow at or just above the level of fish, and allow anglers to customize the speed of retrieve and amount of animation, without fear of the rig falling to bottom or drifting out of the strike zone.

Glorvigen admits his fall panfish epiphany came while chasing bass on a north-central Minnesota lake.

“I was drop shotting bass with a 6-inch worm on a long finger bar leading from a shoreline saddle straight into the basin,” he recalls. “I was catching bass, but noticed on my sonar there were a lot of crappies and bluegills mixed in with them.”

Glorvigen credits the ultra-sensitive readings from his Lowrance Elite 9 CHIRP electronics for revealing the difference between bass and panfish.

“I was also catching the occasional crappie here and there, which told me that drop shotting might be a winning presentation in this scenario,” he adds.

To tempt more crappies into biting, he traded the bass-sized worm for a more panfish-appropriate, 3-inch Impulse Angleworm from Northland Fishing Tackle.

Small crappie dropshot baits

Panfish-sized softbaits excel on drop shot rigs.

He also down-sized the business end of the setup to a size 4 VMC Spinshot Drop-Shot Hook. “The Spinshot hook is great for drop shotting because it spins around, allowing the bait to move freely, without causing line twist,” he says.

After threading on the worm so the tail remained free for maximum gyrations, he added a live crappie minnow for extra attraction.

“The plastic bait’s constant movement and water displacement makes it easy for crappies to find it, even in stained water, and the minnow is icing on the cake,” he explains. “Plus, if the minnow comes off halfway through the retrieve, I still have a chance to catch fish because the plastic is still in place.”

Glorvigen’s rigging also included a 7-foot, medium-light Lew’s spinning outfit spooled with 10-pound-test Northland Bionic Braid mainline and an 8-pound-test monofilament leader tethered to the hook’s lower line tie.

“The setup works great for crappies, and can still handle the occasional big bass that grabs the bait,” he says.

Leader length was tailored to how high crappies were above bottom. “On structure, the fish were close to bottom and an 18-inch leader worked the best,” he says. “But when they occasionally moved off to suspend over deeper water, leader lengths up to 36 inches produced fish.”

Glorvigen compulsively keeps sinker weight as light as possible when drop shotting panfish, and this was no exception. “It’s important to use the lightest weight you can get away with, so you can feel the fish but they can’t feel the sinker,” he explains.

Glorvigen says pencil-style weights ranging from 1/8- to 3/16-ounce were perfect in the 11- to 19-foot depths he was working.

Once rigged up, he’d cast out, let the sinker settle, and then tighten the line for a direct connection that allowed him to detect bottom as well as subtle bites.

“You can move the rig across by reeling, drifting or using your trolling motor to slowly cover key areas,” he notes.

No matter which means of propulsion you choose, Glorvigen recommends toning down the amount of action you give the bait.

“If the bait jumps around too fast, it’s hard for them to hit it,” he cautions. “I’ve had the best luck with a more subtle approach than what I’d use when bass fishing. Simply shaking and gently twitching the worm is enough. If you get too aggressive, the number of fish drops off dramatically.”

High-quality sonar and GPS can help you find and catch fall crappies.

Find crappie on depthfinder

Glorvigen notes that a good GPS chartplotter is a big help in mapping out structural thoroughfares and waypointing key areas that hold the most fish.

“Custom mapping systems like Lowrance’s Insight Genesis, which allow you to map structure in fine detail, can really help you get the lay of the land and learn why the crappies are attracted to certain areas over others,” he adds.

While the fall crappie transition is a great time to throw drop shot rigs, Glorvigen says there are plenty of other times it pays to keep an open mind on the water.

“Anglers get stuck in our ways and pigeonholed into certain presentations,” he says. “But it’s always good to experiment, adjust, and pay attention to what the fish are trying to tell you, all the way from early spring to last ice.”

Check out this video for more of Scott’s drop shot tricks.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Glorvigen & Glorvigen LLC – 29 County Road 63, Grand Rapids, MN 55744
[email protected] – 218-301-9072

What Are Some Good Pre-Spawn Largemouth Tactics?

Top Pre-Spawn Largemouth Tactics

March is well known for several reasons. The Ides of March were pretty important to Caesar. Basketball fans go crazy over March Madness. But to a bass fisherman, this time of year means bass are feeling the spawning urge, moving toward the bedding areas, feeding heavily and are much easier to catch. Pre-spawn season is here.

It also means you can catch them on a wide variety of baits and patterning them is easy. It doesn’t matter if you favor crank baits, spinnerbaits, jerk baits, a jig and pig or plastic worms, all are good. And topwater action, a favorite of most fishermen, comes into play and gets better and better.

As our days get longer bass respond by moving toward shallow, protected coves to spawn. They follow established routes like creek channels, break lines and points as they move, stopping on cover to feed. You can follow them and catch large numbers of fish, as well as some of the biggest bass of the year, along these routes.

When the water first starts to warm look for the fish on the structure and cover just outside the mouths of the spawning areas. Find stumps on a drop or point, a blowdown where the channel swings near the cove mouth and brush and rocks on points and the bass will be there.

Follow them to secondary points and steeper banks back in the cove as they move. Follow the channel back into the coves since that is what the bass will follow. Fish the key areas where the channel swings near a secondary point, where it runs along a bank making a steep drop and along the edges of flats where the bass feed.

Then look for stumps, logs and brush on hard bottoms near the back of the coves where they set up to bed as the water temperature approached 65 degrees. Gravel and hard sand bottoms are what attract the bass so concentrate on areas with those kinds of bottom.

Coves on the north side of the lake warm fastest due to the angle of the sun, and a breeze blowing across the lake moves warmer surface water with it. Check out the areas on the north side of the lake, especially if a light breeze is blowing toward them. Stronger winds stir up the colder water below the surface and don’t help increase the temperature, but wave action can make the bass feed on windblown points and banks.

Although bass are cold blooded and really don’t get uncomfortable from water temperature, they are more active in warmer water. Also, water temperature affects spawning time. Since stained water warms more quickly than clear water, look for stained to muddy water. A surface temperature gauge helps since just two to three degrees change can make a difference.

A three day warming trend is a classic time to find bigger bass moving very shallow to feed. Cold fronts move through often this time of year and then a warming trend follows. After a front drops the water temperature then it starts warming, the bass will respond by moving and feeding.

Since the bass are moving you should fish fairly fast, covering water until you find them. Spinnerbaits and crank baits work well to cover a lot of water looking for the areas they are holding.

When you start catching fish note the kind of area and bass should be in the same kinds of places in other parts of the lake. When you find concentrations of fish slow down and work every piece of cover thoroughly.

Choose your bait color based on water clarity. Use natural baitfish colors in clear water but go to brighter colors in more stained water. White spinnerbaits with silver blades work well in clearer water while chartreuse or red skirts teamed with gold or copper blades are better in stained water. Bigger baits are usually better in stained to muddy water, too.

With crankbaits use shad colors in clear water. Grays, light blues and silver are good. Chartreuse crankbaits show up better in muddy water, as do red and black baits. A rattle in the baits can be good no matter what the water color but are more important in stained water where visibility is less.

You can fish a spinnerbait at any depth but lighter one-quarter ounce baits can be moved slower in more shallow water. Go to three eights to one half ounce baits for deeper water earlier in the month. Try willowleaf blades in clear water and for fishing faster but use Colorado blades for slower fishing and in stained to muddy water.

Carry a variety of crankbaits, too. Some should be small and have smaller bills for water less than four feet deep. Bigger baits that bump the bottom in six to ten feet are needed earlier. Bumping the bottom is important. You are much more likely to get bit when your crankbait is digging into the bottom.

Square bill crankbaits have become very popular in the past few years. They bounce off wood cover better and are made for fishing stumps, brush and blowdowns. Most run several feet deep. Carry several sizes and colors and fish any wood cover you see with them.

Jerkbaits are known for clear water fishing but work well during the prespawn in stained water, too. Fish a pearl or silver bait and work it slower in colder water then faster and faster as the water warms. Long pauses between jerks will often make bigger bass hit.

A jig and pig is one of the best baits for March fishing. It can be fished around any kind of cover and is especially effective around rocks and clay where crayfish live. Black and blue baits are the norm in stained water with browns good in clear water. Try different sizes, from three-sixteenths to full one ounce baits depending on conditions.

Plastic worms fished on Carolina and Texas rigs as well as jig heads account for more bass than any other bait. A Carolina rig is good for raking gravel and clay bottoms while a Texas rig comes through cover better. A jig head worm is good around any kind of bottom or cover.

As soon as the water temperature hits the mid 50s try topwater. A buzzbait will catch bass in colder water than you might think and you can cover water quickly. You can fish it over any kind of cover. A popper or prop bait can be worked more slowly and a stick bait like the classic Zara Spook will catch pre-spawn bass. Topwater tends to get better and better as the water warms.

You can find the bass this time of year with your favorite bait. Start at the mouths of spawning coves and smaller creeks then work further and further into them. Hit key areas with cover. Watch the water temperature and concentrate in areas with warmer water.

Work fast until you find the pattern. Remember it can change during the day but when you find the fish in one area you should be able to go to similar places on the lake and repeat it.

Spinnerbaits are very versatile baits this time of year, allowing you to fish fast or slow around any kind of cover or bottom. They come in a wide variety of colors and blade styles to match anything you need.

Secret Weapon makes a spinnerbait that is a little different. The blades attach on a clip on shaft rather than the usual fixed clevis on the arm followed by a blade on a swivel on the end. This arrangement gives the bait a different sound and look as well as allowing you to quickly change color and size of blades and add or take away the number of blades on the bait.

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