BillsBlog

Welcome to Bill's Banter Blog

Come on in and look around! I'll try to share some of what I've learned recently with you, but be warned...sometimes I talk (or type) without thoroughly thinking things through! I'll try to keep the topic on fishing, but sometimes other topics might sneak in here also!

Boat Control

One of the things that sometimes gets overlooked when fishing, but can make a big difference when determining how many fish you put it your boat, is boat control. When you are able to put your boat where you need it to be, you’re able to keep your baits in the strike zone where fish will hit. Nothing can be worse than spooking fish by letting your boat go right over the prime fishing spots and send the fish scattering. Let’s take a look at some of the ways to keep your boat where you need it to be to succeed.

First off, you need to get to where the fish are, or where you think they are, so your main motor is a critical to angling success. Make sure it’s in top shape so you can get out and back to the launch safely. Stealth is another overlooked aspect also. Get in the habit of shutting down your large motor far enough from the planned fishing spot, so as to not alert the fish to your presence.

Some of today’s newer outboards can idle down nicely for slower trolling speeds, but if you have an older one, a smaller “kicker” motor is needed to get down to the slower speeds to troll properly. Many of the serious tournament anglers will not go out with a 4-stroke kicker motor to be used for tolling, but also and sometimes more importantly, it serves as a backup motor if they have trouble with the main motor. On a windy day or in heavy current, an electric motor sometimes just isn’t enough power to keep your boat where it needs to be. An adjustable jack plate is great to keep the kicker at the level for optimal use and out of the way when not needed.

Today’s electric motors have may great powerful features also. Some have over 100 lb. thrust, built in transducers for depth finders, and even remote control. I really rely on my electric to slowly cast a shoreline looking for active fish, and to keep my boat on a breakline when the wind isn’t following it. Controlled drifting is a great technique to catch walleyes and an electric does it best. Always make sure that your fishing partner is familiar with how to operate the electric’s control to keep the boat on track when you have to re-tie or do something else that needs you immediate attention.

Anchoring is one aspect of boat control that sometimes gets overlooked. In some situations it may just be the best choice to stay on fish with minimal hassle. Just make sure you have enough anchor to keep your boat in one place, which sometimes calls for a 2 anchor set up. My preference is a fluke or chene anchor that is able to dig into the bottom with minimal weight needed.

Drift socks are nice when the wind is blowing the right direction but moving the boat faster then the presentation calls for. I have seen some anglers improvising this technique using a 5 gallon bucket. Drift socks slow the boats drift for live bait rigs or bottom bouncers when the winds are howling.

The final tool I use is a GPS receiver as part of my depth finder. Although it doesn’t actually control the boat, it lays down a “breadcrumb” trail and allows me to hit the mark button and leave a waypoint when I catch a fish. It effectively allows me to see where the boat should be. I can also mark fish holding structure and save this information onto a memory card for future use. It is a very nice high tech tool to repeat runs that caught fish and enables you to eliminate the old hand tossed buoy markers that seem to alert everyone else where to fish!

Catching fish usually come down to keeping your bait where the fish can see, smell and finally taste it. I have been told that the best walleye fishing comes on windy days with the “walleye chop”. This may be true, however I looked at my results the last 4 times out fishing Lake Pepin. I actually did better on the 2 days with less wind and the only thing I can figure out is on the less windy days, I was able to control my boat better and I ended up with more and bigger fish. By being able to keep my boat where I knew there were fish, I upped my odds. If you master your boat control, you may up your odds also!

What’s my line?

Fishing line is one of the most important and maybe least thought about elements in today’s angler’s bag of tricks. With so many brands on the market, it is sometimes hard to make the best choice of what line is best for the type of fishing you’ll be doing. For the purposes of this entry, I’ll just narrow the selection down to 3 line types and the angling applications I use them for.

Monofilament

Light, clear mono is my choice for pan fish angling. When I’m doing a lot of casting with ultra-light spinning gear, I want a line that comes off the spool easily and Berkley Trilene XL seems to be the best at this. I usually stick to 4 lb. test, but sometimes 6 lb. may be needed if you get into some larger fish. The down side of mono is line twist. The trick is to get it on the spool the right way, (yes you can put it on “backwards”!) and don’t fill the spool completely. Leave about an eighth of an inch open on the outside of the spool to prevent the line from coming off the reel prematurely. The other big thing to prevent line twist is to close the bail of the reel manually, without cranking it shut. One thing to remember about mono is that it stretches much farther than most people realize so it won’t tear the mouths out of pan fish when you set the hook.

Fluorocarbon

I use fluorocarbon line in situations where stealth is needed in open water, mainly as leader material, but the place where I use it most is on my ice angling reels. In the cold it stays flexible and comes off the spool nicely. 2 or 4 lb. test is what I use on ice. One of the properties I like best about fluorocarbon is it’s invisibility. When I fish for trout at Foster Arends Lake, I always make sure I have a fluorocarbon leader of 8 lb test on my rods I use there. I do believe it makes a difference when still fishing live bait or powerbait. I have recently began to use 14 lb. test fluoro for leaders when I pull crank baits or floater rigs for walleye on lake Pepin and it seems to work well there also. I use the improved fisherman’s knot (or Trilene knot) for both fluorocarbon and mono lines.

Microfilament or braid

Braided lines such as Power Pro, Fireline or Spider wire have become very popular. My favorite use for these lines is vertical jigging for walleye or long line trolling. The main characteristic of braided line is the no stretch sensitivity allows you to feel the fish strike better. It also allows for a stronger line that is thinner than mono lines of the same lb. test strength, making it great for trolling applications. The places where you usually find fish at are full of snags and braided line enables you to pull out of the snag much better than any other line type, without breaking off. If you choose to use a braid, make sure you learn how to tie the Palomar knot well. Recently, I was vertically jigging for walleye with 10 lb. Power pro and was able to boat a 21 lb. catfish with the use of this line. It really gives you a lot of strength and versatility.

Panfish Plastics Primer

Many anglers really don’t have a lot of confidence using strictly plastic baits to go after panfish. I have, in the past few years, made the conversion from live bait to using a variety of plastics to do the bulk of my panfish angling. I admit that some times in the summer months, or whenever the fishing gets a little tougher, I may add a waxie or small chunk of crawler to entice the fish to hit, but now I call that "cheating"! I now have the mindset that these small plastics cannot only catch equal amounts of fish as compared to live bait, but they catch bigger fish also.

If I had a choice of only one out of the package, ready to use panfish plastic bait, I guess to me it would be the Cubby Mini-Mite. The little "jig-in-a-tube" while not perfect, has proven to me that it catches panfish better than anything else on the market. Either under a float or free lined, if you put one in front of a hungry crappie of bluegill, chances are they will hit it. The hard part with these little beauties is choosing the best color for the mood of the fish and trial and error is the only way the fish can tell you that. The mini-mite comes with a 1/32 oz. non-lead jig head with a #8 size jig hook.

Now I always look to improve on a great product, so for some situations such as fish holding in deeper water or high wind conditions, I have had some custom jig heads made for me by some of my friends that do that sort of thing. I have had them make a 1/16^th oz. lead head jig with a #6 jig hook. I feel that the extra weight comes in handy for deeper fishing and the bigger hook helps me to avoid pulling the whole bait out of the fish’s mouth without a hookup. I just paint them my favorite colors and put the mini-mite plastic body on the custom jig.

Another proven pan fish bait is the Culprit paddle tail grub. These plastics can be deadly and they come in 20 count packages, for those who fish a lot. One nice thing about these plastic baits is you can shorten the length when the fish seem to be just grabbing the tail of the bait. These work extremely well when "twitched" under a bobber or when the waves bounce them gently and give them great tail movement. I have recently had good success doing some slow "trolling" with the paddle tails as movement once again is the key.

If you haven’t yet made the switch from live bait to these unique plastic baits, now is the time. When the fish are easy to catch in the spring, is the best time to give them a try and gain confidence in using them. Go out to Hooked on Fishing Bait & Tackle shop for a good selection of these plastic baits and more importantly, the right advice as to how to fish them properly. Your whole attitude towards pan fish just might be changed!

The Comfort Zone

It seems that every angler has to rely their own experience on the water to give them some idea as how to fish for panfish. For some, that means going “old school”, using tried and proven techniques that have been used for many, many years such as live bait on a plain hook. Then there is the opposite end of the scale, where an angler will refuse to use live bait and strictly use artificial baits to lure the bite of a hungry crappie. When looking at it objectively, neither of these two anglers is right or wrong. Each of them is using techniques that they are familiar or comfortable with. The only measure of success is what eventually ends up in each of their livewells.

I was reminded of that fact in a recent panfish tournament I fished in. My comfort zone when fishing for panfish, is using small plastics, with or without a float depending on the circumstances. I had what I thought was a good evening, catching many fish with out too much hassle, and I weighed in with a respectable 4 lbs. total weight for the night. Although I ended up in second place that night, I found out the winner had blown me out of the water with a record 5.8 lbs. weight that night, and he said he used a plain hook, a split shot weight, and crappie minnows…that’s it!

Well, I guess the moral of the story is, don’t be too set in your ways, as to exclude another possible technique that may put more or bigger fish in your livewell. The angler with the biggest arsenal, almost always has the advantage over the one trick pony. It’s kind of funny, the day before that very tournament, I fished with a good friend of mine that turned me onto a “trolling” technique for panfish that was very successful when we tried it, but did I do it during the tournament…NO!!! Now, I’m not saying that if I tried this technique during the tournament, that I’d have won it, but it may have helped me to find some bigger fish.

Now and then every angler has to step outside of his or her personal comfort zone. One of the ways to do this is to fish with different people and really watch what they do, or what their comfort zone is. Get it out of your mind, that you know all there is to know about how to make the catch of the day, and learn something different from everyone you fish with. Don’t eliminate any possibilities from what you consider, when you make your angling plan for that particular outing. I’ve been reminded many times recently, that the more doors you leave open, the more chance that one pound crappie might be able to swim through and find your bait.