fishing4u2
Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 252
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Reply with quote | #1 |
On Sunday just past I was watching football over at a fishing buddy's place and happened to mention how the weather forecast looked really promising for Monday. Calm, clear, and modestly warm... in other words a rather rare day for November in Garrett County. "A nice mess of perch for the table's probably waiting... and it might be one of the last truly fine days to be out on the water, 'ya know?"
Well, that planted the seed, and a couple of phone calls later he'd cleared his afternoon schedule and arranged for a mutual fishing pal to bring the boat out for a last hurrah. These guys fish flatwater a LOT more than I do, and have taken some very fine fish out of DCL over the years. One's a veteran of many seasons there; the other is fairly new to the whole game but has been a remarkably quick learn who I helped mentor in recent years. To say he's now 'snatched the pebbles from my hand' and is no longer in the 'grasshopper' stage of development as an angler is an understatement. The last two times he and I fished DCL I decidedly held the short end of the stick despite giving it my best effort. We don't compete in any way, but are mutually supportive and encouraging no matter what. Nevertheless, he kung-fu'd me big time both in terms of size and numbers - and from the back of the boat no less!
Well yesterday was my turn to hold the long end of that stick, for sure. Actually my wife (who was not along for the outing) probably deserves the credit since she handed me one of those road-runner (horse-head jigs with a little spinner blade attached) just as I was going out the door. Having just spooled up with fresh mono, I needed something to put on the end anyway, despite the fact that I've never had any particular fondness for this style of lure. So on it went, and except for some precautionary line re-ties after close encounters of the toothy kind it never came off!
Before even leaving the St Pk Dock a cell phone call delayed our firing up the outboard, and while just waiting and messing around I had two fine smallies in the boat (which were immediately released). The 'fish gods' must have looked down and smiled on me for that, because the first ten or twelve fish landed all hit that little jig of my wife's suggestion, to the exclusion of all else being tossed around. And so (mostly) it went the entire rest of the day.
The tall weeds appeared to have either layed down or decayed in most areas, and nearly all the docks were pulled, but we found concentrations of bait (juvenile golden shiners, 'gills, and something else I couldn't ID) in a few places and of course the predators were not far behind, although they appeared quite unwilling to give active chase. We saw (and subsequently caught) more than sufficient large perch and pickerel for a couple of fish dinners, and saw (but could not catch) some jumbo largemouth and 'gills as well.
The one memory that really sticks in my mind was when I faintly spied what at first glance appeared to be a magnificent yellow perch hunkered down in a little pocket of close-cropped vegetation, maybe a half-dozen feet down. I told my pals what I'd seen and said, "Watch this, I'm going to walk this jig right into his mouth." A short flip and a few hops later brought the (in my hands formerly lame) lure right up within an inch of the business end of the resting fish, which promptly hoovered it up. "There he is!" Turned out to be a 20" 'eye that fought like an old boot but tasted a good deal better.
Sunset came 'early' of course, and the warmth of the day fell away even faster than the light, but the lake was quiet and utterly becalmed (what a rarity). Just as the sun was slipping down over the horizon on one side, the full moon was ascending big and bright just over the treeline beyond the other. And all were in good spirits, which made it even sweeter. A day to be grateful for, indeed.
'4u2
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| | BomberMan
Registered: 12/20/06
Posts: 169
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Reply with quote | #2 |
Thanks for sharing your day with us. Congrats on a wonderful fall outing...it doesn't get much better than that!
BTW...I've never had much success with those "Roadrunner" style lures but maybe I've never really given them much of a chance...might have to find the ones in the bottom of my tackle box and dust them off.
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| | Perchnut
Registered: 02/22/06
Posts: 147
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Reply with quote | #3 |
Ive had really good success with roadrunners when trolling for crappie down at buggs island.....also do fairly well with them on perch in the potomac when they are spawing in latewinter/early summer......sounds like a great day 4u! I was in a treestand thinking about fishing!! |
| | fishing4u2
Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 252
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Reply with quote | #4 |
The first time I ever saw a Roadrunner jig I was favorably disposed in theory, but until my experience on Monday this lure seemed to lack something in practice. Even when I knew I was into say, a veritable horde of small crappies, and that ANYTHING of appropriate size ought to get bit regularly (if only ought of competetive desperation), it still took some time and effort to hook up with this lure. So nobody was more surprised than I to find it suddenly irresistable. And in the company I was keeping I can assure you that I had no technical 'edge' to exploit. My friends just didn't carry such small lures in their kits, although I suspect that'll be remedied rather soon.
Upon further reflection, I am inclined to say it may have been the small size (~1.5" length) and/or the comparatively light weight that explained its productivity on this occasion. Most of the natural forage (especially the very abundant golden shiners) bracketed that length, and when fished in five or six feet of water the resistance of my line in the water column caused it to fall more slowly than my buds' larger and heavier lures. It was apparent that the fish were not aggressively chasing anyone's lures (indeed, many of the fish I could see totally ignored mine too), and so with a smaller 'strike window' this combination of appropriate size and slower speed worked almost exclusively to my favor.
This is all speculation of course, since I was having way too much fun to follow through on my instinct to try an alternative presentation for the sake of comparison! Had the fish been exhibiting more aggression, my (wife's) choice certainly would not have covered as much water, and may not have induced as many pure 'reaction' strikes (think cat and a suddenly twitched string). I guess the take-home message is to find an area known to hold some fish, and then make sure to cover a variety of presentation styles from very bland/slow to downright spicy/torrid. How many of us have that kind of patience when its so much easier to tell ourselves "well...no fish here"? I find myself wondering how often we presume to 'know' what preferences the fish 'ought' to have, and (when we are wrong) work right through a particular patch of habitat completely unaware that it is in fact well populated with fish! Then we go off searching for fish elsewhere, as often as not keeping the same sort of presentation going, right? Probably not.
The other thing that sticks with me (upon further reflection) is how the fish we could see shyed away from even the slow and quiet approach of the boat that was merely drifting under the influence of the barest zephyrs. As a wading flyfisher approaching a productive reach of stream, I take great pains to try and mask my presence - even to the point of resting the water for LONG minutes prior to making my first presentation when finally in position. Why wait? Water is 800x as dense as air, and under the surface sound travels about 4x as fast. So at least when in slow or smooth currents I figure its virtually impossible to get in the trout's living/dining room and escape notice. I suppose that in the interim any alarm I may have raised, so long as it doesn't get immediately reinforced, gradually begins to dissipate. Depending on the water and the light, five to seven minutes seems to get the de-sensitizing job done, in my experience. In the meantime I hone my hook, check my knots, watch for activity by the birds or bugs, consider what sort of cast and presentation I should try, and just generally enjoy the setting.
In stark constrast, especially on the clear and calm lake one of my buds comes right on in with boat on plane, cuts the throttle back off rather rapidly (sending a nice bow wave right across the area to be fished), then takes no particular pains to lower the bow mount into its bracket (THUNK!!!) or get us underway with the electric (WHHHRRRRRR....), and immediately starts zipping relatively heavy lures here and there (... splish/splash/plop....).
Maybe this is a good thing, like fishing with one hand tied behind his back - for fish conservation! Given his admittedly impressive track record, I shudder to think what he'd actually be catching if he employed even a modicum of stealth. Perhaps the fish grow accustomed to considerable recreational racket (?), but if it were my boat to pilot I wouldn't want to bet on it. I've read that dedicated trophy bass anglers in small, clear, and deep San Diego, California water-supply lakes set up between two anchors and then eat lunch before their hooks even get wet. Works for them, and there might be a lesson in there somewhere.
Your thoughts?
'4u2
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| | YPFINATIC
Registered: 01/19/08
Posts: 68
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Reply with quote | #5 |
4u2
I have found on gin clear lakes such as DCL or Raystown for instance, small/neutral is usually better for me. I feel the old "big bait big fish" rule apply better to stained or dirty water.
Interesting how that road runner produced. I have a few old ones, but never really gave them much hope. Seems I need to revisit them, as just reading your post has given me renewed confidence! Once on TV I saw Jimmy Houston slay big slabs with them. Care to share the particulars? (color, tail type etc)
YP
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| | fishing4u2
Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 252
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Reply with quote | #6 |
YPFan,
First, I concur with your leanings viz-a-viz lure size/color scheme on the gin clear versus the more dingy bodies of water.
Personally I look at flies and lures as merely tools that may or may not be ideally suited to the job at hand, that is if on stillwaters (I don't get out much to fish these anymore) I can even properly identify the job at hand! From one outing to the next, I just don't think of any particular offering as if it somehow possesses 'magical power' to make fish accept it, in other words. Every day, and even from hour to hour, ever-shifting conditions might call for something completely different than what worked before. I guess I continuously ask my lures, "yeah, but what've done for me lately?"
But FWIW, the Roadrunner 'jig du jour' for Monday afternoon was a yellow lead-head adorned with (besides the small silver spinner blade) a solid but otherwise tube-like plastic trailer; the body being yellow and the 'crinkle-cut' tentacles being white. I did take some pains to make sure that ALL of those tentacles were completely separated (which is not typically the case right out of the bag/box/card). The overall length was not more than an inch and a half. The yellow motif seemed appropriate for a forage base of golden shiners, but in truth it was the only such lure in my possession so I didn't exactly select for color. I am positively anal-retentive about trying to keep all my hooks 'sticky' sharp at all times, and more often than not will also mash down the barb(s) to give the best possible chance of a successful hookset. Especially on the slower days I believe this makes the most out of comparatively few opportunities that may arise. I tried to periodically alternate retrieve styles. On one cast (or one portion of a retrieve) I went with my standard 'hop... hop... HOP!...fall...' presentation. Then if that wasn't working I'd mix in just a quieter 'swim along steady... pause/fall... swim along steady...'. The fish seemed to show a preference for the former look, so it got more than equal time.
Now before you go out and buy some of these, I have no reason to think that something/anything else that met the same speed, size, and depth criteria would not have done every bit as well. In fact even while catching those fish (which were good for at least four dinners.. eating one right now in fact) I was wishing I'd had the opportunity to fish a small, chain-link eyed Clouser Minnow on a sink-tip line, since that might have suited the mood of the fish even better. But fly tackle would not have been too compatible with what my pals were up to. Likewise I'd thought it'd be nice to put on one of the micro-sized bass assasin baits on a plain hook, except that those were with my ice-fishing gear. I have another buddy who ties Roadrunner-style wooly buggers with which he does pretty darn well on smallmouth. I have no reason to think they would not have been equally effective.
But if my account of a fab fall outing inspires you to fish Roadrunners with new-found confidence, by all means go for it!
'4u2
p.s. although it drew a goose-egg on Monday, my pals use those Senko's often with devastating results earlier in the year. They insist you have to let the fish move off with the darn things quite a ways before attempting to set the hook - which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to me. I came up through the school of 'feel the tap-tap, quietly reel down until the barest tension is perceived, and sock-it-to-'em!' Consequently although I get plenty of strikes on those lures, my lack of confidence in just how long to wait before setting gives me a dismal hook-up percentage when compared to using an ordinary plastic bait (worm or grub or sluggo-style of the same length!). Confidence plays a major role in how well we fish, for sure.
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