08-12-2004, 12:28 AM
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Lots of good points made about fishing for macks on the Gorge. Needless to say, no matter what you are doing, catching macks on the Gorge, unfortunately, is as some have said, a tight lipped subject with most successful mack fishermen there. No one wants to let out their secrets.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]I've seen good macks, this year, caught on everything. The weekend Predator and I were up in June, I saw 4 fish over 30 lbs, one 44 lbs, caught on riggers. We caught a 33 lb mack and several dinks on steel and talked with guys who jig and saw several large fish (20 lb plus) taken with jigs. It can be done but I think the biggest thing is not just the technique used but what the fish are doing at a piticular time of year and matching your technique to them. There is no substitute for time on the water and learning your quarry.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Any successful fisherman on the Gorge could tell you their intermost secrets about the technique they favor and you could go buy all the gear and not catch a thing for several outings. Sorry, fact of life. I, after spending almost the last two years on the Gorge as much as I could afford, will be the first to say "It ain't the easiest water to learn to fish", especially if you're after big macks. I am getting the hang of it but I'm a definite rookie. The more I learn about that pond the more I realize just how little I really know.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]ElwoodNeedaMac, if you want to learn to fish steel wire than go do it. Buy the Penn 49L Super Mariner, a rod that can won't get eaten alive by steel line, Penn make a decent one for about $130 with the new ceramic guides that with stand up to the rigors of steel. Spool the reel with a 1000 ft of multistrand steel wire and get 10,000 T50 flatfish or K15 kwikfish. Go buy some monterous pop gear, attach a 12-16 oz weight to your steel line in front of the pop gear, hook a chub or large minnow plastic and start draggin' "Junk" across the bottom.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]When all the jiggers head home because the wind gets too strong to maintain boat control, use it to your advantage and troll your steel by wind power. Throw out drift sockets to slow yourself down. You'll catch fish when others can't.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]You'll snag up A LOT, loose a bzilloin $6 lures, pull up other's lost gear, and wear yourself out reeling in water logged bushes and trees. You'll cuss as you try to get all the line twist out of that steel that has created this monsterous "wire salad" mess that you believe will never come untangled BUT you will catch fish if you keep after it.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Yes, you will have your run-in's with others because YOU have out 400'-500' of line out and a downrigger 200' away will snag you. The easiest way to avoid a confrontation is keep your wits and be polite no matter what tries to escalate. Everyone has a right to be there. Most reasonable people that have fished the Gorge understand the game. You'll run into a few jerks but I've found that most everyone tries to get along. [/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Don't be discourage and keep after it. My first trips were nothing more than learning the lake and donating to the local economy. I guarantee it will get better and pay off. Just my very uneducated, dumb a$$ opinion.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]I've seen good macks, this year, caught on everything. The weekend Predator and I were up in June, I saw 4 fish over 30 lbs, one 44 lbs, caught on riggers. We caught a 33 lb mack and several dinks on steel and talked with guys who jig and saw several large fish (20 lb plus) taken with jigs. It can be done but I think the biggest thing is not just the technique used but what the fish are doing at a piticular time of year and matching your technique to them. There is no substitute for time on the water and learning your quarry.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Any successful fisherman on the Gorge could tell you their intermost secrets about the technique they favor and you could go buy all the gear and not catch a thing for several outings. Sorry, fact of life. I, after spending almost the last two years on the Gorge as much as I could afford, will be the first to say "It ain't the easiest water to learn to fish", especially if you're after big macks. I am getting the hang of it but I'm a definite rookie. The more I learn about that pond the more I realize just how little I really know.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]ElwoodNeedaMac, if you want to learn to fish steel wire than go do it. Buy the Penn 49L Super Mariner, a rod that can won't get eaten alive by steel line, Penn make a decent one for about $130 with the new ceramic guides that with stand up to the rigors of steel. Spool the reel with a 1000 ft of multistrand steel wire and get 10,000 T50 flatfish or K15 kwikfish. Go buy some monterous pop gear, attach a 12-16 oz weight to your steel line in front of the pop gear, hook a chub or large minnow plastic and start draggin' "Junk" across the bottom.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3][/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]When all the jiggers head home because the wind gets too strong to maintain boat control, use it to your advantage and troll your steel by wind power. Throw out drift sockets to slow yourself down. You'll catch fish when others can't.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3][/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]You'll snag up A LOT, loose a bzilloin $6 lures, pull up other's lost gear, and wear yourself out reeling in water logged bushes and trees. You'll cuss as you try to get all the line twist out of that steel that has created this monsterous "wire salad" mess that you believe will never come untangled BUT you will catch fish if you keep after it.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Yes, you will have your run-in's with others because YOU have out 400'-500' of line out and a downrigger 200' away will snag you. The easiest way to avoid a confrontation is keep your wits and be polite no matter what tries to escalate. Everyone has a right to be there. Most reasonable people that have fished the Gorge understand the game. You'll run into a few jerks but I've found that most everyone tries to get along. [/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Don't be discourage and keep after it. My first trips were nothing more than learning the lake and donating to the local economy. I guarantee it will get better and pay off. Just my very uneducated, dumb a$$ opinion.[/size][/black][/font]
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