07-23-2003, 08:55 PM
[cool]Hey, CatDude, glad to help where I can. You just found our little forum here, and have probably not seen some of the past posts I have put up on the line of "bait bugs" and roadrunners I make and use. I started experimenting with these back in the late 70's and have added a lot of different colors and refinements over the years. Here is a pic of some of the better models for Utah fishing:
![[Image: SCOU1712CustomImage0235780.jpg]](http://web.ecomplanet.com/SCOU1712/ServerContent/MyCustomImages/SCOU1712CustomImage0235780.jpg)
In answer to your question about how to use the bait strips, there are several ways you can make them work for you. If you cut long pieces (two or three inches), you can rig them with a plain hook and drag them or soak them below a bobber...as plain old bait. If you are fishing from a float tube, pitch a long strip out behind you on either a plain hook or a light jig hook. Kick along just fast enough to keep the strip fluttering close to the bottom, with an occasional lift and drop. It will seduce cats and walleyes, with occasional whiteys and LMB voting for it.
The small strips can be similarly hung below a bobber, for white bass, crappies and small cats, although some big ones will slurp them in too. I make the small strips mostly for adding to my small jigs. You don't have to have jigs like these. You can use Foxees, marabou crappie jigs, small tubes and even twisters and other grubs. Use a thin piece, with a tapered tail, for flutter, and it will add both action and scent to your plain old jigs.
Sometimes a plain jig head, decorated with a piece of worm or fish meat, is one of the deadliest methods for many kinds of fish. However, the baitbugs I have developed seem to draw strikes when even the guys using live bait (legal here in Arizona) are not getting bit. I use the whites and rainbow colors a lot during clear warm water periods, with a small piece of meat, and I often take home a dozen or so nice yellow bass for the pan. It is not unusual to find no remnants of food in their gut when filleting them. In other words, the bait bugs and "sweetener" stimulate reaction bites even when the fish are not actively feeding. But, when they are feeding, it is difficult to get your lure to the bottom.
I have had days of catching literally hundreds of fish, with strings of 20...30...40 or more fish on consecutive casts. Some of those trips we were surrounded by boats, dropping spoons, plastics and even live bait, that were not getting bit. It is often a matter of finding just the right color, size and presentation and then gangbusters.
I am attaching the two pieces I wrote awhile back on making and using bait bugs...including my procedures for preparing the bait strips. Until recently, we couldn't add attachments on the Utah board, but since we now can, look for those at the bottom.
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In answer to your question about how to use the bait strips, there are several ways you can make them work for you. If you cut long pieces (two or three inches), you can rig them with a plain hook and drag them or soak them below a bobber...as plain old bait. If you are fishing from a float tube, pitch a long strip out behind you on either a plain hook or a light jig hook. Kick along just fast enough to keep the strip fluttering close to the bottom, with an occasional lift and drop. It will seduce cats and walleyes, with occasional whiteys and LMB voting for it.
The small strips can be similarly hung below a bobber, for white bass, crappies and small cats, although some big ones will slurp them in too. I make the small strips mostly for adding to my small jigs. You don't have to have jigs like these. You can use Foxees, marabou crappie jigs, small tubes and even twisters and other grubs. Use a thin piece, with a tapered tail, for flutter, and it will add both action and scent to your plain old jigs.
Sometimes a plain jig head, decorated with a piece of worm or fish meat, is one of the deadliest methods for many kinds of fish. However, the baitbugs I have developed seem to draw strikes when even the guys using live bait (legal here in Arizona) are not getting bit. I use the whites and rainbow colors a lot during clear warm water periods, with a small piece of meat, and I often take home a dozen or so nice yellow bass for the pan. It is not unusual to find no remnants of food in their gut when filleting them. In other words, the bait bugs and "sweetener" stimulate reaction bites even when the fish are not actively feeding. But, when they are feeding, it is difficult to get your lure to the bottom.
I have had days of catching literally hundreds of fish, with strings of 20...30...40 or more fish on consecutive casts. Some of those trips we were surrounded by boats, dropping spoons, plastics and even live bait, that were not getting bit. It is often a matter of finding just the right color, size and presentation and then gangbusters.
I am attaching the two pieces I wrote awhile back on making and using bait bugs...including my procedures for preparing the bait strips. Until recently, we couldn't add attachments on the Utah board, but since we now can, look for those at the bottom.
[signature]