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[#0000ff]Yesterday was stormy. Wednesday is supposed to bring in more weather. But today was supposed to be nice so FatBiker and I decided to do a perch search off the north marina at Willard. The weather was nice but there was more searchin’ than perchin’.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We were all by our lonesome as we launched around 7:30. Only one small tin boat ventured out of the harbor during our entire morning on the lake. Talked to him later as he came in...no hits, no fish, no errors.
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[#0000ff]No skiers and no skeeters neither. But the low 30’s air temps made my formerly frostbit first digit on my right hand a tad painful…for a while.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Water temp was a shade over 46 at launch and only warmed about a half degree by the time we departed at noonish. But the lower temps have finally got a few perch showing. Not many, but enough to dispel the smell of skunk.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Felt good when the sun first peeked over the mountains…a bit before 9. I put on my sun glasses so the fish could see me. It worked. First fish of the day…a 20 inch wiper. Good start. Shortly thereafter FB announced on the walkie talkie that he too had landed a wiper..a SIX…incher…his smallest wiper of the year. Sadly, that was his first, last and only fish of the morning. Hope he went out to the west side this afternoon and found some friendlier fishies.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]My next fish turned out to be a chunky 17” kitty…a Willard cookie cutter. Then it was a long time until my next fish. But then I found a few perch. First one was my biggest…a lean, mean footlong. The second was an 8 inch throw-backer. The third was a keeper 10. Had some more bites but they were tentative…almost like ice fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I caught every one of my fish today on a dropshot style minnow setup…with a couple of bling beads ahead of a red size 4 hook pinned into a 2” chub minnow. Past experience has “larned me” that many of the fish this time of year eat smaller bites and don’t like to chase their food very far. So I usually do better with the small minnows I sort out after a minnow run…and fish them just off the bottom…with a bit of color to help attract attention. The wiper and the cats both slammed the bait pretty hard but the perch barely vibrated the tip of the rod as they chewed on the minnowettes. I missed several that were too inexperienced to hang on.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Beautiful weather. I was happy to score a trifecta but would have liked to add a walleye or crappie to the mix for a Willard 4 species slam. Guess I should be properly grateful for the few I got.[/#0000ff]
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dont look like to bad a day! good on you dude!
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[#0000FF]Hey Ron, good to see ya back in action too. Those were some nice pike...and great looking lures, by the way.
Hey, I've got some super heavy duty trebles you might wanna work a deal for. I got them to make up some big spinners but got sidetracked. They are good quality and you can land great whites on them (suckers).
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Once the sun came up, the weather alone made the searching worthwhile. Hard to believe it's the day before the day before Thanksgiving. The teeny wiper was big enough to chase away the Skunk. Never made it out to the other side after my appointment. Took my lovely wife for a late lunch/early dinner and threw 18 holes of Frisbee golf instead. Thanks again for the trip. Certainly will spend more time on the bumps and the road. Looking forward to a shot at those big whities.
Larry
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Hey Pat the way your story started out I thought you didn't have a very good day, but it looks like it wasn't too bad after all... thanks for the detailed report again... So I see your using your hanger weights to get down (as your drop shot), how far back are you dragging that minnow behind your toon? I wondered with that light of weight if you have to let it out a little further so it gets to the bottom... So would that drop shot type rig work on the whitefish at Bear Lake? With a gulp minnow weightless on the hook? Well glad you guys had a great day on the pond and thanks for a great report... J
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yeah i might need to get them from ya! them Eagle Claw lazer's i been using are nice and sharp but the pike and musky have been crushing them. [shocked] literally crushing them.. guessing some heaver wire hooks might help.. [cool]
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[#0000FF]Yep. That is my "hanger-shot" rig...with about 3-4" of clothes hanger wire with a loop in the end. Almost completely snagless but heavy enough to keep it on the bottom and maintain line tautness.
You can vary the length of the dropper for the hook, as well as the length between the dropper and the weight. All depends on how far above the bottom you want the bling/bait to ride.
I do not move very fast while fishing this rig...In fact, most of the hits came while I was stopped. So I fish them almost straight down...only a short angle on the line behind the tube. And I fish them off to the side in my "quick-draw" holders...for fast reaction when I get an inquiry.
I was using some of those same blue-eyed left-handed mini chubs like I downloaded to you. See the pic on how I rig them.
I plan to try the hanger-shot technique on Bear Lake whities this year. I will be trying not only Gulp Minnows, but my hothead flies and some weightless small tubes as well. The clothes hanger weights have worked well in fishing rocky areas on other lakes so they should work as a second rod for whities. I know from experience that those silly fish will sometimes pick up a jig laying on the bottom. And vertical jigging under the tube or boat is a proven effective technique. I am optimistic.
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[#0000FF]I have a box of 50 Eagle Claw 37-4F-2/0 that I have not even opened. They are 2/0, with "beak" points, bronze...and are 2X strong.
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I also have a 25 count box of Matzuo black nickle 340012 trebles in 3/0. These have the "sickle" points. Super hooks.
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Shoot me a PM if you are interested and we can work out the details.
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Thanks for the details Pat, I was thinking that might be a good rigging to try and avoid a few snags at BL... When are you planning on a trip after the WF at BL ?....
I am getting excited to go try those scissorbills they are sure fun and great to eat... I may wander over on Saturday if I can sneak away... Later J
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[#0000FF]Waiting to hear back from Scott. His first trip this week was non-productive. Warm water and lower water seems to have delayed the action. He is going again Friday and Monday. I will probably not get out until the middle or end of next week.
As soon as we know the fish have showed up...and where...we need to get another floatilla going.
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That sounds like a great idea and a lot of fun... I wondered if this crazy year temperature wise might affect their run... Didn't know if it was temperature or day light driven... I tried to find out from Mike if the fish were biting and I guess he's not on line... But I expect either Scott or Mike will soon let us know it's time to take the trip... The last few years it's seemed like it's been into December before the bigger numbers started showing, so I'm ready to go when it looks like the possibility of success is there.. Anyway count me in for the flotilla... Later J
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Thanks for the report Pat. Those waves on the water looked rough! [  ]
What knot are you using to tie on your leader with the hook and beads? I've been using a small crane swivel to do something similar but that means I have to tie on a leader with my bait and another to hang the weight on. Can you larn me a thang or two?
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[#0000FF]The rig in the pictures shows a blood knot dropper setup. But I was using 14# Excalibur leader off a swivel attached to 8# Nanofil. If using lighter line I would have used the swivel dropper method also shown in the picture below. While the blood knot is a fairly high percentage knot, there are better options for getting maximum strength using lighter line.
I tie the blood knot and leave about a six inch tag...on the line coming down from the rod. Then I thread on the beads and tie the hook. Standard drop shot rigging calls for attaching the hook directly to the line with a Palomar knot. But when fishing floating jigs or baits on a dropper rig I prefer to use a short dropper leader rather than tieing directly to the line. Just a personal preference. No real science behind it.
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Thanks. I've used 'A' and 'B' over the years. Never tried using a blood knot in that configuration though. Never been much for standards so I rarely (if ever) tie the Palomar when doing a dropshot. I don't think it is bad. I just like using swivels. I can rig up a few before I go and it makes "hot swapping" my jigs/baits quicker. Thanks for the info!
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[#0000FF]I learned to quickly tie a blood knot many (too many) years ago and use it a lot. I used to fly fish more and made up all my own leaders...and retied tippet with the blood knot. Since then it has been a mainstay in making quick tandem rigs.
The one thing I usually advise for anglers who like to fish tandem rigs is to always carry a spare spool of the line/leader you will be using. Otherwise you use up a spool of line more quickly...since everytime you make a new dropper rig you "burn up" another couple of feet of main line.
Howsomever, since I began using Nanofil a lot, I usually make my leaders heavier than the line test. For example, I have 6# Nanofil on most of my light reels. I tie a #10 crane swivel to the end of the Nanofil, using a strong slip resistant knot. Then I tie my combo leader, dropper to the end of the swivel...usually 8# but sometimes heavier. Depends on the size of the fish I target, and how much sharp armament they have...as well as how dangerous the bottom structure (abrasion) might be.
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So just for clarification the dropper is where you use the coat hanger? I'm intrigued and  haha
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[#0000FF]No problem. I was born in the state of Confusion. It's right next to the state of Hysteria.
This is just another one of my wacky experiments that has actually worked out very well. I used to use "drop shot" technique for all kinds of fish and in all kinds of water...from salt water surf fishing to fishing tandem fly rigs in freshwater streams. Also for bottom bouncing flies and jigs in lakes. But I had been using one form of sinkers or another.
On the upper Sacramento River...a whole bunch of years ago...I was fishing for big rainbows with a sinker and fly setup. Tried split shots and steelhead pencil weights until I ran out of those...to the hungry riverbed rocks. Started cutting up some clothes hangers in my vehicle, making a loop in the ends and tieing them on the end of the dropshot line with a knot that would slip free if snagged. But they just didn't snag as much. Still got the flied down to the troutskis but with fewer fish, flies and sinkers lost.
Been using them since as a cheap but effective sinker for dragging baits, flies and lures around behind my tube. Hardly ever lose a rig and it does not seem to bother the fish. In fact, the ting ting of the hanger wire moving over rocks seems to be an attractant.
Attaching a few pics that show them in better detail. I also have lots of pics in my files showing different species from different waters with varying lures and flies hanging in fish mouths...from a hangershot rig.
Lastly, just in case I did not properly address your question: The piece of hanger goes on the end of the line...in place of a dropshot weight. Then you put one or more hooks/lures/flies at the desired distance(s) above the sinker.
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Makes perfect sense. Might have to add that to my tool box
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