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Fishing The Ugly Days #2
Fishing The Ugly Days #2
By Capt. Jim Hirt
Ugly days we all have been there. A few that come to mind for me are big waves, fog, rain, northeast wind, calm clear water and clear sunny skies among others. Unfortunately very few of us can fish on the best days of the season. We must learn to cope with the conditions as they are or hang it up and try another day. This article will focus on what to do, or perhaps not to do, in some of the most difficult salmon fishing scenarios.
In the last article we covered fish that are active or aggressive with tough trolling conditions such as high wind and waves.
Now I will cover fishing for fish that are neutral or negative with ideal boating circumstances of calm clear water and clear sunny skies. Light and lean is the best way to define the most productive presentation. Correct lure selection and presentation is critical to your success. Put away the big and the bold tackle. I don't run magnum spoons, J-plugs or any lures with a lot of flash. Consider the reflectivity factor. Go to lures with little or no flash. Neutral or negative fish do not like a lot of flash. The best color spoons will be white or black blade on one side and green or blue on the other with a silver prism paper accent. An all white or black blade both sides with green/silver or blue/silver prism accent are also on my favorites list. Experiment with other low reflective colors. Small lures and slow boat speeds are best.
This brings me to a good point, how many of you are keeping a fishing log of conditions, lures and dates? This information is invaluable on ugly days. You don't need anything fancy and it does not take much time. I go to my log before most trips and always when fishing is slow.
Presentation is a big part of everyday on the water and it should be your first priority when fishing calm clear water. There are several ways to go. The general theme of these presentations is stealth. Get your lures away from the boat. Spread the tackle to minimize the intimidation that a lot of tackle brings.
On the deep downrigger lines below 120 feet your best bet is an Opti-Dodger and fly. Light penetration is less down there and a little flash is required. My best Opti-Dodger colors for down there are white, glow or silver with a white or little boy blue fly. On another downrigger at least 40 feet above the dodgers and flies you have two options. You can use a SWR rig with a spoon or a LTLR 100 feet back with a spoon. Let me explain. SWR (secret weapon rig) is a three color leadcore rig on a downrigger. For more information on this rig it is covered in detail in my article #18 published on the Internet. Do a search on Google for Jim Hirt leadcore fishing #18. The LTLR (light line rig) is much easier to rig and does not require any special equipment. I run a medium to small reel capable of holding 300 yards of 12 lb. line with a smooth drag. A low visibility Berkley fluorocarbon 12 lb line is the key to this presentation's success. Attach the spoon with a size #1 Sampo 30 lb. coastlock snap. Next run a Dipsy on each side with 50 lb. Power Pro fishing line. This setup will run 25% deeper than it would with mono and is great for getting down and out to the sides and the travel path of the boat. Finish your stealth presentation with four leadcore rods on Church Tackle Walleye planner boards. Use a full core on the inside boards and five color lead core on the outside Walleye Boards to avoid tangles. This combination of tackle will always produce. A word of caution, some of your lines will be 500 to 600 feet behind the boat. This is not tackle to run in a congested area. Have a great fishing season. Good Luck Captain Jim. Let's go fishing!! Jim charters out of Milwaukee, WI. with Blue Max Charters. He can be reached at 414-828-1094 or visit his web site at http://www.bluemaxcharters.com CopyrightŠ 2008, James J. Hirt, All Rights Reserved.
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