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diemai

swimbait , very first attempt

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Believe me diemai Ive done alot of leader modifications in musky fishing. Im trying to work on a good drop shot rig, one that I can be happy with. Ive tried several designs but Im not totally satisfied with it. something for the future try adding a small inline blade to the front of a leader, it looks like a bigger fish running minnows. I have a hole tube full of different designs, they are different situations for each. always better to be prepared than not, the fish will dictate what they want. sometimes its anything that hits the water and somrtimes you have to really work at it. Also due some research on florocarbon I didnt think I would like it but when fish are really skittish this leader works well and think it would work well in the situation that you are trying to reach

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@ jamie

Guess , that I am starting my own research now , lol :lol:!

Really never bothered much about leaders , always use these homemade 1x7 coated steel ones , most likely with fused loops at their ends , only for deadbait I crimp them , since the fused twisted portions on either end are quite stiffish :yes:.

For jerkbaits and topwaters I have also homemade ones of welding wire , also thinner brown camou "American Fishing Wire" , for topwaters and smallest lures only , since these are very light , only 5" long leaders .

Don't need to rig blades to my leaders , I have made a couple of "attachement spinners" , either in-line or on an angled wire frame(similar to a spinnerbait) .

Originally designed to switch them ahead of lures(mainly plastic shads and spoons) , I might as well rig these between mainline and leader :?.

Our local perch are well known to be very envious on forage , so these are the easiest species to attract with such resemblances of easy prey ahead of a lure , so they just might bite off the follower :yes:!

When these are in a real feeding frenzy , one often has a perch on each treble of the lure , they'll still bite it , when already in the mouth of another perch !

Greetz , Dieter

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@ jamie

Alright , done with those 2 feet flex leaders , I really have the feeling , that these could ring the chances to my advantage , very useful input , thanks a lot:worship: !

Guess , that I could even use them for drift-fishing by tossing very buoyant minnow-style cranks slowly along the bottom .

The wind drift would be most likely too slow to put the lures into a wobbling action , but when constantly twitching and dropping them back , it could surely attract those bottom located Zander(European walleye) .

greetz , Dieter

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@ jamie

Alright , done with those 2 feet flex leaders , I really have the feeling , that these could ring the chances to my advantage , very useful input , thanks a lot:worship: !

Guess , that I could even use them for drift-fishing by tossing very buoyant minnow-style cranks slowly along the bottom .

The wind drift would be most likely too slow to put the lures into a wobbling action , but when constantly twitching and dropping them back , it could surely attract those bottom located Zander(European walleye) .

greetz , Dieter

glad to be of some help. You was talking about wind drifting cranks those cranks, I seen a television show of bill dance years ago he cleaned up on bass doing this style of fishing but he bumped the trolling motor to help the wind out. He had three or four rods sitting high in a rod holder working a stump field. I hope you have a productive weekend and post pics if your swimbait scores a nice one.:yay:
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@ jamie

Tested those weighted leaders today , but sadly no fish caught , also not on more proven lures :(!

Its just too darn slow around here presently :mad::angry:!

But at least I could learn more about the possibilities of such leaders:yes: .

At first I must say , that I'm gonna cut apart the rigid wire leaders again to borrow their weights for some more 2 feet flex leaders:yes: .

Tested my swimbait with the approx . 14" rigid leader and with the 2 feet flex one , both of same weight(almost one ounce) .

Both leaders kept the lure a lot more down , though not as much , as I expected , but if letting it sink back to bottom frequently , I could fish it deep enough , or maybe try an even heavier leader:? !

But the shorter , rigid leader did not provide as much action by far as the longer flex one , with the latter the swimbait just moved a lot more pronounced:yes: !

Only had problems to cast that long leader with the 6 1/2 feet light jerkbait casting rod , that I carried along , a longer rod would surely do better :yes:.

Still tried that flex leader to toss floating minnow cranks along the bottom , either by wind-drifting or simply retrieving , both worked well , also no problems with casting on my second rod I took along , a 9 feet spinning rod , almost 1 1/2 ounce lure weight , sensible medium action .

Since the weight of the leader flies forward , one has to feather down the cast , before leader and lure hit the surface , just to straighten the rig out to possibly prevent tangling :yes:!

So all tangling of lure and leader only occured with the belly hook of the minnow lures and the attachement loop and/or the attachement snap , but never with the lead portion of leader or even the main line:yes: .

On my next leaders I will try to sort out this disadvantage by making the loops smaller , also I won't need the larger sized snaps for these smaller cranks .

I am still convinced , that I'd been given a great aid for successful close-bottom fishing , and one day the fish won't be as reluctant anymore:yes: !

I have attached different lures , minnow cranks and "Banana" lures alike , all are very buoyant , thus shallow diving(essential not to constantly dig into the bottom , but just run above it)and also feature a kind of wobble , that is strong enough to be felt in the rodtip , so that I could always feel , wether the lure has leader-tangled or is fouled up :yes:.

But as said before , the rigid wire leaders did not work as good , probably they would , if I'd make them also longer , but this would mean storage problems since you can't coil them like flex ones :nono:!

Also those small crankbaits surely won't move as freely on them .

No , I guess , I'd go for those weighted flex leaders exclusively , their performance has 100% convinced me:yay: !

thanks again , Dieter

Edited by diemai
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Diemai sorry you didnt catch anything today, sometimes the fish wins been there done that.Try some different retrieves next time.Try pulling the bait three or feet of the bottom and letting it swim back to the bottom or let it hit the bottom and reel it straight back in and half way back to the boat let it sink all the way back to the bottom. Musky are notorius for following baits and the sudden death drop half way back causes a reaction strike. Glad to help you with leader designs and keep playing around with them each of them will have there day.:yay:

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@ jamie

In fact they don't strike on ANY lure offer , this year's season is worst ever , catches on lures are presently rather more accidentally :yes:.

Everyone's complaining , not only on that particular swim , but the entire area around here:( !

Only place constantly catching is the harbor of Hamburg at around high tide , but on one well-sized Zander(European walleye) go 10 to 20 smallies on average !

Don't like fishing there anyway , too tough with currents and tide , you also always loose a lot of lures in there:nono: .

I am just waiting for better days to come again !

Thanks once more about that hint on that certain way of retrieve , haven't tried such before !

Greetz , Dieter

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@ jamie

In fact they don't strike on ANY lure offer , this year's season is worst ever , catches on lures are presently rather more accidentally :yes:.

Everyone's complaining , not only on that particular swim , but the entire area around here:( !

Only place constantly catching is the harbor of Hamburg at around high tide , but on one well-sized Zander(European walleye) go 10 to 20 smallies on average !

Don't like fishing there anyway , too tough with currents and tide , you also always loose a lot of lures in there:nono: .

I am just waiting for better days to come again !

Thanks once more about that hint on that certain way of retrieve , haven't tried such before !

Greetz , Dieter

diemai it sounds to me you need to down size your lures if the bite is that tough. Lots of time fishing pressure or heavy boat traffic cause fish to be a little more skittish and downsizing always helped( not the cure) for this problem. If the fish are holding tight to the bottom the leader rig you have should work but try a rapala or you may have to resort to rubberbaits like dragging bass sized worms or lizards. There is no shame in downsizing to bass gear if that is what they want. Find the forage first then the pike will be right there with them close by. On caverun lake you follow the shad migration and you are on fish. I like to throw the big baits but there is a time to look at what the bass fisherman are doing sometimes they are connecting with musky because of the smaller lure choice.
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@ jamie

Thanks for your tips , I am well aware of that , I usually use smaller lures in the warm season , well , but maybe I should still go down to trout size:? .

The fish there always used to be harder to catch on lures through the summer , so we always used to fish deadbaits through the night and caught on it , has ever been like that:yes: .

But this year we have spent four nights in June and July without the slightest nibble , so we got fed up :angry:!

I guess , that we also don't get to the water on time , because I think , very early in the morning one has the best chances , also as the sun goes down again .

But I can't make it as early and my wife can't make it as late , lol:huh::o:lol: !

But I check local websites daily , and I know , that many guys around Hamburg are complaining , only the big river "Elbe"(harbor) still provides fish , also has ever been like that:yes: .

Zander(European walleye) strike easier in there , a lot less shy , since the river is always murky and has a lot of currents , so they just ought to bite or let the prey go :yes:!

But I don't like fishing in there , its real tough with the current and tide lift of 9 to 12 feet normally , also the best striking time is around high tide , and I am not as flexible always to show up at this times , since the two high tides per day always change for about one hour the next day :huh:.

And it can turn to a real lure-eating affair , there are snags all over , for one session you must consider minimum 3 to 5 lures gone(lead head plastics) , with open top limit:( !

Also have to re-spool the expensive braid frequently , since it would get shorter and shorter on the reel every session .

And I always find it nasty to spend time re-tying rather than having a lure in the water , lol !

And I have read times before , that sometimes years like that occur , when fish seem to have vanished for some reason , also professional fishermen at our bigger lakes would have their nets rather empty those times:( .

But the next season after would be alright again ;).

So , I am hoping , Dieter

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