ckarren Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 Rich, I don?t think it is the spines. Have you ever seen ruffe or gobies? We have them on the river here off Lake Superior. The DNR said we had an explosion of them because of the spines and nothing wonted to eat them. Personally I think it took two things 1, the number had to get up before fish sees them as food, and 2 a new class of fish coming up that don?t have a food choice preference. The DNR was at one of my muskie Inc meeting telling us this. You should have seen the look on his face when I told him I catch muskies all the time in the fall that spit 5 or 6 of them up in the boat or net. -Corey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
out2llunge Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 Corey, I agree, sometimes it's better to not be part of the crowd. Sometimes when your bait looks like nothing else (firetiger) in the lake it appears more vulnerable (no safety without numbers). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckarren Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 J.P., I think is goes back on zeroing in on just the one bait that standout and is deferent, as if it is wounded. I don?t know, sometimes I think I know these fish then they will do something and prove you wrong. :oops: -Corey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richoc Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 Walleye and Smallmouth love to eat the gobies. Back in Europe the gobies get to 15 inches and the fisher men love them. They fillet them and say they are great to eat. They pickle the smaller ones and when the run out of the black sea the shore line is elbow to elbow. You play with them yet they are like rubber. Spines are not a issue for eatting them. I fed a few hundred of them to a few ducks at lake Erie. Shore fishing while waitin for the RCL weigh ins. The ducks lined up for them, They ate like 15-20 each. Just took the bigger ones and tore them in half. One female mallard was my shadow for 2 days, eatting as many as she could. The guys at Erie are painting gobie pattern cranks for 2 years now to my knowlage. Never got a ruffe yet, but seen pictures. Looks like Spine city. I have only caught King salmon using perch for bait, even tryed it in canada and did not get a hit. I think perch are really only a food source till about 2 inches. Any wounded fish is a easy target, our baits mimic wounded easy prey. Not healthy fish or schools of bait fish. Easyer the meal or tick them off thats why baits work. I have found bass dead with a perch/sunfish jammed in its mouth many times. Once a 5lber, ate a 13incher in my fish tank, both dead. He was fed well every day but I bet that perch ticked him off, they had lived together for 3 years. Have seen 100's of muskie swimming with a panfish stuck in their mouth. They smim with the fish / their head out of the water trying to turn the fish head first /till the panfish trys to jump back in the water. He releases his spines to go for it and they chomp him down. Really cool to watch and I hope to get it on video one day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckarren Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 Rich, I have a friend that had a tiger muskie in his aquarium at 17? he would eat 8? perch and loved them. Sorry for saying gobie it is the river ruffe. That is all they are is spines and the muskies love them. If I were a muskie I would just eat the soft suckers (BASS) just kidding. -Corey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GB GONE Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 Very interesting conversations over here, I just drifted over from the soft plastic area ("They" don't usually let me out on Thursdays ). I'm not sure who coined the phrase but "match the hatch" is the key. I fish from WI to South FL and always take a dip net. Scoop around the weeds and see what the critters look like, turn over a few rocks and just know what the baitfish look like. My wife says I get kind of zen like when I get to the lake but many times I've never fished that particular lake so a little observation goes a long way. Us soft bait guys are always trying to go over the top with different glitter or more flavor or more salt, etc. When its all said and done, most fish are caught on greens, browns, blacks, etc. I like the SIB KISS theory when I make baits. "See it Big (big bait for BIG fish :!: ), Keep It Simple Stupid. Jim PS I mostly just fish for large and smallmouth bass so my point is narrow to those species. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richoc Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 Got a 46" on a 8" green marsh sucker on 4lb test. Should scan that one and send it to you. They hide like mice when the gators are active around here. Remember every other fresh water fish is just bait. Baby ducks, musk rats, and squirrels too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
